Literacy In the Secondary Social Studies Classroom: This Is Going to Be a Long Post

Blog posts are supposed to be pithy.

But the more I think about the ways I can and should integrate literacy into my secondary Social Studies classroom, the more overwhelming it becomes. I believe it is fundamentally imperative that we help students better understand the world in which they live. One way to do that is through Social Studies. I must make it interesting, relevant, and fun. Literacy is a vital portion of this equation. Students must be able to read texts, comprehend what they are reading, and apply it to the real world. Students must be able to take knowledge and communicate what they have learned to others in a concise and meaningful way, either in written or verbal form. Students need to learn how to research effectively; meaning they need to understand how to identify reliable sources, and how to verify facts. They need to understand the value of primary sources. And in no other way does Social Studies incorporate more into other common core teaching areas than in literacy learning. These skills are useful in every facet of life.

www.researchhaven.com/

So how do I do it; and how do I know if students are grasping the content? Here is a list of strategies and tools that I believe work well for me and my students in learning literacy. I wouldn't necessarily use each one in every unit, but at least two or three in each unit, for sure: journal writing, maps, graphic organizers, current events presentations, class web site, web-based research projects. If you have time, you can view these two videos on YouTube, which although they focus on younger students, I like the general strategies of each teacher. The first video focuses on an overall strategy of research and presentations, and the other focuses nicely on using maps. There are just a couple of examples: There are numerous videos and other resources on the Web that discuss the integration of literacy teaching into the curriculum.

I really like to use journals throughout the year. I have only done this by having students use their notebooks; I would like to try it online, such as a blog like this one. (But there's nothing wrong with writing in a notebook either.) I like it because it helps me introduce a topic, get a sense of what the students prior knowledge is, what interests them or what they would like to learn. When the unit is finished, I can look back and see the progress that was made. I love graphic exercises, either organizers to help with reading and planning projects; or maps to help with geographic placement, politics, industry or resources.

Although many students can be scared or nervous, I usually plan for a series of short current events oral presentations. Students need to become comfortable with speaking to their peers about subjects that interest them. It also reinforces mutual respect and listening skills. I know some do not like to stand up in front of the class. I might allow them to sit and give their presentation, then I might require them to stand at their desk. Eventually all should come to the front of the class to speak. This instills confidence and self-worth.

I also like to plan for a project near the end of the unit that tries to encompass everything learned in the unit to that point. Tests are a fact of life; and I want my students to do well. But I find the students can show how much they've learned by completing some kind of project, hopefully using modern technology. This helps them see a payoff for their work; and gives me an evaluation tool. I have used digital posters like Glogster, or presentation tools such as Sliderocket or Animoto.

teachersites.schoolworld.com/webpages/KJordan1/

I am also very fond of Webquests. Here is a quest I made for another class on Christopher Columbus. It is very detailed and would take a long time to read, but it offers the students some individual tasks and collaborative tasks. The standards are included in the quest, as well as evaluation tools. Students will receive a grade from me, but also can grade themselves. I'm not saying my quest was great or anything, but the tool itself, created with Zunal, is awesome. You can also look at other educators' Webquests, get great ideas and even ask them for the right to use their quests in your class.

I don't want to carry on too long. Hopefully I've answered the requirements of the assignment. Like I said, I consider literacy in Social Studies to be among the most important things I can teach. I see technology as offering more exciting and fun ways to do this. 

Wiki Wiki

I believe wikis are possibly the most misunderstood and under-appreciated web tool available to educators today. It is so simple but so powerful, yet many teachers cannot figure out what goes on in a wiki and how to use it for their classroom.

Wikis are a direct result of the Web 2.0 revolution; that is, web pages that can be changed or edited by anyone. The monster example, of course, is Wikipedia, which is a public encyclopedia that can be edited and added to by anyone in the world. I still run into people I would consider tech-savvy that don't understand Wikipedia is not a standard encyclopedia, like Britannica, etc. People can write anything and present it as the truth. (Wikipedia is monitored, and obvious falsities or inappropriate statements are often deleted, but more ambiguous statements often remain.) For this reason, Wikipedia must never be used directly as a source. Its real value is that properly cited pages can provide numerous links to legitimate sources. Wikipedia also shows the traits of a good wiki. Visual elements are used very often, including pictures, video and audio files. And those who wish to edit the pages find a simple, user-friendly interface. 

