Wednesday, August 6, 2014

IW 14-15 August: 21st Century Literacy

1) Which of the four pillars of  Literacy for the 21st Century connects with you the most?  Why?
2) Which one do you think you would need the most guidance with? Why?

Feel free to include links to resources in your response that may be helpful to other cohort members.

Below is the slideshow that we shared with you about 21st Century Literacy in LPS

28 comments:

  1. The pillar that connects with me the most is Communication. I want my students to see and experience the world of Spanish beyond what they see in a book. I have been using a pen-pal program, but I would love for them to experience Spanish via other forms of communication, like Skype or email. With that said, I also want it to be safe, which leads me to feel very strongly about Citizenship. I think those are the two pillars that I think about most often.
    I would like more guidance with citizenship - if I were to create an online classroom exchange, I want it to be done well, safely and securely for all. I would want help making sure it is a reputable school/teacher/experience for the kids and something that is meaningful for my students and for me (and for those we are sharing with!)

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  2. 1) Which of the four pillars of Literacy for the 21st Century connects with you the most? Why? The biggest part that connected with me was communication. With social media making the world feel so much smaller, it seems like communication is the best way to raise the next generations of learners.

    2) Which one do you think you would need the most guidance with? Why? Citizenship will need the most guidence so I can help show students that they are making a name for themselves online and how to be more responsible with what they do on the web.

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    1. Why does communication connect with you? Why is it the best way to raise the next generation of learners?

      How would you show students how to make a good name for themselves? What guidance would you need?

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  3. 1. The pillar that connects the most with me is Citizenship. I spend a lot of time with my students about being responsible students when using technology. I am starting young with them in 2nd grade hoping that the lessons I teach will stay with them as they grow older and have more freedom with technology.
    2. The pillar I need the most assistance/guidance with is productivity. I use technology a lot in my classroom but my students are not producing quality product. I would like to go above and beyond and really see where I can take them. We have done work in Google Docs/Drawing and I just want to see what else I can do.

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    1. Why does citizenship connect with you?

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    2. Citizenship connects with me because I spend so much time in the classroom making sure my students are digital citizenships. It is extremely important that I teach my students the skills to make good choices while using technology. I also spent a lot of time learning about digital citizenship while getting my masters. Citizenship is just a part of our daily lives.

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  4. 1. The pillar that connects to me the most is Communication. Having two teenagers of my own makes it clear to me that the way young people communicate is changing daily. The technology in our classrooms has to stay up with the changes. I loved the metaphor of the cake...the change from “frosting” to “mixed in the batter”. No longer can we view the use of technology as something to add at the end, it has to be included from the beginning. I’m excited to make technology a part of my “batter” as I use the many writing inspirations we are learning in this class with my students, starting with the class website from Week 1!

    2. Citizenship is most likely the pillar I will need the most help with, as I increase the use of technology in the classroom. I personally don’t even know what out on the Internet is “good”, so I certainly can’t relay that information to my students. Plus, since I teach 5th graders on the verge of middle school, I want to have the most up-to-date cyber-bullying information out there to help them help themselves in this area.

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    1. Here is a link to the district cybersafety information. You may want to link to this on your website.
      https://sites.google.com/a/lps.k12.co.us/instructional-technology-professional-development/home/cybersafety

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  5. The pillar of communication I identify with the most. The presentation reinforces what I see in my home everyday, watching my teenagers communicate in such a different way than I ever did. I stop myself from getting frustrated with their constant communication, and realize that although it is amazing, there also need to be limits. In the classroom on the other hand, we need to embrace these new avenues of communication, stretch the limits and find fantastic ways that we can constantly "speak the new language" while tying to content. Sneaky way to inspire learning in our 21st Century learners.

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  7. 1. The pillar of Literacy for the 21st Century that connects with me the most is Productivity. I want their work to reflect critical thinking and be relevant to the unit objectives. I want the students to strive to produce their best work and use their time to the best advantage to learn and help others learn.

    2. The objective that I need most guidance with is probably Communication. I need to strive to give more "exit slips" or "check-ins" to see where kids are in their learning. Also, I hope my new website will be good for communicating with my parents. I need to check in with them more often to inform them on our learning and activities in the classroom.

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  8. Which one do you think you would need the most guidance with? Why?
    I feel I need to support communication the most...as I stated in my thoughts to Q1: communication is almost (technologically) too much, helping my students with this massive overload of information will be one of the most helpful "skills" I cn assist them with.
    According to a fascinating book titled, "Crazy Busy" which I highly recommend, the idea of "screensucking" is so accurately given to those people who find it difficult to organize and spend time away from tech. The idea of technology is a tool is wonderful but we still need time away from it at times. "Unplugging" is critical for all of us...I laugh when I see the younger generation (NOT ALL OF THEM), texting those sitting right next to them! Amazing world we live in!

