An anomaly of my generation...

As a member of generation Y, I have experienced the transition from Beta to VHS to DVD to the near death of movie rentals entirely. I grew up listening to “books on tape”, bought my first ghetto blaster at Canadian Tire in 1997 and observed the development of cell phones that have now become some people’s lifelines.

Today, society imposes an idea that we be contactable at all time, keep our lives on small electronic devices, and do away with that which does not plug in. Having been through all these transitions in my lifetime, one would think that I embrace technology and have a great understanding and appreciation for the potential that all of these inventions have to offer. However, that would be inaccurate.

I still have that ghetto blaster from 1997, and yes, it still works. In fact, I still buy CDs for it. I bought my first cell phone at 23, I don’t own an ipod or have a Facebook page and occasionally I even send cards in the mail. And no, I don’t live under a rock!

Needless to say, I completely understand that I don’t belong in my generation and I recognize that as a teacher I’m going to have to be a lot more open to the world of new technology. I do appreciate the value of these technologies and the opportunities that they can provide, but I also want to be cautious with how I use them in my classroom. It is important to have some time during a day where students aren’t wearing earphones, aren’t plugged in and aren’t looking at a screen.

So, podcasting… the 21^st century’s version of “books on tape” but this time you can hear all sorts of people talking about all sorts of things. In a grade 4 or 5 classroom I might use podcasts as one of the methods we obtain information. I like that it is a medium where people are required solely to listen and absorb information. Podcasts provide an outsider’s voice and a period of time free of visual stimulation.

A site such as, Harpercollins Children’s Podcasts, http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/kids/gamesandcontests/features/podcast/ would be a great source for students to listen to authors talk about their books. It may also be interesting to find podcasts where the authors are reading from their books. I can see the utility of podcasts in other subjects as well. David Suzuki has a podcast on CBC called The Bottom Line www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/bottomline.xml and if the material was applicable and age appropriate, you could listen to a discussion as a source of information for a particular science unit.

Instead of the students creating their own podcasts, I think I would teach them how to use the recording equipment without the online element. Making recordings could be another form to represent information they’ve learned. I would include recording as an option when doing a book report or a science project but it would not be a required component. However, I do see the recording technology useful for students who have difficulty with the writing process. Therefore I might use recording as an adaptation for someone who couldn’t complete long writing assignments.

In sum, I would say that recording technology and podcasts can be valuable tools in the classroom and it is the job of the 21^st century teachers to be informed on a variety of useful tools. Just as a classroom has a variety of different learners, a teacher must use a variety of different methods with different tools to provide an interesting and engaging classroom! 

How does the IRP fit in with today's students and new teachers?

“The skilled use of language is associated with many opportunities in life, including further education, work, and social interaction.” (IRP, 2006, p.3) In other words, language is a foundational tool for learning and being able to communicate effectively in the world. In order to successfully deliver and evaluate the development of language skills in students it is important to recognize the receptive and expressive dimensions of language arts. They are, speaking and listening, reading and viewing, and writing and representing.

This blog entry will focus on the grade 2 and 3 levels of instruction. One description of today’s grades 2 and 3 learners will not satisfy all students in this category. However, generally, the world that these students live in is highly stimulating and increasingly technological. The average grade 2 student may spend more time in front of a screen than they do behind a book. They may have an aptitude for a computer mouse and still have difficulty with fine motor control when holding a pencil. These realities are both a challenge and an opportunity for the language arts teacher. Students can use a variety of mediums to represent knowledge or read information. However, the challenge comes with finding an appropriate balance between exploring different mediums and instilling fundamental skills. By grade 2 and 3 most children are reading with some fluency, making connections to real life experiences and are able to provide predictions in a story. They are developing their active listening skills and are capable of constructing meaning from that which they read, hear and see. Equally, they are able to organize their thoughts in sequence and are working at further developing their skills in syntax, semantics, phonology and pragmatics.

The Integrated Resource Package for English Language Arts provides teachers with a framework for developing lessons and assessing progress. The relation to current student needs is addressed at the beginning of the document in the Considerations for Program Delivery section. In my opinion, this section can seem primarily theoretical and somewhat vague. Therefore, it is especially helpful that the section includes charts that provide a breakdown of particular criteria or concepts. For example, on page 23 you can find a continuum of levels of support in student writing.  This allows the teacher to see the progression that can be made for each writer and provides some suggestions on how to move him or her towards independence.

 Another particularly helpful component of the IRP, are the boxes describing the attributes of a good learner according to the dimensions of language arts. For example page 184 reads, “Criteria for a good writer and representer (Kindergarten to Grade 3)”(IRP, 2006). This list can be easily adapted and posted in a classroom to provide a referral for students. In doing such, the teacher is facilitating an opportunity for students to take ownership of their progression and learning.

For educators, the assessment model provided in the IRP is a comprehensible way to represent the criteria for each prescribed learning outcome. As a beginner teacher the PLOs can be overwhelming and the idea of ensuring that all are met for each child can be a daunting task. This framework provides some achievement indicators to help teachers generate ideas about how to reach the intended goal. The benefit of this model is that these indicators are not requirements and therefore individual educators can be creative in their delivery and evaluation.

I don’t believe the IRP would be a hindrance to a beginner teacher. A framework of expectations for language arts instruction provides somewhere to start in a position that will inevitably be busy and demanding.