https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj A reflection on GED 7847 Readings, blog postings and lesson plan en-us 2017-10-30 16:42:51 UTC 2017-11-05 23:41:56 UTC hello@padlet.com avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201819347 The core tenants of critical literacy coupling with digital literacy is the notion that learning is driven by student interest, and that those interest are examined through a critical lens. P. 10 of Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom (henceforth referred to as CLC) states: "I maintain that the power and possibility of tapping into students’ passions are undeniable, particularly for students who often feel invisible or marginalized in mainstream educational discourse". The author makes a quite radical claim, commenting not only of a truth that has only just begun to surface in the classroom: teaching through students passions are the most powerful way to reach students, primarily those students who feel that the current education system is set up to fail them. 
In the text Critical Literact and Writer's Workshop (now referred to as CLW), the author goes deeper in examining the different topics that can be tapped into in a critical literacy classroom. Namely, topics that may be considered inappropriate for school. Page 1 details her attempt at critical literacy in her own classroom: "I was uneasy about using the texts from the bibliography because  many dealt with fairly serious social issues, which I feared might frighten and upset students and raise concerns among parents about the books’ content." This, is a sentiment that many teachers share, and in fact has been discussed many times in our Teaching Literacy class. Through further investigation the author comes to the conclusion on p. 7: "It became clear to me that not only could the students talk about tough issues but also that they were ready and willing to do so." This, I find to be wholly true throughout all grade levels. Despite the best attempts by parents and teachers to shield children from the ugly truths of the world, it is becoming more and more apparent that these truths are being experienced every day by the same students we are attempting to veil- further more the need for teachers to become truth tellers is more and more necessary.
I chose Voicethread to be my digital tool for several reasons, many of them reside in the Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood (now known in these texts as EC) chapter 2. The power of Voicethread was easily demonstrated in the examples given, and connected perfectly to the ideas of critical literacy being student interest driven. Two projects were discussed, one a commentary by 4 year old students about the perspectives they had about the community they lived in, and another bringing a social action lens to Voicethread by creating a Voicethread about a topic that called for action students felt particularly strong about. I thought these were amazing examples of using this tool to engage in critical literacy about students interest. In my lesson plan, by asking students to write about something they are waiting for I am tapping into something that they feel passionately about- so passionate that they can externalize something so internal- the idea of the power of waiting. In this, critical literacy can take place as many students may be waiting for something that is important to them, but not necessarily "school appropriate", such as a sister or brother coming to the United States from another country, or a parent who may be nearly release of incarceration. These topics are difficult, but can easily not be by having productive and thoughtful dialogue around them.  I am adamant that these topics need not be pushed under the rug, but by exposing them and creating a safe space for students to learn I can create a classroom that is fruitful in learning opportunities while still learning the academics that have been predetermined as important for them. 
 

]]> 2017-10-30 16:46:38 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201819347 avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201819508 As any novice to professional writer knows, peer support is crucial in the production of thoughtful, meaningful text. Furthermore, collaboration on text can be a very powerful way of learning. I also believe that children learn best through collaboration with others. One thing that CLC p. 26 did was bring me back to the reality that I am striving to live in a bit more when thinking about myself as a future teacher: "This experience taught me that looks can be deceiving. Even when assignments are designed to be collaborative and students are grouped according to interest, peer-supported learning is not guaranteed." What I often grapple with, and did in my lesson plan, is the fact that students supporting each other in their writing and reading is not as easy as it may look on paper. The thing that I am forcing myself to now understand is that good teaching, really powerful and effective teaching is based not on the curriculum, or the knowledge base the teacher has, or the ability (or lack thereof) of her students, but the classroom community and security that every student haw and feels in the classroom. Now, with this understanding comes and even larger realization: Creating that community is difficult, ever changing and takes as much conscious effort on day one as it does on day 180. 
