Digital Literacy

Before this class I had never heard of the term ‘digital native’. As soon as we learned the term I figured I was one because technology has always been a part of my life. I have always been very good with technology and am often teaching people how to do things on computers. However, when I took the ‘Digital Native Quiz’ at http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/ digitalnatives/index.htm I realized I was not. I only knew three of the six terms they asked. I did not know what a wiki, modding, or a smart mob was. I had heard the term ‘wiki’ and always figured it was like Wikipedia, which I use often, but never knew a definition of it. This made me realize even though I am familiar with many types of digital literacy, the definition is always expanding as new technology emerges. This is similar to how our literacy definitions we discussed in class are always developing.

For wikis, modding and smart mobs I am in the ‘emergent’ stage of the digital literacy process. I am beginning to understand how these three types of digital literacy can convey meaning to people, but I could not participate or teach someone about these. However, for other types of digital literacy I am fluent. I think the term “emergent” can be applied to this because it is just showing I am lacking information, but am on my way to become literate in these categories. This is similar to how Tompkins’s said the term was developed by New Zealand educator, Marie Clay. I am excited to begin explore these new types of literacy so I can become fluent in them.

"Emergent" Meanings

The digital natives quiz was interesting to me because I was intrigued as to what types of things they would discuss. I have been around computers my whole life due to schools and libraries. The only piece of technology I ever hated was a calculator because it stopped people from learning ways to solve problems. Though, thanks to physics and statistics, I have come to terms with the calculator. I think it had more to do with the fact that the first time I was allowed to use one was in high school. The digital natives quiz showed me how much I know about technology that I would have never before thought of when describing what I know. I always wrote down on résumés for office jobs that I was computer and word efficient. I never realized how all the little things like blogging and wiki-ing could really be used as an asset to companies. I love my computer and video games, and never really thought of them as assets that other people don’t understand. I feel like I am one of the kids of technology that you hear about. And, since I have been surrounded by technology since childhood, am considered a digital native. I don’t feel like “emergent” describes my technology experience because technology didn’t come into my life where I would have had to adapt to it. I have always been working with or surrounded by video games, computers, and cell phones.

There are some similarities between Tompkins’ ideas of emergent literacy for children and emergent digital literacy. Tompkins discusses in his book that emergent literacy for children is when they begin to see the importance, purpose, and usefulness of written language. I feel that emergent digital literacy is the same except it happens to people when they are introduced to technology later in life. For us natives, technology has surrounded us and its usefulness and purpose seems apparent. For emergent digital learners, I feel that it is this same process that children go through in Tompkins’ emergent literacy. Both groups are realizing the importance of something and are learning it so they can utilize it. This “emergent” process is similar to how I sometimes see things in class during discussion. I do not always originally see things as important, but then after starting to learn about them, see their value and learn as much as I can. An example is when we learned all the different discussion techniques in class. At first I thought that leading a discussion couldn’t be as complex as the articles made it sound, and that all the authors sounded like they were saying the same thing. After seeing the videos with the teachers reading to students, I wondered how the one teacher could be so ignorant of what she was doing. My reasoning became, “If a seasoned teacher could fall into this trap, then I could to. There must be something important about this discussion thing.” I then reread the articles and paid more attention to what was going on. I could be considered an emergent learner of discussion techniques. Hopefully that makes sense. I would hate to have missed the boat on that one.

Digital Native or Immigrant?

Before taking the digital natives quiz, I thought I would score well. Technology has been part of my life for many years now. I feel like I use technology in my everyday life, and it is now part of my daily routine. After taking the quiz, I realized that I am a digital native. The only word that I did not recognize on the digital native quiz was “smart mobs”, and therefore I would say that I am a digital native. I guess this term fits me well because I see technology, such as my computer and cell phone as my friends, not my enemies. So after taking this quiz, I feel like the term “emergent” does not apply to my own digital literacy. I have been exposed to technology for a long time now. I was fortunate enough to have a computer course in high school, and I think that is why I feel so comfortable using a computer. Also, taking CEP 416 really introduced me to new technology systems that we as teachers can use, some of which were terms listed in the digital natives quiz (wikis, blogs, Google maps, web portfolios, and digital storytelling).

