NL Blog Post

1) YOUR CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: 

                At the beginning of class, before we even uploaded our definitions of literacy, I was under the impression that literacy was one set definition. I’ve learned since that literacy is just the base and that there are many different types of literacy. The definition of literacy that I posted back in February was for media literacy. I ended up completing my NL project on emotional literacy, so unfortunately I never learned more about media literacy past the definition.

When we first started this project, I wasn’t sure what emotional literacy was. I made an assumption that it was just about knowing why you feel the way you do, but as I did my research, I found that it was much more than that. Back on March 11^th, we posted in our book club blog about what we were learning about our specific literacy and I found a lot of information while researching. The findings of my research have changed my conceptual understanding of literacy in general and more specifically about emotional literacy.

I think there were a few readings that helped solidify the idea that there were numerous type of literacies, but I think the thing that affectd my understanding the most was the new literacies project. I learned a lot about emotional literacy just by doing research and making my weebly, but I learned even more when I compared my weebly to other students’ projects about emotional literacy. It seemed like with each project I learned something else about emotional literacy (along with each other type of literacy). It was so nice to explore a bunch of different projects verse having to read pages and pages of articles.

As I reflect on this project and my past experiences, I feel like I’ve been given a lot of opportunities to become literate; not only digitally, but emotionally, culturally, numeracy, etc. I can remember, back in elementary school, instances where my teacher would ask me “why are you sad?” or “what happened that made you feel this way?” I didn’t realize until now that they were actually helping me become emotionally literate. They got me talking about my feelings at an early age and 20 years later I’m very good at communicating my feelings and understanding why others act and react the way they do. Also, in terms of digital literacy, I can remember numerous projects in middle school that had me working on PowerPoint, using the Internet to research, learning how to use MLA on research papers, etc. In fact, in high school I had a class each day that required me to make things using the computer and the Internet. Things like business cards, PowerPoint presentations, resumes, a graduation binder, word documents, etc. It all seemed very trivial, but I wouldn’t be as technological savvy as I am today with out it.

2) CLASSROOM IMPLICATIONS:

I think that providing ‘effective literacy instruction’ means teaching all types of literacies to all students, no matter their ethnicity, gender, interests, social economic class, etc.  After my research and completion of my project, I realized that teaching these literacies takes time; that we need to expose our students to quality instruction and activities for the ideas to really sink in. Also, we need to start our students off young; preschool would be a great place to start, especially for emotional literacy. Creating an environment that is comfortable, accepting and judgment free, where kids feel free to say, “I don’t understand” or “can you explain that again.”

As teachers we also need to realize that we can’t just have students read during literacy sections. There’s so much more to being literate than just being able to read words on a page and comprehend them. We need to give students exposure to cultural, digital, numeracy, emotional literacy, etc. We need to create well-rounded students and we can begin by implementing these types of literacy instruction into our classrooms.

The research that I’ve done for this project and the projects that my classmates have created have been very eye opening for me. I never realized that we, as humans, need to learn about how to be emotionally, culturally, digitally literate. I thought it was just something that came with age. I think that this project was a good use of my time because I now know that as a teacher I want to incorporate all these literacies into my classroom and make sure my students get lots of exposure to digital technologies. I never grasped how important these topics were until I completed this project and reviewed my classmates’ work on different literacies using different technologies.

Now that you have engaged in this project and reflected on your own learning, what are the implications for you, as a teacher, to implement your ideas about literacy in the K-6 classroom?

            I’ve always been a huge supporter of technology in the classroom. I remember as a student, using technology was a great motivator for me. I was always excited to use the laptops or go to the computer lab and learn how to do research or make PowerPoint presentations. I think due to all the exposure I was given to technology, mostly in middle and high school years, I’m very fluent with technology today. I think it’s important to teach students about digital literacy, to give them the exposure to computers, the internet, creating online projects, researching, etc. The times are changing and technology is more prevalent than ever, both in the classroom and out in the real world. It would be hard to get a job without having at least basic computer sills. If an employer sees that a student knows how to use PowerPoint, weebly, prezi, etc., that will better their chances of getting a job; technological skills make people more employable.

            Digital literacy refers to the ability to make, organize, evaluate, locate and create information using digital technology. As a teacher, I will provide my students with multiple ways to become digitally literate. I want to create projects that allow them to choose their technology, I want to make homework assignments that need to be submitted online with the use of the internet, I want to make research projects that require some internet research, etc. Students need to be taught how to do these things. They need to understand how to research topics, search things online, upload documents or pictures, format papers, etc. These are all skills they will use on the regular in their real life, which makes these activities very authentic and worthwhile. As a teacher I’m going to make it a goal of mine to make sure each of my students has a grasp on different technologies and are on their way to becoming digitally literate.

            In terms of my new literacy, emotional literacy, I will also be teaching my students about this. After doing all my research, I realize how useful and necessary it is to be emotionally literate. It doesn’t matter if you’re 4 or 44, being emotionally literate can only improve your quality of life. The thing about ‘teaching’ emotional literacy is that is doesn’t require a lesson plan, or a day to teach. As a teacher, I can help my students become emotionally literate by direct modeling; modeling correct behavior and reactions to other behavior. I will make my classroom a comfortable environment where kids feel its okay express feelings, which I’ll explain are natural. I can ask them how they feel and ask them to tell me why they think they feel that way. Some songs, books, classroom posters, activities can also help educate students on being emotionally literate.

            Teaching about emotions to all aged students requires a good deal of support. Younger kids don’t know how to express their emotions, so often times they cry. A teacher would need to provide emotional support by scaffolding the student to express themselves by teaching emotional vocabulary, so when that student feels that way again, s/he will have the correct terms to get his/her emotion across without crying. Older students won’t cry as much, but they may act out with violence, which needs support in itself. As a teacher, you may ask the older students questions, much like you would with younger students. Make them feel comfortable, and like you respect them and it’s more probable that emotional literacy will be learned.