Reading One
Avila and Pandya state (2013) that “youth between the ages
of 8 and 18 have increased their daily media usage to ten hours and forty five
minutes” (p. 219). That statistic was proven from 2009, and I could only
imagine how much it has increased since then. This is one fact that I plan to
use when creating my PSA. This statistic will display how often students come
into contact with media, therefore we need to be teaching proper techniques in
the classroom.
The text also states how standards have been developed to
include digital literacies. This idea will help educators to see that this
really is a very important issue. The world has shifted around us, and now
media is taking over more than ever. Instead of just drawing the line between
home and school, we need to be crossing it. We need to engage students in the media
that they are exposed to daily.
The slogan of my PSA is to “get with it.” This slogan aligns
with what I said above. Teachers need to realize the change that needs to occur
in the classroom. We can’t complain that our students seem uninterested if we
are failing to incorporate the one thing that continually surrounds them:
media. This book has helped me to develop my PSA with 3 ideas based around standards,
statistics, and just sheer engagement for the students. Those three aspects are
the key to a successful classroom.
Reading Two
In the article “Critical Pedagogy and the Teaching of
Reading” the author discusses how teachers need to shift gears from the authoritarian
approach to a student-centered classroom. Students need to be actively engaged,
instead of just passively. The article goes on to state how a lot of educators
focus on a “one way street” approach, where there is only one answer.
As a second grade teacher, this approach is familiar to me.
We are deep into our Harcourt reading series. Every week, my students take a
test asking questions such as, “Why did the author write this story", or “What
is the purpose of this story?” Sadly, my students have to answer these
questions as if there were only one correct response. As the article states in
all honesty, who knows? The author isn’t there providing us with knowledge. How
can we give students a test on things that may not actually be true! This
article helps to outline how we can shift this type of teaching toward a more
critical one.
I am becoming a big fan of critical pedagogy. Students need
to think outside the box. In life, there is not always one correct answer. If
we are preparing our students for the real world, then why should we force them
to select one correct answer after reading a passage? This critical pedagogy
will help students to look deeper into the text and analyze it. This will allow
them to form their own opinions, which is a wonderful thing. My only concern
comes with the struggling readers, those that struggle just to say the words,
let alone comprehend the meaning. I worry that they will be left behind during
a critical approach because it will be hard for them to shift to such an
abstract form of thinking. I still think critical pedagogy is a great aspect in
a classroom, and I think things could be established that would help the
struggling readers make this switch.
References:
Avila, J., & Pandya, J. (2013). Critical digital literacies as social praxis. (Vol. 54). New York:
NY: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.
Naiditch, F. (n.d.). Critical pedagogy and the
teaching of reading for social action. Retrieved from
http://education.missouristate.edu/assets/ele/Naidtichfinal.pdf
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