Not a Pencil Man & New Literacy Study

"Rather, it is important to emphasize that standards tests and benchmarks could only ever be the baseline for a teacher. That is, effective teachers will always go beyond the standards and benchmarks to enact meaningful and richly conceived literacies in their classrooms."

This reminds me of trying to explain to students the way the world will judge them based on misspelling a word or using incorrect grammar. I feel like I am warning them because I know how smart they are and I want the world to see it, too. I know if they say, "I seen that online." or if they misspell a word on their resume they could be judged as not very intelligent.

Although, there is a new technique called 'blind hiring' that has been noticed by the Wall Street Journal, NPR and the Washington Post (to name a few). Instead of submitting a resume to apply for a job (NO RESUME!), this technique has job applicants work on a project, complete an assignment or write a short story about data. This technique takes out preconceived notions about people based on their alma mater or name and just looks at their skills. I think a lot of my students could shine in this type of interviews... and some would not.

Jacques case would be a perfect example of how blind hiring can be very beneficial for a company. Clearly Jacques has skills and abilities that is academic record is not reflecting.

"Some 'new' literacies may come and go very quickly. Others will rise and rise. And under the fast paced conditions of contemporary life, what appears new may be superseded and become 'old' very quickly. There are, then, risks involved in trying to identify exemplars of new literacies."

This section of Chapter 10 reminds me of Myspace (remember everyone?:). It was a huge form of communication and literacy at one point. Now it is not relevant, other than maybe in social media/online bullying history. But on the other hand, Facebook has dominated the topic of digital literacy for business, social life for those of all ages, non-profit organizations, etc.

This statement also reminds me of the "Everybody's on WooWoo" commercial... until Mom ends up on WooWoo. 

Chapter 7 & 8

"New electronic technologies directly and indirectly comprise key products of new capitalist economies. ... Educational reform agendas serve crucially here as means to creating and maintaining enlarged markets for products of the information economy- extending beyond curricular exhortations to advocate also the extensive use of new technologies within administrative tasks of restructured schools." p. 135

"Technology and progress have become indissolubly linked in the minds of many parents, students, educators and policy makers. Schools are investing heavily in hardware, software, internet connections, local area networks and so on. Increasingly we of parents choosing schools for their children on the basis of internet access. Such practices and mindsets evince a "widely held discourse which associates computers in classrooms with technological progress, future employment opportunities of students as well as enhanced learning in the classroom." p.141

"A National Science Board publication, Educating Americans for the 21st Century, claimed that 'alarming numbers of young Americans are ill-equipped to work in, contribute to, profit from, and enjoy our increasingly technological society'". p. 135-136

There were a lot of quotes from the book I wanted to share because I had a strong reaction to them. The reason I had a strong reaction was because due to the failure of our school levy (I'm sorry, I am sure I have griped about this before). The last time I was at my local Board of Education office, I heard the lawyer for the board state that there would be no more investments in technology. Four Technology Integration Specialists have been terminated (RIF) and technology education program at the middle school is being eliminated or reduced.

The Randolph County Board of Education and Board Office staff are not responsible for this. The voters and tax payers of my county do not want to invest in education. This disappoints me most as a parent of three public school children. How can I read these chapters and not be concerned for them and all the children of our community trying to compete nationally and globally?

I think part of the problem lies within the public not understanding 'the relationship between 'proficiency' and 'playing around'."(p.140) They think, "These kids are computer geniuses when they are two!" Yes, they can play with technology but they are not proficient.

I believe "education is integral to improvement" (p. 142) and when we do not prioritize it, we do not have improvement needed in our community in a variety of ways, i.e. good doctors will not want to live in an area with poor public schools, teachers will lose morale and not stay in the profession, etc.

Critical Literacy, Active Citizenship & Empowerment

"...those working from a new literacy studies perspective have come to appreciate the radically plural and discursive character of literacy. Literacies are many, not singular"

This whole Masters program has focused on the various types of literacy and I am happy that I feel like I cover a variety of literacy with my students!

"... develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which will enable students to participate as active and informed citizens in our democratic Australian society within an international context."