When I think about applying the term “emergent” to my own digital literacy, I take in consideration Tompkins definition of “emergent” literacy for children. Tompkins defines emergent literacy as the stage in which, “young children gain an understanding of the communicative purpose of print, and they move from pretend reading to reading repetitive books and from using scribbles to simulate writing to writing patterned sentences” (p. 89). Since I have been using technology from a young age, I have long developed an interest for and understanding of how technology can be used for a variety of purposes. I have been using email and instant messaging for a while now, so much that it has just become part of my everyday routine. So, if I had to classify myself, I would say that I am “fluent” in digital literacy. I have taken many courses about technology, including computer programs such as Word and Excel, and feel like I know how to use them very well. Just like Tompkins states that “fluent readers use comprehension strategies effectively”, when I come across a problem with technology, I am not afraid to ask questions. However, I usually can figure out a problem by myself through trial and error. Just like a “fluent” reader is able to make connections, such as text-to-text, I am able to make connections with technology. For example, if I am trying to figure out Microsoft Word, I can use many techniques that I have learned from Microsoft PowerPoint and apply it to Microsoft Word. So, I am able to use strategies from learning one technology, and apply it to learning a new technology. From our readings and class discussions, “emergent” readers are just starting out and have difficulty comprehending text. Therefore, an “emergent” digital learner may show interest in technology but would pretend to know how to use it. For that reason, I would classify myself as a “fluent” digital learner and hope to use my knowledge of technology in my classroom. It is our job as educators to, “identify learning strategies that are appropriate for Digital Natives, recognizing the different ways they process information and developing learning tools that maximize the potential of their unique learning approach”. This will be a challenge for many teacher’s, but very important to help children succeed in learning to their full potential.

Scaffolding in the Classroom

In terms of today's readings, I found the assigned Gibbons portions to be particularly thought-provoking; for example, I was impressed with Gibbon's illustration of the importance of purposefully utilizing information gaps as a way to propel students into meaningful discussion. Student centered discussions have been a large part of my college career, whether it be in my education, english, or james madison classes. My teachers would typically introduce the topic of the day and then open the floor for us to comment and/or question the material. However, the discussion would often lose its vigor in the middle or before the end of class, mainly because no one had explicit responsibility to talk on a specific portion of the topic. So perhaps it would have been better if we had the expert and home groups that Gibbons refers to, as that would have forced everyone to actively engage with the material. 

I also have not been placed in the field yet, but I think that all of the suggestions in Tompkins and Gibbons would be excellent methods for student scaffolding. I particularly like the suggestions where students basically train themselves or work with fellow peers, such as Tompkins' idea of utilizing portfolios as self assessments and Gibbons' suggestions of group and pair activities in the classroom. I think every student will obviously need a tailored version of scaffolding but I do believe that Gibbons' concept of teacher-guided reporting is an excellent overall approach on how to guide students to their maximum growth. The main question that I had wondered as I was reading Gibbons and Tompkins was with what age groups/grade levels I would use their respective strategies; however, I do feel that teacher-guided reporting can be considered a scaffolding strategy for all learners. 

Classroom Talk

I think it is important to involve recitation, teacher-guided reporting and response-centered discussion in all classroom settings. I have not received my field placement so I am interested to see if (and how) my CT incorporates all of these types of discussion. Throughout my last four years at Michigan State most of my classes have been recitation. I always figured this was because my concentration is integrated science so I take many large science lectures. Last year, I took my first science class (SME 320) that was not primarily recitation. The teacher stimulated a lot of response-centered discussion and a lot of times would leave us wondering and wanting to know more about the topic being discussed. SME 320 ended up being one of my favorite classes and I learned more than any other class I have ever taken here at State. However, I think recitation does have an important place in all classrooms. I know I could never have a response-centered discussion about the composition of molecules in chemistry, until I was provided enough background knowledge through recitation. One reason I think SME 320 response-centered discussions were so successful is because we all had taken the prerequisites so we had a lot of the background information needed. A lot of TE classes have also always been response-centered talk. My TE 250 teacher was great at getting discussion started and then wouldn’t say anything for an hour and we’d still be going making valid points about the reading and expanding it to what we saw in our field placements.

