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☼ Unit Reflection 10 ☼

For this final unit, we had to create short lessons that revolved around a non-print media platform and present them to the class. I was really excited whenever I saw this assignment on the syllabus because I felt as though it was a great activity that would prepare some of my classmates and I for our future as teachers. Since the following generations deem to become more and more tech savvy, coming up with lessons that revolve around technology will be extremely beneficial whenever we start teaching. For our lesson, Sarah, Cheyenne and I came up with a pre-writing or scaffolding activity that could be altered, depending on what the teacher wanted. This assignment was aimed towards a higher level, high school English class that could completed before the students wrote an essay or a long paper. We decided to have students choose one of the novels that they had read previously in class and have them create a Wix website that included five main elements: a summary, a personal reflecti...
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⇢ Unit Reflection 9 ⇢

Although this unit was very short, I found the processed drama activities that we did in class to be extremely beneficial. Being that I have never participated in theatre and I tended to shy away from activities where I would have to act, I actually really loved this unit. Sometimes, I feel as though students have a hard time making a visual connection with a text or even the meaning of a word. By utilizing drama rather than having students write a paper, it gives them a chance to make the connection and have a true understanding of whatever they are trying to portray. Along with that, drama gives students the chance to interpret the meaning of something in their own way, which can give other students another way to think of something. In class, we did an activity where we were placed in small groups and we were given slips of paper with a vocabulary word on it. Using that word, we had to create a still scene that represented or showed the meaning of the word. Personally, I loved thi...
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↠ Unit Reflection 8 ↞

Whenever I looked at the syllabus before this unit began, I became a tad nervous whenever I saw that we were doing an assignment called "Video Analysis." I was anxious about this project because I definitely do not consider myself an actress nor do I like being on camera. To my surprise, the project ended up being quite simple and a lot of fun, too. For this project, my group members and I chose the short story titled, The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin. The first step of the story process included us making a 20 shot story board, which is a planned out drawing of all 20 scenes. Creating the story board was actually really easy because the story we had chosen was not very dialogue heavy, therefore, all we had to do was focus on big actions. Also, it was a lot of fun creating the scenes on paper because we made the short film exactly how we saw it through our own eyes. Overall, this step was very simple and made the filming portion of the project fly by. The ne...
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✓ Unit Reflection 7 ✓

Unit seven was all about transforming a visual genre into an auditory genre through podcasts. Mainly, the podcasts were centered around literary works and made into book talks or book reviews. Introducing a new concept or new piece of technology into a classroom can be challenging. The concept of using technology, specifically podcasts, within chapter 18 of Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age by Mark Gura was introduced. For Madame Smith's, a middle school French teacher, it was hard to figure out a source of technology that students were not used to or bored with. Teaching foreign language can be difficult, since the only true way to learn a foreign language is through speaking. Madame Smith eventually came up with the idea for students to create podcasts where they would have conversations or interviews. Not only are podcasts a great way to get comfortable with the French language, but also they are great for learning vocabulary and sentence structure. There is so much value in ...
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✍ Unit Reflection 6 ✍

Unit 6 primarily consisted of using Public Service Announcements (PSA's) among other multimodal assignments within the classroom. Also, the PSA's were used as a pre-writing activity into more formal, argumentative writing pieces. Within Convince Me! Valuing Multimodal Literacies and Composing Public Service Announcements by Richard J. Selfe and Cynthia L. Selfe, the idea of using PSA's as well as other multimodal assignments is brought up. For kids today, technology is apparent in most classrooms as well as outside the classroom, too. Teachers these days are starting to integrate technology within their classrooms and create assignments that involve technology. Selfe mentions that students learn best when they read and compose in different ways. Therefore, by using different platforms such as videos, podcasts and pictures, students can identify new and effective forms of literacy. Although our world has become more technology dependent, it does not mean that we must forget ...
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 Unit Reflection 5 

Although unit 5 was our shortest unit to date and it only consisted of two readings, it introduced a lot of activities that could be used within the classroom. Basically the two readings we were assigned focused on activities and lessons that would eventually lead students into creating formal pieces of writing. I found this unit to be valuable because it can be hard sometimes to find ways for students to become good writers. These chapters showed exercises and assignments that break down the writing process and make it easier for students to eventually get the hang of formal writing. Within the first reading, chapter 3 of Create, Compose, Connect! by Jeremy Hyler and Troy Hicks, Hyler gave his students the task of writing narratives and short memoirs as a preface into formal writing. For the narrative activity, he had his students create a list of beliefs that they had. These beliefs consisted of having a cellphone, God and even family. With these beliefs, students would then choose ...
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