Visualizing Data

The amount of information available to students can be overwhelming at times. The things they learn from their teacher, from other students, from texts, and from the Internet can make a student feel frustrated and defeated. Teaching students how to visually represent and make sense of all this information could aid their efforts to comprehend and retain the material they collect. In fact, 65% of the population are visual learners (Fanguy, 2017, para. 5). So, it would only make sense that teachers equip students with the skills that will enhance their ability to visually represent information and data.

After reading several articles and being an experienced classroom teacher myself, I have come up with four steps to help students develop the ability to visually represent information and data. This is not something you would do one time with your students, but rather multiple times throughout the school year. You could easily apply this information to any subject area. The gradual release of responsibility would be a good model to fit this task.

1. Teach and introduce what an infographic is and what it consists of. Before students can be expected to create a visual representation, they need to understand what it is. I would suggest having them research this information and collect the data on their own at first. This would be a great opportunity to incorporate a custom Google search engine to direct their research. In addition, it would be a good idea to supply students with a graphic organizer that guides them in their thinking as they are sifting through all this information. This will keep them focused.
2. Next, have students evaluate already made infographics and reflect on them. Gretter, 2015, suggests, “Some questions to ask students to help them reflect on specific infographics:
• Why is this infographic useful to me?
• What is the purpose of the visuals (charts, maps, drawings, etc) in this document?
• Is the text important for me to understand this infographic? Why?
• How can I evaluate this infographic? What does it do well? Where could it be improved?
• What information am I learning thanks to this infographic?
• Is this infographic helping me learn? How? Why?” (para. 10).
3. Then, have students create an infographic as a group or with a partner. Here they would apply all the information they have learned about infographics while getting the benefits of collaborating and learning from each other. I would have them explain why they did what they did at each step to each other. When students talk and listen to each other’s point of of view they are actively participating in the learning process (Boundless, 2016, para. 14). Students can learn so much from each other and be more willing to take risks.
4. Last, have students create an infographic on their own. I could foresee using this as a way for students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept you have taught. Especially at the beginning, I would give students a topic they are comfortable with. For example, I created a unit on plot, and I am going have my students create an infographic in which they demonstrate their understanding of all the plot elements.

As teachers of 21st century learners, we can not overlook the importance of being able to visually represent information. Our students are so inundated with an overabundance of information that we need to supply them with the means to make sense of it all. Creating a visual representation is an excellent way to accomplish this. Boundless, 2016, states, “By representing information spatially and with images, students are able to focus on meaning, reorganize and group similar ideas easily, make better use of their visual memory” (para. 5).

References:

B. (2016, September 10). Effective Teaching Strategies - Boundless Open Textbook. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from https://www.boundless.com/education/textbooks/boundless-education-textbook/working-with-students-4/teaching-strategies-21/effective-teaching-strategies-64-12994/

Fanguy, W. (2017, March 26). Using Infographics in the Classroom: Our Tips and Advice. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from https://piktochart.com/blog/using-infographics-classroom/

Gretter, S. (2015, November 10). Using Infographics for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from http://insideteaching.grad.msu.edu/using-infographics-for-teaching-and-learning/

Teaching Students Effective Search Skills

Frey, Fisher and Gonzalez (2010) state, “There is more information at our fingertips today than ever before” (pg. 33). Technology has vastly changed how we gather information. While books and other texts in print are still valuable, the Internet has provided students with a myriad of options to obtain information. In fact, it can be quite overwhelming at times. Simply typing some keywords into the search bar in Google can yield thousands upon thousands of results. Consequently, our students need to be taught how to effectively search and sift through this overabundance of information.

One way teachers can guide students to developing and practicing effective search skills is to teach them about Boolean Operators. Boolean Operators come in handy when you have a fairly broad topic and need to narrow down the results. Simply adding quotation marks, a plus sign, using the words “or,” “and, “not,” or the minus sign can greatly reduce the amount of websites the search engine gives the researcher. In addition to teaching students about Boolean Operators, teachers need to introduce students to specialized search engines. These search engine are specifically created to produce results about a given topic.

Another helpful tool that will aid students in finding information are Web feed tools. These are tools that will search the Web for postings or websites that are related to the person’s interests. (Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez, 2010, p. 46).  These tools are extremely beneficial because they bring the news to the student; the student does not have to go out and continually search, remember to revisit, or bookmark a site. It collects all the information and displays it in one place.

Once students have learned how to effectively research, teachers must teach them how to determine if the information is credible. Anyone can post anything on the Internet. Just because it says it on the Internet, does not make it true. It is the responsibility of the researcher to do their due diligence to ensure that the information they are reporting is accurate. The CARS (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support) Checklist for Information Quality is a great resource to guide students in their thinking as they evaluate a website (Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez, 2010, p. 43). Providing students with an evaluation tool based on CARS would be very beneficial, especially at the beginning stages of becoming an effective researcher.

It is imperative for teachers not to overlook the importance of teaching our students these skills. We can not assume our students know how to do these things just because they are so inundated with technology on a daily basis at such a young age. Today’s students need to learn how to effectively search the Internet and determine the credibility of such information in order to be successful users of technology in this digital era.