In my future classes I would like to help my students participate in meaningful response-centered discussions. I like how Gibbons says how participating in group discussions “serve as an effective prompt of learning and helps students develop a sense of personal worth and responsibility” (p. 26). I think the sense of responsibility makes students feel proud and they start to pay attention more so they can fulfill this responsibility. I also really liked the teacher-guided reporting Gibbons discussed in Chapter 2. I think this is a great way to provide scaffolding that allows the student to clarify his/her idea they are reporting to the class. In past field placements I have seen teachers do this with explaining how they solved a math problem. I always noticed how it kept the students attention better than when the teacher explained a problem. I cannot wait to start field so I can see how these ideas are incorporated into the classroom. =)

Discussion in the Classroom

Thinking back on all the classes that I have taken here at MSU, I have to say that it is really the types of classes that have different discussion techniques. For example, in my science and math classes it is all just recitation type discussions. In my experience, it has been the IAH and writing classes that have really promoted response-centered discussion techniques. To me, it makes sense because in science there is a lot more ROTE learning occurring and repetition helps you to remember things. In IAH classes, there is always a lot about what did you read, what did you think of it, and what types of connections did you make. In the sciences, they don’t care whether you connected with the material; they just want to make sure that they gave it to you.

This is not how I would like my own class to be. I know that when I connect to material, it comes more naturally to me and remembering it isn’t such a chore. I think that if you can actively engage students without just meaningless repetition, then they will be more apt to participate and learn. I worked in a preschool that believed in learn through play, and it really does work. When you engage the students and their mind, learning occurs. I believe that response-centered talk is one of these activities that engage the students and their minds. The teachers roll is to scaffold by answering questions that may arise during discussion, to keep the discussion on track, and to ensure that students all feel welcome in the discussion. It is the teacher’s duty to set the tone of the discussion and make sure the goal of the discussion is attainable and reached.

I believe McGee and Gibbons would have agreed with the last statement I jsut made. The teacher’s roll is not to be leading the discussion constantly, but to make sure that the students are prepared for the discussion and have a clear goal. They believe that meaningful learning through discussion just doesn’t occur by itself in a large group setting, it does need direction, but it doesn’t need to be taken control of. It is similar to what occurs in our own TE401 classroom. When we talk as a group, it helps us sort out our own thoughts and logic. The teacher is there to help steer us back on track and give support when thoughts are not expressed clearly or miscues go unnoticed.

Talk in the Classroom

Since I have not gotten my field placement yet, I am going to focus on the talk that occurs in my university classes and that I have noticed from my previous field placements. In most of my university classes, a recitation type discussion usually occurs. However, my CT teacher last year really incorporated response-centered talk into her classroom. Rather than recalling known information, she strived to have the children discover and construct a new understanding about literature. Instead of reciting facts and information from the story, the students were able to make connections and use their previous background knowledge to reflect on the story. After watching the two videos in class on Tuesday, I can say that my previous CT was just like the second teacher in the video. Unlike the students in the first video, my previous CT’s students were always engaged while she was reading a story. When asking a question during the story, she would always pause and let the children have a chance to answer the question. If a child got stuck on their answer, she would explain to the students how she was going to call on another classmate to help them out. The students all knew that they could build on what each other said, and no answer was a wrong answer. I felt that my previous CT did a very good job in engaging every child in the discussion. Since she made every student feel comfortable, they were not afraid to answer, even the shy students.

I believe that it is very important for a teacher to know how to incorporate “good” talk into their classroom. According to McGee, “Good talk can do more than provide children with a forum for showing what they know; it can provide a space for children to learn – an opportunity to develop and use reasoning and problem-solving”. Both McGee and Gibbons both stress the point that productive talk does not just happen, it needs to be deliberately and systematically planned out. So before a response-centered talk takes place, the teacher needs to carefully plan out how she wants to start the talk. In order for response centered talk to begin, the teacher needs to begin with an open-ended question, encouraging comments from all students. Additionally, the teacher needs to set rules and expectations before beginning the discussion. The teacher is not supposed to evaluate the correctness of a child’s response, but rather encourage all students to participate in the discussion.

