Let Them Take Control

Ramsay, J. D. (2015). LET THEM TAKE CONTROL. Reading Today, 32(6), 38-39.

Julie Ramsay states in her article that as teachers we often reflect on our teaching and seek out ways to improve our practice. She goes on to discuss that in her own reflections, they often lead her to her own school-aged memories of anxiety and an eagerness to achieve good grades. Today's students are not all that different. Julie goes on to state that she decided to open up discussion in her classroom with her students on expectations and grades. Her students stated that they often weren't sure why there being assessed or how they were being assessed. Her students weren't taking ownership of their academic tasks because they saw no value in what they were doing. Julie goes on to state that by opening up the conversation she was able to make changes. She now has her students dissect standards, asking themselves what do I need to know or be able to demonstrate to show mastery of this standard. By giving students control, they are taking ownership of their work and learning. 

 In my own reflection of my teaching practices and earliest school memories, I too aim to ease my students' anxiety about school. I stride for my classroom to be a safe community for my students where they can feel encouraged to try new things and make mistakes. In reflection of Julie's article, I see I have an area of improvement to make. On the daily I'm collecting data toward my students' Individual Education Plans and documenting. This data and documentation is critical to allow me to report on student progress and to guide my instruction. However, when collecting this data I don't always share this data with my students. I praise and cheer for my students when they advance a reading level or make progress towards these goals but I don't always invite my students in to their goals. My older students grades 3-5, we conference on academic goals. We create graphs to track progress and set short-term goals to achieve their goals. In reflection of this article, this fall I will start this conferencing with all my students. Empowering them to see what their goals are and showing the connection to what we do everyday to achieve these goals. 

Juli 

Can I use this App or Website for My Class?

Miller, B. (2016). Can I Use This App or Website for My Class?. Knowledge Quest, 44(4), 22-29.

This question is frequently asked by educators all across the country. According to this article, this question is indeed a difficult question to answer. The article suggest to take into consider the grade level, students ages, and the website/app restrictions when deciding if you can use an app or website in the classroom. Additional considerations should include the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The article suggests a good resource for teachers when faced with this question is your school’s librarian. According to the article, school librarians should be in the know on rules on CIPA and COPPA and know where to find the age limitations for any website and associated app. School Librarians should also help keep students safe online through educating students about digital citizenship, their digital footprints, cyberbullying, cybersafety, and general caution when using the Internet. A great resource mentioned in the article is Common Sense Media. Oh this webpage, parents and educators can review ratings of Apps, websites, and other digital forms of media. The ratings are given by Common Sense Media as well as teacher’s reviews. The webpage also provides free, online lesson plans on teaching students about digital citizenship.

While this article provides great information to consider, I also believe that it is an educator’s responsibility to research websites and Apps they would like to use in their classrooms. If I was considering using a website in my classroom I would consult with our school’s librarian and our IT assistant on what content the website would be collecting and the age requirement. I believe that it is also my responsibility to read the Privacy settings as stated on webpages and Apps prior to downloading. I am responsible for keeping my students safe online when they are in my classroom. I will also be looking into using Common Sense Media’s digital citizenship lesson plans to introduce internet safety in my classroom. I currently use Common Sense Media when considering which video to play as a classroom reward. The webpage gives a detailed rating on movies and states what audience they would be appropriate for.  In conclusion, I believe with all of us working together as a team: parents, librarians, educators, IT directors, our students are better protected and educated about Internet safety. 

How could Open Education Resources Cause Changes in Schools?

The Department of Education defines Open Education Resources as teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others. This idea really isn’t all that different from the mantra we’re taught during student teaching; beg, borrow, and steal from other teachers. Our colleagues and other educators are our greatest resources in the education world. I have learned more during my teaching experiences and discussions with other professionals then in the four years of my undergraduate.

There will always be positives and negatives to every situation that brings change. A few positive changes in OER would be: students are able to access information from anywhere at any time, multiple times. There is no limit of access to information for students. Students are able to receive information in a timely manner, no longer are they waiting for current events to be published in textbooks. Open education resources could also be used to replace textbooks which would help to eliminate textbook costs for school districts.

 However for the past five years, I have been working on a curriculum committee for our district to write the English Language Arts Curriculum. It has been a struggle to build a curriculum from the ground up with little to no resources. While our district is saving money on textbook expenses, I can guarantee our cost of copiers; paper, ink, and copy repairs are through the roof. We are constantly searching for materials to use to create our curriculum, not just to supplement. I know what you’re thinking, if you’re creating a curriculum in the 21^st Century, what are you doing waiting in the world’s longest line at the copier? Wellllll, even with money saved from textbooks, we still don’t have the funds to provide devices to each student. Our devices consist of two computer carts with laptops that you can check out during blocked off class periods. Even when checking out computer carts for a lesson, there’s no guarantee the Internet will be a willing participate in your lesson. The struggle can be too real. Hence, why most teachers are at the copier… most know they can’t depend on the tech. Not just that, but when working with a close read, for me nothing beats a physical copy. My learning style requires that I highlight, annotate, and use close reading marks to comprehend information. It’s part of our job to assist students in identifying their individual learning styles and adapting curriculum to meet those needs.

I don’t believe that there is a one size fits all in education. In my opinion, Open Education Resources are great to supplement and modify curriculum. OER should not be used as the primary curriculum just as a textbook shouldn’t be either. As a special education teacher the name of the game for me is to modify, adjust, and personalize learning to meet the needs of my students. I do this through curriculum I create, online resources, and pieces from previous textbooks. Teachers have always been creative and capable of creating something more for their students. Why limit them to just one tool?

Information was obtained from:

The Department of Education https://tech.ed.gov/open/

Helpful Websites for Teachers

In the Podcast below, I list a few of my favorite websites that I use all the time as a teacher! Feel free to check them out, if you have any websites you enjoy using please list them in the comments below!

   
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Teaching Young Readers to Navigate a Digital Story When Rules Keep Changing

Javorsky, K., & Trainin, G. (2014). Teaching Young Readers to Navigate a Digital Story When Rules Keep Changing. Reading Teacher, 67(8), 606-618. doi:10.1002/trtr.1259

This article provides great insights on the use of digital story applications with young readers versus traditional paper book stories. The authors of this article conducted a study of digital story apps and their differences as well as strategies to teach young readers on how to navigate these differences. The study findings suggests that young readers need to master book handling skills and the use of print features present in paper books first before mastering them in digital stories.

                The article suggests creating a classroom culture of openness to change. With technology ever changing in the world we live in, it is important to teach students to adapt and be willing to seek changes. Digital story applications vary in icons and narrative features. It’s important to provide a think-aloud and demonstrate to students how to navigate their way through digital stories prior to exposing them independently. It’s also important to teach young readers the importance of following along with narrative features, whether it is through highlighted text or a single word highlighted. Teaching students the basics of turning pages and interacting with text is also important.

                An important take-away I had from this article is to teach students the process of reading a digital story. There are many benefits to digital stories including providing students with opportunities to listen to stories independently and increase their vocabulary through highlighted audio text. The article highlights the importance of walking students through the process of opening the app, selecting the correct narrative icon, demonstrating tracking highlighted text, and turning pages. While reading this article, I thought of how to apply this to my teaching and I would project the digital story on the SmartBoard in my classroom so I could easily display the story and icons. I could then easily walk my students through a think-aloud on the process and showcase more than one kind of digital story. By doing this, my students will become more open to exploring and initiating icons across different digital story applications.

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