M3: Blog Post 3 - Leveraging Tools, Texts, and Talk in My Teaching Context

There is a balance between digital learning and analog learning. While digital learning has its place in the classroom, there is something to be said for hands-on activities, especially in the early education classroom. Students physically manipulating tactile items while learning various concepts broadens the learning experience. “Practically, analog literacies remind us to consider the sensory nature of how we make meaning of our surrounding world.” (Garcia, 2017)

We are living in a time where technology is literally at our fingertips. We can consume information within seconds on any subject matter.  My class is made up of students aged five to nine self-directed learners. They want to do what they want to do. The classroom can become chaotic very quickly, especially when one or more of the students are exhibiting high level behaviors. Somedays, my staff and I are mostly managing behaviors. Then there are days like today when the internet is out for most of the day. I have found I need to be able to quickly pivot throughout the day and I try to have a stash of options to quickly shift gears. I tend to use technology as a tool to enhance our current lessons or to provide movement breaks throughout the day to help them transition through our daily schedule. Otherwise, I look to add more tactile, hands-on learning activities. 

My class is currently working their way through a worm science kit. Recently we had an activity that looked at where worms prefer to stay. We took clear plastic cups that came with the kit and filled them with moist dirt. The students then laid a worm across the top of the soil and observed the worm. One of my students was mad that his worm did not move fast enough. Eventually all the worms moved down to the bottom of the cup of soil. We then watched a time lapsed video of worms moving through the soil over the course of a month. The activity, involving the worms, was hands-on learning, while the video allowed the students to see the tunnels worms make underground. The combination of hands-on learning and the video enhanced the learning for the students. The students were engaged in both the activity and the video. The students were asking questions and commenting on what they observed.

“We have an opportunity to optimize students' use of digital tools by returning our pedagogical scrutiny to real-time moments of discovery and human interaction.” (Garcia, 2017)

As I finish off this school year, I am already thinking about what I want to prioritize, plan, and implement next school year. My goal this summer is to spend time reflecting and considering what resources and changes I would like to make moving forward. Ideally, I would like to find a more balanced approach to digital and analog learning. 

Reference

Garcia, A. (2017). Nondigital skills. Proquest.com. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1966005428/4E1DCD1AA7D54D6EPQ/17?accountid=8067&sourcetype=Trade%20Journals

M2: Blog Post 2- How New Literacies are Relevant to Us

I chose two articles on digital literacy for this assignment. One discussed digital literacy development for adults, while the other discussed digital practices for literacy, learning and justice in the classroom. Each approached the subject of digital literacy from different perspectives.   

“Digital literacy proficiency is needed to fully participate in economic, civic, work, and daily life in the United States.” (Digital Literacy This Brief, n.d.)  

Working within elementary education, it is easy to narrowly focus on their current needs. However, when considering their future, it is vital to recognize future demands and expectations they may encounter as adults entering the workplace.  

I think sometimes I forget to consider the goals and needs addressed simply by allowing the students opportunities to use technology in their everyday learning. Students are more engaged and motivated to learn when technology is involved. Some of the school specific learning apps, however, are not enough to keep the students engaged. Perhaps the question, when considering educational apps, is what skills do students need and will benefit from learning?   

Rather than invest resources, energy, and professional development on individual tools, responsive digital instruction today must focus on the contexts of literacies that are used. To this extent, classroom technology uses should more clearly mirror the kinds of work environments that we expect students to eventually encounter. (LITERACY LEADERSHIP BRIEF Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice More than Just Tools, n.d.)  

As a teacher, how does digital literacy affect my workplace experience?  What skills are necessary to complete my role as a teacher? The past few years I have had the opportunity to learn or relearn various technologies uses in the classroom. I have learned many skills in the past few years out of necessity, while others I have spent time learning to enhance learning in the classroom. Most recently, I have been learning how to create Google slides for our class's morning meeting.  I feel more comfortable and confident the more time I spend learning skills I can implement in the classroom and my everyday life. I feel a sense of accomplishment with each hurdle I am able to accomplish with digital literacy.  