Also, just like McGee stated, it is very important for children to set the agenda for a response centered talk, having their comments initiate topics for discussion. I think this is what worked so well for my previous CT. Just by observing the students, it was clear to me that they really were able to set the agenda for the discussion, allowing them to feel more comfortable and confident in the discussion. During response centered talk, children are really able to build off of one another and create a common understanding of the book. One reason that I don’t think some teachers do well with response centered talk is because they have a hard time standing back, not talking, and letting the students take control of the discussion. However, if needed, the teacher should step in and provide guidance to the students, raise the level of talk, or make explicit the children’s thinking.

I believe that there will be children in my classroom that need particular types of scaffolding. In order for a response centered talk to take place, children need to be willing to talk in the discussion. However, if a child is an ELL, they might not feel comfortable of confident to speak. In this case, the teacher might need to call on them during the discussion and help them out while they answer. Just like in my university classes now, there are many “shy” students who never participate in the discussion. On the other hand, there are many “loud” students who never are quiet during a discussion. So, I believe it will be very important for the teacher to make sure that everyone is equally participating in the discussion.

ELL and Diversity

I feel that diversity is extremely important in classrooms. There are many forms of diversity and I know that it was not until high school when I realized that diversity was more than having multiple races in one classroom. Each person adds to the diversity of the learning environment, and I think that it the students know that, they will be more willing to share ideas. I think that if students know that I value what they say then they will be quicker to start to respect each other. I feel no different about an ELL student than I do about other students. They all have something to contribute to the group. I would encourage them to share with me and the other students as much as possible about their own culture and ideas. Depending on the language skill of the student, this could be difficult or fairly easy. No matter the skill though, it could increase literacy of the ELL student and encourage conversation among the other students. I really agree with Gibbons on combining the subjects. Having an ELL student could allows me to do a geography lesson or a lesson on other cultures due to questions that they have incited in other students during conversation. Literacy can definitely be added as well such as write down your own family culture, family tree, family story, etc. You can also expand your classroom library to include books on other cultures and assign each student or group of students and different one to report to the class about. I want everyone to feel welcome in my learning environment, and I feel that since diversity is important it is worth spending some time on. Also, if the students feel welcome and bring that home to their parents, then their parents will feel more at ease coming to me. Having a good relationship with the parents will only help me more in understanding the child’s zone of proximal development and how to help them individually the most. It will also help me to have an ally at the student’s home that will continue to encourage the student and reinforce what I am trying to accomplish.

Learning about Diversity in my Future Classroom

In light of today's readings, I felt that Almasi and Goldenberg brought up excellent points on the value of student-led discussion; student-led discussion is one of the goals that I am striving to achieve as a teacher.Two of the authors' key phrases that I would like to focus on are "scaffolding" and  "analysis of a student's process". I feel that those two phrases are definitely excellent methods for attaining about multiple perspectives and learning about one's students. 

While I do feel that ELLs constitute a significant factor of diversity, I ultimately believe that every child inherently contributes to the diversity in the room, because no two children are absolutely identical. Thus reading both articles made me think less about individual ELLs and minority cultures in the US. Rather, these articles turned my focus more towards what is best for my future class, which will probably be a mix of students who struggle constantly and struggle less with reading. 

It's honestly a hard question to ponder, because I agree with Goldenberg that constructivist and explicit learning are both necessary. We have talked in both sections of TE 401 on how important it is to challenge our students with critical thinking and not underestimate their intelligence. Yet I am still wondering how to achieve this fine balance of scaffolding. For example, if I attempted to do an instructional conversation (which is similar to Almasi's conceptualization of an 'authentic discussion'), I am not sure how effectively it would occur in a room where the whole class is struggling with reading (I am planning to work in a resource room) . Obviously time and practice with these discussions would allow students to grow; I have seen that in my own volunteering. 

But what would be most effective? Should I break the class into groups with the constant strugglers in one group and those who struggle less in another? This seems inherently discriminatory and unfair; moreover, it seems to go against the articles' arguments, as the students are supposed to encourage one another and bring each other to greater understanding. Yet working with ELL students and students who have less familiarity with English has taught me that if they do not have the correct building blocks (how to read a sentence, what whole paragraphs mean, etc), they will often give up in frustration. I know that as a teacher, this is my analysis of a student's process comes into play. I truly do not want to create a threatening atmosphere for any of my students where they no longer want to learn. So I am relying on the belief that involving students in their own assessments will result in beneficial consequences for all.

