Changing Literacies; Changing Pedagogies

Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices Chapter 7
"The students' presentation of their classroom experience suggested that schools, and individual teachers within them, were at different stages in their integration of technology within the curriculum." (Burnett, p. 121).
This statement is true for a lot of different schools in different areas throughout the state.  I know for a fact that the county I teach for uses technology in the classrooms daily whereas the neighboring county doesn't use technology hardly at all.  It is amazing to me how much of a difference there really is in a 20-mile radius.  There are even some schools within my county that do not have classroom iPads or mobile labs.  I believe that if one school in your county has these devices then all of your schools should also have them.  We should all be working together within the county to help get our students back on track and keep them on schedule.

Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices Chapter 8
"An awareness that not all students are expert or confident with digital technologies, and that they require the support of teachers with relevant expertise, is fundamental not only to overt instruction but also impacts on critical framing discussed below." (Kerin, p. 139-140).
I like how this text also goes back to making sure that students have the proper instruction and guidance when it comes to the modern technologies.  It is important for teachers to assist their students with things that they don't understand and teach them the skills needed to use the newest technology.  Some people may think that creating a PowerPoint presentation is really easy but others may need some assistance figuring it out.  We cannot assume that our students are automatically programmed with this information.

Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices Chapter 9
"Using the case of composing personal memoir, I consider how personal memoir contains a number of dimensions that retain their importance and impact, regardless of media." (Leander, p. 160).
I have always been told that "out of the box" thinking was a bad thing; I do not agree with that whatsoever.  I personally believe that you have to break out of the mold once in a while and let your students create something off the wall.  Let them use multi modal texts for a project instead of just a generic report or poster.  I also like the idea of having the students to keep an "interactive notebook" in the classroom for different subjects.  My colleagues have told me so many wonderful things about interactive notebooks and I will be using them in the Fall.

Digital Literacies: Social Learning and Classroom Practices Conclusion
"We believe that teachers should be prepared to move towards structuring classrooms as learning communities where new knowledge is generated and distributed." (Robinson & Carrington, p. 167)
I have already attended one professional development workshop this summer focusing on implementing the strategies needed in the mastery of operations in base ten for grades 2-5 and am planning on attending two other trainings before schools starts back.  I am fully willing to do anything that I need to do to create an open learning environment for my students.  To say that I agree with the quote from the conclusion would be an understatement.


I am not sure if I am fully prepared to teach my students the design, construction, and critique of digital text.  I will say that I am prepared to learn alongside of them and help them as much as possible.  I do, however, think that I may have my students use iMovie, PowerPoint, or some other type of media designer to create lessons or projects for the class.  I love doing student centered activities where the students have to teach a lesson to the rest of the class without assistance from me.  This teaches them to be more dependent upon themselves and their peers instead of the teacher.


Illuminated Text
I chose to create my illuminated text using the quote from the Conclusion.