AUTHENTICITY OF DIGITAL LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM

Troy Hicks and Kristen H Turner’s “No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait” speaks directly to me, and how committed I am as a teacher in making sure that my students engage effectively in technology. “How far have we come? What have we changed? How are digital literacies really being taught, if at all? I think this are questions we in the school community have to keep on asking ourselves if we really want the students to achieve mastery in digital literacy.

The technology integration in Exodus Elementary School due to lack of funds is truthfully something teachers have no control over. “Wireless is unreliable, the single laptop is never maintained and one LCD projected must be shared among teachers.” This reminds me of when I was a high student in Nigeria. We don’t have enough computers to go round a class. The few computers we had in the school was found in the library, and the Principal’s office. Students only have access to the computer in the library a week before the School Examination, which is towards the end of the school year. This is just to practice for Computer Practical Exams. It is truly frustrating for the teachers and the students, and the only way out is to stick to methods that “do not imbed technology into literacy instruction.”

It is true that technology in the classroom cannot be viewed as an add-on, but must instead be used to cultivate distinctly digital literacies, which is in line with what Danah Boyd is encouraging us to teach our kids. She said that Technology should be part of life, and allows one to connect to people around the globe. Boyd also commented on the one fabulous thing that happens because of social media, “you understand yourself to be a part of a network”. This is one thing I want my students to get to know. But the only way they can, is by exposing them to digital literacy and building their skill in it. It’s our job as teachers to enlighten our students, because “they don’t understand how information is architected. They don’t necessarily understand the broader media landscape, the kinds of propaganda that go on”, which is why they need adults.  It’s not all about having students work in the computer/chromebooks, the students need to be able to use the technology to “consume texts in critical, creative ways.”

In a situation where the technology is scarcely available, teachers obviously need to work extremely hard to make sure that their students are given equitable opportunities to develop their literacies, just like other students form the district that have access to technology. Although, there is nothing the teachers can do in regards to the provision of the technology, but I think being an advocate and speaking out, which is one out of the three ideas Hicks and Turner gave to help teachers develop and improve students digital literacy. According to Hicks and Turner, “Digital literacy allows us to advocate and we can individually add our voices to the professional and political conversation.”

To build my students’ digital know-how, I need to “develop (my) digital literacy, engage in a larger conversation about digital literacy in education”, thereby supporting and building the skills of my students in digital literacy, which will be beneficial to them not just in school, but in the society at large. I can’t wait to build and develop digital literacies in my students, by putting myself out there, and being a model for my students to follow. This blog being my first attempt, makes me want to try more of this.

FIRING UP STUDENTS TO WRITE BRILLIANT ESSAY

I ask myself the same question in Christensen’s writing, “How do we get students to care enough about their writing so that they stay up all night? How do we make them so proud of their work that they don’t pitch their papers in the garbage can instead of treasuring them as masterpiece?”(pg. 121). When I give students an assignment to take home, it’s like you’re punishing them. This is why I agree with Christensen on the fact that connecting the topic to students’ lives and examining students’ models alongside other professional writers gives them the zeal to write more in order to improve their writing skill and “to write fire essays more often.

As a teacher, I think of it as something that will consume a lot of time for planning. Obviously, it’s a lot of work for the teacher, but I remember what Dr. Johnson said to me after co-teaching a lesson; she said that the priority of a teacher is always the students. You might plan your lesson within a set time, but it doesn’t matter if you get to finish the lesson, all that matters is the understanding of the students. Are your students following along? If after teaching my lesson, students still feel they don’t know what to write or how to go about putting down their ideas on paper, then, I know that I need to reteach!  No teacher would want to teach their students how to write an essay and still leave their students wondering, “How do I do this? What do I do?”

Christensen provides us with steps needed to develop, modify and improve our students’ writing skills. Choosing topics in the curriculum that links with the lives of students steers up their curiosity and eagerness to participate. According to her, teachers determine through their curriculum, who counts and who doesn’t, “whose stories are important and whose aren’t” (pg. 155). Christensen gave an instance of when “hurricane Katrina exploded across the South”, and left in its wake thousands of victims. She decided to include that in her curriculum to teach her students about society deals with these types of tragedies. She also allows her students to analyze the events and come up with a claim and counter-claim. This makes me to think about the incident that happened in one of the public schools at Providence. The shooting that took place in front of PCTA, which killed a student. I remember working with my students in class the next morning, and all they cared about was the tragedy that happened. They were all talking about it, and recognizing the victim as someone they know. Although, we held a moment of silence for the student that passed away, we could have discussed it more, allowing students to analyze the incident and talk about the aftermath of the tragedy. We could have asked them to write an essay discussing how the incident links to their lives, as well as their high school. Peers. This would have provided students with a greater opportunity for student voice and agency.

