Summer Institute in Digital Literacy 2017 - Day 3

Day 3 began with a conversation about creating open and closed ended questions as we begin diving int o our Dyad project.  This is something I often do with students prior to research so I was able to share that experience with my Dyad partner.  

KEYNOTE
Emily Bailin Wells and Rhys Daunic spoke about Pathways to Media Literacy  from Media Spot work with teachers, administrators and student to develop activation of media literacy n curricula and teaching practice.  Wells and Daunic talked about Media Literacy as an extension of literacy practices.

I have a lot of thoughts about this keynote.  First, I love that media literacy is so important and that so many people are talking about it, wanting to learn more, wanting to teach. However, the idea that media literacy is new and that there is a separate speciality that requires that outside experts to come in to teach these skills is frustrating.  Asking questions about the messages that we receive is what school librarians do.  I understand that there are now media literacy degrees.  Before that time,  master's degree in library and information science with my certificate as a school library media specialist.  I have continued my education as media evolved, immersing myself in professional development opportunities. 

If there were full time certified school library media specialists in schools the need for special experts to come to schools to do a special "media literacy" units with students would not be necessary.  A certified school library media specialist would work to embed aspects of media literacy in classroom curriculum.  

DIGGING DEEPER: MAKING A SCREENCASTIFY
While I am familiar with Screencastify as an instructional tool it was interesting to use as a student.  We watched a controversial video and read a web based text related to the video which we annotated as we answered the Key Question of Media Literacy.  


TEAMING TOGETHER: COMPASS POINTS
No offense to my Dyad Partner but I HATE group projects. However,  I did LOVE this activity.  We identified and developed an understanding of our group work preferences (North, South, East, or West). The activity is from the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF). There are lots of activity ideas including Compass Points for classroom use that can be found here.  I definitely think doing this with students would be beneficial to helping students work together and understanding each others different styles in an effort to better work together.  



SNAPCHAT
During lunch time one of the instructors who I had reached out to help me become more SnapChat astute, came and found me.  I know how to Snap cute pics with filters but in 15 minutes with Kristin Hokansen I learned to edit photos, create stories and we discussed possible uses with students and within the school.  I can't wait to go home and practice!  Stay tuned for a blog post in the future about my experience.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS
I learned so much from Hokansen in 15 minutes I chose her Designing Multimodel Lessons for Inquiry Learning session.  We looked at TES Teach BlendSpace and EdPuzzle.  While I am familiar with both programs, I was interested to learn about how to integrate with Discovery Education and copyright issues.  

By far, the BEST PART OF THE CONFERENCE was been talking to students from the West Warwick Schools.  The session was titled Creating, Collaborating and Communicating and it was AWESOME!

There were 2-3 students at each table, prepared with laptops to teach us specific tools that they use in their class. The students were poised, well spoken and receptive to questions. I sadly only got to speak to 5 of the about 15 students.

Student Reading Blogs
The first two students shared their reading blogs and discussed how that has increased their enthusiasm for reading.  They are required to write a blog post a month, not just a book review, but anything inspired by the book they read.  Their teacher also provided them with prompts and ideas.  Students were also required to comment on two other student blogs. Each month, students would describe their current blog post in a Google form.  The results sheets are shared with students so they could choose a post that they were interested in reading.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!  Both students gave me permission to share their blogs. It is interesting to see their growth from the beginning.

Ali's Reading Blog

Hannah's Book Blog

Coggle

Another student showed me how he used Coggle, a mind mapping tool to keep track of figurative language in a novel.  It was a note taking task, sharing examples of quotes and at the end the task was to explain the theme of the story.  Not only is this a fantastical organizational tool, you could tell the student was excited about it.  Learning made fun!

We also ventured in to LucidPress a bit and the online print and digital software. 

Storybird

The student who showed me Storybird was enthusiastic about the visual storytelling tool and the creativity it sparks.  We talked about logistics in terms of editing and teacher input.  H

AMAZING LISTS OF IDEAS FROM TRACY ENOS
I also spoke with their teacher Tracy Enos, their teacher who shared her list of apps and programs she uses with her students and her list of favorite tools and resources she shares with fellow educators  What I Love to Use in my 8th Grade ELA Classroom. In this list she lists the tool, a description, examples of how to use, and notes whether it can be used for differentiation, communication, writing, reading, grammar, research, vocabulary, assessment, and/or presentation

I AM SO EXCITED TO GO HOME AND EXPLORE...maybe not tonight though.  These are the kinds of conferences when my head feels its about to explode each afternoon.