Prior to this class, I didn't have very much experience with digital writing tools. When I taught second grade, I would sometimes have my students use Kidspiration to organize their ideas before writing. It was helpful but also a bit overwhelming and distracting for them. I always wished for something a bit more simplistic. I also used Microsoft Powerpoint and Word with students. They experienced Word by typing up final drafts as well as writing journal entries. In Powerpoint, students would create slideshows to present material recently learned. For instance, I once had them use Powerpoint to type up facts gathered about national landmarks and they added photos or illustrations to match on each slide. Another time, I integrated Math and Writing by having students create addition and subtraction word story problems.
After reading Chapter 7 of our textbook and participating in Maryrita, Sonya, and Leslie's presentation, I am now more up-to-date with the current writing technologies and am so excited about some of the tools out there that would be engaging and meaningful for students to use. So many of them would have been helpful to know about as a classroom teacher. I have found the list of writing resources that our classmates generated extremely helpful and plan to refer back to it when deciding upon appropriate tools to use in the future.
Our textbook goes into great detail about a variety of concept mapping tools, including Kidspiration or Inspiration. My absolute favorite concept map is Popplet, which we explored with Maryrita during the class session on writing with technology. This is such an intuitive and user-friendly site for linking together ideas or creating a presentation. I love the ability to include photos from Flickr and videos from YouTube or Vimeo. The simplicity of the features make it very easy for kids to use. They can organize their ideas in a way that is visually appealing. There are countless ways to integrate this tool into the library media program and curricular grade level units. Students can gather facts during research units or create topic lists for writing. Popplet can be used to activate students' background knowledge by thinking about what they already know about a topic.
I also plan to use visualization tools like Wordle with students in which they create word clouds. This is a great tool that benefits visual learners. Word clouds could be used to engage learners at the beginning of a lesson or as a reflection piece. In our final project, my group utilized this tool in one of our lessons for activating students' prior knowledge about habitats. Students collaborate on a word cloud together as a class. I think having students create their own individual word clouds would be motivating, too. A word cloud could be used in any unit of study for creating lists of key words, themes, and topics, among other ideas.
There are numerous other digital writing tools out there that I plan to include in my repertoire as a library media specialist. Sonya had us explore an interactive poetry tool on ReadWriteThink, which has a plethora of other resources available for writing. Blogging and wikis are other writing resources that could be used with students. I am curious to see more examples of how they can be put into place with primary students and would like to learn more about how teachers work out the logistics. Students would need much more teacher guidance and support in the younger grades, but in our textbook, we learned of a first grade teacher who was able to use a wiki with her students to share math concepts learned (Howland, 2012).
Several NETS standards can be met through the use of these digital writing tools. For instance, students "create original works as a means of personal or group expression" when they make new Popplets or Wordles. There is opportunity for students to "contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems" if they were to work together on a class wiki, like the example given in our textbook about first grade math. In order for students to use these online tools, they would need to be able to "understand and use technology systems." Many more NETS Standards could apply to the use of these writing tools. Students would also be meeting AASL standards for 21st Century Learners, such as 2.1.2: Organize knowledge so that it is useful, through concept mapping. Standard 4.1.8: Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning, would be met through Popplet or Wordle. Standard 3.1.2 is another that aligns: Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners. Students demonstrate this skill by working together on a class wiki.
As the semester comes to a close, I am confident that I have been able to add a number of new writing technologies to my toolbox that will help me as a media specialist. I plan to use many of these tools with my classes, as well as provide staff trainings to instruct my colleagues on how to implement them. Providing professional development opportunities is essential for teachers to gain familiarity and reach a level of comfort with digital tools. I would also invite teachers to attend and observe library media lessons in which I can integrate the use of these tools with curricular units being studied. As a teacher, I feel that my lessons would have been much more effective if I had knowledge of tools like these that are engaging and meaningful for students, and I believe other teachers will feel the same if I am able to pass my knowledge of current technologies. In my future role as a library media specialist, it will be important to act not only as a leader but as an instructional partner. Having teachers see me in this light will hopefully instill the trust and respect needed to secure a positive relationship with my colleagues.