When I give a writing assignment my students often ask, “What comes first? What comes after? How do you end your essay?” When I work with them, I usually give them a graphic organizer with questions, as well as sentence starters for each of the paragraphs. Now, I realize that before giving students an essay to write, sharing different examples of introductions, evidence paragraphs, and conclusions from different brilliant essay writers, can help boost their confidence before starting the essay. Furthermore, introducing the “Think/Pair/Share”, allows students to share their draft with their peers as they write.  As Christensen said, “when students share their snappy openings, they feed off each other, and their playful shouts-outs of admiration and applause benefit both the nimble writers… as well as the struggling writers…” I tried this once with two of my students, and it worked. They both read their essay to each other, and you could see them correcting and adding what was missing in each of their essays.

I believe that all of my students can write, and always have something to say. All it takes is for me (the teacher), to bring out that skill in them. Obviously, it requires spending more time with the students, and “immersing them in curriculum that matters, getting them fired up about the content so they care about their writing, and then letting them go” (pg. 132).     

ACHIEVING MASTERY IN THE CLASSROOM

Watching the video on Rick Wormeli’s “Defining Mastery”, got me thinking on how I improve the creativity of my students, at the same time having high expectations for my students. Yes, as teachers we need to use the Common Core Standards as toolbox to make sure our students have mastery, and are prepared and ready for the next grade/college. Rick Wormeli said, “so many times standards and outcomes are really generalized” which I understand to mean that the standard is not specific on what evidence the students need to provide to show mastery of the content. The students can actually identify, create and revise “facts or opinion” to make it more “factual or opinionated”.

Asking students to “Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well- structured event sequences” (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3), is generalized because it did not say the exact technique and also if a student decides to write a narrative by creating his/her technique, would it be wrong? Giving room for students to be in control of their own work, and setting an example with a text model to show what elements is needed in their writing (just as Christensen said in her writing)  produces better outcome. Students will actually derive joy in their writing and achieving mastery at the same time. This affirms what Rick said, “grading is all about communication” and not bargain, having a conversation with the students to determine what would be tolerated as an evidence for mastery and gaining an A in the content/concept. Also, modeling what is expected of the students and making the students know they can do it, make them actually create their own masterpiece, create their own narrative on a life experience accompanied with imagination, just as Moshin Hamid, who his novel “Exit West” with a combination of his life experience and imagination of what the future would be like.  This is really a food for thought for me as a new teacher in the Providence Public School district.

As a teacher, my first attempt with the Common Core Standards, made me think, “so every students in my class has to have mastery in the grade level standards to move up to the next grade, and that is all that is to be done.” Then, being in the classroom with different diversity and needs of the students, I began to wonder the ‘what’ and ‘how’. What do I have to do and how do I accommodate the different needs of the students in the classroom and at the same time having high expectations for them? I also ask myself the same question Rick asked, How do you unpack or unwrap standards” to make my students have mastery in their learning process? Having read Michelle Kenney’s “The Politics of the Paragraph and reading Christensen’s Teaching for Joy and Justice, gave me the tool that can help my students not only derive joy in their work, but also achieve mastery of content.

The Standards, which Kenney described as “Formulas” doesn’t give enough room for students to be creative and express their thoughts. I am actually impressed with the NCTE 10 that stated, “Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English Language”, because that’s the only they can learn, which is what I practice with my EL students. I can also say that listening to Wormeli’s talk, also made me realize that to achieve mastery, I need to discuss with my students and make up the standards alongside the CC Standards on what the expectations are, thereby making the students part of the curriculum and grading . It is believed that student in the said grade level should be on the same knowledge level, which as a teacher in public school, I see opposite of that. They’re a lot of barriers that affect students, and not been able to recognize that and consider that is what makes the standard faulty.

I believe that promoting authentic collaboration among teacher and students is what it takes to achieve mastery. This occurs when students are applying knowledge or skills to solve problem, jointly analyzing or evaluating each other’s work, or creating a product, can actually help all students to build and improve their skill and mastery, as they work together as peers and also with the teacher. This is characterized by the teacher involving and accommodating the different diversity and needs of the students, showing one or more models to let students know what is expected to achieve mastery, and students exchanging points of view, persisting to question each other and understand versus acquiescing, contributing original ideas and completing assignments that reflect their thinking and ownership.