How Important is the Strand of Oral Communication? It's Not Even Up for Debate

                  The final strand that we focused on in our Language and Literacy class was Oral Communication. The Ontario Curriculum states that within the four strands of the curriculum, the strands are closely interrelated and that the knowledge and skills described in the four strands co-exist. I consider this to really explain the nature behind the strand of oral communication, because the skills within oral communication are fundamental to literacy but also thinking and learning. Through communication with other students, learners can facilitate more understanding about certain topics. Oral Communication is fundamental for students to show their skills in regards to the Achievement Chart, especially when it comes to Knowledge and Understanding, Communication and Application. The Ontario Curriculum Documents also argue that although students often tend to develop oral language skills before they read and write, the development of reading and writing skills is directly connected to how effective students are when it comes to oral communication.

                Just like reading, writing and media literacy, students develop oral communication skills by having teachers who provide them with numerous opportunities to develop their skills. Oral communication is not just about communication between two students, it allows them to facilitate and partake in classroom conversations, perform skits and plays and allows them to realize that what they say and how they say it has just as much influence on the message they are trying to send. One of the best ways to facilitate he creation of good oral communication skills is through in-class debates. Debates allow students to not only work on their oral communication skills, but requires them to gather information and form arguments based on factual evidence which highlights their ability in regards to their reading and writing skills.

Some students using oral communication during a reading exercise. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2gDndbB 

               Although the main ideas behind debates in the classroom appear to have the ability to be a great way to work on oral communication and other language skills in class, they do have their drawbacks. In her blog post entitled “Weaving Debate into the Writing Process”, Ashley Prophet highlights the key issues educators and students have with debates in the classroom. Through quick surveys, she found that teachers who do not consider debates as a positive in the classroom was mostly because they felt students get too rowdy, are often unprepared and they do not know how to incorporate debates into the curriculum.  She combats these notions by “rethinking” classroom debates, and it revolves around much more preparation then is normally done.  She insists that structuring the while activity into 5 separate stages can result in students not only working on their oral communication at the end of it all, but work on their reading and writing skills throughout the process. The first stage is what she calls “Pre-writing” which allows students to organize their side of a debate in a visual way like discussion webs or mind maps. The next two stages, entitled  “drafting” and “revising” incorporate more writing and peer-editing strategies that allow students to formulate their main arguments but also lets them start to think about what the other side will be arguing about. Stage 4 is the actual debate, but it is only done after the last two stages have been cleared by the instructor. The final stage is the “publishing” stage, which incorporates consolidation of the exercise and asks students to create a product at the end that highlights the main findings and results. This process highlights the fact that the overall main aspect of debates is not the debate itself, but how the students are able to use their other skills of language and literacy to formulate their side of the argument.

"Weaving Debate into the Writing Process", By Ashley Prophet

The main purpose of the strand of oral communication is to have students develop the skills and strategies to become effective communicators, but also effective listeners. The strand of oral communication does not stand alone, just like the others, it is best done in conjunction with the other strands. Teachers who focus on oral communication through out their units allow students to ask and answer more complicated questions and are  able to stimulate students engagement in their own learning. 

To Write or Not to Write, That Should Never Be The Question

             I believe one of the most freeing and uplifting activities a person can do is sit down and write. Using writing as a form of stress relief, or a way to organize your thoughts, allows individuals to ease their minds and reflect, even if that is not the specific intention of the writing activity. As a future educator, I value writing greatly compared to the other strands of language and literacy. I believe that writing can and should be involved across all curriculum, because I see writing as a tool for many things.

