Reflection 8: New Literacy Skills for the 21st Century!

During this course I learned how much broader the definition of literacy is today. In the past it was referred to the ability to read and write, now however now there are new strategies associated with literacy. The new literacy strategies that we as teachers must teach our students these days consist of “questioning, searching, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating” (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009). I was very surprised at how much literacy is evolving and me being a teacher and teaching the people of the future how I could not know this? I realized that these skills are going to have to be taught at a young age and continued throughout their entire schooling. I was surprised as well at how much I learned from this course and how are we as teachers suppose to be teaching this without the assistance and guidance of background information in order to teach our students properly. I realized that using these skills as much as possible is the best way to ensure knowledge and understanding is by doing, doing, and doing more.

I will definitely as a teacher try to incorporate these skills as much as possible. AS a P.E. teacher it is going to be a little harder than say a math, English, or Social Studies teachers, but if I am given the chance I am definitely going to enforce and incorporate these skills to my students, because I do not want my students to be illiterate.

I would really like to increase my knowledge in the area of these new literacy skills in the 21st century. I would also like to plan a project that incorporates all these new literacy skills and make it a yearly project. The steps I will take to do this is to use each year as a learning year and to improve year after year. I will first have to think of an interesting project which will not make my students upset that they will not be doing physical activity in physical education. Once I figure that out I will then being to setup process and getting all necessary materials so I can be fully prepared when I do start the project, as well as allow enough time to complete the project thoroughly and get and learn the new skills, without taking away too much physical activity time. I believe that once I become more familiar with the skills I will be better able to communicate the skills to my students and help them understand why they are so important and in order for them to be successful in life they are going to need these skills, and just not the reading, math, and writing.

Reference:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program one. Skills for the Future
[Motion picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom.
Baltimore: Author.