Keystone Assignment: Teacher Interview

For this part of the assignment, I interviewed a fourth grade elementary school teacher. The questions and answers are listed below.



What is your understanding of new literacies?


New literacies is something that is always changing in our classroom but today, its something that every teacher must get on board with. Technology is taking over our world and our younger generation students are comfortable with using it. New literacies in my ELA classroom means anything from online games to showing slides and pictures on the smartboard.



How do you compare new literacies to the old school way?


As a teacher that grew up around textbooks, worksheets and pencils and revolving my early years as a teacher around those things, it has been a hard adjustment for me to completely accept a classroom that is based around technology. The old school way for me has worked for so many years. However, I think as teachers we have to be open to change and anything that will help our students. I believe that finding a good balance of the two has worked for me tremendously. I still do like the old school way and still incorporate it into my lessons along with the new literacies.



What are some new literacies that you used in your classroom for ELA?


A big thing that I have been using is google classroom. Once I was able to learn the ins and outs of this application it has become so much easier for myself and the students to collaborate and hand in assignments with just a click of a button. This has been beneficial in and out of the classroom and allows for a whole other environment outside of the classroom. Students are able to hand in their papers through this site and receive feedback from me and their peers right on there.

I have also used online games that test the knowledge of the students while having fun. I used an online game to help with reading comprehension of a story that we read recently that many students were struggling with. I was surprised how much it helped them and how much they enjoyed it.



Have you seen a difference in performance for the students while using new literacies in the classroom?


The students overall seem more engaged in material when they are using new literacies. With higher engagement comes more success and I have definitely seen that. These students are comfortable with technology and it is something most of them use on a daily basis so when they are able to use it in school they get excited and most of the time are more successful.





Has there been any challenges for you while using new literacies in the classroom?


I have gone to professional development solely for new literacies in my classroom. Introducing these into my classroom was a challenge for me because I was not comfortable at all with any technology. But it has been a goal of mine to really grasp this concept to become a better teacher and fully help my students in any way that I can. Understanding technology was essential for me and I am proud of how far I have come with it.