Diversity

Growing up the schools I attended where the complete opposite of diverse. 99% of the school’s population was white upper-middle class. So not until college did I start to really learn about other cultures. From meeting people I have realized cultures are developed from ethnic, regional and class background. In grades K-12, I never knew any ELLs. When I did my first placement at Red Cedar Elementary, which is known as a “flower-pot” school, was the first time I had any interaction with an ELL. I am learning so much through our readings and wish I would have known this before. For teaching ELLs I always thought it was important to teach English before the curriculum, now I know from Gibbons how detrimental that method is. It is important to combine English learning with the curriculum.

As a teacher I never want to exclude a child, so I plan on learning as much as I can about their culture. I remember in a previous TE reading (I’m not sure if it was from this class) I read about a teacher who met with each student’s family before the first day of school. At first I thought this sounded crazy, but I saw how big of an impact it made on her teaching style. By seeing her students’ cultural backgrounds she was able to develop her classroom curriculum around everyone’s needs. Another example of diversity in the classroom is the video clip we viewed in class, when the teacher read the Chinese picture book. I believe all students should have an appreciation of other cultures and this should be always present in the classroom. This was a perfect way to do this, especially since she related it to a story (the Gingerbread Man) that many of the students knew. The type of discussion it sparked made the children recognize their own culture and share with other students.

I think at the beginning of the year students are often hesitant of their teachers. So to make the students feel comfortable I would want to make my classroom very inclusive. To get to know students from a multiple perspective I would first observe them with their other classmate, and during class discussion. I think it is also important to talk with students one on one. In my TE 301 placement my CT would call over students during lessons and just talk to them. This was sometimes about the topic, but usually just about random things. This allowed her to get to know the student on a personal level and allowed the student to feel very comfortable with talking to her. This also allowed her to see their literacy needs, in the speaking and listening components.

Quick Question

Does anyone know if we are allowed to edit previous post?  I realized I had a few grammar errors in my last post that I did not catch before I posted it. 

Thanks! =)

Diversity in the Classroom

When I become a teacher, I believe that it will be very important to learn about the diversity in the classroom and get to know my students from multiple perspectives. The first thing that I need to do as a teacher is to assess all the ELL’s and determine which category they fall under. I believe it is very important to get to know your students so that you can use that knowledge to help construct your teaching lessons. Just like discussed in class, I believe the culture of a person determines how we think, believe, behave, teach, and learn. Additionally, the culture of a person is learned, shared, and continually changing. So, on the first day of class, I would do some kind of “get to know you activity”. For example, I could have the students go around the room and say three facts about themselves. Also, I can remember when I was younger, my teacher would create a worksheet that had facts, such as “I have a cat” or “I have a brother”. Then, we had to go around the room and find people who had these certain facts and they would sign their name. This was a good way for me to meet all my classmates, learn about their culture, and interact with them. Because I had such a good experience with this activity, I think I would use it in my future classroom. Also, I really like the “I Am From” Poems that we discussed in class this week. I think this is a great way for me as a teacher to learn about my students and their background. It allows the students to express themselves, while at the same time gives me the knowledge that I need to know about my students. Then, I could take that knowledge and find books, activities, or assignments that fit the interest of that specific student. All of these activities would benefit me as well as the students getting to know one another.

Also, after reading chapters from the Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning book by Pauline Gibbons, I learned that language learning is not a linear process, but involves learners in developing language in an increasing range of contexts. Additionally, Gibbons states that learning is essentially collaborative and social, and that both teacher and students are partners in this collaborative learning. So, in order to make an impact in my students learning I believe it is very important for me to learn about their specific culture. By doing this, I can build on what the student already knows and provide scaffolding that is responsive to the needs of students who do not know how to do a certain task. In order to achieve this I could use activities stated in the Lenski article, such as predictability logs or alternative assessments. Lastly, to learn more about the diversity in my classroom, I might do a unit on a specific culture. After completing the unit, I would have each student write a paper about their specific culture and then have them share it to the class. I believe that it is very important for children, as well as teachers, to be exposed and learn about many different cultures.

Defining Literacy

As stated in my first post, I am biased to the social action perspective, thus my understanding of literacy centered around individuals being able to fully comprehend the oral and written products of language while being able to succinctly articulate their own response to the world around them, especially in terms of issues of injustice.



