Final
Reflection: Teaching in a Digital Age
“As
an English Major, I write a lot”. More than once have I said this while finding
information for my I-Search. My research provided me with this revelation— a
revelation that showed me to see that I was initially only writing for a grade.
During the beginning phase of my I-Search, I was only focused on what would
sound good. Be it a lack of time or effort, it was not the behavior I wanted to
teach students. As a teacher, is it my job to teach students to write for a grade?
The answer is no, I want them to be able to write effectively, diligently, and
creatively in and outside of the classroom. I like to believe I am a better
writer than I was in September and I like to believe I know the ins and outs of
composing writing. However, the past few months have just opened a door.
It
is true, English majors read and write often. As we expand our writing
abilities, we are also asked to expand how
we write. For me, as much as I am “plugged in” and attached to my laptop,
digitally composing was newer to me than I expected. Most of my writing used to
happen on paper, where my ideas would unfold and I could be as messy as
possible. It did not occur to me that I was not writing as much as I believed I
was. My blog, “Writings on the [blog] wall” helped my digital writing
abilities. So far, I have learned to enjoy composing straight to my computer,
not needing to feel confined to the pen and paper first. Although it still takes
some getting used to, I believe that this course helped me achieve better
writing abilities and more confidence in my abilities to digitally compose.
Back
in September, I wrote, “It is not often that I actually think about writing, I
just do it”, which sounds unbelievable, writing is generated through thought. I
discussed how much I loved to read and it seemed that I did not feel the same
about writing. Writing was a chore; I was sucked into writing merely for a
grade. Writing became an exhausting
habit, something I would only do when I had to. In fact, I was not writing as
much as I thought I was; the problem was I was not expanding my writing.
Reading had so many outlets in my life: school, home, pleasure or information,
the internet, even my videogames. I was always reading, but I was not always
writing.
SED
445 helped my realized that there are so many creative and new ways of writing
that, previously, had not seemed possible or probable. One of my favorite ideas
about writing, discussed by Fletcher, was the writing space as a place where
you feel most comfortable. Originally, I had the idea that the ideal writing
place was just my paper, pen, and me. Fletcher had the better idea: a writing place
should be where ideas spark, carrying a notebook that he felt comfortable
writing in. My classmates and I tried to have some sort of conformity with our writer’s
notebooks. Some of us, however, took some creative liberties. I personally liked
the polished look of a double cover, something I could easily spot in my
endless pile of notebooks and still “portable”.
For
the longest time, I was under the impression that all school work involving
digital writing as an essay as typing looks cleaner, neater, and polished.
According to Troy Hicks, a PowerPoint, slide show, or a movie could be
considered digital composition. This was a process newer to me than I believed.
Luckily, I did know of various ways to teach and introduce students to new
material using a variety of media. Personally, I find YouTube to be the best
outlet for finding material about a topic, and that is why I relied on it so
heavily during my I-Search. Still, reading about digital composition is
drastically different than digitally composing.
Throughout
the semester, our class has diligently posted on one or two, maybe more, blogs.
A blog, to me, was a place of informal writing. Blogs were certainly not a
place to post my findings for a project; those are to be transferred into essay
format and handed into the teacher; however, as I got used to blogger, I let
myself compose my findings—they could be informal, formal, essay, or a stream
of thought. The key that I discovered was the idea of writing often and the
process to get your final product. In all honesty, I wrote more on that blog
than I ever initially intended.
Back
in September, I wrote, “I still prefer to do 80% of my brainstorming on paper.
There is something about writing your thoughts out that make brainstorming
easier”. Since I have written so much, I found that I actually write more, and
more efficiently, on the computer, even within the first draft. Proofreading
drafts still requires me to print out and correct. Still, this is a huge step
in my journey to become a better writer, a better digital writer, and a better teacher of writing. Despite my
efforts, it is possible that my students would be more comfortable digitally
writing than I am. My biggest struggle is going to be working with English Language
Learners. Currently, I am facing a similar challenge many ESL students would
face as I try to learn Spanish again.