Citizenship does need to move to the forefront. It is important for society and young people do not seem to understand the benefit (at least to them) of being a good citizen. Australia also believes it is important and has made it a priority in schools.

"The need in New Times to rethink citizenship radically- that is, from the roots- is nowhere more apparent that with regard to the themes of diversity, the new complexity of personal and group identities, and the need to constitute citizenry accepting of and comfortable with difference."

Last semester, I had two transgender students in my class! They were not really friends as one of them was a freshman and the other a senior but they did clearly share a common goal of requesting accommodations. They asked all their teachers to refer to them as opposite their physical gender and to use a gender neutral bathroom.
At times it was difficult for me. For example, should I expect classmates to call them the opposite gender when they grew up with the student as the other gender? I accidentally said the wrong gender a few times.
In the end, I really liked both the students. They were respectful, talented and the even their flaws made them lovable kids- it is hard (and always temporary) for me to dislike a student :)

"Since the mid 1980s "empowerment" has become an educational buzz word par excellence. Unfortunately, it runs the risk at present of becoming trivialized and losing it's semantic integrity and persuasive force as a result of unreflective overuse."

I just talked about this in my last post! Telling the students how their work 'empowers' them is old news so I've been working on rephrasing it (see previous blog post).

Proper and Improper Literacy

My case seems like a counter point to the way the working class people have responded to attempts at making them "improperly literate". The student seems to not be concerned with being "properly literate" or "improperly literate".
Although I am disappointed and distressed about my student's standing and participation in my class, I don't fault him for it for a few reasons.
For example, some reasons for his lack of motivation could be that he may have an undiagnosed learning disability or be dealing with a personal struggle. But I believe the main reason is that he does not push himself is that he does not understand the power having an education holds for him like the way the writers of the "Register". This is what all teachers essentially try to do everyday: show the student the power they will have once they master a skill. This is difficult for the student to see the long term benefits as a child- even a senior in high school has likely not witnessed how their education can empowered them or hindered them.
I often tell my students something along the lines of, "If you do this..bla la bla.. it will help you get a job/scholarship" or "...it will help you in a job interview." Do they want a job? Do they want to go to college? Maybe. Maybe not. Someday but not really now. Yes, if I have to.
So it dawned on me to rephrase this. I said something like, "When I say being a part of FBLA could help you get a job, I mean it could help you get an awesome job... doing something you love, making the money you want or working the hours you want... not just any job."
The first thought that came to my head when I read "ways in which teachers are complicit in creating 'improperly literate' students" was when teachers teach to the test. Although the teachers are subject to governmental policies so often times they are puppets on a string. I try to put myself in the role of the 'decision makers' in education, and they are tasked with a tough job (creating fair rules for all students, easily documentable and uniform state and national assessment assessment) but then they essentially delegate that tough job to teachers.
And as the text describes, our students read the teacher more than the text. They are conditioned to only focus on what will be on the test.
A friend of mine told me about a statistic she read once. It communicated something along the lines of the vast majority of students used to go to college because they wanted to change or improve the world. Now when a student is asked why they are in college they often say to earn more money.
Education has become more about grades than learning for students and educators alike. Grades=College. College=Money (or so people think).
I hope that was enough of 'whatever I damn well please' :)

Practice Case #1

The significance for domesticating people of the difference between being able to read and being able to write is crucial. Levine argues that on the whole it is

"...writing competencies that are capable of initiating change. Writing conveys and records innovation, dissent and criticism; above all it can give access to political mechanisms and the political process generally, where many of the possibilities for personal and social transformation lie." (Levine, 1982: 262)

____________________________________

The class I generally enjoy teaching the most is Digital Imaging. The general public does not seem to know what that means most of the time. I usually explain it as graphic design and, if I want to get into more detail, the creation and manipulation of various digital images, videos and animation. After a quick Google search about Digital Imaging, I found a slogan by a company that calls themselves Digital Imaging, Inc. that explains my class well, "Bringing the Art of Technology to the Technology of Art". Students who complete the class will meet their graduation requirement for an art and technology credit. The use of a variety of different programs and technology to make unique and beautiful art is so exciting to be a part of. 

