The New Literacy

I had the opportunity this week to chaperone the History Fair at Utah State. As part of this fair middle schoolers from Northern Utah wrote papers, created websites, put together documentaries, gave presentations, and put together project boards about people and events in history that they thought were turning points. It was fun to see the creativity and ingenuity of the students. What was even more surprising for me were the digital projects. When I was in junior high many years ago I would not have had the technology or know how to create a web site or a documentary. Seeing both of these projects both done and done well reinforced to me the importance of having technology in the classroom as well as helping students develop a digital literacy.

Granted I am not the most technologically literate. Most elementary students could run circles around me with what they know about technology. I cannot deny that technology is present in everything we do from smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Most jobs today revolve around technology. Students therefore need to learn how to use it for more than updating their status or tweeting their friends.

This leads to the big question of how. How do I help students use technology when I barely know how? How does technology fit into the traditional curriculum especially in subjects like English and History?

After doing some searching I found some answers. I found the following article on Student Pulse, an online journal. Incorporating Technology Into the Modern English Classroom In this article, the author discusses "remix" a type of learning where students take their background knowledge and a text and express their new understanding. The article suggests many ways this remix can be done using technology. One teacher had her students create comics while another had his students create movie trailers using the website animoto.com. The benefit of doing projects like this is an increase in interest from students who get to use their knowledge to create something the whole world will see.

There are many different websites as well for social studies teachers.
Center for History and News Media
Virtual Museums/Field Trips
Film and History
Teaching History

There are many ways to make learning more interesting by building on what students already know. I leave you with a student created documentary for your viewing pleasure.
Uncle Sam's Ace Insect Hunter

The Shoulds and Should Nots of Classroom Management

Clinicals this semester have opened my eyes to many things. One of which being classroom management. I have seen some wonderful classrooms and some not so wonderful classrooms. There are many factors that have been common factors in the wonderful classrooms. These have included clear boundaries and consequences, clear procedures, getting to know students and letting them get to know you (who wants to learn from a stranger?), letting students know why both you and they are doing what you are doing, and working with both the strengths and weaknesses of students to help them get the most out of their education. All of this boils down to trust. If students feel that they can trust a teacher, they are willing to do what he or she says. One instance of classroom management occurred in my clinicals the other day. A student who has a lot of energy was rocking back and forth in his chair. Instead of telling the student to stop what he was doing in front of the class my cooperating teacher pulled him aside before the class ended and talked to him about not rocking back in his chair but to get up and walk around the room instead. This instance taught me a lot of things. It is important to know students to understand why they do the things they do. Is it because they struggle to focus? Are they hungry, tired, stressed, sad? I feel that many times teachers lose patience with these types of students and force them to sit still and quiet. I love the idea of letting my students with the wiggles walk around to refocus. Such a simple and painless solution for every one involved!

I am so excited/terrified to have a classroom and students of my own. I am glad that I have had some good examples of what to do. Maybe now my students won't tear me apart.