With these realizations come some ideas that I fully absorbed. In CLW p. 19 the author describes a technique she used: "To learn more about the literate lives of my students, I asked them to bring from home personal artifacts, favorite books, and a favorite piece of writing." This technique, I feel my lesson plan partially addressed. However, this activity is something that can easily be done prior to my lesson plan to begin to establish classroom community (within the first 2 weeks) and become a preface to the "Waiting" lesson plan I created. 
Another thing that peer supported learning allows students to do is see things through a different perspective. P. 48 in EC gives a good example of this: "...created spaces for students.. to see the world of the classroom differently, thereby encouraging her to position herself differently within the curriculum and with her teacher." This perspective sharing is key to establishing a safe classroom community. One that promotes meaningful shared learning experiences.
In my "Waiting" lesson, peer support was demonstrated in the creation of a storybook by 4-5 students. Having roles, practicing working with other students and receiving group feedback and a group grade gives students shared accountability. The lesson is also presented in such a way that gives students freedom while staying within certain parameters. As this lesson would be done in the beginning of the year (within the first 6 weeks) I am considering it still as practice towards peer supported learning. This gives me time to see early in the year what risks come up in this type of learning, and allows me to brainstorm with the students ways that we as a classroom, and me as a teacher can respond to these risks. It is practice for us all as a class, not just the students.  

]]> 2017-10-30 16:46:54 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201819508 avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201819790 Throughout my teacher training and my work in a K-8th grade charted school it is very apparent that the Common Core Standards (CCS) is the holy relic that is in all classrooms in the form of I Can statements and a string of numbers containing decimal points. I am coming to terms with the idea that these standards are not the end all be all of student learning- however, they provide a operable framework for it. Throughout the texts we have read, CLC puts into words what I am wondering in terms of academics and using digital tools: "But what do we mean when we talk about “academic” learning in the twenty-first century? Are the same forms of knowledge and the same disciplinary approaches to them that we’ve prescribed in classrooms what are needed for an “always on” digitally savvy posterity?"(p.39). Let's unpack this a bit. The first thing that strikes me about this excerpt is the quotes around the word academic. This is something that I question every day in my future work as a teacher. Academia is, in its true form, prescribed by old, white, men. My students will be the opposite: diverse in culture, race, sexual orientation, religion and literally every different aspect you can contrive onto a human being. This makes them everything but "academic". However, I appreciate these quotes as it gives me the opportunity as a teacher to teach my students that they have more power than what this predetermined notion of academic- it gives them the power to change it. By the excerpt addressing the "same forms of knowledge being necessary for being always on" in teaching digital literacy adds fuel to my beliefs ten-fold: by interpreting academics and knowledge with my students in power, if meaningful learning is happening (digital or not) academic goals are being met. If I am writing a digital lesson plan to address a particular standard, and in that lesson my students are engaged, thoughtful, and understanding that the mold that has been set for them is malleable, academic goals are being met. If I can teach my students the power of academic writing, they absolutely have the opportunity to blow the lid off the place.
Using digital tools in the classroom is most likely to become the new normal. This also will allow students to  challenge the framework that is in place and prove a new, thoughtful type of learning and engagement that has been missing from the classroom. 
I would like to change the subject a bit, and discuss the importance of feedback and assessment in digital exploration and writing. Providing thoughtful feedback that the student is taught how to accept, and use is imperative to a successful digital work. In my lesson plan, group feedback is given based on a rubric, and students use this to refine their work. Students are shown the rubric several times before it is graded and there is an allotted amount of time for students to revise their work. It is my hope as their teacher that they will use this feedback to improve their work. If that is done, than in the end, it doesn't matter their end score but the improvement that they have made. Since a digital work is cemented so thoroughly it should be the students best work. Through peer support, teacher support, and feedback this can be done. 

