Module 10

I enjoyed the last chapter of the book, because while reading this I never even thought of the possibility of Literacy 3.0! I loved learning about literacy 2.0 and all its advantages that I have never noticed before, even as someone who grew up always having the internet; so, when they touched on literacy 3.0 and what it could hold, it was very exciting for me! Already, I have so many ideas for my future classroom and students, so I am sure in the next few years I will be learning even more. I also enjoyed the communities that are set up just for teachers to share different websites, ideas, and activities with other teachers; I think that it is a great way to keep in touch with others and to get new ideas from other teachers!

                I think that I still have a long way to go before I can say that I am an expert with the internet, but this class and this book really showed me what the internet can do! When I started this class, I would only use google as a search engine and didn’t know about all the great sites that I could have been using to further my education. I feel as though I have learned a lot about what the internet has to offer and how I can improve my learning experience and the learning experiences of my future students, so I am sad that this class is over, but I know that it is not the end of my online literacy explorations! I am definitely going to try to keep blogging, because I feel like it can help my writing skills and help my ideas get even better! Maybe people will even read it! The only problem is, now that this class is over, I don’t know what to blog about! But I definitely really enjoyed this class and I am excited to explore more possibilities on my own! 

Module 9

This chapter was interesting, because student assessment is a very important aspect of teaching. Without it, teachers would never know what progress their students are making and what the teacher need to help them on. Throughout this whole book, the author has given us many different examples of classroom activities to help aid the child in learning new literacy, but the teacher won’t know if these methods have worked, until they have assessed the child.

I think that a huge problem in schools, especially high school, is that there are tests and then the teacher immediately moves on to the next subject, even if the students did poorly on the assessment. This being said, assessments must be used as a review for the teacher, to pinpoint trouble areas and figure out how to help the students move forward. I came upon this problem a lot when I was a student, especially in math, was that I wouldn’t be able to grasp the concepts and we would move on without me ever understanding it, so for the rest of the units, I would be confused, because the teacher did not take the time to clear up questions before moving on. This definitely isn’t the case with all teachers, I know some teachers who use assessments to reevaluate their teaching and ask themselves what they can do to help the students understand. This just goes to show how important assessments are for students and teachers.

The think that I found most interesting about this chapter was the concept of observation as a form of assessment. I guess that I never thought of this as an assessment, because as a student I have always been the one being assessed, so I never noticed any of my teachers observing me (or observing the class), to find out what I know and what I may be struggling with. After reading this chapter, I agree that it is a very important part of assessment, because you can tell a lot about a student by just watching them interact in group work, with other students, and in a classroom environment overall. 

Module 8

                I thought that this chapter was very informative, especially because even I have trouble utilizing the internet to find information that I need! I think that google is a great resource for finding information… to be honest, it is the only search engine I use to find information, this is because I don’t really know any other way of finding information. Google is very useful, but there are some down sides, especially when trying to use it with a child or in a classroom. For one, it is not filtered at all, so children could easily stumble upon inappropriate things that have nothing to do with what they are trying to research. Other than the obvious, it also does not refine the search enough, so a child can find an age appropriate website that is at their reading level. Not to mention that sites like Wikipedia could easily be misinforming children.

                I was very interested in the different websites that the book mentioned, I definitely liked Gooru, because you could narrow it down by grade and general topic (math, science, language arts, etc.), that way children, parents, and teachers could easily find information for their topic that could reach the child’s understand and keep their interest. I also thought that the instagrok web was an interesting way to get children exploring different topics; it is definitely more fun than sifting through all the websites on google! But I also really liked the lessons that the chapter talked about, because it gave the children the freedom to search what interests them, which will definitely get them invested in their topic, and I think it is exciting for children to share what they learned with their peers. It is also a good tool for a parent or teacher to utilize when searching for books to introduce that child, or class.  I think that though classes need structure and guidance, kids always have a lot more fun when they can independently research topics that interest them and it will motivate them to put effort and time into doing it! 

Book Review: Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

The book I chose to review was Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan. I chose this book because it was unlike any other children's book I have ever read; both the art and the writing was imaginative and beautifully done. It is a fun and adventurous way to explain the seemingly unexplained goings on in a suburban town. The whole book really speaks to the imagination that a child possesses and reading this as an adult has a unique quality that brings you back to childhood, when you were telling stories such as these short tales. I highly recommend this book and other books by Shaun Tan!