Reference:

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2010). Literacy 2.0: reading and writing in 21st century classrooms. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Literacy in Content Areas

All teachers, no matter what subject they teach, are literacy teachers whether they know it or not. Alber (2010) states, “Content is what we teach, but there is also the how, and this is where literacy instruction comes in” (para. 7). There are many ways to incorporate literacy instruction into content areas. Teachers must take it upon themselves to find and implement these lessons consistently and effectively. There are many digital tools that can assist in this endeavor.

Students should be doing some kind of reading and/or writing every day in every classroom. Not all writing has to be formal. Some informal writing activities that can be easily incorporated into content areas are activities like quick writes, stop and jots, one-minute essays, etc. (Alber, 2010, para. 14). Google Docs is a great resource for this type of assignment. It allows students to share the document, collaborate and communicate in a quick, efficient manner. Padlet is another great resource to accomplish this. You can post a discussion prompt on your subject matter and have students brainstorm, reflect, or demonstrate their understanding. The use of a school’s learning management system (LMS) is also a great tool to use. Many LMS’s, like Schoology and Canvas, have a discussion board that provides students an opportunity to write in a manner that they find interesting and fun.

“The days of believing that we could hand informational text or a novel to a student and assume he or she makes full meaning of it on their own is a teaching mode of the past. Whether we like it or not, regardless of the content we teach, we are all reading instructors” (Albers, 2010, para. 17). Last week, I blogged about a resource called Rewordify. Rewordify would help content teachers make reading an often difficult text easier for their students. Students, parents and teachers can use Rewordify as needed. It allows the user to copy and paste a challenging text, and it will reword it in a more understandable way. In addition, teachers of all content areas could use graphic organizers to aid students in their understanding of texts. They can use brainstorming tools such as Bubbl.us. This would be great for reading and writing.

Simply put, Heller (2017) suggests to teachers, “They also must teach their students to read and write and communicate like mathematicians, historians, scientists, literary critics, and educated members of society” (para. 3). No matter our content area, we should be equipping students with the knowledge, vocabulary and tools that will allow them to be a successful 21st century learner. While content teachers may not be specifically teaching the basics of reading and writing, they should be asking students to apply these skills on a daily basis within their subject area. The use of digital tools makes this an easily attainable task.

References:

Alber, R. (2010, August 04). How Important is Teaching Literacy in All Content Areas? Retrieved May 15, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance

Heller, R., Ph.D. (2017). Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas. Retrieved May 15, 2017, from http://www.adlit.org/adlit_101/improving_literacy_instruction_in_your_school/teaching_reading_and_writing_content_areas/

Literacy 2.0 Tools

Frey, Fisher and Gonzalez (2010) state, “In literacy 2.0, we need to equip students with the cognitive tools that allow them to produce and share knowledge - using sounds, images and texts - and the technological tools that provide them the means to do so” (p. 72). Technology should enhance student learning. Simply offering students one way to complete a task, following step by step directions, completing the same task, and leading them to the outcome is no longer sufficient. Now, students are expected to problem solve, think and produce evidence that they understand what has been asked of them. How they get to the final product may look different from student to student. We need to encourage students to be in control of their own learning, to innovate and to create. Below are a two tools that allow students to do just that.

Tool #1 Description: Rewordify

Rewordify is a digital tool that allows students to enter a piece of text that was hard for them to understand and will re-word it so it is easier to understand. It also has a vocabulary component. It will choose difficult words in a text or allow you to choose the words and will provide you with the needed information. For example, you can ask it to reword it with easier vocabulary or highlight it and click on the word to see the definition. Rewordify allows teachers to easily differentiate for students. They can select the text and words. Students can also choose how the site works for them. There are many options in the settings. They decide what style best suits them. Rewordify also allows students to chart their progress.

Strategies and Methods to Incorporate into Reading and Writing Curriculum:

I really like everything Rewordify has to offer. As a sixth grade teacher that is beginning the transition to project based learning, Rewordify will make that process a lot more manageable for me. It will allow me to work one on one and in small groups with students while they are working on reading assignments and vocabulary that they are able to manage on their own without any explanation/help from me. It truly allows them to be independent and in control of their own learning.

Unfortunately, there are students that are not reading on grade level, but are constantly exposed to grade level texts. In addition, even proficient readers encounter difficult/unknown words or struggle with sections of a text. Rewordify will allow them to read through a text successfully by providing them with the information they need to make sense of it. As the teacher, I can let them choose the text, or I can supply it. Then, as they work through the text, they identify what is challenging to them and work on individualized lessons accordingly. Rewordify will let teachers differentiate student practice of reading and vocabulary skills that will customize to the students needs and abilities. In addition to using Rewordify in the classroom, students could use it as a tool at home if they are struggling to understand any text.