Flickr User aysedmirhas. (May 25, 2015).“Writing”. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2fnUYKE

           I enjoy free writing exercises, and I think it a great way to get students to look at writing assignments not a chore. It also allows them to work on their sentence structure without having to prove any point other than what is on their mind. Creative writing, specifically writing involved in the arts is another great strategy to not only get students excited about writing, but also allows educators to plan lessons that are fun for students while achieving the main curriculum expectations. Lessons such as script or play writing allows students to use their creativity and write how they want to write, but they also must take into consideration the audience they are writing for as well as they must prof read, revise and identify strengths and weaknesses of their writing because it will read aloud by someone else. Brock’s Pinterest Account has a board specifically devoted to Arts and Drama where you can find numerous ideas on how to incorporate the dramatic arts into your writing based lesson pans. I specifically liked the post about how to build your own puppet stage on a classroom budget. Students could write short play scripts and be able to build their own puppets to act out their story. The link to the IRC’s Pinterest account can be found below :) 

Brock University IRC Pinterest Account

              Teaching writing is not limited to only pen and paper or typing in a Word Document, educators have an abundance of media and tech based software, apps and websites that they can use to make writing fun for their students. A great idea I came across was using twitter as a class to write a short story. Although the fact that each tweet can only be a total of 140 characters may seem like trivial when it comes to writing, I believe that the limit can be used to teach students a number of things in regards to how they structure their writing. An exercise like this teaches students how to focus on making their writing concise, too often students focus on trying to write in a way that makes them “sound” smart, but instead it makes their writing sound wordy and confusing.

                

              Writing is a main foundation when it comes to language arts in the education, and it is obviously a key item when it comes to teaching students how to be literate in the 21^st century. Students have more ways to write on their own compared to any other time, educators must take this fact and not only use it to create more engaging lessons, but also stress that students writing is an extension of who they are. This post has mostly focused on creative writing, that is because I believe that free writing and writing exercises that focus on having students write about what they want is crucial for their future as writers.

Thank you for reading!

Effective Reading: The Backbone of Literacy

It is easy to forget at times that there are millions of people who cannot read, so it can be said that many of us who grew up in Canada may have taken for granted how there is so much focus on teaching students how to become effective readers. I must admit, it was not until I was in the later years of my secondary school that I actually enjoyed reading. I read some novels when I was younger, but only ones that were short enough but still surrounded topics that I liked. It took me forever to be able to say that I was ever “lost” in a book, but I have come to realize just how fun reading can be. How fun reading is one of the reasons why we as educators must develop reading skills in our students, but the main reason is that their lives in general will be improved by being effective readers. The curriculum states that effective readers do not only understand what the text reads, but are able to apply the things they have learned into new contexts. When we talked about what Media literacy is, one of the main components of being Media literate is having the know-how to determine if sources are creditable or not. One could not do this, or be Media literate at all, without being an effective reader. Reading not only opens doors to people and ideas that a students may never be exposed to in real life, it is the crucial backbone to all strands of literacy.

Morgan. (March 22, 2011). The Kids Reading. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2f5p5KI

                Let’s talk about what students should read. The answer to that is everything, and anything. Many factors motivate students to read. Relevant reading asks that students can connect to in a real-life sense, which can be facilitated by providing a wide range of reading materials for your students. Ontario’s curriculum focuses on some key teaching strategies for teachers to use while trying to enable their students into effective readers. Independent Instructional approach is one of the strategies that educators use which is based around providing reading material for individual students that is a level that is “just right” for them, which the curriculum states that the student should be able to read 95-100% of the material. This approach is designed to try and foster interest into what they are reading, attempting to have the students “get lost in the book”. Educators may also chose to give the same reading to students that are at a similar level so they are able to collaborate and pick apart what the text is really saying.

               A great resource for teachers to use in order to better serve their students in regards to how they can become an effective reader is www.edugains .ca The website provides resources on array of topics, but their modules and guides for instruction of Reading is amazing.  Within the site, they have links to “Eworkshops” that guide educators on how to better structure their lesson plans, which in turn allow them to better meet the overall and specific expectations from the curriculum. I have provided the link to a eworkshop based around Shared Reading for grades 4-8. The link is actually takes you to eworkshop.ca and focuses on educating teachers on how they can better structure their lessons when trying to promote better reading in a group and aloud, two expectations that the ministry asks educators to do.

www.edugains.ca/newsite/literacy/classroomlearningK_6/Reading.html 

Eworkshop: Shared Reading for Grades 4-8

Just as they say time flies by when you are having fun, I believe that with the right instruction and selection of material, all students can discover that pages fly by as well when they are having fun and enjoying what they are reading! Being an effective reader enables students to be writers that are more effective and be more effective when it comes to oral communication. Reading is an important step for all learners, as it is the basic foundation they need in order to succeed throughout their time in school and beyond.

