English 2.0: Integrating Technology to Increase the Relevance and Authenticity of English Language Arts
Technology is no longer the future, it is the now. We, three inner city school teachers from Edison Middle School, wanted to integrate technology into our English Language Arts classrooms that went beyond the standard word processing of essays. Since our students use some form of technology everyday, we wanted to bridge the learning gap between what our students already know and our own tech savvy to better engage them in English.
Introduction
As English teachers, we are dedicated to teaching literacy, but not always qualified to teach students to navigate, create, and critically evaluate both traditional and new media. While our students are sometimes reluctant learners when it comes to English Language Arts ("ELA") content standards, as children of the digital age, they are enthusiastic learners when it comes to reading and writing with social media. By largely omitting this literacy from our classrooms, we have missed opportunities to help students apply ELA skills and critical analysis to their consumption and creation of new media.
This grant is enabling us to sharpen our own understanding and use of social media and new trends in technology. We are working within an action research framework: We are learning from teachers and other educators, reflecting on our learning, designing learning opportunities for our students, assessing our success, and starting over again with the next project and ELA unit. We are sharing this learning with our department, our school and the larger community by presenting at meetings and conferences, and creating an online presence to document our learning.
Team and School Information
Our team is composed of three women who have worked together in the English Language Arts Department for more than eight years. We span three generations, each of us representing a different introduction to transliteracy. We share the common interests of working with students who struggle and using technology in the classroom. We came together as a team because we work well together, respect one and others' professional practice, and know we can support each other as we develop as educators.
All of our team teachers are currently in the classroom and have collaborated with each other in multiple ways. We have worked together in the ELA Department, on the Accelerated Reader Program, and we sit together on Edison’s governing councils.
Sharing Our Learning
We have learned so much about using technology in the classroom. We have been inspired by the professional development attended and by each other. The following three links highlight a lesson we would like to share from each of our classes. You can find additional lessons and resources in the links underneath the lessons.
Ms. Castaneda's PhotoStory3 Poetry
Resources
Professional Development We Attended (with Links to Materials): This folder contains resources we have accumulated from professional development to Tech Fairs.
Lesson Descriptions- This folder contains lesson descriptions and challenges to our work.
Samples and Student Work- This folder contains our blog samples/posting of assignments and links to student work.
Team Blog- Throughout the grant, we have blogged about our experiences, frustrations, and successes in the classroom.
California Association of Teachers of English- This link is to CATE; it is a great resource.
Professional Development at Edison Middle School- This is a link to one of the professional developments we presented at our school site.
Below is our video from the 2012 TIIP Annual Meeting.
