Multicultural Literacy

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Hey everyone!

 For today's blog, I decided to focus on a 21st century literacy that I am very passionate about- multicultural literacy. Although we know all of the 21st century literacies are very important, there is something even more important within this literacy that children need to be learning about.

Multicultural literacy strives to focus on all the different cultures, joining them together in unity, in order to strengthen equality and diversity. This is a ver big thing within Canada, as Canada is known to be multicultural, therefore, there is a strong desire to have this be taught within classrooms to children.

I believe that multicultural literacy needs to be implemented within classrooms in order to teach children about different cultures, races and their traditions. This would be very crucial in order to minimize racism, stereotypes and bullying within classrooms, providing a safer and fun learning environment.

This would also create a more inclusive classroom, which very beneficial for student's individual and academic growth. This would help bring the students closer to each other and towards their teacher, which will help strengthen the relationships made within the classroom and help them in regards to how they act socially and towards their school experience/work.

 

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Teaching multicultural literacy also helps the teachers learn from their students, which is another important component. You get to learn from the students' and their views/opinions on things and it helps the teacher grow as an educator. It will help the teacher in regards to knowing how to teach this to his/her future classes and what worked well or what went wrong, in order to improve for the next years to come.

I would definitely incorporate this within my future classroom, as I would want to teach my children about the different races, cultures, ethnicities and traditions of the world, especially since some of my students will most probably be from different races. It is great for children to be educated on this and it will help solve issues in regards to how children are treated, lessening the stereotypes, bullying, stigma, etc.

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Here's a cute little video about teaching children about multicultural literacy and why it's important!

What do you think about this literacy? Would you incorporate this within your future classroom?

Inquiry Based Learning

      Hey friends!

    For today's blog I figured I would focus on inquiry based learning and all the elements that go alongside of that. To me, inquiry based learning is very crucial for young learners. It allows children to think critically and to question things. I believe that questioning things we are learning about is the best way for children to learn. It helps them to better understand what they are learning and to explore the topic more, seeing how much more they can learn on the topics/lessons being taught.

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With being a future teacher, I would really want to emphasize inquiry based learning throughout my classroom. It allows the students to learn different thinking skills and even problem solving skills, which are very beneficial to use throughout the rest of their education or in their every day lives.

What I think is so cool about inquiry based learning, is that the teacher allows the students to be responsible and take charge in what they are trying to look at. The students are the active participants and researchers who are trying to explore further understanding and knowledge on the topics being discussed and taught within the classroom. This type of learning (inquiry based) allows the students to never stop learning, as they are constantly questioning things they are learning and from that they learn new things.

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I believe that the teacher's putting their trust in the students is a great thing and I believe that students have the potential to go very far fro this type of learning.

What do you all think to this type of learning for students? Will it benefit the children more? What are some advantages towards this type of learning?

Overall, I believe that it is great that the student's can take charge in learning, as long as the teacher makes sure they stay on track and don't take things too far to the point where it gets complicated and confusing. Questioning things within learning is great, it helps strengthen the understanding in which they will remember and carry out through the rest of their years within school/their futures.

     Thanks for reading! Here's a little video on Inquiry Based learning for you all to enjoy!

                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdYev6MXTOA

Integrated Curriculum

 

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            We learned throughout Lane (2016)'s lecture about Integrated Curriculum and what this consists of for children within the classroom.  This curriculum focuses on including a variety of disciplines, subjects, etc into the whole curriculum. There are three main disciplines that can be integrated within a curriculum, which are: fusion, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary.

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When focusing on fusion, Lane (2016) states that themes are fused together and subjects are integrated within the curriculum. This could also include one 21st century literacy being integrated with another one. An example of fusion discipline within a curriculum is combining math with science, or combining social justice literacy with media literacy. This discipline helps us to look at two different subjects, literacies, disciplines, etc. and combining it together.

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     The next main discipline that can be integrated within a curriculum is multidisciplinary (picture above). Lane (2016) states how this discipline focuses on using a variety of subjects, literacies, etc. to find a common theme between these different subjects, literacies, etc. This strives to show a contrast between subjects/literacies and is a great way to get multiple perspectives on a common theme. This helps strengthen our knowledge and information on the common theme found.

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     The second last main discipline integrated within a curriculum is interdisciplinary. Just like multidisciplinary, this discipline uses more than one subject/literacy. Lane (2016) states how interdisciplinary focuses on using a variety of different subjects/literacies. Also, interdisciplinary consists of using these subjects/literacies to make several connections and themes, which helps develop a theory on the topic being looked at.

