*** Sorry Blog Bloomers for my late post…I was very sick all weekend! ***
Part A:
Based on the Tompkins book, some of the effective approaches for assessing accuracy, speed and prosody include Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Fluency Checks, Informal Reading Inventories (IRIs), and Running Records. These assessment tools are used by many teachers along with informal observations to determine students reading fluency. Some teachers use one or two or these fluency tools, while others may chose to use all of them in order to assess students more closely. Personally, I would use any of them since they are good for assessing all the components of fluency. However, the DIBELS seems to be the only one that that is more focused on testing for speed only. If I used the DIBELS, I would definitely use another tool to go with it. Using any of these assessment tools can be very effective if a teacher uses the results to help improve a student’s area of struggle.
In my field placement, I have heard my CT talk many times about using the DIBELS. Unfortunately though, I have not seen her actually administer it to her students, or any other assessment for that matter. I am usually helping run literacy centers at the time she does her assessments. Since my field placement is in third grade and the DIBELS is used for grades 1-3, it’s no wonder that my CT talks about using it often. Over the course of the year, I have definitely seen an improvement in the students’ fluency. Probably the most improvement I’ve noticed is with speed and accuracy. There have been many instances in our literacy centers where I’ve noticed a better ‘flow’ while the students read fables, long passages and basic sentences. When I say ‘flow’, I mean they are recognizing words very well and there aren’t too many pauses while they read. Also, they ‘flow’ in a sense, because their speed is very consistent and is not too slow either. It is becoming easier and enjoyable to hear the students read.
Part B
My book club novel is called “The Breadwinner”. If I were to create a mini lesson for my field placement, I would probably focus on prosody since that is currently the area that I have not seen much growth. I would base my lesson off of the following GLCE:
R.AT.03.01 be enthusiastic about reading and do substantial reading and writing on their own.
Materials: Book, “The Breadwinner”, a copy for every student of the passage from page 32 of “The Breadwinner”, whiteboard, dry erase marker, pencil for every student
Do: Pass out a copy of page 32 to every student
Say: Today, we are going to practice reading with expression. To help us do this, we are going to break these sentences into chunks on the whiteboard.
DO: Write the passage into chucks on the whiteboard as followed:
“Clothes,
blankets,
pots-everything landed on the floor.
Closer and closer
they came to the bottom shelf,
the one with the false wall.
Parvana watched in horror
as the soldiers bent down to yank the things out of the bottom shelf.”
Say: Notice I have broken the sentences up into chunks. This will help us pause during our reading to help us slow down and use expression in our reading. Let’s practice using expression as we read our chunks seen on the whiteboard. I will read it one time for you and then we will read it together at once.
Do: Read the sentence aloud using proper prosody. After finished, read aloud with the class at once.
Say: To help us practice using expression, I will give you a few minutes to use a pencil to mark your own copies of the passage that shows you where to pause in the sentences. Use my whiteboard example to help you do this.
Say: Next, I will give you about 5 minutes to practice reading the passage with a partner. Be sure to read with good expression. I will walk around and try to hear everyone.
Do: Walk around the room and listen to students’ prosody. Help those in need.
Say: Now with your partner, I would like you to take about 5 minutes to find another sentence or two from the book. I would like for you to chunk the sentence and practice reading it to each other with good expression.
Informal Assessment:
Have partners share their sentences aloud to the class. They can read them simultaneously or individually. Look for chunks or pauses in sentences and proper expression as they read.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Literacy Project Reflection
Looking back to the beginning of this course, I can see that my understanding of literacy has changed drastically. I used to have the idea that it merely included reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing. However now, I understand the term to include a much more wide range of components. After learning about emotional literacy, I now know that one can be emotionally literate or illiterate. In the past, if anyone would’ve asked me what emotions are, I would’ve simply answered something like happy, sad, excited, bored, etc. I used to think that they were merely just feelings in life and that everyone naturally learns about them as they go through life. However, after this project, I now know that emotions are something that people are not always naturally good at and that there are many people, especially children, whom are emotionally illiterate. Furthermore, I now know that dealing with emotions is something that can be learned and implemented into a classroom.