As stated by others in my blogging group, last week's TE 401 class personally reinforced that literacy is a multi-faceted term. Thus I would say that my definition of literacy has expanded after our class discussion, as I now see literacy as an integral part of emerging and current domains of knowledge.



In terms of our class readings, I would argue that our current class readings on ELLs and AAVE reinforced the importance of not holding on to traditional forms of literacy-both articles reinforced the vital fact that by using non-traditional approaches to literacy, there is a greater likelihood that students will achieve deeper understandings of literacy. I personally have wondered about the merits and disadvantages of utilizing AAVE in the classroom, thus I found Wheeler &Swords's argument for comparing and contrasting AAVE and SE to be invaluable-it matched perfectly with my ideal of allowing all groups to have a voice in their own learning process. Thus I am determined to add this 'comparison and contrast' lingustical approach to my own pedagogy. On a similar note, I found Lenski's argument for collaborative and non-threatening approaches to ELL teaching to be very compelling, as my most productive tutoring sessions with ELLs have mirrored this argument. Lastly, as a minority student in primarily Caucasian schools, I firmly agree with the necessity of authentic reading material for each child. Thus I would say that both articles reinforced the core themes of my ideal learning environment. Obviously I would love to have the maximum amount of resources in my ideal literacy environment, but often times that is not possible due to the school's respective limitations. As long as I am able to strive towards ideals such as alternative assessments for each child and teaching every child the value of codeswitching, I would be satisfied.

My definition of Literacy

I knew that literacy encompassed a lot of different aspects and categories, but I thought it was interesting in the concept of teaching technology. Looking back on my earlier education, I never realized how all of those computer classes Incorporated other concepts of my education such as math and English. I realize now that many of the subjects taught in school, especially during the earlier grades are integrated together and have a lot to do with the teaching of literacy.
I thought that it was really interesting to see how everybody's definition in class was different. I noted that the biggest difference was how specific some of the definitions were while others were extremely broad (which is the category where my group fell into). I never really thought of listening as part of literacy. I knew it was a component, but I never counted it as its own category. After discussing it, I see that it is a very integral part of literacy and has much of its own components to take into account. My linguistics class has especially shown me how complicated what we hear can be.
Along with the definitions of literacy offered in class, I realized that my own personal definition was missing quite a few components. I believed literacy was the ability to comprehend and proficiency in the use of written and spoken language. I now see how outdated my definition is and how the definition is always changing as we find more teaching methods and our own world changes. Things like technology literacy, left out in my definition, have an extreme pertinence in today's literacy teaching, yet didn't only a few short decades ago. And, with this technology comes a whole new group of literary elements to explain such as the informal and formal e-mail, instant messaging, and text message. You can also see this same comparison by Gibbons in one of our readings, though I cannot find the exact page.
Everything that I have read and that we have talked about, have shown me that it is nearly impossible to make a "correct" definition of literacy. It would be extremely hard to even incorporate most of the literacy concepts, let alone all of the other ones that are still researched or barely known. Somebody will always challenge and disagree with your definition, and I have come to terms with that. It is important to continue to challenge these definitions. Every child learns and encodes differently. It is our jobs as teacher to ever expand our definitions of these concepts so that we will forever try and reach those students that just don't get it yet.

Literacy

I never realized how controversial the definition of literacy is until our class discussion last Tuesday. I always just thought of literacy as being proficient in reading, writing and speaking, thus allowing one to understand written or oral language. However, after last week’s readings and discussions I realized this definition is lacking a lot of the essential parts of literacy. I was surprised when Becky told us there were five components of literacy, because I never thought of listening and viewing as literacy. Gail E. Tompkins also discusses these five components in “Literacy for the 21st Century- A Balanced Approach.” (Pg. 11) It also discusses how some teachers relate literacy to different topics such a “computer literacy.” This way of using literacy seems relative to fluency. I now realize how important it is to realize the definition of literacy is always advancing and changing. Pauline Gibbons discusses this in her book, “Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning” when she compares the definition of literacy in the late 1930’s to her present day definition. Literacy is so important in our everyday world and is very difficult to complete small tasks without being literate. I think it is important I continue to change my definition so I do not leave out any essential components. After the reading I believe critical literacy is another part I often overlook. I never thought elementary children could relate to, such serious social topics as young as first grade like Christine H. Leland’s article, “Out of the Box: Critical Literacy in a First-Grade Classroom.”

