Reading

"The Ontario curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge and skills that will enable students to become effective readers. An effective reader is one who not only grasps the ideas communicated in a text but is able to apply them in new contexts."

The Ontario Curriculum, page 10

Reading Between the Lines

The second strand of language and literacy that we have looked at in class is Reading. We were asked to look at a few educational ministry resources to get an idea of what this strand entails. Reading goes beyond the ability to recite words presented to us. It requires an understanding of the text and an ability to notice distinct features within variety of texts.

Reading Expectations

Much like the Media Literary strand, the Reading strand has four overall expectations and are outlined in The Ontario Curriculum. These four expectations are listed in this picture. While these expectations share similarities to the Media Literacy strand, they are geared towards Reading. As these expectations outline, Reading requires an understanding of multiple texts and prior knowledge to help with fluidity and understanding.


All Students Can Learn
One of the resources I explored is called All Students Can Learn. This video, along with several others, focuses on the testing of Grade 3, 6, 9 and 10 through EQAO. This video in particular discusses the relationship between a student success and their socio-economic status.

The research given in this video argues that and individual's socio-economic status may aid in a student's success, but it is not the driving factor or determinant. This video also discusses how teachers need to have a flexible "outreach" mindset and that we need to be sensitive to "differentiated characteristics of the students and families we serve".

A teacher will never have a class of cookie-cutter students and must know how to approach teaching while including all students. Due to their socio-economic background, some students may not be able to purchase a tablet or new laptop. Teachers need to be aware of this situation and make sure that while technology can be an extremely effective tool to teach with, some students do not have that luxury.

Beyond the Sticky Note and Venn Diagram
The article Beyond the Sticky Note and Venn Diagram discusses the role of technology within the classroom in more depth. It discusses the use of "out of school" literacies, which involve new technologies and the ways in which we can integrate them in the school curriculum. There is a seemingly endless amount of applications and online activities that students can use to learn with and teachers can use to teach with. With a growing interest in these applications, teaching needs to step away from the strategies that were used years ago and step towards strategies that incorporate these new technologies and engage students with learning.


Examples of "out of school literacies" associated with 21st Century comprehension:

Cube Creator

Printing Press

Trading Cards

EQAO and The Venn Diagram 
Both of the articles mentioned above tie into the Reading Strand in The Ontario Curriculum. Reading is an important skill that needs to be developed as a student and plays a crucial role in life. Reading takes on many different forms, such as seeing an advertisement, reading a book, and using social media.

As mentioned in the EQAO article, success is not determined by a students socio-economic status, income of their family, or education of their parents. Reading falls under this category as all students can learn to read regardless of any other factors previously mentioned. The other article that talked about "out of school literacies" also ties into the reading strand as it argues that online space has the potential to empower students to become active participants in their learning process. Reading is everywhere and social media is no exception. If students are interested in online articles and educational contents as opposed to a physical book or newspaper, they should be given the option to read online.

Reading in My Placement

My teaching placement takes place in a rotary Grade 8 class. Between two Grade 8 classes, I have been exposed to teaching math and social sciences. Within both of these subjects, reading plays an important role as it is the primary form of communication. Whether my associate teacher posts the assignments online or hands out notes on a piece of paper, students are required to read. Word problems within math are a central to some of the tests that I have seen. As I have watched students write these tests, I notice that they focus in on specific numbers and words. While math specifically focuses on the relationship between numbers, reading is still a skill necessary to solve problems. A fun way to teach math is through word problems as a teacher can create a problem that relates to students. They can use sports, politics, or any other area of interest that engages the students and challenges them through a mathematically centered word problem.

   

  

Student Learning Math

Media Literacy: Social Media in Schools

What is "Media Literacy"?
The first strand of language and literacy that we have looked at in class is Media Literacy. We were asked to look at various educational blogs and resources that pertain to media studies. Media is an important aspect of learning and is outlined in The Ontario Curriculum. As noted in this document, media literacy is the result of study of the art and messaging of various forms of media texts. Media literacy explores the influence of mass media and how various forms of media have an impact on a learning experience.

Media Literacy Expectations

As discussed previously, media literacy is an important part of The Ontario Curriculum and has four overall expectations, which is shown in the picture to the left. These expectations alongside the media literacy strand aim to help students develop necessary skills used to understand, create and interpret media texts.


Social Media in Schools
Social Media in Schools by Vicki Davis is a an online article I read that discusses the movement towards social media in the 21st century and the beneficial role it can have in elementary schools. One of the focuses within this article is the role of parents and how they have become increasingly distanced from their child's education due to various reasons such as their careers. This resource sets social media up to be a way of connecting and learning where parents can interact and communicate with their child's school and education. Social media aligns with the media literacy strand of learning and can contribute to the expectations associated with this strand provided above. It goes beyond these expectations, however. Social media allows students to take their learning outside the classroom setting. Phones have become so advanced that they can virtually do anything a laptop can. It allows students to connect to educational material and relate it to real world problems and events, making the learning process not only effective but engaging and interesting.

Using Social Media in the Classroom: A Best Practice Guide
In Using Social Media in the Classroom: A Best Practice Guide, Megan Poore discusses the transition between "Traditional Media" and "Social Media". One of the important features that differ between these two types of media is the level of interaction. Traditional media consists of a 'one-to-many' delivery method where information is transferred from a producer to a consumer. Poore explains that examples of this type of media include newspapers, books, television, and magazines. Poore argues that social media challenges this concept and can be thought of as "networked media". This type of media allows immediate interaction and commentary between both the consumer and producer. The Social Media in Schools article discusses the need for parental involvement within schools. This book intertwine with this article as it helps redefine social media as a means of communication and elaboration.

Media Literacy, Teaching and the Role of Parents

In my placement classroom, there is a Bring Your Own Device policy in place. My associate teacher is very savvy with technology and finds an opportunity to use technology in every lesson. The Smart Board is used on a daily basis, but several projects and assignments are developed through some form of technology. Students not only communicate with each other in the classroom, they communicate with other classes of the same grade level. My associate teacher has also made an effort to involve parents with education and makes sure that every parent understands what is being taught in the classroom and sends them any important information regarding their children. Without social media, this task would be extremely difficult and might not be possible for some parents.

My Goals with Social Media

Having read the article by Vicki Davis along with some passages from Megan Poore's book, I understand social media to be a productive tool that allows students to have fun and be engaged while learning. Much like many of the courses I am currently taking, Blogger is an effective way to communicate ideas and learning experiences. Blogs allow students to write about experiences and knowledge they've gained while reading and commenting on their peer's blogs. Parents can also view these blogs and see their child's learning process in effect. Twitter is another way students can learn trough socializing and can be accessed by both parents and teachers. Twitter and Blogger are two dominant forms of social media in today's technology world and can help teach students about their Digital Citizenship, how social media can be an effective tool to learning if used appropriately, and how learning and education transcends past the traditional views of media.