After reviewing the various literacy projects on the wiki, I have seen the importance of being literate in many more areas than just reading, writing etc. Knowing this, I think it is important for a language arts teacher to recognize and take necessary steps at helping his/her students develop literacy skills in these areas. I think that if children can become literate in as many areas as possible, it will benefit them academically and give them overall life success. As shown in many of the projects, there are books, games, songs, activities, etc. that can be incorporated in the classroom to help students become literate in these subjects. In particular, for emotional literacy, I learned that we can use three basic strategies in helping children become emotionally literate. These strategies include, practice expressing emotions, label children’s feelings, and do activities that deal with emotions such as play games, sing songs, and read books.
Furthermore, I think using technology can be incorporated into the classroom to help students on their way to emotional literacy and digital literacy as well. The technology I used for my project was the Prezi. Although there are many ways to teach emotions to kids such as books, drawing, singing, etc, I think a Prezi presentation could be more attractive to students and grab their attention better. The Prezi allows you to present information in different ways than a traditional power point. It helps the presentation come to life with the movement and zooming features and unique ways to add vivid pictures and videos. Before this class, I had never even heard of Prezi and probably wouldn’t have wanted to use such a program in my classroom. But after this project, I have learned that working with new technology can be a very easy and effective way to present information to all ages.
When it comes to effective literacy instruction, my view is very different compared to the beginning of this semester. Referring back to my original concept map, there are a few things that have been added such as the use of technology, meaningful discussions and now, different types of literacy such as emotional, social, cultural, environmental, visual, etc. After all my research on emotional literacy and my learning of a new technology, I was able to find out how much more there is to offer students. Emotions should not be merely expected to learn throughout life but rather, they can be taught about and dealt with in order to help them become more successful. And if we can incorporate technology into our lessons, then we as teacher may be able to better impact our students.
As a future teacher, I will definitely incorporate this new literacy and technology into my classroom. Depending on the students’ grade level, I can either create an ‘Emotions’ Prezi presentation for the class or have them create their own. Regardless if they are simply watching my presentation or making their own, I think it will help them become more interested and attracted to the information being presented. I would definitely use tools such adding sound and video to make it even more exciting. For example, in my Prezi, I added YouTube video of a song called, ‘Feelings’. I think this tool could be a great way for the kids to hear a song and watch the video at the same time. This way, students can sing along and even copy the dance movements. Experiencing a Prezi could allow students to become more interested and engaged in the lesson being presented. Further, student can have the opportunity to become creative with a simple subject of emotions and help them see emotions in a whole new, non-linearly way.
Of course, in order to use this technology, students will have to possess some amount of literacy in reading, writing, and viewing and listening and speaking to be successful. For early grades who may not yet know how to write, they might have trouble creating their own Prezi since they would struggle forming or spelling words. Also, at this level, students may not have gained much digital experience, also hindering them from making a presentation such as the Prezi. However, I think they could successfully view, and listen as I gave them a presentation and reach learning goals as well. In the older grades, perhaps 4th grade and up, I think students may have a better chance at developing their own presentations. At this age, they are more experienced with technology such as their ability to use computers, search for images and videos, copying and pasting, and so on. Additionally, their reading and writing abilities are more advanced so they would have an easier time reading, researching information and entering it into their presentations.
Although the Prezi is easy to use, students who are learning it for the first time may need several instruction periods until they can do it on their own. Even students in older grades will need lots of practice with this technology. Just as I was working with Prezi for the first time, I had to learn how to properly use the technology and it took me several hours of learning how to do it on my own. Knowing this, I think it would be a good idea to give students plenty of time to experience the website and look at some sample presentations. Another thing that would help them learn about Prezi is if I created one right in front of them. I could use something like a smart board and model how to use the technology and create an awesome presentation. Students may also be inexperienced with developing the content of their presentations. If we were creating Prezis about ‘Emotions’ I may have to teach them about emotions prior to using our technology. I could do a lesson, have a discussion, play a game, watch a movie, or do any other activities dealing with emotions. By doing this, students can develop a background knowledge about emotions to help them know the type of content to put into their presentation. I may even have to model for them how to brainstorm ideas to put into the presentation, how to research needed information, summarize findings, etc. After modeling, I could have them try it on their own, but also helping them as needed. Scaffolding would have to be the goal here as I help them here and there but then gradually allow them to perform the task on their own.