I am not sure what my ideal literacy-learning environment would look like. When I read this question I just sat and thought about it for a half an hour and all that came to mind was with other people. I am a very social learner. I like to be able to ask question, share ideas and relate experiences with literacy. This helps me comprehend. However, while reading I prefer a quiet, comfy place or else I get distracted easily. I think as my definition of literacy progresses so will my ideal-literacy learning environment.

Literacy

Just like we discussed in class, my definition of literacy is constantly changing. As time progresses, my definition of literacy gets longer and more intense. For example, since our society is becoming so technological advanced, I would now include the ability to be technological literate in my literacy definition. Before taking many TE classes here at Michigan State, including TE 401, my definition of literacy was simply the ability to read, write, speak and listen in an environment. After reading all of the articles this past week, I do not think I could write one definition of literacy. There are so many different aspects of literacy, causing my definition to be hundreds of pages long! For instance, in my definition, I would include the many different components of literacy. These components include comprehension, fluency, genre, sound letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Additionally, I believe that if a student understands literacy, they will be able to impact their lives and the lives of others. Also, after reading the Cambourne article, I believe all of Cambourne’s conditions of learning are very important for literacy. For instance, expectations are very important to have in a classroom. Without expectations in a classroom, students have no goals for themselves and will not know what they need to accomplish by the end of the year. In addition, employment is another important condition for learning. I do not believe that learning should stop after the students leave the classroom. Learning should be a 24/7 process that continues on at home. Also, students should be able to use what they learn at school and apply it to real life situations.

My ideal literacy learning environment would be very welcoming and contain a wide variety of materials. I want my students to feel comfortable and safe in the classroom. They need to know that it is ok to take risks and no one will laugh at you if you say a wrong answer or ask a question. In my classroom, I want to contain a wide variety of books, allowing me to meet the needs of all my students. For example, after reading the Leland article, I believe it is very important to contain books of critical literature in your classroom. It is the job of the teacher to pick books that are appropriate for the grade level that they are teaching. I believe it is beneficial for children to be exposed to issues that are going on in the real world. Students are interested in different things, so I want to make sure that I have something for everyone. In addition to books, I would have computers in my classroom. Technology is become very advanced these days, and I believe it is important for every student to learn how to use a computer. Also, I would set up a private, quiet library area, allowing students who want to read independently to do so. In addition to a reading area, I would have a writing center in my classroom. Writing is a big part of literacy, and in this center I would allow students to free write stories. If children get an opportunity to write about something that interests them, they will enjoy doing so. As this class progresses, I believe that I will learn more ideas of what my literacy learning environment should look like. Finally, I know that by the end of this class, my idea of literacy will be expanded even more.

Goals for TE 401

I have been looking forward to this course because college has made an increasingly passionate advocate for literacy in all settings. I want to help my students grow in their understanding of all types of texts as well as in their ability to articulate this growing understanding. I feel that this course will definitely help me in achieving this vision, as there is much that I need to learn. As we have all stated, this course allows us to gain further field experience and hands-on skills such as lesson planning. I am hoping to gain greater familiarity with some of the course objectives; for instance, I am particularly excited to explore technology with the New Literacies project, as I am very unfamiliar with new technologies that can be used in elementary classrooms. Volunteering in resource rooms has shown me the multiple benefits of using tecnology in special education, as working with students on digital material often produced writing and reading comprehension at a much higher level as opposed to working with the same students on non-digital material.

In terms of 401's reading material, I am very excited to learn more about English Language Learners-for instance, I would like to learn more about ELL's respective learning styles and how a teacher can be most useful in a classroom that is mixed with ELL children as well as non ELL children. I would also like to learn more about the benefits of different reading perspectives, as I am biased to the social action perspective. I want to be as unbiased as possible and attempt to equally utilize the reader response perspective, criticial perspective, and interactive perspective in my lessons on literacy. Lastly, I would love to learn more about different reading strategies; the literary diagnostic that we took reinforced how important this knowledge will be for me, as I truly want to provide invidualized learning for each student on a daily basis in order to facilitate each student's maxium success.

