Fields,+Hayley+Melissa-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? The term "new literacies" means new forms of literacy made possible by all forms of technology. My definition changed over the week because I had no idea what this term meant before this experience. I was using all kinds of "new literacies" in my classroom and in my grad school classes but had didnt know this was an actual term that people studied and researched.

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? The new literacies I learned about this week include social/collaborative reading and writing to learn; using Diigo for annotations, Diigo sticky note annotations, digital storytelling and using digital role-play to debate. I knew some about the tools because of one of the classes we are taking for this grad program but did not know these tools were considered new litercies. I did learn new ways to use these new literacies within my classroom.

3. In what ways are the new literacies prompted by technology? How do they affect one another? Laptops, Smartboards, and Web 2.0 tools are used to engage students in these new literacies. They should be used add to the Common Core and not be the only method of instruction. Technology should be seemlessly added to instruction for a true 21 century classroom.

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). New literacies force students to write and think critically. They are forced to dig deeper into what they think they know and what they need to know. I feel the need to question what I know about how I teach frequently and now even more so after this conference. 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? New literacies affects the way I think about all aspects of teaching. New literacies cause teachers to think differently about teaching practices by forcing them to find better ways to engage students. Teachers need to move away from the sage on the stage model to the PBI model. Forcing students to take learning into their own hands and engage them in new ways.

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. As a teacher, it is part of my job to expose my students to as many global literacies as possible. Using new literacies as a method is a great way to achieve this goal. Students need to realize that they are just not competing with eachother but with kids their age all over the world. The job market is global. Exposing students to as many cultures as possible and ways of learning will give them a leg up. 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? The creative process takes time! The first day of the PBI was very confusing. Just the simple process of coming up with a complelling question took a great deal of effort. You have to be given time to fail and begin again to create a truely meaningful product.

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? I feel the need to promote my professional online identity now. I will work on a professional teacher site and use that to have a positive image on the internet. It was scary to see how easily searchable I was online. 9. If you had one more day in the Institute, what would you like to learn more about and why? More ways to use the PBI modle in the middle school classroom