After reviewing the various literacy projects on the wiki, I have seen the importance of being literate in many more areas than just reading, writing etc. Knowing this, I think it is important for a language arts teacher to recognize and take necessary steps at helping his/her students develop literacy skills in these areas. I think that if children can become literate in as many areas as possible, it will benefit them academically and give them overall life success. As shown in many of the projects, there are books, games, songs, activities, etc. that can be incorporated in the classroom to help students become literate in these subjects. In particular, for emotional literacy, I learned that we can use three basic strategies in helping children become emotionally literate. These strategies include, practice expressing emotions, label children’s feelings, and do activities that deal with emotions such as play games, sing songs, and read books.
Furthermore, I think using technology can be incorporated into the classroom to help students on their way to emotional literacy and digital literacy as well. The technology I used for my project was the Prezi. Although there are many ways to teach emotions to kids such as books, drawing, singing, etc, I think a Prezi presentation could be more attractive to students and grab their attention better. The Prezi allows you to present information in different ways than a traditional power point. It helps the presentation come to life with the movement and zooming features and unique ways to add vivid pictures and videos. Before this class, I had never even heard of Prezi and probably wouldn’t have wanted to use such a program in my classroom. But after this project, I have learned that working with new technology can be a very easy and effective way to present information to all ages.
When it comes to effective literacy instruction, my view is very different compared to the beginning of this semester. Referring back to my original concept map, there are a few things that have been added such as the use of technology, meaningful discussions and now, different types of literacy such as emotional, social, cultural, environmental, visual, etc. After all my research on emotional literacy and my learning of a new technology, I was able to find out how much more there is to offer students. Emotions should not be merely expected to learn throughout life but rather, they can be taught about and dealt with in order to help them become more successful. And if we can incorporate technology into our lessons, then we as teacher may be able to better impact our students.
As a future teacher, I will definitely incorporate this new literacy and technology into my classroom. Depending on the students’ grade level, I can either create an ‘Emotions’ Prezi presentation for the class or have them create their own. Regardless if they are simply watching my presentation or making their own, I think it will help them become more interested and attracted to the information being presented. I would definitely use tools such adding sound and video to make it even more exciting. For example, in my Prezi, I added YouTube video of a song called, ‘Feelings’. I think this tool could be a great way for the kids to hear a song and watch the video at the same time. This way, students can sing along and even copy the dance movements. Experiencing a Prezi could allow students to become more interested and engaged in the lesson being presented. Further, student can have the opportunity to become creative with a simple subject of emotions and help them see emotions in a whole new, non-linearly way.
Of course, in order to use this technology, students will have to possess some amount of literacy in reading, writing, and viewing and listening and speaking to be successful. For early grades who may not yet know how to write, they might have trouble creating their own Prezi since they would struggle forming or spelling words. Also, at this level, students may not have gained much digital experience, also hindering them from making a presentation such as the Prezi. However, I think they could successfully view, and listen as I gave them a presentation and reach learning goals as well. In the older grades, perhaps 4th grade and up, I think students may have a better chance at developing their own presentations. At this age, they are more experienced with technology such as their ability to use computers, search for images and videos, copying and pasting, and so on. Additionally, their reading and writing abilities are more advanced so they would have an easier time reading, researching information and entering it into their presentations.
Although the Prezi is easy to use, students who are learning it for the first time may need several instruction periods until they can do it on their own. Even students in older grades will need lots of practice with this technology. Just as I was working with Prezi for the first time, I had to learn how to properly use the technology and it took me several hours of learning how to do it on my own. Knowing this, I think it would be a good idea to give students plenty of time to experience the website and look at some sample presentations. Another thing that would help them learn about Prezi is if I created one right in front of them. I could use something like a smart board and model how to use the technology and create an awesome presentation. Students may also be inexperienced with developing the content of their presentations. If we were creating Prezis about ‘Emotions’ I may have to teach them about emotions prior to using our technology. I could do a lesson, have a discussion, play a game, watch a movie, or do any other activities dealing with emotions. By doing this, students can develop a background knowledge about emotions to help them know the type of content to put into their presentation. I may even have to model for them how to brainstorm ideas to put into the presentation, how to research needed information, summarize findings, etc. After modeling, I could have them try it on their own, but also helping them as needed. Scaffolding would have to be the goal here as I help them here and there but then gradually allow them to perform the task on their own.
