Apps: Adobe Spark Page & Explain Everything
Initial Assignment: After becoming familiar with these apps, your task is to create two concise presentations. The first will be a visual and audio representation of your curriculum orientation and the second will explain how your definition of literacy has evolved since taking the course.
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Reflection:
Literacy and Curriculum tend to overlap because they represent two sides of the same coin. Literacy is the ability of a student to show their knowledge in a particular content area while curriculum is essentially a blueprint for educators to provide their students with the content. If a teacher cannot follow a set curriculum or design an appropriate lesson from it, then the student's chances of becoming literate in that subject are jeopardized.
Performance Criterion 4.1: Candidates accurately communicate central concepts of the discipline.
In order to teach their students, the teacher must first understand the material themselves. Part of that understanding is shaping a particular mindset around what it means to learn and develop over time. In terms of literacy and curriculum, I thought I knew what these were before coming into this class but the truth is that I only grasped a corner of the playing field. Part of my responsibility as a teacher is being able to effectively communicate the central concepts of what I'm teaching whether that is history, digital citizenship, or how to be successful outside the classroom.
Performance Criterion 4.2: Candidates accurately address common misconceptions of the discipline.
One common misconception around literacy is that it is limited to reading and writing. However, what I have learned thus far in this course is that literacy can be opened up to a variety of disciplines such as technology, mathematics, and even art/music. Literacy can be reading words on a page but it is also writing equations and deciphering maps. Literacy is understanding how advertising companies influence how and where we choose to spend our money. The reason this is so important when it comes to education is that literacy is a subject that will follow students past graduation. Having students be well-informed about the society in which they live gives them the tools to engage.
Performance Criterion 5.1: Candidates engage learners in applying perspectives from varied disciplines in authentic contexts (such as local and global issues).
In order to engage learners in applying perspectives from varied disciplines in authentic contexts, I created two modern digital presentations. Anyone this day in age can create a simple PowerPoint to convey a basic understanding, however, I took it a step further to expand on my technological repertoire. Using the Explain Everything and Adobe Spark Page apps as an extension of the Ipad Initiative, I touched on local and global issues in education, the first issue being digital citizenship. In a time when technology is advancing at an ever increasing pace, educators need to keep up by challenging themselves to learn in new ways. Studies show that students no longer have the same attention span as the generations before them had. However, these students are also more adept at online collaboration and digital storytelling than ever before. By first engaging in these new apps myself, now I can ask students to do the same.
Performance Criterion 5.2: Candidates integrate cross-disciplinary skills (such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving) to help learners demonstrate their learning in unique ways.
A traditional demonstration of learning may include writing a ten page paper to prove what a student has learned from a particular lesson or unit. Yet, what this does not show is whether or not the student can apply their knowledge to real world settings. This is where the integration of cross-disciplinary skills such as critical thinking come into play. Learners need to be able to demonstrate their understanding of the material in unique ways such as creating presentations that challenge students to push the boundaries of their comfort zones. For example, while I was learning to use the Explain Everything app, I found myself wishing I could just use a different software that I was already more comfortable with and would have required less time to figure out, but this wouldn't have taught me anything new. Now that I've become familiar with the new software I am glad my professors had me take the time to learn it.
Through this assignment, some of my long-standing perceptions on literacy and curriculum were affirmed due to the fact that once again, I noticed the power of a growth vs fixed mindset. In other words, in order to continue learning and not become complacent you must continually push yourself to find new and creative avenues for growth and consistently reflect on your methods of self-engagement, lest you become stifled in old ways of thinking.
In the future, I have a choice of whether or not to pursue learning in this area and it will be up to me how I spend my time in these subjects. My plan is to further my understanding of literacy as it relates to curriculum because one day my student's success will depend on how I've chosen to carry out my own personal learning.
Today I had my first day at Hunt Middle School (Burlington, VT). Last year I tutored as part of my Adolescent Development class at South Burlington High School, but this is my first experience observing a middle school classroom. I am now a Junior at Saint Michael's College and I am thrilled to be getting so much first-hand experience with real teachers in their classrooms. My placement is with a diverse group of 7th and 8th graders. In class today I had the opportunity to see a variety of education theory in practice such as the iPad Initiative, Chrome books, Proficiency/Standards-Based Grading, the implementation of Digital Citizenship in curriculum, Middle School Teaming, etc. My goal for this placement is to gain valuable experience with students and current teachers in the classroom. This is where the rubber meets the road and theory meets practice. I am hoping to learn new strategies in teaching and working with this diverse group of individuals.