In
the text by Douglas Fisher, he discusses various learning curves that ESL
students face and some ways to help them in the classroom. English Language
Learners face challenges when learning English through conversation: Oral
learners, who rely on context through body language, facial expressions, and
“acquirers” who face difficulties in understanding all the rules of grammar or sentence
structure. As I read the text, I developed some ideas of my own to help some of
these students a bit. One, I could read text aloud, use body language, tone,
and expressions, to convey meaning. High school students still enjoy being read
to, so long as you make clear meanings of the text and you break off a bit by
explaining what has just happened in the text or else they may doze off. In the
same text, I found an example of how to effectively read aloud to students.
1. Select books that are appropriate
to students’ interests and match their developmental, emotional, and social
levels.
2. Preview and practice the
selection.
3. Establish a clear purpose for the
read aloud.
4. Model fluent oral reading while
reading the text.
5. Be animated and use expression.
6. Stop periodically and
thoughtfully question the students to focus them on specific parts of the text.
7. Make connections to independent
reading and writing.
This
gave me the idea to use poetry as read alouds in my future classroom. They are
usually short, have descriptive language, and can be read out loud within a few
minutes. This allows students to read a text more than once and dive deeper to
search for meaning or theme; this is also a more manageable process than having
students read a book twice and try to dig into the text that way.
When
I made the decision to become a teacher, my goal was to make learning English a
painless process with a few essays, read-alouds, poetry, etc. However, over the
course of my own learning, and through this class, I have found so many tools
and ideas that can utilize. Now, more than ever, I found that I want my
students to reflect upon their writing abilities to see where they are. From
there, I can introduce them to tools like Animoto or Prezi where they can
expand on their writing and composing abilities. I have also learned that I
will be teaching a very different generation than my own. These students will
be more advanced with technology. I even recognize that I was late in the game
with digitally composing compared to my peers, hence why I relied heavily on
pen and paper and saw the computer as a tool for turning my essays into a clean
and neat artifact.
Anything
outside of Microsoft word was not “composing” in my eyes, it was entertainment.
Now, I see it as both. What makes my Tumblr page less educational than my Blogger?
They are both on the internet, and they are both blogs. The immediate
difference is what I do with both. Tumblr is my source of entertainment—since I
am not compiling data for a school assignment. That does not make it any less
informative, I probably could write an essay about what I have found on Tumblr,
complete with sources. What I have discovered, through Blogger, is that a blog
can be used as a tool for composing writing. If anything, my blog helped me
more than any other approach I have used when to compile a research paper. All
my data was in one spot with feedback!
Poetry
has also changed my perspectives on writing a bit. Before, poems were fun and
easy. Through endless research and searching, I discovered that it can be so
much more. Initially, I just wanted to use poems in my class because I enjoy
reading them, and thought that relating poems to course texts was the most
effective way to use poems in a classroom. For the most part, that was not
entirely far from the truth; George Whitehead agreed with me and said that
connecting poems to other texts was an effective way to use poems in a
classroom. However, over time I found many other ways to incorporate poetry in
the classroom. Students can explore
themes or research word meanings to interpret the writer’s thoughts.
As
I continue to explore the realm of writing, and, specifically, digitally
writing, I do wonder what else I will discover. In less than four months, I saw
a blog turn into a source of entertainment into a valuable learning tool. I also
learned that I value YouTube as more than a music source. Through each of my
education classes, I have this toolbox ready to use at my disposal. It makes me
wonder what else I may discover; perhaps there are some digital tools I have
yet to try.
As
a teacher, I need to be able to find more tools on my own, and I think that
this I-Search really helped push me this far. YouTube, for example, is an old source but I
allowed myself to use it in a different manner than I was accustomed to. It is
within my best interest to find more digital tools and become familiar with
them. In an age where technology is growing, it is important for me to keep up.
As I said in September, “My life goal is to help young minds find the joys of
reading and writing and how it does not have to be a chore”. What better way to
help them realize this than by finding ways that connect and work for them?
