Literacy and Technology

I was surprised at the ways in which technology has been present in English curricula over the past 100 years. I thought the introduction of technology into teaching was a more recent development. I guess I think of technology as things like laptops and tablets and forget that radio and film were new forms of technology once. I personally think that incorporating technology into the classroom is a great way to get student engaged with the course material. McCorkle and Palmeri found that in many of the English Journal articles teachers felt this way too: “teachers valued new media because they viewed them as more engaging for students.” My high school had laptop and tablet carts that teachers could reserve for lessons. I remember that the class was always super excited on the days we got to use those carts. I think my high school is now a one-to-one school where each student gets a chromebook. I wonder how students engagement with technology has changed now that they each have a laptop...

I think Chimamanda Adichie’s TED Talk was beneficial to watch as a future teacher. I thought it was especially important to think about how certain stories are represented in literature. Like Adichie said, often American/British literature focus on one type of person--white, attractive, thin, etc. All students should have the chance to see themselves in what they are reading in one way or another. Students should also be represented in what they are reading fully , and not just as a stereotype. I really liked the quote, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.” I feel like I have often been told that the issue with stereotypes is that they are untrue, and that it’s problematic to view someone or someplace in a way that isn’t truthful. I like that Adichie rejects this and states that stereotypes can contain truth, but that the real problem is that they aren’t complete. I think we all sometimes d...

I’m excited to work in a workshop model where all of our projects and experiences will build on each others. As someone who is slightly tech-deficient, but always enjoyed class projects that incorporated technology, I’m also really excited to learn new tools and new ways to incorporate technology into my future classroom. I also like that we will be reading works of literature that we might teach one day. One of my goals for this class is to work consistently and avoid procrastination. I’m worried about my workload this semester so I need to manage my time and make sure I’m keeping up with everything.