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  9. The pillar of literacy that connects with me the most would be communication. As a special education teacher I feel that many of the special education population tends to be deficient in the area of communication. Speech and language difficulty contribute to concerns but basic reading and writing deficits contribute to a lack of skills in this area. I feel it is my responsibility to bring these students to grade level standards so they will be able to succeed in high school and in the work force. My role is to teach them to communicate, both orally and well as written to the best of their abilities.
    I feel I would need the most guidance with information pillar as I am not comfortable with a great deal of the technologies. I need to be comfortable with all aspects of tech so that I can encourage my students to utilize all aspects of resources of information

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  10. PRODUCTIVITY!!! It is the request of us in this 21st Century. Everything more, faster....layers of documentation, data, testing, standards. As our students are asked to do more, we lead the wagons. If I am to be more productive, I need to explore every avenue that technology has to offer. Organization is key to productivity. So my head is going to explode, help me organize all of these wonderful new ideas while I try to remain productive :D

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  11. 1. The pillar of literacy that connects with me the most would be productivity. With our ever changing and the constant increase in technological advancements, we simply must keep up. Students are being asked to produce more, show more, collaborate more every year. Today's kids seem to need more "buy in" if they are going to produce in ways that we're asking of them. If I want my students to produce then I better give them every opportunity to do so.

    2. Just as much as productivity is the pillar that connects with me the most, so too is it the one I still need the most guidance with. I've got to keep myself abreast with the newest and latest. I need to know how to do what I'm asking and wanting my students to do. I've got to be a better facilitator.

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  12. 21st Century Literacy
    1) Of the four pillars of Literacy for the 21st Century, Communication connects with me the most. Why? Communication is the great equalizer of history. Being able to express what you know effectively transcends limits of law, geographical borders, gender, and even species.

    2) Communication is the one pillar I think I need the most guidance with because I am always searching for the most effective way to communicate with each of the individuals that I have in my circle of influence. The nuances of the message and the vehicles that I choose to use to communicate my message can affect what is understood and when it is understood and can cause undue concern if not interpreted correctly.

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  13. 1. Content and Pedagogy connects most with me. It's most nature to know and understand my craft of teaching. I thrive on learning more about getting better at my practice within math and literacy.

    2. Technology is the pillar I need most help with. I need to understand how to integrate tech more into my practice. LOL, that's why I'm sooooo glad I'm here.

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  14. The pillar that connects with me the most is Communication, my students are learning to communicate in a better way daily.

    I would need the most guidance with Citizenship, so my students would be taught this in their studies. This is what kids really need in order to grow up being more confident in this world.

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  15. 1)The pillar that connects with me the most is Citizenship. I take great care to try to help my students understand that the choices they make have both short-term and long-term consequences. When it comes to technology, it is easy to think that something they put out there is gone the moment they move on. It is important to me they grasp that it is possible for others to access that information at any point in the future. They need to be aware they have access to things that could potentially be harmful, and others have acess to them if they are not using technology responsibly.
    2)The pillar I need the most guidance with is Productivity/Publishing. I know there are so many possibilities in this area, and I don’t want my lack of technological knowledge and experience to prevent the students from creating a great product.

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  16. The pillar that connects with me most is Communication. I love to explain why I think something is important to learn and have someone explain their thinking around an answer or a question. I love how there are so many mediums to communicate our thinking and our feelings!
    I terms of my needs - I really need help with PRODUCTIVITY! YIKES! It feels really daunting to get kids to publish quality pieces of writing in a Writer's Workshop with one of me and 23 diverse needs...

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  17. Of the four pillars: communication, information, productivity, and citizenship, I think the most important pillar is productivity. More specifically student productivity. Students have the ability to access information, can communicate it in a variety of media forms. Yet the ultimate production seems to have hit a road bump. Despite teacher warnings that this will be seen by the world, your parents, your friends, the students have not bought into the importance on publishing with pride. It is frustrating to see students ignore spelling mistakes, non capitalization of the word “I”.

    One of the pillars I would appreciate help on is Information. I need to teach students how to better understand who is providing the information and can it be trusted. On a larger scale, I would like to get my kids connected in meaningful ways to the outside world. We will be reading a book about the current crisis in Sudan. I would like to make it a closer more personal experience for them.

