Showcase: Utilizing a Variety of Literacies
Because I am an English teacher, I place a large emphasis on my students’ abilities to decipher literature. However, I also am a strong believer of the fact that being “literate” does not just mean being able to read and analyze novels, but other forms of literature as well: expository texts, picture books, film, social media, etc.. Therefore, each of my artifacts below has to deal with how I approach teaching different forms of literacy in my classroom. The last section of my showcase has to deal with how I differentiate instruction based on the type of literacy that students identify the most with. Therefore, not only do my artifacts demonstrate the skills that I have mastered while obtaining my MAED with a concentration in Literacy Education, but they also reflect my ideologies as an English educator.
Traditional Texts: Novels, Expository Articles, and Picture Books
My Experience with Reading
This is an essay that discusses how I feel about reading and the teaching of reading.Along the way, I reference several articles that represent the opinions and experiences of other authors or educators in order to effectively build my argument for why reading is such a crucial part of life.This artifact does great job of demonstrating my personal relationship with reading, as well as my personal views on how reading should be taught.Not only does it demonstrate my passion for my field, but it also sheds light on my ability to draw from the experiences of different educators as well as my past experiences in order to create the best possible learning environment for my students.
My Literacy Skills & Abilities
This artifact demonstrates my ability to draw from multiple forms of literature, such as picture books, expository articles, and the Oxford dictionary, in order to define the word and how it relates to literature.Throughout the essay, I analyze these texts in order to effectively support my thesis.I believe that being able to draw from various texts and think outside the box is crucial in my field, as it allows for more creativity.It is an extremely useful skill to teach the students in my class as well; this essay serves as a model of that skill.
Film
Implementing Visual Literacies
This is a presentation that I created in order to educate other teachers on how to effectively implement film in an English classroom.In this presentation, I discuss the “dos” and “do nots” of using film in English.I also encourage teachers to choose films that are not necessarily adaptations of books read in class; that way, students are compelled to utilize their analytical skills in order to make connections between the material they read in class and the film (themes, characters, symbols, etc.).However, the presentation also mentions some negative aspects about showing film in class.Therefore, this artifact demonstrates both my ability to implement film to enhance learning, as well as my ability to foresee and address issues that might arise while introducing different forms of text into the classroom.
Merging Traditional with Contemporary
This artifact is concentrates on Ned Vizzini’s novel, , and its film adaptation.I not only analyze key differences between the novel and its adaptation, but I also discuss how I would implement both into my class.This final paper demonstrates my ability to successfully analyze two different versions of the same story; it also displays a little of my film analysis skills that I obtained while getting my BA in English and Film.I believe these are useful things to showcase, as successful high school teachers need to possess extensive knowledge on their core subjects in order to effectively teach students.
Technology
Reflecting to Improve Implementation
This reflection on how technologically involved students and teachers are at present showcases that I am technologically literate in addition to traditional texts and film. This paper discusses my personal experiences and views on technology in conjunction with my students’ views. In the end, I come to the conclusion that, despite distractions that it can create in class, because of the plethora of ways that it can be used to better students, technology should be embraced in an academic setting. Therefore, this artifact is a perfect example of the ways that I use technology as a learning tool for students.
Reflecting to Improve Implementation
This is a personal manifesto that I created in order to establish resources that I have utilized to become a great tech resource for both students and other staff members.Not only do I provide access to these resources accompanied by a brief description of how each works to make me into an effective tech leader, but I also recognize various facets of my career that technology applies to in my “areas of knowledge and growth” section.This artifact therefore not only demonstrates my ability to use my technological literacy to my advantage in the classroom, but also my ability to reflect on my practices as an English educator. Because reflection is such a large part of being a successful teacher, I thought that this piece was an asset to my showcase.
Using Literacies to Differentiate Instruction
Evaluating Analyses of Contemporary Literacies
This artifact was from a course I took during my internship teaching year at Holt High School. I examined three students and their work on a particular essay assigned for the Film class that I was instructing at the time. For each of these students, I provided background information, an explanation for why I gave them the score that I did on the writing assignment, and an analysis of how I could help to improve their performance on the next writing assignment. I believe that this artifact was a crucial piece to include in my showcase, as it demonstrates my ability to use a variety of texts such as film in order to teach writing. However, it also demonstrates that I am able to recognize that each of these students needs a different form of help when examining this particular type of text.
Utilizing Various Literacies to Improve Student Learning
This was an in-depth analysis of one student and his struggles in an English classroom. In order to effectively help this student, I gave him a pre-test, assessed his strengths and weaknesses, and came up with activities involving different types of literacies (academic, media, visual, etc.) in order to boost his performance; I took his personal interests in mind as well when creating activities. I then administered a post-test and reflected on whether or not my methods were successful. This analysis serves as a great demonstration on my ability to use multiple literacies to both teach and assess students in an academic setting.