Jobe,+Yvette+Ashburn+-+Closing+Reflection

1. Now that you’ve had this #|professional development experience, how are you defining “new literacies?” How do you think your definition has changed or evolved this week?
 * Being a math teacher, literacy isn’t a word we talk about very often. For me, literacy has always been simply the giving and receiving of information. I don’t think my definition of that has changed over the week but the scope of where and how we give and receive information has. It has broadened to include the digital opportunities we are surrounded by everyday and how we interact with those opportunities to give and receive information. **

2. Describe some new literacies that you learned about this week? What did you know about these topics before the week began and how has your experience this week contributed to your understanding of these new literacies?
 * Although I was familiar with many of the cool tools shared this week and felt I understood what new literacies were, working through the PBI process with my partners helped me realize how important asking the essential question and providing students with ways to share their responses. It brings closure to the lesson and allows students to make deeper connections. I always require my students to show their work in class but never really thought about translating that work into an explanation that could be easily shared in many ways. **

3. In what ways are the new literacies prompted by technology? How do they affect one another?
 * Information now comes to us at such a rapid pace and from so many different sources that it is imperative students have the ability to interpret, analyze, and evaluate that information. I think this is where Julie Coiro **’s **session on Asking a Compelling Question and Analyze information** **provided us with useful tools to guide our students to that level of understanding.**

4. How do new literacies affect the way we think about academic]] content? Describe an examples of how some specific academic content is affected by changes in the ways we reading write and thinking (i.e. new literacies).
 * I’m not sure that I think about the math content for my grade level any differently than I did before. However, I have gained a deeper understanding of the global connections and how we have to move away from rote memorization to a truer problem solving approach where students master the skills of interpreting, analyzing, and applying information to solve problems. In addition, students must be able to effectively communicate that math knowledge in ways that others will understand. In short, my content isn’t changing but my teaching approach must with the introduction of new literacies and the Common Core standards. **

5. How do new literacies affect the way we think about our teaching practices? How do they affect the development of new teaching practices or approaches to teaching?
 * This week has really encouraged me to think differently about I math. Up to this point, I have been like many and focused on the math component only. However, with new literacies, it is imperative that teachers incorporate strategies and activities that encourage the use of multiple sources of information and the opportunity for students to analyze and synthesize that information for themselves. It is also important that the process doesn’t stop there. Once students have gathered that information and formed a conclusion, opportunities to share that information are vital. New teaching practices must include processes like PBI that allow students to inquire, collaborate, and create with each other. Classrooms should be collaborative environments where students are discovering knowledge on their own instead of being passive recipients of that knowledge. **

6. During the week, you learning about several conceptual / theoretical frameworks for understanding the new literacies including, project-based inquiry, TPACK, Bloom’s revised cognitive theory, online identity, and #|global literacies (i.e. cultural competence, cultural awareness, cosmopolitanism). Describe your personal perspective on new literacies as it is informed by these conceptual and theoretical ideas.
 * Teachers can no longer ignore that education is taking a major shift. As stated above, classrooms shouldn’t be a place where students are passive recipients of information. They should be exploring, investigating, and drawing conclusions with each other on the concepts being presented. Having said this, I believe that it is our duty to our students to stay current with the latest information and technology and ensure that we are using tools not just for the sake of technology but because they enhance our instruction. Our students are entering a competitive, global market and to be prepared, classrooms must be structured in a way for students to develop those higher order thinking skills and become effective users of technology. **

7. How does the design process you learned about in your design studio work and the video digging deeper session support your understanding of the creative process?
 * Both of these sessions taught me that having the compelling question helps to keep the focus. It also made clear that planning these activities takes time and thoughtful consideration. However, I think that it was harder for the adults to complete this process because we over think it. I think students would take an open-ended opportunity like that and have no problem creating a final product. I think the creative process should include a guideline for the content but choices for the tool used to share the information. It not only relieves some stress, it provides ownership of the creative process. **

8. You learned this week about how to manage, and in some cases create, your online identity. What action steps will you take (are you taking) to manage and further extend your online identity?
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">I found that what information is out there about me is either professional in nature or completely harmless (like my favorite music). Currently, I am on Twitter and follow many educational feeds. However, I do intend to begin creating my own Personal Learning Network. I plan to participate in webinars and maybe even begin my own blog reflecting on my teaching practices. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">9. If you had one more day in the Institute, what would you like to learn more about and why?
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">I would have liked to explore the concept of flipping the classroom. I stumbled across this concept in doing some course work during the spring semester and have become very interested in it. My concern is making sure the students receive the right type of information and in a manner that is effective prior to coming to class. This would provide more time in class for students to collaborate with one another on hands-on activities. **