The objective of transliteracy is clarity of communication. Studying it is really asking yourself the important questions:
I have been teaching for over twenty years, and in that time the world around me has definitely changed! When I first started teaching, digital lessons weren't even a thought and now I can surf the internet to find all kinds of wonderful ideas to aid my teaching of any subject. For example, I recently added Kindergartners and first graders to my technology design lab. This would have been really overwhelming in my first years. However, I immediately went to my computer and began researching other teachers who instruct younger students about tech. It is amazing how much information and support I've gained from connecting with other tech educators.
When considering my own capstone, I have been thinking about the way that I learn and improve as an educator. I go to the web first. I do it before anything else. I love reading articles, but especially enjoy looking at screen casts, or brief videos that share information quickly. I am usually watching them with a second tab open so that I can try what is being taught while watching the video. I think this instant, personal instruction is a very effective way to support learners.
The last four years I have added so many new ways for my students to learn, communicate and express understanding. These are just a few that I have used in my classroom:
Nearpod Night Zoo Keeper Google Classroom Google Drive Google Forms Google Sheets Quizziz Weebly Khan Academy Teach Your Monster to Read Typing Web Bloxels Clicking on the Weebly link, you can really see my transformation. It is a website that I've been building for the last three years and it is always changing. Last week, in order to make some of the links more accessible to my struggling readers, and younger students, I converted all my "buttons" to images. Instead of struggling to read the text on the buttons, students can look for an icon or image and quickly find what they are searching for. This has really increased classroom learning time already. Students can quickly start building, creating, playing and learning. It was a simple change that leveled the playing field for my students. Now all my students have the same amount of work time. Struggling readers can access websites as quickly as those that are highly proficient, and all students can start creating nearly instantly. Transliteracy really pushes educators to consider what is their purpose. I know it is pushed me to consider what is the most essential. Do I keep doing things the way they have always been done? Is that what is most important? Or is it more important to find new and dynamic ways to impact my students? The answer is pretty obvious.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJen has been teaching school for awhile now. She's learned some stuff, but she's got tons more to learn. Archives
October 2017
Categories |