Module 7

I like whenever the book goes into more detail about blogging; being a new blogger, I still don’t know much about the many uses of blogging and how to best utilize it in a learning environment, so I really learn something from the text! When I find myself sitting down to type the blog post every week, I also find myself struggling over exactly what to write about and if it is enjoyable and informative for my classmates and professor to read. This was something that I did not have to worry about when I was in high school, when I wrote papers I would only have to worry about whether it was what the teacher was looking for, and even then I would know that they would correct me if my thinking process was wrong; now, I have to make sure I thoroughly explain my thoughts in a way that anyone reading can understand and I find myself proof reading a lot more than I did in high school, but I think that this process will better improve my writing and explaining skills as a student and as a future teacher.

That being said, I can definitely see the advantages in blogs as reader responses and digital book review as reader responses. I think that the knowledge that their opinion will be read by more people than just the teacher and a few classmates is something that will encourage children to push themselves to write better and to motivate them to write more thoughtfully. I find myself saying this a lot in my blog entries, but I really think that it is important for children to learn their self-worth and feel that their opinions and voice are important and are being heard. I think that this encourages children to better themselves and to be proud of their achievements.

                Another thing that I really liked was the idea of the anchor charts. I think they have a place in the classroom both digitally and traditionally. I remember making them when I was in elementary school and it was always a fun activity, where everyone got involved deciding what was written on the charts and decorating them. I think general ones, such as charts about respect and listening, can always be kept as posters in the classroom, but other ones, that might not have to be referred to on a daily basis can be stored and/or created digitally! 

Module 6

                This chapter was full of great activities to use in the classroom; many of them, I wouldn’t have even thought of myself! When I was in middle school and high school, going to the computer lab would be really exciting class! But we never were able to do as much as what the book was suggesting; the reason for that, I think, is because teachers are not aware of all the possibilities of the internet, just yet!

                Some of my favorite activities that the book talked about were the Google Lit Trips and the Virtual talk with the author! Both would definitely get the children excited about the book, and also go beyond the information that the book provides for them. I think the worst thing that can happen to a child is that they lose their curiosity for things that they don’t completely understand or want to learn more about! These programs would definitely give them a chance to freely explore the world around them and still be learning. I also think that being able to hear the author talk about their inspiration for writing would really inspire children to start writing their own stories or to keep writing their own stories, which will greatly improve their literacy skills.

                WebQuests were something that I remember doing when I was in middle school and high school. We would get an instruction sheet, go to the computer lab, and fill out a question sheet. Now, this was not always a fun trip, but sometimes the websites we would go on would be interactive and fun. I think starting WebQuests earlier than middle school and high school would be a great way for children to learn how to navigate a website and to be able to find what interests them, that way when they get older, they will get a lot more out of the WebQuests.

                Overall, I think that the more we encourage kids to use technology as a tool for learning, the more they will use it for that purpose. Many kids, who grew up with technology, did not have instructors who knew how to utilize it properly for educational purposes, therefore the children never learned how to use it for educational purposes. Obviously kids will always use the internet for social media, but if they learn other uses for it, they might spend some of their time doing other things on the internet as well! 

Module 5

In all honesty, I knew almost no online e-book sources. Actually, I might not have known any at all. When I was really young, probably in elementary school, I got a “leap pad” for a present, and that’s not as much as an e-book as it is a really high tech book that speaks to you (which I guess is an e-book…). Then when I was in high school, my mom got a Kindle and I immediately stole it from her (and then misplaced it, sorry, mom…), which I really liked, but I always preferred the hard cover/paperback book. Reading this chapter, I was really impressed and amazed at all the different resources for e-books that are both for young children and young adults. It amazes me that there is so much out there and that it remains relatively unknown to a lot of people, especially kids, which is who it is mainly marketed towards.

                Some of the concerns of the e-books actually weren’t concerns that I even thought about. The text brought up that e-books with a lot of interactive tools can often take away from the literacy learning of the text itself and distracts young readers. I definitely agree with that, but I think that it is a good way to get younger kids introduced to e-books as a fun, recreational thing, obviously not to be used all the time, but as a gateway to more complex texts that the internet has to offer.

Again, I think that the hyperlinks embedded into the text are very helpful for kids, as well as informative and fun. Not only can they direct children to the definition of a confusing word, but it can also link children to more information of a certain topic that a text brings up, it could be historical, mythological, or cultural, and give a child a little more insight to the topic and incentive to look further into it. I think that this is probably the most important attribute to e-books that regular text does not have, other than the fact that e-books are easier to access and often free, while paper books are not.