New Technologies Reflection

One of the most striking revelations I have had about teaching new literacies was the fact that most of them are just like the old literacies with a twist! It seemed overwhelming to incorporate them at first, but then realized that they can easily be added to the current curriculum. It is important to bring new strategies to the classroom to ensure students are competent and have mastery of the new literacy skills.
When incorporating the new literacies in my unit over the past eight weeks, I have been challenged to create new ways to teach the same unit. The new unit is more beneficial to my students because they learn other skills on top of the knowledge gained through reading the novel. These skills will stay with them for the rest of their lives while they work with technology and synthesize information they are finding. When planning future units, I will definitely incorporate more of the new literacies along with the other skills I teach.
I would like to learn more about the technology that is available in my district and any new technology I can find and get for my school. There is so much available, even programs and social networks on the internet that students can interact and learn together, that I am not familiar with. I plan to take professional development courses over the summer on our district’s available technology. After that, I will speak with other teachers about how they use technology in their lessons. Continuing to take these classes at Walden, along with reading other professional materials, help to keep me informed about new strategies and learning techniques which will help my students learn the skills they need in high school and their futures.