New Literacy Project Reflection
Throughout this course, my conceptual idea of literacy has changed a lot. At the beginning of this course, I remember literacy was only reading and writing in an English language class. Thus, by doing new literacy project, I learned there are different kinds of literacy such as cultural, emotional, environmental etc. My topic was cultural literacy and at first I did not even know what it was. Though now I learned what cultural literacy is and how much it is important for children to learn about it.
I have investigated cultural literacy and used a technology PowerPoint. PowerPoint was not a new technology but I only could use basic stuff such as just adding texts, clip arts, and changing font. So, I wanted to explore more about PowerPoint such as adding sound, put animations, and download pictures from internet and put it in a slide. Our classrooms are becoming more diverse as time goes, so it is important for not only teaching reading and writing but also teach various types of literacy such as cultural. For example, last semester there was a Taiwanese ELL student in my placement. None of his classmates knew anything about Taiwan but I knew Chinese and some of Taiwanese culture. So I talked to him and showed that I know something about Taiwan. This made him to open to me and he started to ask me for help.
PowerPoint could be used in the classroom. Both as a teacher and as a student, one could use PowerPoint to present their own culture by putting sounds, pictures, videos, or other visual aids to help others to understand one’s culture.
I have investigated cultural literacy and used a technology PowerPoint. PowerPoint was not a new technology but I only could use basic stuff such as just adding texts, clip arts, and changing font. So, I wanted to explore more about PowerPoint such as adding sound, put animations, and download pictures from internet and put it in a slide. Our classrooms are becoming more diverse as time goes, so it is important for not only teaching reading and writing but also teach various types of literacy such as cultural. For example, last semester there was a Taiwanese ELL student in my placement. None of his classmates knew anything about Taiwan but I knew Chinese and some of Taiwanese culture. So I talked to him and showed that I know something about Taiwan. This made him to open to me and he started to ask me for help.
PowerPoint could be used in the classroom. Both as a teacher and as a student, one could use PowerPoint to present their own culture by putting sounds, pictures, videos, or other visual aids to help others to understand one’s culture.
Monday, March 21, 2011
New Literacy Reflection
My conceptual idea of literacy has changed a lot throughout this course. Initially I remember thinking about literacy as reading, writing, and the processes that go along with learning how to read and write. While learning about visual literacy in particular: first of all I didn't realize what visual literacy even was, second I had no idea how important it is for keeping up with and competing in the real world.
Now that I have learned about visual literacy and used a new technology (prezi) I understand how important visual literacy is. Visual graphics, how we read things that do not have words, and our use of technology (video, audio, images, etc) is very important. Visual literacy is a rapidly growing field and we do not want our students to be left behind. Providing effective literacy instruction means providing students with the tools they need for success. That means we need to teach them how to read and write, but that is just the beginning. Students need to be well rounded in literacy meaning they should learn about all of the "new literacy's" we covered during this project.
My specific technology (prezi) could be used in the classroom. You as the teacher could use it to make interesting, interactive presentation. Also (if your students are old enough) students could use prezi to make their own presentations (book report, group project, etc.). Visual literacy is also important to think about in your lessons because we see so many signs, images, videos, etc. every day, it is a growing area of literacy.
Now that I have learned about visual literacy and used a new technology (prezi) I understand how important visual literacy is. Visual graphics, how we read things that do not have words, and our use of technology (video, audio, images, etc) is very important. Visual literacy is a rapidly growing field and we do not want our students to be left behind. Providing effective literacy instruction means providing students with the tools they need for success. That means we need to teach them how to read and write, but that is just the beginning. Students need to be well rounded in literacy meaning they should learn about all of the "new literacy's" we covered during this project.
My specific technology (prezi) could be used in the classroom. You as the teacher could use it to make interesting, interactive presentation. Also (if your students are old enough) students could use prezi to make their own presentations (book report, group project, etc.). Visual literacy is also important to think about in your lessons because we see so many signs, images, videos, etc. every day, it is a growing area of literacy.
