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While I do not spend much of my spare time reading books, I do read throughout my day using a variety of media. Whether I’m reading news or memes on my phone or laptop, I’m constantly reading something. With regards to my hobbies, I read about tabletop games, and I write for my D&D group as a game master, the referee and world builder of the game. These practices I find support my goal of becoming a teacher, as I am constantly trying to stay in touch with current events and culture while learning and adapting to the changing times, much like a teacher adapting to new generations of students. As a game master, I must prepare a session for my players that is rewarding and fun, which is a skill teachers must develop to create a community of learners that is eager to challenge themselves and grow as thinkers and decision makers.

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Literacy & Vocabulary: A Catapult Toward Lifelong Learning

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Literacy & Vocabulary: A Catapult Toward Lifelong Learning

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In the beginning of this course, I saw content area literacy as sort of one dimensional. My estimation was that the content students learn about is found in the classroom and they strengthen this knowledge through practice during lessons, homework, etc. However, what I’ve found is that content knowledge is intertwined with a variety of literacies, especially language literacy. For instance, the vocabulary found in the classroom can take the form of general vocabulary, specialized vocabulary, content vocabulary, and structural academic vocabulary. Understanding and being literate with all these types of vocabulary, I feel, can empower students as critical thinkers and decision makers that know how to respectfully communicate with one another while effectively exchanging information. Having a strong base in multiple forms of vocab can catapult students beyond educational barriers toward the promise of knowledge, discovery, and enlightenment. Having a strong vocabulary base can cement students’ literacy in a multitude of cross-curricular disciplines, helping them become lifelong learners.

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21st Century Literacy for 21st Century Students

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21st Century Literacy for 21st Century Students

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When it comes to 21st century technology, it is often the case that students are more literate with it than their teachers. I believe it is then the duty of the teacher to implement 21st century technology into their curriculum in an effort to affirm and validate the funds of knowledge that students posses. And if students to not possess 21st century literacy at the level of their peers, teachers can still use the FOK of some students to scaffold understanding between classmates. In my experiences in this class and others, 21st century technology like Peardeck, Jamboard, Desmos, and Padlet all offer a rich classroom experience that acknowledges the legitimacy of new and evolving generations of students, and aims to match that evolution in the construction of the classroom to meet both the strengths and needs of students. The sun is setting on an old generation of teaching technology. So, for all of these reasons, I wholeheartedly intend to implement 21st century literacy into my future classrooms.

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Before this class, while understanding their importance, I had little consideration for language literacy goals in my lesson planning. By becoming familiar with the ELD standards, the different stages of EL development, and a multitude of strategies for enhancing such literacies, I have begun to see the importance of English language proficiency, while still validating the first language of ELs. I have been trained through various case studies and scenarios, as well as through my tutoring experiences with EL student Margaret, on how to see the signs that indicate what stage of language development my students might be in, and how I can differentiate my lessons to accommodate for them. While I do not want to discourage the usage of students’ native languages, I do want to clear a path for my students to become proficient with English because, as things stand now, it is the dominant language of power in our nation, and essential to success in many careers and occupations.

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I found that designing a PBL Unit with my peers, as well as collaboratively discussing the EL scenarios for Lesson Plan #3, aided me in seeing things from different perspectives and in developing a top down view of designing lessons and units. Even before this semester, I had developed the mindset that collaboration in king. I firmly believe that working together with other professionals, constructing and defending positions, and critiquing one another’s reasoning is the driving force of creating anything worthwhile in our society, and it always has been! Too often in todays climate, with the well-being of the individual put on a pedestal above group success, we forget about the value of collaboration and mutual interest. Referring to game theory and the prisoner’s dilemma, it is actually more beneficial in the long run to consistently cooperate, as all parties can repeatedly reach favorable outcomes. Defecting for personal interest may benefit the individual more in the short term, but it undermines the integrity of collaborative work environments, and causes more negative consequences for individuals. In summary, through my ethics education and the collaborate projects of this class and others, I have concluded that collaboration results in the best results for all parties involved. As such, I intend to seek out opportunities to work with a team of collaborative professionals in my future teaching practice, as well as engage my students in collaborative projects for the mutual benefit of all.