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    The last, but definitely not the least main discipline is the transdisciplinary discipline. This discipline goes beyond the other disciplines as Lane (2016) states and ties in more real-life contexts within it, therefore allowing social justice to be incorporated within this discipline. Also, this discipline is more problem and project based, allowing the different subjects or literacies to all come together.


    When looking at curriculums it is very important to choose these disciplines carefully, especially between multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary as these three are all very similar, but strive for different things. All of these disciplines are used to help strengthen curriculums and allow for different perspectives to be combined towards a curriculum, which I love.

   I really enjoyed learning about these disciplines as I thought it was very beneficial, especially with me studying to be a future teacher. I can definitely use these within my classroom towards my curriculum, so this lesson helped further my understand of these different disciplines.

     Hope this helped you all as well! Below is a cute little video on these disciplines, although it does not include fusion sadly, but take a peek!

                                Video found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7cN8NW0ZEs

                                                    Thanks for reading :)


References

(L.Lane, personal communication, February 3rd, 2016)

21st Century Literacies

           We all know that literacy typically deals with the different learning skills, such as reading and writing, but over the years literacy has grown to be much more than that. Nowadays, literacy has several different components involved within it, helping us to be able to use other skills within literacy such as language, numbers, etc.

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            As Lane (2016) states within her lecture, there are other components tied in with literacy now, which helps children expand on their literacy in a number of ways. For example, Lane (2016) discusses about critical literacy, and how this is a newer way of intensely looking at literacy through critiquing things such as relationships between things, allowing us to view literacy through multiple perspectives.

           Within lecture, Lane (2016) also shows the progression from the traditional literacy to what literacy is now like in the 21st century. She discusses how literacy is expanding so much that the idea of "what is literacy" is reexamined as there are now multiple types of literacy surrounding us. One specific example of this is the influence technology has on children's learning. Children are exposed to technology in which through the technology they are still exposed to literacy, but in a different non-traditional type of way, as technology formats and displays texts differently. This is how technology, i.e. the internet, social media, is a new example of literacy, as it still allows the children to read from this and learn the literacy skills, but in a more creative, digital, up-to-date way.

           I believe that with technology advancing and schools resources and access to information advancing, literacy in the 21st century has become more than just reading and writing. It focuses on different ways to read and write/learn these literacy skills, through the internet, critically analyzing things, and by applying literacy to things within our society/world, such as within politics, the environment, cultures, media, etc.

 

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I think that this is very cool and important to be involved in. It does not get rid of the traditional literacy, more so that the traditional literacy is enhanced by being applied to other aspects, furthering our knowledge and abilities that literacy teaches us. I believe this can strengthen people's literacy skills and abilities, as they are able to apply it to several aspects and access these skills through multiple resources.

 I would definitely promote this within my future classroom. I believe that not every child learns the same way and since some children might struggle with reading or writing, the different types of literacy within the 21st century could really help these children through an alternative way of learning. This would help benefit the student(s) and their learning, while still learning literacy, but through a more suitable way meeting those children's needs. Also, another reason I would promote this within my classroom is that I believe the different types of literacies are crucial for children to learn, as our society is constantly changing and updating/advancing, and this would help them learn the skills they need through multiple resources, which is very important, and can be applied within their lives as they grow up.

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                                 Thanks for reading! Enjoy this video (below) to further your understanding 
                       of Literacy in the 21st Century

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References

(L. Lane, personal communication, January 6th, 2016)

Exploring Rubrics

       When I think of assessment or even assignments, the first thing that pops into my head is rubrics. Rubrics are "one of the most versatile and effective assessment tools" (Drake, Reid & Kiloton, 2014). These forms of assessment are crucial for a student and their ability to succeed, as it provides guidelines and expectations that the teacher/instructors are looking for, which you should follow in order to achieve a good mark.

      I found this section of the textbook very interesting as I was not aware of the different types of rubrics. I may have seen them within my education, but was never taught about specific types of rubrics, which is why I thought I would share these types of rubrics with you all, as it really interested me. So with saying this, Drake, Reid & Kiloton (2014) state that there are four different types of rubrics, which are: analytic, holistic, generic and task-specific.

     Starting with the first type of rubric, after reading this chapter of the textbook, I learned that an Analytic Rubric focuses on specific, separate criteria, striving to look for more specific expectations for each section within the rubric. I have definitely come across this rubric many times throughout my  schooling years, but I would definitely say that this type of rubric would be used within older grade classrooms, as it has more specific expectations for different sections within the assignment's rubric. Below is an example of an Analytic Rubric, just to refresh everyone on what this type of rubric looks like.

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     The second type of rubric as stated by Drake, et al., (2014), is the holistic rubric. This rubric is used when looking at the "big picture" or the overall quality of work or an assignment. Unlike the analytic rubric, this rubric does not have specific categories, it more has just levels/percentages of your overall assignment/work/presentation, displaying the mark you got overall. I can see this type of rubric being implemented within elementary schools for younger grades. Here is an example of the Holistic Rubric.