Monday, March 14, 2011
My New Literacy Project Notes
My definition of literacy was the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential. To become culturally literate person, one should understand the culture and accept and understand the differences in that culture to be able to use printed and written information in function in a certain society/culture. The reason is that different culture value different things and understand differently depends on their belief, morals, laws and custom etc. I personally believe speaking, listening and viewing play more important role to become culturally literate compare to reading and writing. When I learned Chinese, I acquired listening and speaking skills first and slowly learned to read and write some Chinese words. My speaking and listening skills are stronger than other skills and just with speaking and listening skills I could still understand the Chinese culture and I did not feel necessary to read and write Chinese to just learn their culture because through oral communication I could still learn Chinese culture. However, to understand better, I eventually needed to learn how to read and write Chinese language. As I become more familiar with this literacy, I learned that culture is 100% learned from other human being and because culture is exists only in our minds that it is constantly changing and easily lost. Before I was exploring this new literacy, I thought that every culture is different from each other but actually all cultures share universal traits such as using age and gender to classify people (e.g., teenager, senior citizen) and raising children in some sort of family setting etc.
In my field placement, I think that my students are already somewhat culturally literate because they are learning Chinese language and also learning Chinese culture while they are learning the language. For example, my students have celebrated Chinese New Year and did some activities that Chinese do during their New Year. Also, students learned Chinese nursery rhymes and songs which is part of Chinese culture as well.
I am planning to use PowerPoint to present my new literacy project because even though I have used PowerPoint before but I am not sure how to use more effectively and I thought I could learn more features to present better via PowerPoint. However, by looking at some examples on the wiki, I am not sure if I still want to use PowerPoint because I saw some better technologies that I can use. To be honest I have not explore much more about other technologies so I am not sure which one to change but most likely I think I am going to use website called “scrapblog”. It looks very nice and awesome tool to present information and looks like it has space for me to write on as well. However, I am not a technology person so I have to study a lot more to use this new technology.
In my field placement, I think that my students are already somewhat culturally literate because they are learning Chinese language and also learning Chinese culture while they are learning the language. For example, my students have celebrated Chinese New Year and did some activities that Chinese do during their New Year. Also, students learned Chinese nursery rhymes and songs which is part of Chinese culture as well.
I am planning to use PowerPoint to present my new literacy project because even though I have used PowerPoint before but I am not sure how to use more effectively and I thought I could learn more features to present better via PowerPoint. However, by looking at some examples on the wiki, I am not sure if I still want to use PowerPoint because I saw some better technologies that I can use. To be honest I have not explore much more about other technologies so I am not sure which one to change but most likely I think I am going to use website called “scrapblog”. It looks very nice and awesome tool to present information and looks like it has space for me to write on as well. However, I am not a technology person so I have to study a lot more to use this new technology.
Notes on my learning
Emotional literacy is the ability to recognize and express our emotions. As emotions are a part of human nature and a huge part of our everyday lives, becoming emotionally literate should be essential for healthy and successful, emotional living. Many definitions posted on the class wiki reflect this type of literacy depending on how one interprets it. The definition stating that it is “an aspect of communicative abilities” and, “literacy is a bridge from misery to hope” can be associated with different literacy types including emotional literacy. Being emotionally literate indeed requires communicative abilities that deal with recognizing feelings of happiness, anger, fear, loneliness, etc. and the ability to express and talk about those feelings. In turn, the ability to be a good emotional communicator can contribute to positive relationships and improve the overall quality of life. As is it defined, “from misery to hope”, without emotional literacy, one can truly feel miserable to not be able to comfortably express the way they feel or be able to identify or understand the feelings of others. However, by being emotionally literate, one can have the hope of having an improved social life by learning how to understand themselves and society as a whole. As another definition stated, “By helping your young children express their thoughts and feeling verbally and in writing or drawing….and to understand how others think and feel, you can make sure their emotional development and literacy go hand and hand.”
Some of the definitions that contrasted to this type of literacy were the ones that mainly focused on technology. Definitions such as “The ability to locate, evaluate, use, and communicate using a wide range of resources including text, visual, audio, and video sources.”, “ The ability to use printed and written information to function in society…” or “a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies-from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms…” Again I think these definitions could convey various interpretations depending on the interpreter. But to me, I think they focus more on technology and using literacy that is visual and hands on. When I think of emotional literacy, I primarily think of communicating information that is not visual...information from deep within a person and expressing it outward.
