Using blogs in any classroom is something that needs to be planned out carefully. Students must have clear expectations for both content and quality. It's not enough to simply tell them to respond to something or to reflect on a topic. Lisa Zawilinski describes something she calls "HOT blogging." What she means is that blogs promote higher order thinking.
Blogs play an important role in the definition of today's new literacies. Students are reading online -- a lot! Text they read on a blog can include lots and lots of different materials -- images, outside sources, videos, etc. -- which means they are developing new reading strategies. (Which, in turn, means teachers really need to be adapting to these new strategies and methods.) In her article "HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking" from The Reading Teacher, Zawilinksi writes, "these essential new literacies of online reading comprehension emphasize higher order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis and evaluation ... and can be practiced through blogging." Students are compiling so much information from one place, they don't even realize how much their higher order thinking skills are enhancing.
One of the most redeeming qualities of students using blogs that I can see, is their increased awareness of audience and self-image. They are no longer writing in a journal that only the teacher will read. They are contributing to something greater and opening the door for others to respond to their thoughts. Even if a student's blog is only open for the class to read, they are no longer confined to the 45 minute time frame for class discussion. Zawilinski also takes note of this when she writes that blogs are, "broadening the audience for student writing and thinking, providing a space for collaborating outside of the typical classroom discussion..." Students must think about what they write and how they are presenting themselves -- they are adding their own voice to the greater text of the Internet.
Showing posts with label teachers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teachers. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
"I Go to Seek a Great Perhaps"
When I read John Green's Looking for Alaska as an undergrad at Rhode Island College, it was for an adolescent literature class. The class wasn't geared towards teaching students YA literature, but simply exposing us to what YA lit is and what students are interested in. In fact, I don't even remember getting the chance to discuss Green's novel in class. I recall spending more time on The Charlie Bone series and asking, "What is Twilight?!" (it was still new then) -- we weren't very productive, I must admit.
But now, reading Looking for Alaska with high school students and teaching in mind I see it in a very different way. I can't imagine any student that I know now picking up this book for class and rejecting it. There are innumerable connections that a young (or old!) reader can make to the text. Especially after reading some of what John Green has said about the novel -- it essentially exists for readers to ask questions and to wonder, not provide any answers or come to solid conclusions. This novel will show young readers that they needn't know exactly where there life is going, in fact, it supports not knowing at all, because that is the amazing part about life -- seeking a mysterious and uncertain "Great Perhaps."
But now, reading Looking for Alaska with high school students and teaching in mind I see it in a very different way. I can't imagine any student that I know now picking up this book for class and rejecting it. There are innumerable connections that a young (or old!) reader can make to the text. Especially after reading some of what John Green has said about the novel -- it essentially exists for readers to ask questions and to wonder, not provide any answers or come to solid conclusions. This novel will show young readers that they needn't know exactly where there life is going, in fact, it supports not knowing at all, because that is the amazing part about life -- seeking a mysterious and uncertain "Great Perhaps."
Sunday, February 19, 2012
During Reading Strategies
This week I've been working on a lesson plan focusing on one during reading strategy associated with a young adult novel. I chose The Book Thief to work with and the strategy of using post-its and logographic cues. Since my assignment was not only to teach a reading strategy, but to also focus on the text as a multicultural title, I have found it to be very challenging -- especially keeping it all within a single lesson.
As I read through Kylene Beers' chapter on during reading strategies, I immediately felt a connection with both the post-it strategy and the logographic cues. I feel that they are very compatible, so I decided to mesh them together into one strategy. This seemed especially logical since The Book Thief is rather a long text. Students will have a number of themes or topics to look for as they read and will use the post-its to take note of what they find. As I started to take notes on this strategy, I remembered that I am supposed to be thinking of the book in terms of multiculturalism. This revealed a challenge.
I found myself wondering how to tie these two ideas together -- especially in one, single lesson. As this strategy is used throughout the book and gets discussed over a number of classes, the multicultural aspects of the novel will organically reveal themselves. However, in teaching my students how to use this strategy as they read, I need to be sure that they are looking for the right things. Therefore, the logical tie-in would be to create a list of themes that they should be creating post-its for.
Since the novel is set in Nazi Germany I decided that two of my themes for students to look for would be "World War II" and "A Different Life:" students will be looking for details about the war (which, in the novel is generally presented from the Jewish point-of-view) and examples of how the lives of the characters differ from themselves. This should get them thinking of the novel as an example of how different life can be -- in a different country and at a different time.
Not only is meshing a during reading strategy with multicultural themes challenging, but being sure I do so all within one lesson. The time constraint of presenting all the right information seems unrealistic. I feel that were I to teach this lesson to a real class I would spend one, full class period focusing on the ins and outs of the strategy itself and another day on discussing the various themes they will be focusing on. However, for this particular assignment I will have to do both in one lesson. It can be done, but it is not the way that I would do it with a real class.
I feel that choosing a novel that depicts a different culture or lifestyle set in present time, rather than historical fiction, would have been easier for this assignment -- more obviously an example of multiculturalism. However, I love history and am particularly interested in World War II. I feel that The Book Thief is a fantastic way to show students what young people went through during the war in Germany -- it feels alive. I would love an opportunity to use this novel in my own classroom some day.