TE 401 Goals

I’m really looking forward to TE 401 because I am hoping it teaches me a lot of the aspects of teaching I do not believed were covered in our previous teaching courses. In previous TE classes we have learned a lot about the child psychology and cultural diversity, but have not really learned a lot about how to actually teach. I am hoping in this class to develop methods and strategies to teach students. I also am hoping to learn how to write lesson plans, since I still have not wrote one in my three years at Michigan State. I am excited about learning more about literacy. Out of all the TE classes, TE 348 was my favorites since it introduced me to a lot of the concepts of literacy. When I was filling out the literacy diagnostic I realized I did not remember many of these. I really want to learn many different ways of teaching children how to read. During my previous placements I had trouble helping students learn how to read and am eager to learn how I could help them improve. I am hoping during this semester I learn fun activities for my classroom that include these literacy concepts. When I was in elementary school, Language Arts was my least favorites subject. I am hoping to make sure no student in my class feels like this. I had trouble comprehending what I read until my parents hired a tutored to help me. This was because my teacher only taught one method to our class. I want to make sure I will be able to help all the students within my class. Another goal of mine for this semester is to see how children develop their writing and ways to teach this. I hope TE 401 will help me become more confident in teaching Literacy in the future.

Goals for TE 401

Well, I have to say that I didn't really know what to expect from TE401. There has been only one TE class that I have actually enjoyed a lot and that has been the educational psychology course TE150. I am interested in understanding how children learn. After graduation I hope to study the meta cognitive development of children ages 8-12. I would like to show that the original ages for what is believed to be the beginning of abstract thinking has actually been offset and is now occurring at an earlier age. Or, at least proving that environment changes in the school systems over the past few decades have altered what children know and how they are getting information to encode in hopes of bettering our present educational systems even more. So my goals for this class are purely to get a better understanding of how literacy is built up through the grades and the methods used for teaching. This way I will have a better knowledge of possible ways that children encode information while learning literacy concepts. And, hopefully I can find even more ways to teach kids that struggle in the conventional methods of teaching. Also, since what I want to do will require a lot of field work, I will need to know these concepts anyway.

Goals for the semester!

Carrie Adrahtas:
When I found out that our last TE course focuses on four main subjects, I had always hoped that I would cover literacy first. I believe that literacy is a major foundation in which learning can be based on and other subjects can be built on. Throughout the years, I have begun to develop my teaching philosophy. While taking this course, my goal is to expand my teaching philosophy, including more points about helping second language learners and teaching with technology. Additionally, in this course I hope to learn how to teach literacy to a diverse number of abilities. Not every student learns alike, and I hope to learn many different strategies in which I can teach literacy to multiple students of different abilities. Also, as our internship year is fast approaching, I hope to figure out what kind of learning community that I want to develop in my classroom. If I think about that now, I can try to apply it to some of my field work this year and next. In my field work, I’m sure I will see a diverse number of learners, and I want to learn how to meet all of their individual needs. Furthermore, since technology is becoming advanced and very important in the classroom, I hope to learn in this class ways in which I can incorporate technology into my literacy lessons. I hope to learn about different technology programs, such as wiki, blogs, Google calendars, and others. Before I can incorporate technology into my classroom, I need to be familiar and know how to use the programs. Also, in this class I hope to start to develop my pedagogy, especially while I am in my field placement classroom. In order to develop my pedagogy, I will need to develop knowledge of curriculum, planning, and assessment. To be honest, I have never really been taught how to write a lesson plan. So, my main goal in this class is to learn and even be modeled how to write a lesson plan. In all my previous teaching classes here at MSU, not one of them has explained how to write a lesson plan! Also, I hope to be familiar with the English language arts State and National Curriculum Frameworks. These frameworks are the foundation for teaching, and I believe that they are very important to know. Lastly, I hope to engage in ongoing self assessment in this class. I believe it is very important for me to understand myself as a learner before I can become a good teacher. I want to better understand my past experiences so that I can determine whether or not they would benefit students in my classroom. Overall, I am looking forward to learning a lot in this class in which I can apply in my future classrooms. The field experience will only benefit me and provide first hand experience of being in a classroom. I am looking forward to this semester and can not believe this is my last teaching class before I graduate!