Although, the traditional aspects of literacy such as reading, writing, speaking, etc. may not be the same thing as emotions, they still go hand and hand to some extent. For example, without the ability to speak and listen, how else would one be able to hear someone’s reasoning for the way they feel? How would one be able to use words to tell someone why they were mad, happy or sad? Furthermore, having the ability to write can be a good tool for expressing one’s thoughts on paper, a good way to let out inside feelings when they are unable or unwilling to tell them to an actual person. As I continue to meditate on emotional literacy, I am learning the importance it will have on my future teaching career. If I am not emotionally literate, then, how can I teach it to my students? How will I be able to show them and responsibly? How will I help them think positively about themselves? In the article by Allison Aubrey, it shares that depression among students can become an issue if they consistently think negatively about themselves. The article had some easy strategies that I can use with my own future students. For example, it suggested, teaching kids to do positive “self-talk” and reflect back on situations before reacting to disappointing circumstances. This was good insight but it was also quite surprising. I never thought to think that teachers would have to worry about depressive thoughts and feelings in their classrooms. In my field placement, I have not seen any lessons on emotional literacy. It may be a totally new concept for them. If this is the case, they may need extra support such as time and practice in becoming literate in this area. I think that they could really benefit by the practices mentioned above or by just through demonstrations of ‘how to’ and ‘how not to’ treat a person. One website I looked at talked about how emotional literacy is a ‘preventative tool’, meaning, it can prevent negative issues later in life such as violence, abuse, negative social relationships, etc. I think that all students including the ones in my field placement could benefit through this literacy by helping them live more positively altogether.
The technology I chose for this project is a presentation using the Prezi.com website. This is an awesome tool for presenting information more creatively than a traditional power point. It allows me to use reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing in a more stimulating way. I can use the so called ‘canvas’ which gives me an unlimited amount of space to type in the information I wish to present. As I present the information, I can zoom in and out of words or sentences to highlight crucial parts of text. As I present my information, I can talk about my thoughts and ideas in a non linear way since Prezi is also set up non-linearly and is easy to leave my lesson pathway and to talk about additional content. Another thing I can do with the Prezi is to have sounds in my presentation such as music, voices, single sounds, or even video clips. All of these things are very stimulating visually as its main purpose is to help people including teachers, present information or a lesson in a new, not so boring way. There are so many things that can be done with this technology that I think the most challenging thing will be my ability to be my most creative. I want to use the Prezi to its full potential and try to avoid creating something boring.
I think this tool will be great for teaching emotional literacy. It will allow me to use pictures of different emotions. I could even zoom in on the pictures I would like to emphasize. It will also allow me to explore ideas such as depression in students, bullying, etc., in more detail by zooming into hidden icons that hold further information. I can also use a video piece to show different instances of how to handle emotions. I feel that this technology can be very much like reading a book or a piece of text and even writing. For example, you can have a piece of text from a book on your Prezi and deeply analyze it. But instead of looking directly at the page in the book, you are looking at the presentation. As I mentioned before, the teacher can create different size fonts, use bold fonts, or even zoom in on a word or sentence or idea to show the students what should be focused on. In turn, after a student has read a book, instead of writing a traditional book report, they can use the Prezi to show what the book was about. They can create a ‘canvas’ of their thoughts, containing pictures, sounds, timelines, thoughts, ideas, etc. and vividly present t their classmates. If the students in my field placement were learning to use this technology, they would definitely need to work on the skill of determining the main ideas of what they want to present. They will also need to know how to summarize the things they want to add to avoid too much text on their canvas. Additionally, they will need to learn how to speak about what is on their presentation in a clear way. They should also learn how to incorporate pictures, video or sound to help make their presentations come to life.
So far, I haven’t noticed any limitations with this technology. However, I did noticed one downfall, and that is the zooming feature could leave someone a little sick feeling from all the motion. (lol) I say that based on my own experience of exploring a Prezi presentation. I’m not sure if I felt that way after viewing several presentations or if it was just the excessive amount of movement and zooming from a specific part of a presentation. I also noticed that although it remains an incredible tool, it is a lot like a traditional power point. A power point presentation has the potential of displaying all the information listed above BUT, I feel that this technology is still much better. I feel like it captures one’s attention and helps them become more engaged in the information being presented.
Some of the definitions that contrasted to this type of literacy were the ones that mainly focused on technology. Definitions such as “The ability to locate, evaluate, use, and communicate using a wide range of resources including text, visual, audio, and video sources.”, “ The ability to use printed and written information to function in society…” or “a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies-from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms…” Again I think these definitions could convey various interpretations depending on the interpreter. But to me, I think they focus more on technology and using literacy that is visual and hands on. When I think of emotional literacy, I primarily think of communicating information that is not visual...information from deep within a person and expressing it outward.