As I read through Kylene Beers' chapter on during reading strategies, I immediately felt a connection with both the post-it strategy and the logographic cues. I feel that they are very compatible, so I decided to mesh them together into one strategy. This seemed especially logical since The Book Thief is rather a long text. Students will have a number of themes or topics to look for as they read and will use the post-its to take note of what they find. As I started to take notes on this strategy, I remembered that I am supposed to be thinking of the book in terms of multiculturalism. This revealed a challenge.
I found myself wondering how to tie these two ideas together -- especially in one, single lesson. As this strategy is used throughout the book and gets discussed over a number of classes, the multicultural aspects of the novel will organically reveal themselves. However, in teaching my students how to use this strategy as they read, I need to be sure that they are looking for the right things. Therefore, the logical tie-in would be to create a list of themes that they should be creating post-its for.
Since the novel is set in Nazi Germany I decided that two of my themes for students to look for would be "World War II" and "A Different Life:" students will be looking for details about the war (which, in the novel is generally presented from the Jewish point-of-view) and examples of how the lives of the characters differ from themselves. This should get them thinking of the novel as an example of how different life can be -- in a different country and at a different time.
Not only is meshing a during reading strategy with multicultural themes challenging, but being sure I do so all within one lesson. The time constraint of presenting all the right information seems unrealistic. I feel that were I to teach this lesson to a real class I would spend one, full class period focusing on the ins and outs of the strategy itself and another day on discussing the various themes they will be focusing on. However, for this particular assignment I will have to do both in one lesson. It can be done, but it is not the way that I would do it with a real class.
I feel that choosing a novel that depicts a different culture or lifestyle set in present time, rather than historical fiction, would have been easier for this assignment -- more obviously an example of multiculturalism. However, I love history and am particularly interested in World War II. I feel that The Book Thief is a fantastic way to show students what young people went through during the war in Germany -- it feels alive. I would love an opportunity to use this novel in my own classroom some day.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Digital Learning Day
Happy (belated) Digital Learning Day! Digital Learning Day is a day to encourage and to celebrate the use of technology in classrooms. It's unfortunate, but there are many "old school" teachers who reject the shift towards technology for their students. There are so many opportunities and advantages for both teachers and students, it's great that there is a day to encourage and promote technology in schools.
One thing I've noticed at Platt High School, where I am interning, is how addicted students are to Twitter. Even though they are not allowed to have their phone out during the school day (another can of worms that I will begin to open shortly) I hear them talking about Twitter, tweets, subtweets and trending topics all day long. They literally can't get enough. Therefore it only seems logical that a teacher should try to take advantage of this niche of an interest and make use of it in the classroom. A teacher, Kathee Godfrey, made the attempt to incorporate Twitter into her classroom. She wrote about the experience with her students in a blog on the National Writing Project site.
Godfrey was surprised that her students responded so well. She had them discuss an article they read together, using Twitter for the first time. This assignment would be amazing at Platt High School -- students are already so adept at using Twitter that it would, most likely, be a very fluid lesson they would enjoy. It would be something so out of the norm of their regular day that they would remember it for a long time.
The only problem with trying to use Twitter in a lesson, is that at Platt students are not allowed to even have their phones out while in school. Another blog post on nwp.org addresses the problem of phone restrictions in school. It's the 21st century and cell phones are a huge part of students' lives (and many teachers', for that matter). They have grown up with technology and it is almost an extension of themselves; to punish them for having their phones out during the school day really creates a disconnect between school life and home/social life. If we, as teachers, want to bridge that gap and get students more involved in their own education we need to help unify the separations -- and incorporating technology in the classroom is a perfect first step.
One thing I've noticed at Platt High School, where I am interning, is how addicted students are to Twitter. Even though they are not allowed to have their phone out during the school day (another can of worms that I will begin to open shortly) I hear them talking about Twitter, tweets, subtweets and trending topics all day long. They literally can't get enough. Therefore it only seems logical that a teacher should try to take advantage of this niche of an interest and make use of it in the classroom. A teacher, Kathee Godfrey, made the attempt to incorporate Twitter into her classroom. She wrote about the experience with her students in a blog on the National Writing Project site.
Godfrey was surprised that her students responded so well. She had them discuss an article they read together, using Twitter for the first time. This assignment would be amazing at Platt High School -- students are already so adept at using Twitter that it would, most likely, be a very fluid lesson they would enjoy. It would be something so out of the norm of their regular day that they would remember it for a long time.
The only problem with trying to use Twitter in a lesson, is that at Platt students are not allowed to even have their phones out while in school. Another blog post on nwp.org addresses the problem of phone restrictions in school. It's the 21st century and cell phones are a huge part of students' lives (and many teachers', for that matter). They have grown up with technology and it is almost an extension of themselves; to punish them for having their phones out during the school day really creates a disconnect between school life and home/social life. If we, as teachers, want to bridge that gap and get students more involved in their own education we need to help unify the separations -- and incorporating technology in the classroom is a perfect first step.
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