References:  

Digital Literacy This Brief. (n.d.). https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/TSTMDigitalLiteracyBrief-508.pdf  

LITERACY LEADERSHIP BRIEF Improving Digital Practices for Literacy, Learning, and Justice More Than Just Tools. (n.d.). https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/ila-improving-digital-practices-literacy-learning-justice.pdf ‌ 

M2: Blog Post 1 - Defining New Literacies and Why They Matter

How does one define literacies?  

If you are like me, literacy has more to do with reading and books. However, this viewpoint is too narrow and as I research new literacies, I have discovered it is much broader. It encompasses much of our everyday lives. New literacies go beyond reading and books, to include the internet and media.  

In 1996, the New London Group coined the term “multiliteracies” or “new literacies” to describe a modern view of literacy that reflected multiple communication forms and contexts of cultural and linguistic diversity within a globalized society. They defined multiliteracies as a combination of multiple ways of communicating and making meaning, including such modes as visual, audio, spatial, behavioral, and gestural (New London Group, 1996).

As a child of the eighties and nineties, I have had the privilege of living through many technological changes, such as the internet and cell phones. I remember the days when there were only a couple of computers in my elementary school.  

In high school, I learned to type on a typewriter and by the time I was in college, I was using computers. GPS were paper maps and, as my husband and I often remind our children, our only form of navigation to unfamiliar places required a printed map. 

The internet wasn’t readily available until the mid to late nineties, and even then, it was dial-up. When we had a paper or research project, we went to the library to find books using a card catalog. My first job, I worked as at my local library as a library page. My job primarily required shelving books and making sure the books were shelved properly. At that time, the file card system was still in place, but it was quickly morphing into an online catalog. It still amazes me how much has changed in such a short period of time.  

How does broadening the definition of literacies help in education?  

“When learning experiences are grounded in well-informed teaching practices, the use of technology allows a wider range of voices to be heard, exposing learners to opinions, perspectives, and norms outside of their own.” (NCTE) 

As a K-2 special education teacher I utilize a wide variety of multimedia to help my students learn. About half of my students struggle to recognize the letters of the alphabet. Our classroom has used videos with songs, iPad apps and games, puzzles, and tactile activities to expose and immerse them as much as possible. In my classroom, the students' involvement in their literacy learning would be limited based on their disabilities. By broadening their exposure, my students have more opportunities to gain the skills they need to learn and grow.   

The language requirements and challenges in current workplaces are no longer restricted to reading and writing paper-based texts in native and other foreign languages, but have extended into recognition, interpretation, comprehension, and appreciation of languages and cultures in different forms and in diverse literacy practices. (Sang, 2017) 

The expanded definition of literacies has broadened my viewpoint of ways I can incorporate literacy into my classroom to expose my students to more learning. I am looking forward to learning more about literacies and implementing a larger variety of activities with my students.  

References 

Beecher, C. (2023). Chapter 1. What is Literacy? Multiple Perspectives on Literacy. Iastate.pressbooks.pub. https://iastate.pressbooks.pub/teachingearlyliteracy/chapter/what-is-literacy-multiple-perspectives-on-literacy/ 

NCTE Definition of Literacy in a Digital Age - NCTE. (n.d.). Ncte.org. https://ncte.org/statement/nctes-definition-literacy-digital-age/print/ 

New London Group (1996). A Pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92. 

Sang, Y. (2017). Expanded Territories of “Literacy”: New Literacies and Multiliteracies. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(8), 16–19. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1139059.pdf 

Introduction

Hello! My name is Heidi Dombrowski. I live in a small town in WNY. I graduated from Buffalo State College over 20 years ago, when my oldest two daughters were preschoolers. After graduating, I chose to stay home with my four children. I have never regretted that decision.  

Last year, I obtained initial certifications in special education and childhood education. I worked at a private school for children with autism for about 13 months as a classroom aide, teacher assistant, co-teacher, and finally a classroom teacher. Since January I have been a special education teacher through BOCES. I teach K-2 in a 6:1:3 self-contained classroom with students with learning, behavior, emotional disabilities. I am pursuing an M.Ed. for NYS professional certification.  

My learning goal for this course is to improve my use of modern communication tools in the classroom. Technology and the classroom environment have changed over the years. It’s an area I have just started focusing on in my classroom.