When I first started this project, as well as this class, I didn't know a whole lot about the different types of literacies. I always understood it as just reading and writing, but I have been introduced to a whole new language of literacy. Not only is it reading and writing, but it's also speaking, communicating and comprehension. To add to that, there are so many different types of literacy, like social literacy, environmental literacy, cultural literacy...etc. I didn't realize those could all fall under the category of literacy.
To start my literacy project, I needed to become aware of what social literacy was and how I felt about it, as well as figure out what type of technology I was going to use. Although I have had some experience with blogs, I've never really formatted my blog page to fit the needs of information I wanted to present. I spent a lot of time just playing around with the blog and rearranging things to go in new places, so that it would be more aesthetically pleasing for the reading. The more I practiced and played with the blog, the more knowledgeable I became aware of what I could add to it. I found that's the same with any type of literacy -by practicing and becoming more aware of it, you naturally become more confident and knowledgeable about that type of literacy. I'm obviously no expert on blogs, but I'm definitely more knowledgeable about the different types of technology out there that I can use at my convenience. Not only did I learn more about technology literacy, I learned a lot more about social literacy, too.
I now have a much more opened mind about what literacy is and how I can incorporate it into my classroom, especially after doing this project. I will now include technology literacy as a valuable literacy to teach my future students. Creating the blog helped me to also better understand social literacy, and how technology can be used in several ways to incorporate several aspects of literacy. The blog let me see that it's a great way to not only introduce technology, but also social literacy because the students will be able to make new social networks by responding to each other's blogs. It can bring up important issues and topics for discussion through the blogs, which can also talk about cultural and environmental literacy (as well as others). I feel by tying in several concepts and aspects, it's easier for the students to make connections between the things.
This also ties into diverse learners benefiting from the technology I used (a blog). This is because when children are in a classroom, sometimes students may feel overwhelmed, anxious, or unprepared when having discussions about topics in the class. I know that I have definitely felt all three of those things before, as well as sometimes feeling like I would share the "wrong" answer -especially when I didn't know what others would say. For students like this, the blogs are a great way to build classroom communities and discussions. By responding to the blogs, the students can feel more at ease in their natural setting to give response about their opinions. It can also help prepare them to talk about the topic for the next day, as well as see other classmates opinions and thoughts. That can help them to build their confidence to participate in a large group discussion. This type of social literacy and technology can help several different learners. I'm in a 1st-3rd grade classroom, but I probably wouldn't use blogs for that age group. I would probably wait until fourth or the higher grades (like middle), so that they can really think critically about their responses and reflections. This also helps them to gain responsibility, as well as becoming respectful of other's views.
According to the GLCEs, third graders are to respond to other texts by reflecting, making connections, taking a position, and/or showing understanding for the speaking portion. Using the blogs can definitely help them improve in not only this area, but across all the areas. That's because using the blogs helps the students think critically about the other classmates thoughts and posts. It then helps them thinking about their own writing, and helps them improve typing skills and their thought processes. It can also encourage students to read more, type more, and get more practice with technology. And as mentioned earlier, the more practice one gets in something, the more knowledgeable and comfortable they become in that area.
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It was refreshing to read Melanie's post as I felt that she covered all areas of the reflection and provided a lot of great ideas. One thing she said that I agreed with was the more one uses new technology the better and more comfortable one will become with the technology. This is true for me, the first time I saw a blog I was blown away. However, after doing this project I feel much more comfortable with the type of resources a blog can provide. Also, I am excited to start using blogs in my classrooms.
Another point that I thought was great was how using multiple technologies and literacies only enhances connections, if one uses them in appropriate ways. This relates to the idea of looking at the "whole child" where all areas of development are connected and interdependent. In addition, the various technologies and literacies allow one to appeal to multiple intelligences. It would be exciting to see where young students took new technologies. From my experience, children can pick up things much faster and would probably be very successful when exploring the new technology.
I also thought Melanie appropritely connected her technology to her new literacy. I had never thought about how blogs could enhance social literacy, but not it makes perfect sense. Blogging allows one to contribute at their own pace or ease. Also, you can say as little or as much as you want to about someone elses ideas. She also mentioned how students who may be shy or timid in actual class discussions would have the opportunity to use technology to branch out and then they might feel more comfortable in a classroom.
One question I have for Melanie is if blogs would lead students to use more colloquial speech and how would one merry that with "standard American English"? I noticed on my blog that I use informal grammer and sentences. However, I can also turn that off when writing a paper. I wonder how blogs would impact student writing. I think Melanie would agree that one would have to use blogs with discretion and talk to students about the nature of speech used in blogs as opposed to formal writing.
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