Reflection- EDUC 6712

After reviewing everything I have learned these past eight weeks, I am overwhelmed, in a good way. My outlook on teaching new skills has changed. I have learned how to incorporate the new literacy skills into my lessons and teach students in a way that will be benefit them for the future. As we have learned, things are constantly changing, it is crucial that we as educators prepare our student for the future, and  that means equipping them with the new literacy skills. Students have these new skills such as questioning, searching, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating (Laureate, 2009).


The most striking revelation I had from this course was realizing that teaching the new literacy skills really starts at square one. What I mean by that, is when teaching a new skill it is important to start with the basics. Teachers must be very detailed and walk student through each skill step by step. Teaching students how to search the internet and teach them how to evaluate, skills you would think they already have done pat, but really we need to teach them how to use these skills correctly. I have even learned that some of things I was doing, such as searchin the internet and asking questions, were not done correctly. Even as a student, I now feel more secure in my literacy skills. I have also learned from Dr. Hartman that questioning skills are crucial, students need to learn how to question and form their questions correctly so they can begin to research. Modeling and thinking aloud is an important way to teach some of these new lilteracy skills. If students see you practice what you are teaching, they are more likely to follow and learn the new skill.

After completing this course I have a whole new set of tools to teach my students. I will now be incorporating these new literacy skills into my lessons. I am  going to be asking my students to come up with good questions more often and teach them how to answer their questions. I want my students to be instilled with a sense of wonder and explore those questions, I will facilitate this more in my classroom. Prior to taking this course, I really wasn't sure how to incorporate these skills and facilitate this type of learning, now I know. I am looking forward to starting a new year next year and teach my kids these new skills, I think these types of lessons, such as the unit plan I created, will interest them greatly and keep them on their toes.

My goal from this course is to take the information I have learned from the new literacy skills and incorporate them into my school distrcit's new technology plan. I volunteered to serve on this committee before even taking this course, now I feel that I have learned some much wonderful information and gained insight on the new skills that students need to be successful, I am going to apply that knowledge to the committee I am serving on. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program Four. Teaching Online Literacy Skills [Motion Picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore: Author.