After completing the readings of the first two chapters of A
New Literacies Reader edited by Lankshear & Knobel I reflected upon the use
of technology in my own classroom. In my
classroom, as I have mentioned my students all have access to an iPad. This iPad is for the student to take home,
complete homework, and other assignments that the teacher gives. In my mathematics classroom it can be
difficult to incorporate the various technologies while trying to cover the
intense standards and curriculum we are faced with. I try to incorporate the iPad into every
lesson for about 10-15 minutes daily. If
the technological incorporation occurs in the bellringer, class activity, or
exit ticket I am doing what I can to get the students involved in technology.
I have an app that allows for me to create a class web
page. On this page my students have
access to everything that I post. They
call it the facebook of school. It has
the same appearance of facebook and similar ideas. I post the homework daily, class
announcements, and videos I create for the students. This allows for me to stay constantly
connected with my students. They know
they can ask me a math question till 9pm, at which point I told them I am going
to bed. They post questions, answer
eachothers questions, and collaborate.
One thing that I have not been able to incorporate into my
classroom is the blogging piece. Granted
this is my first time blogging, I wonder how I could do this. (Any ideas please let me know). Tiffany discusses the use of blogging in her
non-traditional english classroom. She
teaches in a small high school in Brooklyn, New York. In the short segment that she has in this
chapter I really feel connected in her classroom. I think that her passion desire to read
everything the kids write and not feel the pressure of preforming to the
standards says a lot. “A content
analysis of my students’ blogs found that they focused their writing on the
following issues: academic or financial stress, high school graduation,
college, friendships, dating…” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2013, p. 27). Tiffany’s
ability to connect with the students is truly rewarding to watch, today I feel
many teachers lose sight of getting to know the student. Tiffany states that she is the, “techy
teacher.” The term “techy teacher” is
very interesting because I feel that when students view you in a positive way,
that they are going to work harder in your classroom. The blogging aspect of the classroom allows
the students who struggle socially to connect with his or her peers in a
different level. Today our students
struggle with conversation face to face and I think that the blogging is a
place that they can release stress and other triggers while being
appropriate.
In my opinion teachers today are not taking full advantage
of the technology available. I know and
agree that it takes additional time to create a lesson plan, check for flaws
but in the long run I think that it is rewarding for the students. In my district the veteran teachers refuse to
partake in the use of technology, some still refuse to use their SmartBoards. As Lanshear and Knobel (2013) state, “As
youth are engage in the processes and practices of exploring, making, and
remaking their identities across a wide array of representational modalities
and spaces, both online and offline, the role of the educator becomes more
complicated and, we would argue, ripe with possibilities” (p. 35). The possibilities of and within education are
endless and as educators it is our job to take full advantage of these
opportunities.
Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2013). Multimodal
Pedagogies. In A new literacies reader: Educational
perspectives (Vol 66). New York: Peter Lang.