Although, the traditional aspects of literacy such as reading, writing, speaking, etc. may not be the same thing as emotions, they still go hand and hand to some extent. For example, without the ability to speak and listen, how else would one be able to hear someone’s reasoning for the way they feel? How would one be able to use words to tell someone why they were mad, happy or sad? Furthermore, having the ability to write can be a good tool for expressing one’s thoughts on paper, a good way to let out inside feelings when they are unable or unwilling to tell them to an actual person. As I continue to meditate on emotional literacy, I am learning the importance it will have on my future teaching career. If I am not emotionally literate, then, how can I teach it to my students? How will I be able to show them and responsibly? How will I help them think positively about themselves? In the article by Allison Aubrey, it shares that depression among students can become an issue if they consistently think negatively about themselves. The article had some easy strategies that I can use with my own future students. For example, it suggested, teaching kids to do positive “self-talk” and reflect back on situations before reacting to disappointing circumstances. This was good insight but it was also quite surprising. I never thought to think that teachers would have to worry about depressive thoughts and feelings in their classrooms. In my field placement, I have not seen any lessons on emotional literacy. It may be a totally new concept for them. If this is the case, they may need extra support such as time and practice in becoming literate in this area. I think that they could really benefit by the practices mentioned above or by just through demonstrations of ‘how to’ and ‘how not to’ treat a person. One website I looked at talked about how emotional literacy is a ‘preventative tool’, meaning, it can prevent negative issues later in life such as violence, abuse, negative social relationships, etc. I think that all students including the ones in my field placement could benefit through this literacy by helping them live more positively altogether.
The technology I chose for this project is a presentation using the Prezi.com website. This is an awesome tool for presenting information more creatively than a traditional power point. It allows me to use reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing in a more stimulating way. I can use the so called ‘canvas’ which gives me an unlimited amount of space to type in the information I wish to present. As I present the information, I can zoom in and out of words or sentences to highlight crucial parts of text. As I present my information, I can talk about my thoughts and ideas in a non linear way since Prezi is also set up non-linearly and is easy to leave my lesson pathway and to talk about additional content. Another thing I can do with the Prezi is to have sounds in my presentation such as music, voices, single sounds, or even video clips. All of these things are very stimulating visually as its main purpose is to help people including teachers, present information or a lesson in a new, not so boring way. There are so many things that can be done with this technology that I think the most challenging thing will be my ability to be my most creative. I want to use the Prezi to its full potential and try to avoid creating something boring.
I think this tool will be great for teaching emotional literacy. It will allow me to use pictures of different emotions. I could even zoom in on the pictures I would like to emphasize. It will also allow me to explore ideas such as depression in students, bullying, etc., in more detail by zooming into hidden icons that hold further information. I can also use a video piece to show different instances of how to handle emotions. I feel that this technology can be very much like reading a book or a piece of text and even writing. For example, you can have a piece of text from a book on your Prezi and deeply analyze it. But instead of looking directly at the page in the book, you are looking at the presentation. As I mentioned before, the teacher can create different size fonts, use bold fonts, or even zoom in on a word or sentence or idea to show the students what should be focused on. In turn, after a student has read a book, instead of writing a traditional book report, they can use the Prezi to show what the book was about. They can create a ‘canvas’ of their thoughts, containing pictures, sounds, timelines, thoughts, ideas, etc. and vividly present t their classmates. If the students in my field placement were learning to use this technology, they would definitely need to work on the skill of determining the main ideas of what they want to present. They will also need to know how to summarize the things they want to add to avoid too much text on their canvas. Additionally, they will need to learn how to speak about what is on their presentation in a clear way. They should also learn how to incorporate pictures, video or sound to help make their presentations come to life.
So far, I haven’t noticed any limitations with this technology. However, I did noticed one downfall, and that is the zooming feature could leave someone a little sick feeling from all the motion. (lol) I say that based on my own experience of exploring a Prezi presentation. I’m not sure if I felt that way after viewing several presentations or if it was just the excessive amount of movement and zooming from a specific part of a presentation. I also noticed that although it remains an incredible tool, it is a lot like a traditional power point. A power point presentation has the potential of displaying all the information listed above BUT, I feel that this technology is still much better. I feel like it captures one’s attention and helps them become more engaged in the information being presented.