Thank you for reading!

Tech Class Reflection

The last 6 weeks in my tech class can be summed up by one word: educational. I know that sounds redundant, but I don't think there is any other way to put it. The last 6 weeks have taught me so much about the use of different technologies in the classroom, which I value very much.

This tech class has shown me how much technologies have not only entered the classroom, but how there is a seemingly endless list of programs, websites and online resources that I as an educator can use in order to enhance my students experience in the class. I realized that through technology, I will be able to keep my students more engaged in what they are studying, something that I find invaluable.

Before this course, I considered myself to be be very tech savvy. After the course, I have realized how much I did not know about when it came to educational capabilities concerning online education and instruction. I really appreciate that I had the opportunity to learn about so many different things in such a short time and I look forward to continue get better at being a digital citizen and a tech savvy teacher!

Thank you

Genius Hour Wrap Up

I have reached the end of the four weeks and I must say that I am really happy about the progress I made over the last four weeks in regards to my quest to make my kitchen, a no-waste kitchen.

This past week I continued to compost and focus on improving my recycling abilities. I also completed a little project in reference to my need for a better way to clean my resealable bags. Earlier in the process I began to wash my resealable bags so I could reuse them but I ran into a obstacle, they took forever to dry and many of them began to develop an odor due to the water staying in the bags for a prolonged period of time. My solution was to construct a little "bag hanger" suspended above my kitchen sink. Seen below, All I needed was two screws, three feet of twine and a few clothes pins in order to be able to dry my resealable bags faster and much easier.

This project really allowed me to explore topics i am passionate about. The best part about my project was that it made me feel good every day! As I improved my composting abilities and the amount I was able to recycle and reuse, I began to realize that the less waste I produced, the happier I was.

I still plan on continuing this project, specifically trying to make my own cleaning products. This project also made me think about other areas of a home that could be converted into a "no-waste one, the bathroom was the first place I thought of. Making your bathroom a no-waste bathroom would have many difficulties, and would take a lot of effort but I think it could be done with the right motivation behind me.

I intend on keeping my kitchen a NO-Waste Kitchen for years to come.

 Thank you for taking some time and following my journey!

From Calculators to Smart Phones: Media and Technology has Changed, So Should Teachers

              “You wont be walking around all the time with a calculator in your pocket!”, is what my grade school math teacher would yell after he/she caught me using the manipulative when I was not permitted to do so. A lot has changed in regards to the use of manipulatives in school, especially the ones of the electronic variety. I now have much more than a calculator in my pocket, I have access to an infinite amount of information via my smart phone. Once I entered secondary school, more and more tech had made its way into the classroom, but most of the interest that the teachers had in regards to the growing number of smart phones in their classroom was how will they eliminate their use in the school. After all, school is no place for such devices, right? Wrong.

                Not only have tablets and smart phones made their way into our schools, there has been an overall renaissance of some sort when it comes to Media  and Media literacy in the educational setting. “Media Class” was characterized as a way to educate students about advertising, different paper sources of writing and eventually creation of different types of media like TV commercials. These were the basics, but we now live in a time where being media literate is just as important as any other kind of literacy. 

Greig, T., (2006, October 29).Media Literacy. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dsTn7R

                Media Literacy is defined by The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Language, 2006, as “an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques. Also, the ability to understand and use the mass media in an active, critical way.” What this means is that educators now have the responsibility to educate their students about the various different forms of media that they are exposed to. Because there is so much content out there, and so many pathways using many devices to get there, media literacy is not only teaching students about how to use it, we must teach them to think critically when being exposed to all the types of media they face on a day-to-day basis.

