We're Supposed to Look Up WHAT?!

The most striking revelation I have had while teaching my students during this course is that many of them did not know how to correctly identify legitimate information on a web site. I did the “bogus” website activity with my students and thought surely that if a product or topic sounded too good or too silly to be true, they would recognize that! However, that was definitely NOT the case. I have also learned that my students would rather have the information placed in their hands than to actually have to go out and search for it. This goes back to many years of having this practice done for them. Hopefully, I am helping break this habit by encouraging my students to find their own information and evaluate it correctly.

The knowledge and experience I have gained in this course will influence my teaching by having me re-evaluate the information I ask my students to find. Many times I often ask for information that is very cut and dry. In the future, I would like to direct my lessons more towards my students identifying the questions and information on their own terms. That way, they synthesize the information more clearly because they have been in it since the beginning.

One professional development goal I have for the future is to attend a Promethean workshop this summer. The use of Promethean boards has proven to raise test scores with consistent use. By engaging my students with lessons on the Promethean board and being able to fully construct lessons that help the students build and retain the information presented, I believe they will begin a whole new journey towards the proficiency of new literacy skills.