Smith,+Toni+Kaye+-Closing+Reflection


 * NLI / 509 Closing Reflection Questions ECI 509 **
 * Directions: ** Respond to the questions below. Highlight your name below to and create a link create your 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? 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? 3. In what ways are the new literacies prompted by technology? How do they affect one another?
 * Being a language art teacher, literacy dealt with analyzing and understanding different types of text. New literacies mean being able to understand and analyze not only print materials, but all forms of digital materials as well. I am not sure that my definition changed, but I have re-examined my role as a teacher. I need to focus on how I am going to make my students literate in the 21st Century. **
 * Some of the new literacies I learned about this week included Web 2.0 tools. There were several that I was already familiar with, but I enjoyed learning about new ones such as Ning, Voice Thread, and Tricider. One of the most important literacies was the Project Based Inquiry. I had heard about this process through Common Core training, but did not know/understand the process. After this workshop I realize how important these tools are to creating lessons that will engage our students and aid us in teaching the Common Core/Essential Standards. **
 * As technology changes and advances so do new literacies. We need to be able to analyze the new literacies available so that we are able to teach our students to do the same. At the pace that technology is changing, the new literacies of tomorrow will be unrecognizable today. We need to give our students the skills to be able to analyze and understand the new literacies of future. **

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). 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? 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. 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? 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? 9. If you had one more day in the Institute, what would you like to learn more about and why?
 * When I was a literacy coach, it was often hard to align some of the strategies with certain academic content areas such as math and elective classes. That has changed with the Common Core/Essential Standards. Students are expected to be literate in all areas. This means that they need to be able to think and analyze information in all content areas. The new literacies help teachers accomplish this goal. **
 * The teaching practices I learned in college are outdated. The new literacies have changed how we have to teach our students. Teachers are now the facilitators in the classroom, aiding their students as they analyze and solve problems. We no longer give students the answers; we show them the strategies they need to find the answers. **
 * Teaching is changing. The traditional textbook is no longer the primary resource in the classrooms. Students have access to information as it happens. We need to make sure that our students can analyze and synthesize the information that constantly bombards them. Students have to be active participants in the classroom. PBI and the Revised Bloom’ theory will aid teachers in this process. If we are going to prepare our students to compete in a global market, we have to give them the skills they need to be successful. **
 * We as teachers have to rethink our lesson design process. It is important for students to have choice and collaborate with their peers. When our groups had to create the video, we were given basic criteria for its final form. The time constraints were very frustrating and I understood how my students must sometimes feel. Despite this stress, each group completed the task. Because each group was allowed to be creative, the videos were different, yet met the goals laid out for the assignment. Our students need the same choices. Teachers need to see that there are a variety of ways for our students to demonstrate that they have mastered a skill. Students also need to learn how to work together. This will be an important skill in the future. Working together does not necessarily mean they will be in the same location as their group members. They may be working with people across the country and it it is important that they learn how to do this. **
 * I found that there really was not a lot of information about me online. I have a Twitter and Facebook accounts, but I am do not post to them a lot. I am very careful about what I put online and do not see myself changing in that respect. **
 * I would have liked to be able to go more in-depth in the cool tool sessions. We were presented with so many Web 2.0 tools, but had little time to explore them. I did find several tools that I will use in my classroom and share with my fellow teachers, but I would have liked to have been able to look more closely at others. **