Digital Literacy in Today's ELA Classroom

 I recently attended the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Digital Literacy Academy at Columbia University to learn about helping students critique all forms of text (novels, articles, websites, digital content, ect...) and find meaning in it. This was an important training for me because this is the work that we do in my school.  We are in our 4th year of Implementation of Lucy Calkin's Units of Study. It is a curriculum based around inquiry and individualized growth of each reader.This training extended on the units by bringing in digital options and exploration. I work among some amazing educators with a craft for creating experiences with books and other forms of texts that help students to find their own passion for reading and writing. It is important to me that I learn as much as I can about our curriculum to do a better job of supporting our teachers as they prepare our students for their future. 

In the Academy we were immersed in best teaching practices and had teachers that were modeling for us with the expectation we would do the same. We spent part of the day in lecture and the other half in a collaborative workshop. We sat on the carpet for our Mini-Lessons, explored a variety of texts, emphasized the importance of digital literacy/social media in the classroom and discussed in detail the importance of great questioning strategies. I learned a lot about the importance of students learning to analyze all forms of writing and information, including: Online articles, websites, videos, music, non-fiction, and fiction. We also discussed the importance of guiding your readers and writers through content rich text so they do not miss the big details. As educators it is important that we are pushing our students towards digital creation. We can encourage higher order thinking, engagement, and authentic connections to the content through thoughtful questioning strategies, sharing work with others and allowing students to take more ownership of their learning.  I could go on and on but thought it would make more of an impact to just share my biggest aha's!  

• When using media (video) to teach a lesson, make sure you are stopping regularly to let students digest, reflect , and ask questions. We do this with print text but forget to stop with video/ digital resources. 
• One of the first things that goes when a reader is fatigued is deep comprehension. 
•  We need to look at digital literacy as mainstream, not an after thought.
• We need to teach our students better ways to search and how to analyze the credibility of the source they are looking at. 
• Lessons should ALWAYS be focused on the learning objective; the technology is a vehicle to extend, connect, and share student work. Content first! 
• We need to push our students beyond internet consumption and guide them to creation. Publish their writing, create websites, make content rich videos, start blogging! 
• We are preparing our students for their future, not ours. 
• We need to teach students to use the skills they use in a book or passage to analyze all forms of texts. 

It has been a year of growth and learning for me to build a better understanding of  the art of teaching a child to read and find their niche with every kind of text.This training was very powerful for me in that I was able to be a student in a classroom where best practices in today's ELA classroom were modeled. We must look at every day as an opportunity to reach a child, give them an experience that will lead them to their passion. As educators, it is our duty to continuously grow and seek out experiences that will make us better for our kids.  Reading a book is an experience. Every book tells a story that has the potential to turn a reader on to something new. We must help our students make these same connections with digital content as it increasingly becomes the mode in which they receive information.Teaching our students to navigate and critique digital resources and text is not an option but an essential. I look forward to the opportunity to join my teachers and students as we work together to give our students the digital literacy skills to go forward and be successful in the world that awaits them!