Group Presentations

I thought that each group did an excellent job on their workshops. They each kept the class active while presenting good information about their topics. It was also fun and interesting to participate in the various activities that each group had us do. 

Adolescent Literacy

In the adolescent literacy workshop some of the ideas I took from the workshop was to consider how the much influence others have on what I read- whether that be in social media, books, movies, music, and any other literacy. The discussion about what we allow people to see on our facebook, twitter, instagram, and so on was an interesting introspective look on how we don’t always realize that what we put on social media is being read by others but also how powerful social media can be as a new literacy.

Hip Hop & Literacy 

Self expression is a big thing that schools seem to slowly if unintentionally strip you of the father you go. So it was awesome to see examples of teachers using music in their classrooms to help students connect with not only the material but also with each other. I also like the comparisons that were made between hip hop and poetry because it’s something that people don’t always realize that they share commonalities with each other. In the same way that poetry is examined in classes so too can music and to experience it first hand in class by looking at music and then creating our own was fun and good way of showing how effective this can be to teach in classes. 

Make/Hack/Play

In the make/hack/play group it was fun to see how learning can be achieved not just through text books or lectures but sometimes in simply being able to craft things. It’s a form of self expression and creativity that needs to be offered more in classrooms. It’s clear to see how something like this can be applied to classes. Being able to create things -the only limitation being your imagination- to help solve problems makes make/hack/play something that schools need to take advantage of. It promotes critical thinking and creativity in ways that are simple but effective. 

The main thing I took away from all of this is that there is not a limited way in which we have to interact with literacy. Whether it be through social media, music, creating things, all of it involves literacy in some way and there is no way restricted way in which we must interact with text or only one way to teach a class. It makes me sort of wish that when I was a kid in elementary to high school that my classes had been more engaging like these workshops showcased. It definitely would have made a world a difference in terms of my engagement in class.