Journal Post #1-

A common misconception today is the use of literacy in the mathematics classroom.  I recently had open house and discussed with the middle school parents how I would be having a literary specialist in my room early in the year to help me learn to adapt and modify my lessons to focus more closely on literacy in mathematics.  With this shift to common core and the higher reading levels, the students are not just asked computational math questions.  Rather they are asked to read a paragraph, pick out the important information, and apply a mathematical concept that was learned.  After telling the parents a math teacher was going to have a literary specialist in the room they looked at me and asked, “Why would you do that? I thought that was the English teacher’s job.”  This is a common misunderstanding.  If a student is struggling with reading and writing this is going to impact the student across the board and not just in the English classroom.  Today we are asking our students to think on a variety of levels.  My exit slip today had no numbers in the question, rather it was words put together to ask a math question.  I think that the idea of this is foreign to many and educating parents and students on the importance of literacy is essential. 

The struggle in my classroom does not lie in the students’ ability to do math.  Rather it lies in the students ability to read the question, comprehend the question, answer every question asked, and put their answers in writing.  These are not easy skills that we ask of the students.  Teaching reading skills and tricks are essential to their success not only in reading and writing but in the other core subjects as well. 

After reading the article, “The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom” by David Huffaker, the digital literacy stuck out to me.  In my distcit all 6^th , 7^th, and 8^th graders have iPads.  These iPads are for the student to use during classes and for them to take home. Very few teachers have converted their lessons to iPad compatible.  I think that many teachers are stuck in their old ways and do not want to take the time and effort to rework lessons with technology.  I think that if teachers took the time to switch their lessons and incorporate the iPads more we would see positive results.  As Huffaker discusses, “some scholars suggest digital fluency will be another prerequisite for sociability, lifelong learning, and employment opportunities”.  I fully agree with Huffaker, our students are preparing themselves for the future of technology by having access to the iPads.  While our students are not bloggers with their iPads, this is something that could be set up in the school.  As the article states, “Blogs represent a perfect medium for literacy.”  I think that this would have potential in our district.  We would be able to require the students to read and write as they would on paper, while using technology.  I often find that if we require students to do work on the iPads, they complete the work in a timely fashion, the work does not get lost, and it is neatly done. 

After reading, “Literacy and the New Technologies in School Education: Meeting the LI(IT)eracy Challenge?” by Bill Green and Cal Durrant, I reflected upon my districts ability to use technology.  “The fact that we rarely stop to think about the technologies we use in relation to literacy practices probably suggest that they are very deeply embedded in our daily  routines”  I think that this is an excellent point, I don’t think about the technology  I use on a daily basis because it is a normal part of my life.  I would say the same for my students; they are engulfed in technology on an everyday basis and that is the world that they are growing up in.  The article continues to discuss teacher resistance to new technology.  They say, “it is clear that each new advance in technology has pushed back the boundaries of what was formerly possible.”  When new technology is released often times teachers are hesitant to use and  

In “Digital Literacies: A research briefing by the Technology Enhanced Learning phase of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme” by Julia Gillen and David Barton reminded me again of the importance of digital fluency and literacy.  “A broader view of education suggests that we are acting in an increasingly mediatized landscape and consequently media literacy, and the ability to use that literacy to participate in various ways, is critical.”  Our world is every changing and as educators it is our responsibility to expose the students to various technologies teaching them skills for their futures.  While I am a math teacher, and one student might not be strong in math, I still have the ability to teach them a literacy skill, or even a technology skill that could and will more than likely be used in the future. 

In regards to the quote "The distinctive contribution of the approach to literacy as social practice lies in the ways in which it involves careful and sensitive attention to what people do with texts, how they make sense of them and use them to further their own purposes in their own learning lives.”  As a teacher it is necessary that I have the skills to help student analyze the text they are reading, I must be well versed in literacy skills for my students, and I have to be able to present these ideas to my students.  A key factor though is relating it to their lives.  I think that relating students to literacy is possible through digital literacy.  Today students are not willing to work on paper but rather want to use the technology.   Student self-motivation is much higher when there is technology included. 

Prior to reading these various articles, I took technology and literacy for granted.  All of my students have iPads and I am not using them to my full advantage.  My students have the ability to become fluent in digital literacy and technology.  It can be used as a motivator and skill builder.  Often times we as teachers and especially myself, I get caught up in the curriculum and the stress of the state exams and forget why I am an educator.  I think that these articles on literacy reminded me that I am much more than “just” a math teacher.  I have the ability to influence students in a variety of ways.