Google Image

Letting Go! 
Source:  Are you ready to "Let go?"

When I think of letting go, I think of the days I coached middle school cheerleaders. Every game was like a performance and if the athletes didn't perform as we practiced, they new that I was not happy. I can relate to the reading as a teacher and as a former coach. When you have prepared students for a performance, we have to let them know that we have confidence in both what we've taught as well as what they've learned and that we are confident that they will perform. 

I also experienced "letting go" this school year when I assigned a Socratic Seminar to my high school computer applications students. The topic was somewhat controversial. The assignment was to  write a letter to city leaders and express the pros and cons of teen clubs. I was really nervous about the assignment but I knew it was a good opporturnity for the students to think and to process a given topic. The assignment was actually a culminating project to previously completed coursework.  The students submitted a letter in addition to presenting their cases in class. The presentations were awesome! They were well presented with research and documentation to support their opinions. In order to get these results, I had to let go. Letting go is not comfortable, not always easy to do but the results can be amazing! #DFACOMAPS #GOTITIANS

Reflective Searching

Source: Galileo Tutorial

To a certain degree, researching comes fairly easy for me. I've been guiding middle school students through research for the past few years. However, sometimes researching can be challenging when you don't get the desired results on the first search attempt.  I usually begin searching using a keyword on the given topic. If I don't get the desired results, I then use prior information on the topic to either use another keyword search or short phrase. I uses google images on a regular basis to help my four-year-old daughter with her homework. However, it was interesting to learn that you can upload an image of a piece of art into google and do a search for the artist. I am definitely a part of the google generation. I've found that Google gives "cleaner" results; no extra ads, unrelated suggestions. My search habits are very similar to teens. Keyword searching is their first line of defense when it comes to finding information. It was interesting to learn about the filter bubbles. I like the search engine feature of making suggestions or assumptions. But I didn't realize that search results can vary from person to person and even from computer to computer. I can avoid creating filter bubbles by using specific keywords and phrases and eliminate the opportunity for assumptions.

FRIT 7234 Learning Goals

Source: From Literacy to Fluency

1.       Understand how information fluency has evolved in the 21^st Century classroom.

2.       Identify best practices for information processing and fluency.

3.       What role does social media plays in a students’ ability to process and understand digital information.

4.       How is accountability established among social media and information fluency?

Teaching as we once knew it was systematic way a presenting information in hopes that our students would understand. This is known as a script. Think about the script or the instructions an examiner reads for standardized tests. The examiner reads the script word for word and if a student has a questions, the examiner rereads the script word for word in hopes that the student will somehow hear the answer to their question. Standardized tests are type of summative assessment in which an individual is evaluated at the end of a unit, term or school year. Daily instruction cannot be presented as script for summative assessment. Daily instruction is made up of opportunities for both the teacher and students to exchange information relevant to accomplishing pre-established goals. For years, I’ve prepared lesson plans that noted various teaching and instructional strategies with step by step routine of how I plan to accomplish my instructional goals and I would be very disappointed if things didn’t play out according to the script. So, found myself making handwritten notations on my “perfect” lesson plan. What does this mean? Students have a different way of learning exactly what we want them to learn. This is the age of technology and social media. At the forefront of teaching is understanding digital information or digital information fluency. Digital information and fluency bypasses the lower order of thinking and processing information and goes directly to the level of application and synthesis. As referenced by Laufenberg, students have to be involved in the daily routine of learning. If students are not purposely included in the daily process of learning, students will stop attending brick and mortar schools and simply complete assignments from home using software platforms designed to manage instruction and communication between the school, parents and students. Karen Lirenman explained that digital fluency is like learning a new language. The better you are at the language, the more people you can reach and effectively communicate .