New Literacies Exploration Reflection

In doing my New Literacies Exploration project I chose to research social literacy. For my new technology I chose to do blogs. I chose social literacy because it is something I am very passionate about. I am a very social person and any means of communication and expressing and sharing of ideas I am for. I felt that because I had only a handful of experiences on blogging (which come from blogging in this class) had lead me to make my own blog and display its importance of social literacy.
In my blog I created a visual display of the importance of social literacy and provided various examples of various technologies you can add to your blog. I can honestly say I enjoyed doing this project.
Even in the beginning of the year when making our Literacy Concept Maps, I had no idea about the numerous types of literacies that there are. I was so focused that literacy only consisted of reading and writing that I was enthralled after reading the article, "Literacy for the 21st Century Language Learner". I learned so much from that article and my knowledge grew even more after looking at my classmates' exploration projects. (Which were all so informational and well thought out!)
But, in doing this project it made me realize the importance of social literacy. That we all have ideas and feelings and for one to express them why not use technology. This class is a great example of incorporating blogs and social literacy. As students and future teachers we are able to post our knowledge, thoughts, feelings, ideas, ect on a page that not only our classmates can view but people around the globe. We are learning and creating valuable knowledge from other's blog posts. Plus, you are not only limited to reading such a blog post but you have the opportunity to add comments. I think this is a great way to start conversation with one another and extends the social literacy aspect again.
Thinking ahead as a future I know I will want to incorporate blogs in my classroom. Although younger elementary studens may not grasp the concept of blogging and of course the idea of typing comes first I could always have a blog as an informational Classroom Page. It could be News from Miss.Brewer's Class or something like that. Just adding information about what is going on and letting not only the students have access to read and maybe add something but being able to keep the social part/communication alive between the teacher and parents.
Also, if I am wanting to do high school special education I could definitely use this as another classroom news page or have the students work with blogging and sharing their own ideas and feelings. Options are not limited with blogging and voicing one's ideas.

Overall, I think this has been a great exploration. I have learned a lot from classmate's ideas and their projects. I am very happy with the new knowledge I now have and will definitely incorporate these new literacies in my classroom. Also, it is important not to lose focus on the various technologies that we have explored. Doing this project has shown how crucial it is to incorporate technology into everyday learning. With technology and literacy emerging it is our job as future teachers to stay on the rise and use what we know and learn to teach our students.

Vocabulary In My Classroom

How Vocabulary is Taught and Used in Third Grade

How do you utilize Vocab
• Notebook with adult writings
• Word Wall
• Individual word list
• Before spelling tests does vocabulary activities (similarities between words)
• During spelling tests teacher will say a word and one student will come up with a sentence using that word (ownership)
• Tests (Matching, word banks, ect)
• Vocabulary words with object in the classroom
• Ring with vocabulary and picture for ELL students
• Mini lessons
• Work sheets
• When reading a novel and when they come across a word they don’t understand they will write it in a reading log or writing journal and have time to look up the vocabulary word

I really enjoyed the classroom discussion on vocabulary. How I feel it is so important to teach and display vocabulary. Especially at my school with a majority of the students being ESL and ELLs.
I also enjoyed the grade group discussions beacuse I was able to see various ways different grade levels encounter vocabulary.

Finally Taught Lesson!

On March 12 I was able to teach my literature based discussion lesson. I used a book called Thunder Cake which was suggested to read and use by my CT. But, after reading through it and thinking about my lesson and a literature discussion I thought this book would be perfect for my class. (A majority of my students have come from a different country and are now living in Michigan because of their family's jobs, school, ect. Thunder Cake is about a grandmother who came from Russia but is now living in Michigan where her granddaughter is visiting and fears thunder storms. Like all kids and most all humans have fears. I thought this was another connection to my students that they could relate to the characters in the book.)
Overall, I thought my lesson went great. I believe the students held a great literature based discussion. They are always so eager to answer questions and participate in class discussions. They enjoyed sharing their fears not only with a small group but in a whole group discussion.
At the end of the lesson I brought cookies for the students. It was a way of saying thank you for sharing your fears and having the courage to share them with me, too. They really liked the cookies and I was really encouraged with again their eagerness to learn.
My students are amazing and I am so happy they were such a great set of students participating and sharing.