New Literacies, New Technologies

Within the last few years’ technology devices have nearly flooded schools with new software and handheld devices. Walking into an upper-middle class suburban school district, you will find students working on Chromebooks, iPads, working on projects on GoogleClassroom, SMARTboards in every classroom and more. Meanwhile, in the same state just a 20-minute drive away you can walk into an inner-city school and would be lucky to even see at least two computers in the back of the classroom.             Our worlds future is slowly revolving around technology more and more, but is it meeting the needs for our diverse learners? We need to prepare students for the 21 st century and incorporate technology in the everyday classroom. As current and future teachers, we have so many options ahead of us to include technology to ensure a bright future for our students. It is not just bringing the latest and great...

There's a new man in town. Actually there's a new man, and a new woman, a few new dogs, mermaids and mermans, unicorns, a whole species of monkeys, and Santas of every ethnicity ALL in this town. This town is not a place too far from me and you, and we probably visit this place fifty percent of the time we unlock our smartphones. Well, if you haven't already guessed it, this town is known as the emoji keyboard. As we know, the term "text" embodies so much more than just the written word. It encompasses symbols, lines, speech, sounds, images, videos, gifs, and of course, emoticons. It's no surprise that emojis are a form of text, especially since it seems that these icons alone can practically replace communication with the written word all together. An experiment was done by Caroline Moss, technology reporter for Business Insider , where she communicated via iMessage by using ONLY emoticons for five days. That means that every time someone sent her a te...

     "You know, mom, I just don't think I'm ever going to be a real reader like you are.  I just don't see myself picking up a book and reading for enjoyment."  That's how a recent conversation with my 15 year old son ended one afternoon as we were discussing his school workload for the upcoming week.  As someone with a career in education that spans more than 20 years, one that has revolved around teaching hundreds to students to read, his off the cuff comment made my heart sink.  I'm a reader, a true reader, and have been since I was too small to remember.  I could spend hours at the local library browsing the shelves for books, being told to put some back because I could never carry that many home.  To this day, I begin every morning seated at my kitchen table with the local newspaper sprawled across the tabletop, taking up so much room, my kids have been relegated to the counter to eat.  Really, how could someone who enjoys reading s...

Photo is from a great show called Atypical available on Netflix. Check it out!            For a few years now I have been working with students on the Autism spectrum and these students have become near and dear to my heart. I have learned so much from working with them and though it is difficult at times, they can be as cognitively rich as a typical student. The wealth of potential inside of them is incredible, but it is up to us as educators to commit to finding ways to let this potential shine just like we would for all our other students. One way in which we can support them and help them grow is through expansion of their literacy skills.           According to the Autism Speaks organization (2018), approximately 1 in 59 children are diagnosed with Autism and those numbers are growing. General education inclusion for those affected by Autism is becoming increasingly more popular, therefore it is highly likely that over the...

By: Amanda Lazaro The History of Technology Through The Ages  I have been lucky enough to grow up in the age of technology. I have been able to see how far we have come and the advancements in technology. When I was in elementary school, computers/laptops were just becoming popular in the classrooms. I remember around fifth/sixth grade my school had just got a laptop cart which was one cart that had 25 laptops on it and this would be used for the ENTIRE school (teachers would hope that it would be available when they would want to use it). This was the start of the technology craze, it was before any kind of ipad or tablet was invented and even before the iphone had come out. Fast forward a little over 10 years later… Now working in elementary schools today in most districts you can walk into a classroom and see at least one maybe two chromebook carts for the classroom to use as they need. I have also worked in districts that have the ability to give each ...

Multiliteracy has become the buzzword in reading courses. Today's technology has changed literacy, but how has it changed math in the elementary school. Students are asked to have number sense, to be literate in how numbers are used. They have various tools they can use in order to move information from the concrete, representational, and abstract thinking. They have various diagrams and pictures to represent their thinking, Just like phonics builds upon itself to create a paragraph. Math also builds upon itself to build a solid foundation through each grade. If students can create a solid sense of numbers they can use previous strategies to transition to the next level. For example, addition must be learned before a student can learn subtraction. It's the opposite of addition. With multiplication, in its simplest form is repeated addition and division is conversely repeated subtraction. Being literate in these math languages helps students to understand multi digit multiplicat...

Does anyone else hear Mary Steenburgen's voice when you read that title??   Because I will never NOT hear her voice when I read that line from Strega Nona.   I teach kindergarten and get the absolute pleasure of teaching my students not only how to read, but also the love of reading and enjoying literacy.  I'm talking about kids being actively engaged during independent reading time, read-alouds and the morning message every day.  I have students who choose the classroom library as a center during their free choice time and devour book after book from their own personal bin and from the ones on the shelves.  These young readers LOVE books and are excited about reading.   It's contagious :)  In a world of booming technology, my kids are also screen masters.  They have mastered anything electronic in our classroom and the library.  They come to school with gadgets for show and tell and stories of iPad ap...

A multiliterate pedagogy is one that is inclusive of the classroom as a social environment, and the relationships among social and cultural diversity (Anstey & Bull, 2006). In order to successfully develop multiliterate learners, one must facilitate an environment that engages the learner, while being inclusive of every individual in the classroom. In order to implement effective literate practices, educators have to be aware of their students’ cultural background. According to Anstey and Bull, productive pedagogies include intelluctual quality, connectedness, supportive classroom envrionment, and the recognition of difference. Students will often feel connected if the educator implements meaningful experiences that are relevant to their lives. Connectedness involves fostering classroom experiences that includes being respectful of culturally diverse backgrounds such as race, religion, gender, socioeconomics, language and more. Multiliterate researchers have found that a classro...