Literacy Integrated With Multicultural/Multi-subject Topics

By Bonnie Sherman

I recently read an exciting article about University of Michigan students posing as story characters and having online “mentoring” conversations with elementary school students (“Undercover Teachers or Imaginary Friends”, by Joshua Andrew published in The Atlantic on April 3, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/04/undercover-teachers-or-imaginary-friends/389649/). 

These aren’t just any story characters – they are characters in stories from a supplementary program for teachers using a site called ImagineNation Matters (http://ics.soe.umich.edu/main/section/17). Each session (such as Winter 2015, Jan – Apr), ImagineNation has a variety of story modules, each of which are like storybooks in which there is a protagonist about the same age as the students. The goal of the online conversation between elementary student and fictional hero is to engage the students in active learning about a chosen subject in a personal way that uses their imagination. After reading a one-page story written in the first person by the main character, students respond to a discussion question. Story topics are often about other cultures, such as Native Americans or Arab Americans, science topics like nature or the environment, or social studies topics like the Underground Railroad. Rather than focus on new and better technology (as we discussed in another one of our class blogs), the focus is on looking at a new way to have a student-mentor exchange by using a technology that has been around for a long time – a digital interface – in a way that actively engages the student. 

I think this project is a brilliant idea! Students are using writing skills, are engaged in higher-order thinking, and at the same time get to explore a wide variety of possible topics. Classroom teachers assume facilitating and coaching roles. The conversation with a virtual character has great possibilities for differentiation, each student conversing on their own level. Besides following the story, conversations also include discussions about personal things like the fictional character’s favorite foods, birthday or family that help to develop a friendship. They can then move on to discussing things like the pros and cons of various options the character is facing, health hazards of a possible job, etc. The possibilities are endless! Sometimes students get so involved in their virtual relationship they “suspend disbelief” and even forget they are talking to a fictional character. This program intrigues me, and I think it can be used by a teacher in almost any subject area. What do you think about it? Is it a program you would use?

How Slang Affects Students in the Classroom

  Are social media and text messaging negatively impacting high school students? 

by: Zackary McDonald

This topic has been occurring for many years since social media exploded in the mid-to-late 2000’s. I was in high school myself when it started to become a “problem” for students and teachers alike in school. I can recall my own English teacher making it a point to prevent students from writing papers as if they were posting to facebook/myspace. Acronyms for sayings such as ‘idk’ (I don’t know) etc. have begun to run more rampant in students’ writing, not just in English and other subjects, but according to the article, college admissions are "getting [admissions] essays like they've never seen before. Admissions officers have shared with me that a lot of the essays they're encountering now are deeply rooted in this technological culture of cut-off sentences where you're writing like you speak. After the first few sentences, college admissions professionals toss them to the side." This has become an issue that we as teachers have of course observed ourselves, and I know that as a young teacher I catch myself doing it as well. I believe I know the difference of when to be professional and clearly write out my thoughts, but the students seem to do it without realizing they are and many do not possess the ability to articulate their opinions any clearer than what they know already.

Social media seems to, according to Chad Dion Lassiter, a professor of race relations at the University of Pennsylvania, attribute to "a dumbing down of culture." He goes on to state that we as adults and educators need to hold the students accountable for their writing or they will not be able to communicate effectively to one another in the future. The article also states how older generations observe this and often correct it or mark off points for it, while the younger generations of teachers often let it slide because they understand what it means.  I think that this practice is wrong and detrimental to our students’ successful futures. We need to do as Dr. Lassiter states and hold each student accountable, make them rewrite the phrase or essay using the correct terminology and sentence structure. Students should not be writing how they talk; most of them do not speak correctly to begin with.

This article was very eye opening to me as I do not grade written work very often being a Technology teacher. I do not witness students’ successes or failures in their writing skills very often, and when I do I can see that most students do not write in full or proper sentences. I’m not sure how all of this will play out in the future; it’s almost as if we need autocorrect to become full on “sentence correct,” which would truly only make things worse because student’s would still not have to correctly form a sentence on their own. I hope for a future where the parents and teachers work together to encourage sentence structure and proper punctuation so that students can write out their feelings and opinions in order for others to actually understand them.

To read the original article follow this link: http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2011/06/13/how-slang-affects-students-in-the-classroom