Tool #2 Description: BrainRush

BrainRush is a tool that provides students the opportunity to learn, practice and assess their knowledge on various ELA skills. It sorts it by subject, grade level and even common core skills. It’s very easy to search within. BrainRush has reading practice skills such as plot, literary genres, prefixes and roots, figurative language, author’s purpose, and many more. It also can aid students in their writing. For example, it has some games, practice and assessments for word choice. In these activities students learn new words to replace overused/dull ones. A feature that I really liked about BrainRush is that it differentiates as the student works. As they are learning and practicing, it keeps track of the ones they miss and will automatically keep assessing them until they have it mastered.

Strategies and Methods to Incorporate into Reading and Writing Curriculum:

I absolutely LOVED BrainRush. I was very impressed with the wide variety of options it offered. Currently, our school district does not have a resource for teaching grammar, language and mechanics skills. It’s very hard to find good, meaningful practice of these skills. BrainRush would be a great resource that would allow teachers to provide differentiated instruction to students that meet the new Literacy 2.0 guidelines.

After I introduce all the parts of speech, sentences, language and mechanics topics, BrainRush will be the tool I can use to have students refresh, practice, apply and assess their understanding. These skills are already hard to make “fun,” and BrainRush would allow just that. I would simply attach the link to the BrainRush skills I want my students to practice to Schoology, our learning management system (LMS). There, they can participate in the activities. Students can do these activities with or without an account. However, if they don’t have one, they will be unable to monitor their progress, but still reap all the other benefits. A bonus to BrainRush is that students can practice what they want, when they want.

For reading, I would assign BrainRush activities as a way for students to practice new skills taught. I could even use it as an attention getting exercise as a way to introduce a new topic/skill. It would allow students to learn, explore and practice before I teach a mini-lesson. That way they would be engaged in their learning and have a little prior knowledge that could aid in their understanding of the skill/concept as a whole. I would just be there to assist and/or supply further information. BrainRush could easily be used in the “flipped classroom” model.

After completing the BrainRush activities, students will be well-versed in their reading, writing, grammar, etc. skills. It is an effective tool that will help meet the Literacy 2.0 needs of 21st century learners.

Reference:

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2010). Literacy 2.0: reading and writing in 21st century classrooms. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Changes in Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom

As an educator for the last 16 years, I have been witness to significant changes inside the classroom. Technology has greatly impacted the world and consequently has forever affected the way people learn, interact, think and behave. As a teacher, it is my job to adjust accordingly. What worked in the past and how I personally learned, may not be what a 21st century learner needs in order to have a successful future. The education world as I knew it, no longer exists.

Having access to a myriad of information at our fingertips, along with the ability to communicate freely with a wide audience, allows students and teachers to have greater connections to foster learning. Frey, Fisher, and Gonzalez (2010) state, “Literacy 2.0 represents a shift, not a replacement. Whereas literacy 1.0 was about access to information, literacy 2.0 is about finding, using, producing, and sharing information. The audience is now the world, and students expect to collaborate, interact, and participate with others across time and space” (p.1). Previously, teachers told students exactly what they wanted them to know, students would do some sort of an activity (usually a worksheet), and then take a test that would ask them to regurgitate the information they were given. This type of learning is no longer effective. Students must be able to think at higher levels.

“Today’s students have a deep-seated need to communicate and collaborate, to access information at any time of the day or night, and to have the tools that will enable them to synthesize, evaluate, and create information (Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez, 2010, p.5).  As an educator, I must find tools that allow this type of learning to take place. I need to understand the function of digital tools and choose the ones that will best meet my instructional needs (Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez, 2010, p.6). I should be thinking of ways in which I can use technology to support literacy. Anderson, Grant and Speck (2008) suggest, “What we as teachers need to know is how to capitalize on students’ default method of learning so that students can become increasingly literate as readers and writers” (p.3). In other words, literacy in a 21st century classroom uses technology as problem solving tools to augment thinking as opposed to only being used as a delivery mechanism (Anderson, Grant & Speck, 2008, p.7).

This past year, I have been participating in a project based learning initiative through my district. I am part of the pilot program. We are investigating teaching and learning strategies that are centered around projects that are geared towards students solving a problem. They do all the investigation and problem solving while the teacher facilitates and guides them. We equip them with the tools and base knowledge, but allow them to explore and guide their own learning within a topic. This is exactly how literacy is changing and evolving in the 21st century classroom. This type of learning is called social-constructivist learning. Instead of taking in information given by the teacher, students are actively engaged in their learning. Activities require students to analyze, synthesize and evaluate (Anderson, Grant & Speck, 2008, p. 8-10). In addition, there is a shift in how students work. Instead of learning and working independently all the time, students are often required to work in collaborative groups. Anderson, Grant and Speck (2008) state, “Teachers do not teach literacy skills in isolation but instead create meaningful and purposeful tasks that are open ended and problem based” (p. 12). This idea is the foundation of the changes that are taking place for literacy in a 21st century classroom.

References:

Anderson, R. S., Grant, M. M., & Speck, B. W. (2008). Technology to teach literacy: a resource for K-8 teachers (Second ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Gonzalez, A. (2010). Literacy 2.0: reading and writing in 21st century classrooms. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

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