]]> 2017-10-30 16:47:20 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201819790 avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201820917 Using digital tools to produce academic work with a critical literacy lens is something that is increasingly more and more necessary in schools. Having a shared purpose in this discovery and production is something that I believe drives academic understanding. Pg. 88 of CLC describes this well in the narrative of one of the students they encountered: "Perhaps more than anything else, the experience of exploring and shaping a critical shared purpose with others served as an impetus for participation, providing unprecedented opportunities for Roberto to engage in critical self-reflection and agency. As I saw it then, rather than approaching him as an academically deficient young person, it seemed more appropriate to create an environment that mobilized his assets alongside his surrounding community’s (Moll 1992), creating inroads for cross-generational, cross-cultural relationships to flourish around the interests and goals deriving from such." In this example, a shared purpose is had between Roberto and his teacher, community and peers. In a very basic form, shared purpose is the belief that students can, and will, succeed. Once this mindset is established in a teacher-student relationship, it can then be transposed to include peer relationships and community relationships. This kind of belief is imperative to learning and succeeding in school, and in life. 
Shared purpose is also demonstrated in CLW on pg 42, primarily discussing relationships students have with peers (arguably a more important relationship than a student-teacher): "Despite privileged backgrounds, the students showed that they were not self-absorbed or uncaring when confronted with the problems of others. Rather, they wanted to talk about these big issues because they had unanswered and troubling questions and appreciated having opportunities to focus on difficult and troubling social problems." Pulling students out of the self-absorbed shell that many have (or are believed to have) lead students to have more meaningful opportunities for peer engagement and social/community engagement. These kinds of engagements open the door for a shared purpose across students identities. 
When thinking about openly networked, my mind goes first to teachers networking with each other, as described in our CLC reading through blogposts and other digital sharing networks. I think about Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers as this type of network of sharing things that work well and allowing other teachers to use those things in their classroom. What I didn't before think about is something that CLC discusses on p. 72: "Thoughtful teachers choose intentionally what, when, and how they share what they are curious about and what demands their students’ attention." This idea with being intentional with your students is something that I strive to be in my classroom. This, again, gives students a sense of power in what is worth their time. Furthermore, this quote shows the tricky situation the teacher is in, holding nearly all the power in what students believe to be important, thus making it necessary to be intentional in everything that you do.
In my lesson plan, I wanted to go further than create a shared purpose in the design of the story book, but instead cultivate the shared purpose that we are all waiting for something. The idea of waiting is very interesting to me, as it shows a longing for something so important and crucial to our lives that we can wait for it. This also shows my students and their peers the patience that they all share and the understanding that they can have of one another.  ]]> 2017-10-30 16:49:02 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201820917 avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201821306 In many classrooms, the work that students produce is, in many ways, meaningless. Worksheets, word sorts, some assessments, warm up activities, and a number of other products students create in a school day have no real production centered meaning to the students. While it is helpful  for students to do worksheets or word sorts or warm-ups in that moment, there is little evidence that one practice is helping them. By placing importance on a production centered classroom I can allow my students to make new meaning to the work they do, and in many ways, they learn much more from it.
As CLC p. 56-57 so eloquently states: "Simply creating an artifact and/or leveraging new and exciting digital tools will not suffice. Teachers must create an environment where students see meaning and purpose behind what they create, particularly among historically marginalized populations. For young people who have been institutionally silenced, within the classroom curriculum and pedagogy and in their sociopolitical environment, building and nurturing a production-centered classroom are paramount to developing voice, agency, and social and cultural capital." This speaks volumes in how students meaning of their productions is fundamental in nearly every aspect of their engagement in school. It also speaks to the population of students that are beginning to dominate schools everywhere, those students who have been silenced. The last words that are used in the quote are very powerful. What it says to me is that meaningful production develops many aspects of a persons psyche that I, as  a white woman take for granted. For students to find value in academics, the work that they produce must be valuable to them. We as teachers can do this in many different ways, many described in the columns earlier. 
