Journal #3: Multimodal
Pedagogies and Trajectories of Remixing
While reading Chapters 1 and 2, I found myself intrigued
by the use of some technology in the classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed reading
about the students and how they reacted to these different forms of literacy
and text. A’idah, a student in an English class who regularly writes blogs
stated, “I hate writing stuff on paper because I feel like my hands can’t keep
up with my thoughts when I write on paper” (p. 30). I’m sure many of us can
relate to this student! What a wonderful and insightful teacher to take her
students’ struggles and turn them into a desire to learn.
I feel that teachers need to not rush to teach material,
but to dig deeper into the underlying issues. As an educator, I understand the
struggle and the rush to collect grades and to keep a deadline based around
your lesson plans and observations. However, I feel that if we truly take into
consideration the new digital age that our students are living in and what they
are comfortable in participating in, learning the material will come at a
quicker pace than originally planned. “When educators are more aware of
adolescents’ digital literacies and composing repertoires, they can more
effectively marry instructional goals that children and youth need to meet in
order to successfully navigate formalized education […]” (p. 35).
In relation to Green’s approach to literacy, the
operational literacy practices lies in the ability to understand the constant
change in technology and being able to adapt to these new opportunities. The
cultural literacy practices relates to the technology that we have available in
our classrooms. This creates opportunities for our students to practice these
new literacies and use them in their day to day life. Critical literacy
practices relates to students having the ability to use these new technologies
to their benefit and be proficient in creating and developing their own ideas.
I strive to be an educator who practices new ideas in
order to benefit my students. I understand that our society is changing into a
digital age and I believe that we need to embrace it. My school district has
given each 4-6th grade student an I-pad, and I enjoyed learning some new
ideas to keep my students involved. “As youth are engaged in the processes and
practices of exploring, making, and remaking their identities […] the role of
the educator becomes more complicated and, we would argue, ripe with possibilities”
(p. 35).
Lankshear, Colin and Michele Knobel. A New Literacies Reader: Educational Perspectives (pp. 23-56).
Peter Lang, 2013. Print
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree more with your point that there is a constant feeling of being rushed, we have deadlines, observations, time frames we need to stay within and it’s hard to take a step back and slow down when necessary. Having students who are digitally literate will hopefully allow for them to absorb the information a little quicker allowing the lessons to move at a quicker pace. Obviously, in due time students will begin to pick up and absorb more information at a quicker pace but learning the practices that work well for your students is the first step in creating that success.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your post, I thought about how important it is for students to feel comfortable with the way they are learning. From my colleagues, I have heard of schools where if students were not taking copious notes from the board and completing mechanical grammar exercises, they were not learning. Thankfully, where I teach we are allowed to use different methods in order to increase student participation. Therefore my lessons often include video or audio clips as well as projects I assign. Once they had to create a skit and make a video which they really enjoyed. I was even impressed by my student's skills in video editing! I plan to keep doing these types of assignments because it helps learning go beyond the classroom.
-Joysi