Our studies this week led us to look at a couple of educational wikis created by teachers. I hope all educators check out such wikis, because they offer students a real-world learning experience that combines creativity with collaboration. It can be fun for the students and the teacher. Mrs. Lodes' "Treasure of Learning" wiki uses a pirate theme to bring her students into the wiki page. The theme is age-appropriate, which is very important. Visually, the pages are colorful, but I do think some of the images are distracting. On one page there is a widget apparently called "wall wisher" that I found to be way too busy and unreadable.

It is possible that my browser was causing this, but it is worth remembering that teachers should make sure the students can properly access the wiki with a choice of browsers. I also found this wiki that is made for history teachers. It is very interesting to me as a history teacher, but I still think it's too busy. Movement on a page is cool, but in very small doses, in my opinion. I have seen boring wikis too, but if I had to err on one side or the other, I think I would prefer not enough graphic elements, rather than too many.

Looking at this wiki that deals with literacy tools, the overall feel is so clean and subdued that I find it very appealing. One concern would be with the sheer number of links on the page. The table of contents is quite long as well. Still, the intended audience is educators seeking resources, so in that aspect the site delivers in spades. Every link I clicked on was current; and that is important to remember when constructing a wiki or blog. Many times links go dead, or change. Site administrators must make sure their links are still active. This wiki was created with Wikispaces, which happens to be the tool I use to experiment with creating wikis. I am hardly and expert, and I was certainly intimidated at first, but I found the creation process to be fun and productive.

This is something I want to communicate to other educators: Creating wikis is not tortuous, and the results can be tremendous. The greatest positive in my opinion is the collaborative aspect of wikis, the ability for students to post their work to a page that all can view, comment on, and even add to if they wish. For groups of students, or entire classes, this is invaluable. And the work is saved forever. Next year's class can build on what this year's class does. Or teachers can compare last year's accomplishments with this year's. Teachers can also evaluate their own progress. How did the students respond this year compared to last year? And parents can monitor the entire process, if desired. It's a great way for teachers to keep a record of the work being completed. And once students learn how to use the wiki, teachers can basically step aside and let the kids go at it! (Not completely of course!) 

I'm sure creating and maintaining a wiki page is a daunting task to many teachers. One reason -- maybe the biggest reason -- I am seeking the MET degree is to help teachers get over their fears and learn how to use wonderful tools like wikis.

What is Literacy?

So what is Literacy? Why, it's about readin' and writin' of course. Right?

Actually I think the answer is yes, but I was intrigued by the points brought out in the blogs I read and the videos I watched this week. First of all, before I define 'literacy' I want to define 'technology.' Because there seems to be some confusion in the EdTech community at large. One person in the video seemed to suggest that technology equals computers. That is wrong, in my opinion. When the pencil was invented, it was ground-breaking technology. At one point, overhead projectors were 'the latest technology.' Any tool that teachers use in the classroom is in some way 'technology.' 'Modern technology,' or '21st Century technology' refers to the tools we are talking about in this class; and the tools we need to master to obtain the degree we are studying. That's fine, but let's not dismiss older tools just because they are not cool enough.

So using technology to teach means something much greater than putting MS Word on the computers, upgrading to Windows 7, or buying an iPad for all of the students. 'Using technology' is the art of incorporating all of the available tools in the classroom, in a way that expands knowledge, differentiates between learners, and involves the parents and community. After all, that is what the students will need to do in their adult lives, right?

Sometimes, a book is the perfect tool to use. Sometimes, a worksheet is the most efficient way to involve everyone. Other times, one would be crazy not to use web tools to help students collaborate effectively. My point is there is no one tool for every one task. In fact, relying on modern technology to do our teaching for us is a critical mistake, in my opinion.

Personally -- and my experience is limited -- I like to keep the students guessing. I might use the web for a certain task, but revert to the textbook for a similar task in a different unit. To me, teaching literacy is helping students learn to use all of these tools.