When connecting this to digital tools and writing I feel that it makes it a bit more worthwhile for students as it is something that will be published online. After reflecting further on this idea and revisiting CLW pg. 51 I find a quite powerful way to think of this that is described as: "As a teacher I had to face the fact that I did have to do something if students were to see themselves as purposeful and powerful writers. I had to take an active role in the types of writing that occurred during writer’s workshop. A push for thematic purpose in the workshop is more than an arbitrary restriction of choice- it is a step toward creating a  space in which student writers use writing as a tool for exploring and generating social awareness." By taking an active role in my students learning, this can provide purpose not only in digital tools, but in classroom productions throughout the school day. Furthermore, it still allows teachers to use parameters for students to challenge them to produce work in a specific space, and create their own meaning from that work.
In the lesson plan I created, I feel that the use of Voicethread is a thrill in itself. The idea of publishing your best work for everyone (in the class and at home, at least) gives the work new, powerful meaning. By adding the layer of allowing students to show their identities gives them another sense of purpose in the creation of their digital product. I think it is important to do this throughout all work during the school day, albeit very difficult. ]]> 2017-10-30 16:49:46 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/201821306 avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/202698292 I chose Voicethread because I believe it can be used in so many ways, and I find the prospect of recording student's voices along with their artwork to be more meaningful than recording them reading their story aloud. With this project aside Voicethread allows students to engage with curriculum in a multitude of ways, through pictures, drawings, voice recordings, text and camera recordings. Voicethread can be used for student produced work, as well as having students comment on or add to a teacher produced piece of this digital tool. There are very little constraints of the use of Voicethread. One constraint could be that students could misuse its tools. This, again, goes back to the importance in creating a safe, positive, classroom community. 
There are many different projects that can be done with this tool. Taking "digital field trips" through different topics that students find important would be a very cool project to do. Choosing different pieces of text and having students have the option to read the text or listen to an audio recording of the text would be ideal in cultivating powerful student responses. All in all, I really love Voicethread and look forward to using it as a teacher.

]]> 2017-11-01 19:58:22 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/202698292 avanderlin01 https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/202698648 I feel that this lesson could be done in a variety of ways, throughout many different grade levels. There are some tweaks that I would do in delivering this lesson plan. The first thing I would revise is the timeline students are given to work. I would perhaps stretch this out to be a ten day project, as it is becoming more and more apparent to me that I need to teach a lot more during reading than just focusing on a reading project, such as skills, and independent reading. Another thing that I would revise in this lesson is the number of people that students work with. While I think having groups of 4-5 is ideal, merging two groups together to create a larger storybook would be cool to produce, although it may change the meaning for some students. I would also like to focus more on what it means to wait for something, and give more example from myself, as well as people in the school community. It would also be interesting to introduce students to different "famous" people and discuss what they are waiting for (like the MLK "I Have a Dream" speech to show what he is waiting for). This aligns with the curriculum in my school as it fits a state writing standard. My biggest issue with this lesson plan and the standard, is whether or not my lesson plan actually fits the standard that I chose. It took me so long to choose the standard and think if this project would actually address it. I would definitely discuss with my PLC at the school I work for if this accomplishes what I am hoping it does. I want to learn more about my students from this lesson, and I want to learn about how I can use Voicethread in different ways to address some off the CSS. In doing this lesson, I feel that I would learn much more about myself as a teacher, and how my students work with each other. 
I would continue to research different ways I can use critical literacy to address the standards and provide meaningful engagement opportunities for my students. I want to research how creating a dynamic classroom community affects the learning outcomes of students across disciplines. This class has really taught me to become a teacher who is a realist and an idealist when it comes to student ability and what students can accomplish. On one hand, I feel that I come off as an idealist in creating a dynamic, safe classroom community that fosters meaningful, academic learning. On the other hand I feel that I am a realist in believing that this can be done. ]]> 2017-11-01 19:59:27 UTC https://padlet.com/avanderlin01/xb889p28tptj/wish/202698648