I'm a Digital Native, but my Students are "Native-er"

 

 

What is your current thinking about teaching "new literacies" as part of your ELA instruction?

I'm a digital native, but my students are "native-er"

I just hit my 10 year milestone as a secondary English teacher.  It is hard to make it this far without already incorporating "new literacies" into one's curriculum, because they are hardly new to our students.  I graduated in 2005, so I am firmly at the beginning of the "Digital Native" category, but I have a good deal of experience mentoring my digital immigrant colleagues and empathize with their plight as I have seen the digital lives of my students become more entrenched.  I find that I have a lot to offer my students when teaching them informational, media, and visual literacy, but they are much farther advanced than I am in computer and social-media related network literacy. 

"Mrs. Curley, is this a group project!?" 

 One thing that I have noticed over the years is my student's willingness and desire to collaborate on projects has grown.  My students are more connected to one another than ever.  Much like I can drop in on the life of an acquaintance on Facebook, our students are doing the same thing.  Their social groups are expanded, and it is normal for one of my teenagers to take content from TIK TOK and remix it into their own creation.  Our kids are part of a more collaborative culture than we were raised in. 

I've also found that my students are able to use and find resources through which to collaborate more easily than at the start of my career.  When I was in high school, I remember inwardly groaning when I had to do group work- mainly because I was afraid of being saddled with the bulk of it.  This dynamic still rings true in the 2021 classroom, but I think that digital spaces like Google Docs have made it easier for those who are willing to participate.  Gone are the days of arranging rides to get to Johnny's house to work on Mrs. Curley's project.  Students using Google Docs know that they are held accountable by tools that show their peers and teachers exactly how much they have contributed.       

What obstacles to you see for teaching "new literacies" in the classroom?

Balancing Bias in the Age of "Fake News"

I think that the most important category I handle in my English classroom is "Informational Literacy."  One of the biggest obstacles I face in navigating informational literacy is the political climate in which I teach.  I teach at a private Christian school which caters mainly to American Evangelicals. "Fake News" means something entirely different to many of my students, as compared to the "Five Ways to Spot Fake News" Youtube we watched as part of this module.  Fake News, especially after our last two election cycles, typically refers to "something that doesn't fit my worldview."  The tightrope that I walk with my students is gently showing them how to find the bias and credibility of an organization and to balance it.  For example, I use charts like this one and tell students that if they use a source on the Left side of the chart, they must balance it with one from the Right and vice versa.