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     The third type of rubric is the Generic Rubric. Drake, et al., (2014) describe this rubric as a rubric you use when students are doing a presentation or persuasive essay. This type of rubric usually looks for how a student performs within a given task. I don't know about you, but I have definitely seen this rubric several times throughout elementary school and even high school/university whenever I have had to do an oral presentation with a group. Below is an example of the Generic Rubric.

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       (Sorry this image is very big, but it is the only way you'll be able to clearly see the expectations within this rubric, as the font is very small).

     The last and final rubric used for assessments is the Task-Specific Rubric. It is pretty self-explanatory when this rubric is used- for specific tasks. This rubric is looking at the quality of work based on the specific tasks provided by the teacher/instructor. I feel like this rubric would not be used as often as the rest, and would only be used by certain teachers for certain tasks. Here is an example of this rubric.

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    I decided to do my blog on rubrics as I believe that rubrics are crucial for students and their success. I know that I personally rely heavily on rubrics to get a good idea of what the teacher/instructor is looking for/expecting. Rubrics are very handy especially when you have teachers who may be very vague in explaining the work/assignment guidelines. When thinking about rubrics and which is best for students and their work, I definitely believe that Analytic or Task-Specific rubrics are best for older students (such as ourselves) or those in high school, as they are more specific. Also, these rubrics set out clear guidelines for the students to follow, which helps the students a lot more, especially since school work/assignments get harder the older the grade the students are in, and the expectations become more intense and specific.

   What do you all think? Which type of rubric do you like best?

    As bad as this may sound, I believe that many students bypass rubrics because they are too lazy and believe they know what they are doing and what the teacher expects just based off what the teacher says about the assignment in class. I find this very shocking and unfortunate, as rubrics are there to help you succeed, and many students pass up the opportunity because it's too much effort to "look at the rubric". I know I always have the rubrics right beside me when I do my work, just so I know that I have covered all the expectations and done all I can in order to achieve the best mark I can. 

    Thinking back to high school, most of my classes had very vague and general rubrics. I remember being very frustrated with classes/teachers because I never truly understood what the expectations were and did not find it fair that the teachers did not provide us with this information. I felt as if some teachers did not care about how we did on the assignment, which really affected my motivation towards the work/assignments I was assigned. Because of this experience, it makes me think of how I would set the expectations in my future classroom and how I would want to really emphasize what I (as a teacher) am looking for and how these students can get a level 4 (80%-100% mark). To me this shows that the teacher really cares about their students and their success by providing them with the information and expectations they need to know in order to achieve great marks.

   Have you ever had a bad experience with rubric expectations? What kind of rubric was it?

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    Overall, I truly believe that all students should use rubrics as guidelines when doing their work, to make sure they are on the right track and have covered all the expectations. These forms of assessment are handed to us so we can succeed, so I strongly believe we should take full advantage of these resources.

Thanks for reading! 

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Differentiated Instruction

  

       Within Drake, Reid and Kiloton (2014)'s book, they talk about differentiated instruction within classrooms and it's affects on the students/learners. They define differentiated instruction as a type of instruction where all students are striving to succeed or reach the same goal, but in different, alternative ways (Drake et al., 2014).

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     Drake et al., 2014 provide a chart within their chapter which states how teachers provide differentiated instruction within their classrooms and how it differs from regular instructions given to the students. They state how teachers provide the general instructions to everyone, but then based on the student and their learning style, the teachers adjust the ways students can do their work/assignments which best suits them and helps them fulfill the tasks needed to be completed (Drake et al., 2014). I think this picture (right) perfectly expressed what differentiated instruction is, a whole bunch of different ways of doing something but all leading to the same final result.

    I truly believe this is one of the best ways for children to learn. This allows students to express themselves through their own ways of learning, allowing them to become more creative and it helps them to succeed, using their strengths in something to be applied to whatever task/assignment is assigned.

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   I chose this picture (above) as I think it really gets the point across about differentiated instruction. Albert Einstein is saying that we are all smart individuals, but you can't judge everyone on how they do things, as everyone is different and will not do things the same way. 

   When I become a teacher I would want to implement this within my classroom as early as possible. The reason behind this is that when I was in elementary school and high school (for the most part) I was not given differentiated instruction for work or assignments. Most of my teachers made everyone do the work the exact same way, which I did not like as some assignments I had to do were not based around my strengths and we had no choice to show our own way to the assignment sadly. Another reason for this is that i've noticed that since coming to university, they do give you a lot of differentiated instruction and now all the students who have never been exposed to that are stuck with what to do. I constantly hear students say, so we have a free choice for this assignment...what can we do? Are we allowed to do this? How does the professor want us to do this? Students are now unprepared with how to deal with differentiated instruction, so I definitely think this needs to be implemented within schools earlier to help the students with their learning and to prepare them for university.