Still, the foundation of reading and writing must not be overlooked. Students in the 21st Century have no lack of social media experience. They need no help in sending email, uploading graphics or commenting on posts. In fact, they need no help in searching for whatever their wondering eyes might be tempted to see on the Internet. But I digress. What students do not regularly receive are prompts on reading, comprehension, and writing skills. They know how to text, but they cannot write a simple essay. They know jargon, but too often they do not know how to communicate, especially one-on-one.

Computers draw us away from each other, into our own little worlds. This might be cool, but it can easily become unhealthy. Although we must sharpen technological skills for our students, we must make sure they are learning and understanding the importance of those foundational skills that will help them stand out from the Facebook crowd.

Yes, I'm talking about readin' and writin'. The 21st Century model would suggest that those skills can be learned on a computer; and since that is the tool they will use as adults, that is the best way to prepare them for the real world. Well, they can learn to read on a computer, but should we get rid of all books? Students can learn to type, but do we dare abandon the pencil and paper? Are these the trends of the near future? Are they healthy trends?

I think those questions need to be seriously asked and debated in the EdTech community.

Finally, I have very few man-crushes in my life, LOL. My wife tells me I have a man-crush on Adam Bellow. He is a EdTech guru from New York that is possibly the most dynamic and informative speaker on the subject. Here is 15 minutes of brilliance from Adam at a conference he spoke at in 2011. I saw his keynote at METC last year, and I was blown away. If you want to know the EdTech guy that influences me the most, it's Adam Bellow.

Shifting sands

As you read the posts below, written about a year ago, two things will surely take place: firstly, you will be bored beyond comprehension; secondly you will see a student who didn't want to rock the boat.

Those two things will change. I refuse to be boring; and I refuse to 'toe the company line' as it were. There isn't enough time left to try to make others happy. Forces are coming together that are affecting our children. We must keep perspective and tradition in the conversation, or we will be lost in a sea of political correctness and scores.

We must take every step to teach our children character. But this is useless if character is not being taught in the home. We must give our students the tools to succeed in their world; but there is more to this than providing them with an iPad and teaching them how to create a blog.

I am always involved in the EdTech conversation: I love it. I see a lot that I like, and a lot that is useless. What I often do not see is common sense. To many people, this makes me an old codger; a fool, irrelevant.

I am still learning, and will always be learning. My posts should reflect that. But I have something to offer, too. That's why this blog will now be known as the Codger Report.

Week 8: Finale

This will be my final blog of the summer schedule. This is not intended to be a complete reflection of the entire semester. That reflection will appear on my ePortfolio site under NETS Teaching Standards.

I want to say as an introduction that I am emotionally drained after finishing my projects for this class and also dealing with student advisors over which classes to take in the Fall. I bring this up as supporting evidence of why I had to switch all of my writings that said I would graduate in December of '11. (Seriously, I have been telling potential employers for six months that I would have my degree in December.) Instead I will graduate in May '12; and I am not happy about it at all. Unless I am supposed to be some kind of mind reader -- or have access to a year's worth of class schedules at hand -- this was not due to a mistake on my part. I messaged my advisor many times between October '10 and May '11 about my schedule. At no point did the advisor warn me of what was to come. The bottom line is the classes I need this fall are all offered, but they're all offered in the final eight weeks; and I can't take that many classes during one eight-week period. What's more, none of the classes I need to graduate are offered during the first eight weeks of the Spring semester either. I could graduate in December if I took a class I had no interest in, merely to get the three semester hours; but I wouldn't want to do that, especially at the graduate level. So I am looking to May as my graduation.

Back to the recent tasks at hand. The NETS project was good. It gave me a great way to gauge the entire semester. I was surprised how many tools and resources we had covered. Then when I thought again, of all the nights during the first four or five weeks when I literally was bent over with my head in my hands not knowing what to do next. As I believed then, it all worked out. But I still feel like I missed something somewhere.