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  18. Of the four pillars of Literacy for the 21st Century, Communication, Information, Productivity and Citizenship, I connect most with is information and helping my students learn strategies for accessing and processing all the information that they have at their finger tips on a daily basis. It is important that they learn that not everything they read and see on the internet is truthful and/or completely accurate and to teach them strategies to check the information before using it in their work. This takes time and they have to read carefully and compare multiple sources, which is something fourth graders don’t necessarily like to do. It is important to teach our students to understand an author’s purpose as well as acknowledging and valuing a variety of opinions on various subjects in all that they read and process. Before we can send students out into the 21st Century they need to be able to put aside their preconceived ideas, previous knowledge and understandings and make room for and be willing to synthesize new knowledge, ideas and understandings as the world is always changing.

    The pillar that I need the most guidance with is productivity in the technology part of my teaching. I use it but not to the extent that I could or should. It takes me long hours to remember how to use and to figure out the infinite number of technological tools available for teachers to use; therefore, I avoid it like crazy and make very slow strides in using it in any aspect of my life. I generally get really excited when I learn about the many sites/tools out there but don’t like to take the time away from other interests to fine tune their usage in my classroom. Let’s just say that sitting down in my limited extra time to explore technology is not at the top of my list so it is important that I take a class such as Inspired Writing to help me find and learn how to incorporate more technology into my classroom.

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  19. 1) Which of the four pillars of Literacy for the 21st Century connects with you the most? Why?


    It was interesting to learn about the four pillars of Literacy for the 21st Century, and they are obviously all important.


    The one that seems most important to me is citizenship. The others are obvious, but I think we would be remiss to teach those without teaching citizenship as well. Life in the digital world presents so many possibilities, but it also presents numerous new problems. Students need to know how to guard their identify, how to avoid scams, and that information they put on the web is there forever and that their voice is far reaching and powerful.


    I hope to teach my students not only how to use technology well, but how to use it responsibly.



    2) Which one do you think you would need the most guidance with? Why?

    I think that I might need guidance or possible resources to teach the information pillar. It would be nice to have specific lessons to help kids know what sources are reliable and accurate.

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  20. 1. The Communication pillar connects with me the most because I think it's the most intrinsically motivating and natural part of learning for kids. They want to talk, discuss, and network outside of school so we have the opportunity to harness and strengthen this in their learning. I get excited about learning opportunities when kids can use their natural excitement to communicate and I believe that's where some of the best learning can happen!

    2. Communication is also the area I would love guidance in. I'm searching for the most effective and motivating ways for kids to communicate what they know and would love to learn about more avenues. I've had the kids create blogs and sites, but want to experiment with "Cover it Live" or skyping with another class.

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  21. I think that I connect most with the communication pillar. I value the open communication I have with my students and the information we share. I not only love to share ideas with my students, but enjoy having them communicate their ideas with me. I have students who used technology resources in elementary school that I haven't heard of, so they are helping me introduce them into my toolbox. I also appreciate that I can communicate with my students using technology, which can "increase production" in a large class setting.
    The pillar I need the most help with is productivity! I get really excited when I learn all these new tools, but sometimes I want to use them all right away. I need to experiment and prioritize, but remember that technology is always changing so there will always be new tools for my students and I. That is both exciting and overwhelming :)

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  22. The pillar the speaks to me the most is citizenship. I am trying to ensure the students in my classroom as well as my own kids understand the digital footprint they have when using technology. Nothing is truly untraceable - especially when they are using their google accounts. Knowing this, I want kids to feel empowered to use the technology wisely and purposefully. With the age of smart phones, mobile tablets, computers and so much more, technology is at their fingertips and so is the responsibility to be a leader even in an era when so many others aren’t. Also, I want to help them know that as a user of technology they have a responsibility to speak and write positively. Even though they may be anonymous, their responsibility is to lead responsibly whenever they use technology.

    The pillar I need the most help with is information. While technology is great, it can also be frustrating at times. Where do we get information that is usable, accurate and written in an accessible way for most kids. And, once we have written text that is accessible, what is accurate? Where do we find information that we can trust? And, not have to be a member of every program under the sun.

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  23. The pillars that I connect with the most are communication and information. Personally I use my IPad, my Smartphone, and my laptop all the time for getting information and for communicating with family, friends, teammates, students, and parents and appreciate the benefits.

    Regarding the Information pillar, I love the capability of being able to “Google” any subject and get the information in an instant from many different sources. The challenges for our students, especially my 3rd graders, involve using reliable sources and dealing with the huge amount of information available.

    The Communication pillar also connects with me. I appreciate the ability of being able to text family members and receive almost instant replies. Being able to email parents allows me the ability to communicate with parents in a more timely manner. One challenge for me is that my students are often so capable of sharing their documents at home and often don’t understand why I put limits on the sharing.

    The pillar that I need the most guidance with is Citizenship. I recognize the importance of our digital footprint but I need help with how to teach that to my students.

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