Video found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPe_cJ67No

   Above is a video which is about differentiated instruction and different ways to implement it within classrooms

   Overall, I strongly believe that differentiated instruction is crucial within classrooms and for students' learning. It allows them to be independent, creative and lets them be flexible with how they display their work. I think more teachers need to implement this within their classrooms to help students show their knowledge and learning through different, alternative ways which can be more beneficial for students, as not every student learns the same.

What do you all think?

Thanks for reading :)

References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom

     Assessment: Engaging the 21^st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Knowing Your Students

     While reading Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2014)'s chapter, I came across a section within the chapter that discussed about teachers knowing their students and how to know their students, which really intrigued me.

     As I read more in depth about teachers knowing their students, it made me realize just how important it is, and how many different fundamental components there are in order for a teacher to actually "know" their students. I found this really interesting to read and think about, especially as I'm studying to become a future teacher. It made me really think of past experiences I've had with a few teachers and the affects it had on me and my learning.

     I have had only one extraordinary teacher that did fulfill all of the components mentioned through Drake et al., (2014)'s chapter. This teacher showed his compassion for each student and their learning/potential. He dedicated a good amount of time to each student, making sure they understood everything, provided differentiated instruction and ways for us to display what we had learned and was a constant motivator for us to push ourselves. He liked knowing what our interests were and observing how we learned and working off of our strengths and weaknesses with each and every one of us. This type of teacher, who genuinely cared about his students and their learning/success truly inspired me to be just like him when I become a teacher, and proved to me that this type of teacher-student relationship is most beneficial and important for the teacher to learn from the students and the students learn from the teacher and also feel important and respected.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCLjGiOPpi8gCFcs4PgodcbIBcA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ugdsb.on.ca%2Ftevans%2Farticle.aspx%3Fid%3D20056&bvm=bv.103388427,d.cWw&psig=AFQjCNGOHwozxUVK7jt_I0uTdpVGeEZKhw&ust=1443051973400499

     But, with saying that, I have unfortunately had too many teachers in the past who did not seem to care about my peers and I, and you could clearly tell they were just doing their job for the money and benefits (as bad as that sounds)- not to actually help us learn and succeed. They did not care to know anything about us, how we best learned, our strengths and weaknesses or anything that Drake et al., (2014)'s chapter suggested. This made me become not as interested in the class or pushing myself as much, because I felt like the teacher would not have cared if I did a great job or an average job. It definitely put me down.
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    These past experiences really opened my eyes and justified all of the components that Drake et al., (2014) stated in their chapter about how important it is for teachers to know their students, as it all affects the student and their learning/success.



    Reflecting on another article I read, Reed, Banks and Carlisle (2004) also discussed the importance of teachers knowing their students' learning in terms of knowing their best learning style, and having the teacher recognize that the way they teach/learn may not be the same way their students learn. So with saying this, the teachers need to know/learn about their students in order to provide the best learning style for what best suits them, helping them succeed. 


http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://lscomputerlab.weebly.com/uploads/9/8/1/7/9817272/2398983_orig.jpg&imgrefurl=http://lscomputerlab.weebly.com/whats-your-learning-style.html&h=777&w=1100&tbnid=O2saL9nsJSbcjM:&docid=KJJthbDsH3nrgM&ei=TucBVryRAsX3-QGMyIjwDw&tbm=isch&client=safari&ved=0CDMQMygCMAJqFQoTCLzwud3oi8gCFcV7PgodDCQC_g

     Below is a video I found of a student expressing the difference it makes when teachers take the time to actually get to know you and take interest in your interests. 

                                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEu-eQELPOI

     In conclusion, I truly believe that teachers getting to know their students is crucial for their teacher-student relationship and for the students' learning. Students tend to do better in school and their work when they know their teacher takes an interest and cares about them and their education. And with saying this, the more the teacher learns about the student, whether it be their interests, how they learn, their strengths/weaknesses, etc., the more the student will want to learn, work hard and will succeed.


References

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging

           the 21^s Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Reed, J. A., Banks, A. L., & Carlisle, C.S. (2004). Knowing Me, Knowing Who? Getting to Know Your Students'

         Preferred Learning Style. Teaching Elementary Physical Education, 15(4), 25.

Just Listen: Youth Talk About Learning. (Producer). (2011, August 25). Just Listen: Get to Know Your Students.
         Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEu-eQELPOI