Week 3 Assignment


Learning Task #1
     After reading the three assigned documents i feel like i have a much more in depth understanding of these "new literacies," and how they are used and perceived in our modern world of education.  The first thing i found most interesting in reading these articles is the fact that these new literacies cannot be defined because they are constantly changing and evolving along with technology.  Through the use of information and communication technologies, or ICT's, these new literacies are being taught and mastered at too few schools around the country.  The whole idea in teaching new literacies is to get students ready to leave the school system with ample college and career skills in technology.  The way we read, write, and communicate is changing and it is up to administrators, teachers, parents, and students to prepare for the future.  The time is now for school systems to start from the ground up in changing curriculum to support technology in the classroom.  With that being said it is up to everyone again to provide for this technology through grants, aid, resources, and plenty of professional development!


Learning Task #2


•Which ideas from the video reflect what the ELA teachers you interviewed are currently doing to integrate technology with their literacy instruction?


The ELA teacher i have interviewed uses computer based technologies on a daily basis to help enhance her lessons.  She uses the Internet in her daily lecture and class time to show videos and use other web based applications.  She also has the students use the Internet in class on a semi regular basis.  There are some good websites we have access to that are ELA related and my ELA teacher also has students often respond and use word processing software to complete assignments.


•How can you help change their instructional practices to include the use of technology and the Internet in their literacy and content-area curriculum?


I think that i can help to implement more technology and Internet literacy in the classroom by showing and teaching my ELA teacher more about the available resources that are out there for teachers to use.  I could also help to turn non-technology based assignments into ones which could easily incorporate computers or the Internet with little difficulty.  Just through the first few weeks of this course alone i have already learned some great techniques and tools that could be used in an ELA curriculum at any grade level.


•What professional development and/or resources will they need in order to make these changes?


Any teacher who wants to include more technology into their classroom without the knowledge needs an ample amount of professional development to do so.  Just purchasing or allotting the technology is not the answer if the teacher is not familiar with how to use it.  I personally have gone through some excellent professional development when it comes to both SMART software and Google applications that has helped me to use these tools to their best extent.  Along with professional development our ELA teacher will need the ability to contact someone at any time in order to help troubleshoot potential problems that may arise.


•What ideas do you have for grouping students so they will have equal access to technology in the classroom?


I think that the best way to ensure that students have equal access to technology in the classroom is to make sure that all classroom teachers and students have all technological resources available to them on a daily basis.  Obviously many schools do not have the money available to give every teacher the same technology, however i feel that schools should do all they can to share materials.  Things such as computer labs and laptop carts are great ways for schools to share resources.  I think it is also important for schools to give professional development to all of the teachers equally so that they all know how to use the most current technology.  Along with this school administration must insist that teachers do all they can to meet technology standards and actually use technology in their classrooms.




Learning Task #3: 


                                                                 Google Docs


•Grade level: 
-10th


•Topic: 
-Google Docs collaborative Writing assignment for the Vietnam War


•Standards addressed:
Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy
-Reading Standards for Literature: 2, 4, 5, 6
-Reading Standards for Informational Text: 3, 5, 6
-Writing Standards: 1, 4, 5, 6, 9
-Language Standards: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6




•Learning outcomes:
-SWBAT collaborate effectively on a project with their peers
-SWBAT write a well thought out response to a reading excerpt (chapter)
-SWBAT utilize technology to complete an in class ELA assignment
-SWBAT edit and revise any work that contains grammatical, spelling, or formatting errors


•Technologies needed (equipment or software or Internet connection):
- computers, Internet access, student google docs accounts


•Timeline for implementation (how many classes needed):
- We will need approximately 2 classes to implement this lesson in our class.  Our classes are around 2 hours long so the students will have 4 hours to work on this lesson.
- On the first day of class students will read a chapter that has been previously assigned to them from the book, "The Things They Carried," by Tim O'Brien.  This book is a historical fiction story about a group of soldiers during the Vietnam War.  Each chapter is a story in and of itself and therefore can be read as such.  After they read their respective chapter each student will log onto Google Docs and answer the questions that correspond to their chapter.  After they finish their questions the students will then comment on each of their classmates chapter questions which were answered on the same Google Doc.  At the end of class we will discuss all of the chapters and possible themes, similarities, and differences we see occurring.
- On the second day of classes the students will again log into Google Docs and go to the same Doc that we were working on the previous day.  Today however the students will complete and compare contrast essay pitting their chapter against one of the other chapters another student read.  They will discuss the similarities and differences in the two chapters and write a ell formatted essay.  When they are done the students will be paired up and given the task of peer editing each others essays.  The Students may use other sources including a computer based encyclopedia, history.com, national geogrpahic.com, or discover channel.com to research more about the Vietnam War, in case they have any further questions about the topic.


•How can it be integrated and implemented in the lessons? (for example, use blogger during class or after school homework?)
- Since i work in an incarcerated situation it would be impossible to give homework assignments that utilize computers or technology, therefore the work will all be done during class time.


•Assessment (on writing skills and technology skills):
- The assessment in this case will be the essay that is going to be written during the second class.  Although the students will have a chance to edit the essay it will still be a good test for how well the students use technology and to see their writing skills in action.