Like in any class, some students easily excel while others need more support and time to complete assignments. Although, even the typically strong students who are unfamiliar with Apple and/or Adobe products or lack creativity can struggle in this class. Meanwhile, the rebellious C student who loves to play with computers and draw 'gets it'. 

Another aspect of the class that we created a Simulated Workplace. We created a company called "Pixel Pop Media". The 'company' is divided up into departments based on student interest and abilities, including but not limed to, Management, Inventory, Information Technology and the Creative Consulting departments.  Our class is 'hired' at times to create digital art for the public, charity (usually chosen by the students), other schools or other classes. Sometimes "employees" have a variety of tasks  including finding new ways to organize our workspace, communicating with the public and helping in the development of projects. 

Not only is this class incorporate art, technology and workplace skills it is also part of an English embedded credit program. Students who take the remaining three classes in this career cluster or Career and Technical Education (CTE) completer area (Game Design I, II & Web Page Publishing) earn a transitional English credit through the English related assignments over the course of all four classes and with the support of the CTE English teacher.

These tasks can even take the artistic computer nerd (and I say nerd with utmost respect & admiration) out of their comfort zone. But, with so many opportunities for a variety of skills, most students find their niche within the class and can easily succeed. Nevertheless, most students succeeding sometimes doesn't feel like enough to an educator. I want all my students to be successful in my classes and it troubles me when that doesn't happen. 

I have a student now who I cannot figure out how to help. 'Dwayne' is a kind and respectful student who says he enjoys the class and likes me as a teacher but it is a struggle for me to get assignments from him. He is skilled enough in technology- probably more so than many of his classmates from taking and passing Game Design I. He has a few close friends at school but lacks friends in my class. He is extremely quiet and seems to get discouraged easily. I can say with almost absolute confidence that he has never initiated a conversation with me to ask me a question. He speaks very little and only when spoken to. I have made a habit of stopping to talk with him to check on his progress and see if he needs any help. He does not have a documented learning disability and doesn't appear to have one. He has a very supportive family who is concerned about his ability to graduate high school because of his grade in my class and others. Although, he may have always lacked a strong drive to succeed, it is my understanding he may be having more problems in school than he normally has had. He is involved in at least one extra circular activity but has had to limit participation due to him not meeting the minimum grade requirements.

Although there are no prerequisites, students who have taken Game Design are more familiar with the computers and many of the programs used. Again, students who have little technology background in school or at home need some extra assistance. He has had extra exposure to technology through my Game Design I class. He struggled at times but had a very helpful student and friend sitting next to him.

This is a class of 21 students varying in grades 9-12. When I stop and sit next to him and ask him how his assignment is coming along and if he needs any help, he will eventually tell me what he needed help with or why he stalled on his progress. It is usually something minor that should not become a roadblock but does for him. When he does get his work done, most of it meets the criteria and sometimes he can do great work.

I do know English is not a strong subject for him and he and his teachers are probably content with 'functional literacy' but lacking higher caliber English skills have hindered him in my classes (as Game Design also has the embedded English credit component). Authentic literacy comes to play in at least two particular assignments I can give as an example, the greeting card and the game storyline. The students created an original greeting card. It needed to have images and text. A major struggle for him with the greeting card was the he could not think of what to write. That was it. It could have been a sympathy, Easter, love, cope card or any other idea he had for a card (Will you go to prom with me? card). I did ask for it to be creative. This takes more than functional literacy. This is creative writing. In Game Design, students are required to create an original educational video game. It must have a story. Who is the character? What is their goal? Who is the enemy? What is the setting? How does the character reach the goal? Why does the character avoid the enemy? What happens if they lose? Again, this assignment also requires authentic literacy.

Today I asked the counselor to meet with the student to find out if she could why he did not turn in a major assignment that he had a lot of time to complete. He essentially had no answer for her.

"Did you understand the assignment?"

"Yes."

"Did Mrs. Jackson help you?"

"Yes."

"Is there a problem with the class or Mrs. Jackson?"

"No."

His mother, the counselor and myself are all at a loss on what to do. However, I will not give up.

One thing I should be able to relate to is struggling in school. Often times, I did not care very much about my grades in high school and I have let life get in the way of my formal education. My goal is to make this become a success story.