Connecting with Literacy

Our vision in all the professional development we do is to:

• improve student learning (through the use of instructional technologies)
• improve pedagogical automaticity (by becoming more familiar and comfortable with ways that instructional technologies support learning)
• communication (with each other about uses of instructional technologies)

Session 1: What connections do we already have?

• Concept: literacy skills you teach at your grade level
• Concept: technology skills that you as an individual possess and use
• Connection: how do we use our knowledge of technology skills to benefit literacy learning in our classrooms?
• Connection: what computer and digital technologies exist to support the development of literacy skills?

Session 2: What connections do we need to develop?

• A look at other technologies: Dimensions of Learning and the Master Learner Schema
• How do these instructional innovations support the use of computers in our classrooms?

Session 3: What tools help us connect literacy and learning?

• Participant selected tools

  • Inspiration
  • Streaming video
  • Kidspiration
  • KidPix

Session 4: How do we bring all these connections together for improving student achievement?

• Planning by using the technologies we have
  • content (curriculum)
    • Declarative vs Procedural knowledge - how do we determine the kinds of knowledge we're teaching?
  • pedagogy (instructional)
    • What strategies do we use to teach each type of knowledge.
  • technology (computers and other digital tools)
    • What technology tools support strategies for teaching each type of knowledge?