                It is safe to say that some students may be able to use technology and explore various types of media better than their teachers. What I must do as a future educator is not become more tech savvy than all of my students (although it may help), but instead, understand that my goal is to educate students in a way that they develop skills to adopt a critical stance when they are exposed to the vast amount of media messages in our world.

                One of the best sites I have found that serves a great resource for teachers to not only promote media literacy in their classrooms, but can teach them more about the different aspects of teaching media in this day and age is Edutopia.org. The website serves as an unbelievable one-stop-shop for educators, parents and students for a vast amount of subjects. Specifically, the site has an outstanding directory to a vast amount of blog entries, videos and articles that center around Media.  A great example of this is this blog entry about educating teachers and students about the risk behind violence in video games and movies. The article is a great read, and exemplifies the need for educators to focus not on the practicality of various types of media, but what effect they have on students and what we as educators can do to teach students about actively thinking about what they are being exposed to. 

Edutopia: Revisiting The Question of Violence in the Media

                  In reality, my grade school math teacher was wrong and I have a calculator in my pocket at all times. If he or she had known that smart phones would take pockets by storm in 10 short years, was forcing me to work mentally or on paper worth it? I would strongly argue that he or she did do the right thing. I can relate her efforts to what I as a future educators must do when it comes to media literacy in the 21st century. Just as I was taught how to use a calculator and when it is okay to use a calculator, I must focus not only on teaching our students how to navigate all the media they encounter. I must show them that how to critically think and assess what is good media, what bad media is, how it is used effectively and when it should be used. 

No-Waste for Produce, No Problem!

                One of the most efficient ways to lessen the amount of waste we produce in the kitchen is to buy less packaged food. One of the best rules to follow when shopping in a grocery store while trying to buy less packaged food is the “stick to the walls” rule, meaning that while shopping, stay on the outside areas of the store (the produce area, fresh meats and bread, dairy section) where there is less packaging. In addition to less packaging, keeping to the outside of the grocery store promotes a much healthier diet!

                The general goal of my Genius hour is to effectively get rid of my garbage can, but even in the fresh areas of the grocery store there is sources of waste. A lot of leafy greens in the grocery stores have to be put into bags, come with some plastic wrap or come in plastic containers. A good portion of the packaging in the produce, meat and bread section can be recycled, but not all of it! In order to avoid all the unnecessary packaging from my produce purchases, I sought out a market-type retailer.

                Fiddies Whole-sale Produce is a Hamilton based produce retailer that focuses mostly o restaurant deliveries. In addition to that, their warehouse serves as a cash-only produce retailer that allowed me to buy all my produce without any packaging! Below is a few pictures of the layout of the location. This business mirrors a Farmers market setting, which are great places to go if a wholesale location like this is not near you! Farmers markets, although they are usually only open once or twice a week, are great locations if you want to cut out waste for all of your groceries because most of them have meat, bread and other sections.

            Not only are places like Fiddies and various Farmers markets great places to shop if you want to go home with little to no waste, they are much cheaper. The image below shows what I bought during my first trip. The produce I bought is fresh, mostly Canadian grown and my bill only came to $24.00, and based on the sheer volume of food I purchased, I saved a lot of money compared to grocery store prices. 

          This week also made me realize how important knowing your areas recycling rules are. I was blown away by the fact that in Hamilton, you can recycle any plastic bags that “stretch” which allows anyone to cut down on their waste big time! I also found a great resource for anyone in the Hamilton area that want to get better at recycling. The city of Hamilton’s recycling information website has an in-app feature, called RecycleCoach, that allows anyone to look up a product to see if it can be recycled. Users can download it as an app so you can use it anywhere at anytime! 

            Finding the place where I can buy most of my food with no waste was crucial for my Genius Hour. Whole-sale locations allow anyone to buy healthy foods cheaper and with minimal waste! The next step towards making my kitchen No-waste Kitchen is finding places where I can buy meat and bread while using re-usable bags instead of their bags. I’m intrigued about where I will be able to do this.

Thanks for reading!