I am very excited to get started and to share with you posts about Media Studies, Reading, Writing and Oral Communication.
Today I wanted to share with you all the different ways that you, as an Educator or Classroom Leader, can incorporate when teaching Language and Literacy. Although these resources and ideas I will share can be used in other subjects within the classroom today I will share the different ways social media specifically can be brought into a classroom and the ways that they will enhance, engage and target curriculum for the students.
I came across a very informational article by Vicki Davis on "CoolCatTeacher" database and I would strongly suggest this article for educators who are looking for a new but educational twist in the classroom!
Although majority of teachers in schools today have started to incorporate media into the classrooms I feel as if some are still nervous about bringing in Social Media because of all the different implications that could arise from it if children are not staying on task.
Vicki states that "Social Media doesn't have to be a distraction and kids can be safe" (Davis). Introducing teacher monitored social media into the classrooms will be the start of something great for the students and teachers alike! There are a variety of different media outlets that teachers can incorporate slowly into their classrooms and can target curriculum while doing so but for sake of this blog I will share a couple with you. :)
#TweetTweet
Davis introduced, by using another teacher's account, that having a twitter account with the class is a great way to show everyone what the students are up to. May it be their parents, other students, other teachers or their grandparents who live too far to hear stories of their school activities. Pictures, links, successes, challenges and hashtags can all be shared with the world or with selected followers in a private account.
Not only does using a twitter account like this, or even a blog site to share with the world what the students are doing during the school hours keep the students engaged it also helps them to understand the importance behind their activities and to see their growth at the end of the year.
My suggestion is the teachers could create cool hashtags for every subject that the students will share with the world and then students can view the tweets and pictures accompanied to the subjects.
Will you be my Facebook friend?
Another media outlet offered by Davis to introduce into the classroom is a Facebook account for the teacher. Each week the teacher can provide a challenging and fun question for the students to answer. This will engage the students not only because they all love social media but because they have competition outside of school hours with their peers.
Although I only shared two here there are so many more that Vicki Davis offers and I will include the link so you can take a look on your own!
I always loved Teeter-Totters!
I did however want to share with you a very interesting tool that an educator I know uses in her classroom. This app incorporates media into the classroom and is an amazing tool for any educator or classroom leader to keep track or the students, their work and for assessing them.
This APP is called Seesaw. This app allows teachers to communicate with parents and their students. Students can or teachers can upload pictures of their work or documents that are due or that are completed and they will be saved under their student name. The teacher then can go and click on "Adam Smith" and under Adam's name will have all his work with additional commentary that the teacher may have added for assessment purposes! I was blown away at how advanced technology has gotten and how great this app would be as a media tool in the classroom!
Take a look!!
Below I attached a link to the Ontario English Curriculum for grades 1 up to and including grade 8. Throughout the pages you will be able to see all the different overall expectations and specific expectations where the media types I have shared above, and many other additional ones of your own and others, can target the grade levels curriculum. Not only can media literacy help with Oral Communication, Reading and Writing the students through these various Media studies resources and more can learn and stay engaged!
Media more now than ever is critical in classrooms. It creates and intensifies engagement which in the end leads to students understanding the language and literacy work they are completing which leads to success!
Media + Language and Literacy Class = Success
...Who doesn't want success? No one!
Hope you enjoyed this blog and that you will check back soon to see what else I have been up to while learning how to teach Language and Literacy! Check out the links I shared, you will not regret it!
Take care,
Emily De Melo
http://edemelobrock8p24.blogspot.ca
http://edemelobrock8p24.blogspot.ca
No comments:
Post a Comment