This blog was a big part of the process, and I have enjoyed writing it. The length and frequency of a web log fits my writing and thinking style very well. My Delicious bookmarks have been turned in; and I am a little surprised -- as I looked at my peers pages -- that I actually finished with quite a few bookmarks. Delicious is a great tool that I plan on using for a long time. Not only is it comprehensive, the fact that there is a 'Tag It' icon in my bookmarks bar makes it incredibly easy to add at a moment's notice.

Even as I put the final touches on my final NETS reflection, I know that I'm a long way from finished. I'll still be working on my ePortfolio site, which is my web page that I refer potential employers to. I still have four classes to go before I graduate; and I am assuming most if not all will be as difficult as this one has been. It's not that we got a huge amount of work for this class, it's the way it was given to us that threw me off. I just couldn't keep my brain around it.

I do want to say how much I have enjoyed getting to know Dr. Bass and all of my classmates. The only problem is I will competing with these classmates for job openings over the next few years.

Week 7

As I turn in what I feel is my completed WebQuest, I still think I could tweak it more if I wanted to. Every time I go back to it, I see something else that could be better; or I see something somewhere else, such as an other WebQuest or blog, that reminds me of my WebQuest and makes me think I’d like to see that element on my web page. Such is the life of a teacher, right? Lesson plans are never perfect. They are tweaked, revised and update constantly. That’s what this WebQuest is: it’s a lesson plan, spelled out for students to lead themselves, in a Web 2.0 format.

It is special because students can guide themselves through the process, with only minimal help from the teacher. It’s special too because it can be shared with peers; and experienced educators can give their feedback as to how it can be improved.

My Delicious account is finished, I believe. This has been a slow-paced, little here, little there exercise that has proven to be most profitable. I spent years collecting various bookmarks on my browser. In the last seven weeks I have amassed an amazing list of useful links that I can access from any computer, anywhere.

I still have some work to go on my e-Portfolio. In that project, I have to choose and master five web tools and reflect upon their use in the classroom. However, the five artifacts I chose originally didn’t make it to the final cut. I changed three of them. I did this because I wanted each tool to be a bit more challenging and peer-based: Because that seems to be the pattern of the NETS standards themselves. Each process is difficult to finish, but exploring and experimenting with all of these web tools has been fun. However, I will say that the more of these web tools I sign up for, the more spam email I get on my Gmail account every day. It all goes to the spam folder, but the sheer amount is scary – 10 or 12 spam emails every day in my junk folder. I would like to be able to figure out one day which sites are selling my emails and which ones are not. Next week, or actually a half-week, my final summer blog. I will have a final reflection on my eight-week course.

Week 6: Frustration and Happenstance

For weeks, I have been struggling to gain control over the vast amounts of technology that have been thrown at us. But you know what? There is one thing I cannot control; and one thing that deserves mentioning as we try to make our classrooms completely digitized (oh yes they are!):

Sometimes the stuff just doesn’t work right.

When you are posting a link to someone else’s web page, there is always a possibility that when the person you gave the link to goes there, the page won’t be there anymore. So one must be careful about handing out links. Some web pages will never go away (Library of Congress, for example), but even those pages may change. Some web sites have auto-redirects, some do not.

Or, there is a possibility that entire web sites can disappear. This is especially true of .com sites that are privately owned and come and go quickly. Either way, one has to remember that technology is not perfect. When you rely on it the most, it may fail you.

The same can be said for software programs. Just this past week I was given an assignment that called for me to edit a .rtf file and return it to my editing peer so they could read my comments about their WebQuest. Possibly because I do not have MS Word on my computer, I could not get the file to format correctly. I would fill it out and everything would appear to be in place, but when I saved it and emailed it the person could not open it or if she did it was missing all of my added information. I tried doing it again…then I tried just highlighting my scores and adding notes at the end. It still didn’t work. The last column was missing. I ended up sending her an email with my comments in the text body. Email: There’s a technology that for the most part can be depended on.

Technology is very cool. I personally love working with it. But the more one relies on technology to deliver the needed content, the more control one gives over to pure chance. And it will fail, now and then. It’s cool to use technology to show me how technology works. But sometimes by doing so you’re also showing me how it doesn’t work. Maybe that was the plan all along.