21st Century Literacies

First of all, I would like to say that I am excited about taking a course focusing on 21^st century literacies. In past education courses I have taken, there has only ever been a focus on teaching traditional subjects such as math and language arts. In some courses we have touched upon integrating lessons of moral development and multiculturalism into the classroom; however, this is the first course I have taken that will solely focus on teaching 21^st century literacies preparing me to teach my future students lessons they will use in their everyday life.

That "Aha" Moment. Retrieved from: http://www.
mosaichub.com/resources/resource/that-aha-moment

In our introduction lecture we discussed how it is important it is for students to be “critically literate in order to synthesize information, make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and thrive in an ever-changing global community” (L. Lane, personal communication, January 6, 2016). In order to achieve this, teachers need to create an environment where children constantly reflect on their learning. I think a great way to do this is to provide students with a notebook to record all “aha!” moments, just like the notebooks we were given in lecture. I love this idea and it is a technique I will definitely use in my future classroom.  I think I will have students leave these notebooks on top of their desks at all time so whenever they find something interesting or make a meaningful connection to their learning, the notebooks will be readily available for them to write their thoughts down. I do not think it will be very often than students write mathematical facts or spelling patterns in their notebooks. Instead, I would expect that they write big ideas connected to 21^st century literacies.

To take this teaching technique one step further I think it would be great if students got a chance take the information written in their notebooks and use it to guide their learning. For example, once a month you could give students a chance to pick an idea they had written in their notebook and present it to the class. During this presentation the students would be given a chance to explain why they thought their point was important enough to write down, how it connects to their life, and also present any research they have done on the topic. This wold give all students a chance to learn from each other. The notebooks can also be used as an idea book so when the students are working on  an art or creative writing project they can use ideas form their notebook to help inspire creativity. This will help promote reflection, transformation and action on ideas related to all 21^st century literacies.

The first lecture of this course was filled with interesting content that made me reflect on my own learning in the past and made me think about what kind of teacher I want to be in the future. I hope this will continue throughout the course to help me grow as a student and an educator.