My New Literacy Project Notes
While researching my new literacy: visual literacy, I am learning a great amount. Initially I had to learn what visual literacy even is. Then I used other resources to dig deeper and understand the components of visual literacy and how you can implement it in today’s classroom.
One of my colleagues posted this definition of literacy:
In broad terms, literacy is the ability to make and communicate meaning from and by the use of a variety of socially contextual symbols. Within various levels of developmental ability, a literate person can derive and convey meaning, and use their knowledge to achieve a desired purpose or goal that requires the use of language skills, be they spoken or written. A literate person can mediate their world by deliberately and flexibly orchestrating meaning from one linguistic knowledge base and apply or connect it to another knowledge base. For example, knowing that letters symbolize sounds, and that those sounds form words to which the reader can attach meaning, is an example of the cognitive orchestration of knowledge, a literate person conducts. Literacy is "not in isolated bits of knowledge but in students' growing ability to use language and literacy in more and broader activities" (Moll, 1994, p. 202).The definition of literacy is dynamic, evolving, and reflects the continual changes in our society. Literacy has, for instance, expanded to include literacy in information and communication technologies and critical literacy (Cunningham, 2000; Harste, 1994; Leu, 2002; Mol1, 1994; Paris, Lipson & Wixson, 1994; Yopp & Singer, 1994).
I really like this definition and some parts of this definition fall in line with visual literacy. The use of the term “socially contextual symbols” falls in line with visual literacy. Visual literacy involves taking in symbols, labels, charts, graphs, images, paintings, comics, and much more. It also says “The definition of literacy is dynamic, evolving, and reflects the continual changes in our society.” This is something that visual literacy is going through today. Visual literacy is very important and necessary to for the future of tomorrow, the children of today to learn. When we continue to not include visual literacy in our classrooms we are hurting our students and pushing them behind.
In order to become literate in visual literacy you have to be able to do standard reading. You need to read the various websites directions to be able to learn how to use them. You need to be able to read the directions on your camera and learn how to change the focus, the color, etc. It is possible to learn about elements of visual literacy such as color, line, zoom, etc. from a video I suppose, but being able to read is essential. You need to be able to communicate verbally with others to learn from their experiences.
I am learning that there are many easy to use this literacy and that you can go much more in depth with visual literacy than I expected. I thought that it would just be about using these new technologies for visual literacy such as making a comic or a video, etc. but there is much more to it. You can learn about colors and lines and other elements of film that effect your images and how your audience perceives them. You can have a discussion about a picture, painting, drawing, anything and talk about how you perceive it and why and how other people perceive the same image and why.
In my placement, visual literacy would be pretty much new to them I think. I know that they have computer time twice a week, and that they play educational games, and have a piano key board that they use on one of the days, I have never seen them create anything though. I have heard students talking about the fact that they have facebooks, and I’m sure they are all pretty good at using computers, as many young people are. I just don’t think that they are physically being exposed to visual literacy and what it means and how they can use it themselves. I do think it would be something that they would all be very interested in though because they all look forward to computer time.
While I am learning about this new literacy: visual literacy, I am reading a lot of articles, watching a lot of videos and listening to people on videos also. When I use my new technology (comics and video) I am having to think about how my audience is perceiving what I am putting into the comic and/or video and how I should set it up so that it is most useful to my audience. I find that planning out my ideas for a comic is very difficult for me. I have never really been into comics and trying to make them interesting is hard for me.
I think I am able to use this technology to communicate ideas about my new literacy fairly well. It is difficult to make the comic in a way that is effective for learning but I think when it is done it is something that students would be very interested in looking at and even more interested in making. My technology limits my ability to teach about my literacy only in that I would want to have links to specific websites that are interactive instead of just typing them and then the viewer would have to go find that website.
Students in my placement classroom would need to be able to listen to directions from a teacher, possibly read directions on a piece of paper instructing them to go to a certain website. They would need to be able to once on the website possibly create a user name, and read even more about how the technology works and what the features of it are. In the case of both a video and a comic they would have to come up with a story, plot, or idea of what they are going to portray in the comic or video. Perhaps they would make up a story, or have it be some sort of informational tool like how I am going to use it.
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