On Wednesday 27th July, in commemoration of UWI’s 50th Anniversary, Dr. Conrad made a very inspiring speech addressing the issue of “Enhancing the Literacy Initiatives: It takes Village” – she being a strong advocate for literacy development. It was very, very unfortunate that so many of you were caught up in “the Web [2.0]” and were therefore, unable to attend. She addressed so many pertinent issues that a blog post would not afford me sufficient space to do justice to her presentation. You all should have been there, it was simply mind bugging. However, as I pondered over an issue to discuss with you in a blog post, I came across Heather Ifill-Homeward”s post, “Do you know what is Audioblox?” and this immediately caught my attention.
Upon reading her post, I thought it aptly addressed one of the pertinent issues addressed by Dr. Conrad that of recognizing that learning is a stratified process and that there are foundational learning skills which are of paramount importance to the success of future learning. Strangely enough, during my session with Mrs. Aisha Wood-Jackson (concerning Lessons) earlier that Wednesday, she also spoke passionately about what teachers are doing to scaffold how students learn those foundational literacy skills. She made multiple references to giving students enough time and opportunities to practice those skills because they are so fundamental to successful learning.
You have missed Dr. Conrad (she leaves us to return abroad), and Mrs. Wood-Jackson left our country this weekend, but you have Heather’s post available to you. Hence, I strongly recommend that you take a look at her post because I agree with her comment that “so long as one can master the foundational skills, then [mastery at] reading is possible.” I pray for fortitude for our goodly lectureres and for us all as we forge forward to deliver solid foundational blocks to our charges.
Hello Clara
ReplyDeleteI read your post and I also read
Heather's post about the audiobox and the learning of foundational skills to be successful learners. This also applies to us learning the technology. We also need to develop foundational skills related to the use of technology and its application in the classroom. Remember as Reading Specialist you have to guide teachers as to how to integrate the technology into the reading curriculum. Thus you have to have ideas based on your knowledge of the technology that is out there and how it can be used to teach the reading. You will also have to demonstrate how it is used. Right now I am preparing the lessons and although I might have some ideas from books, I still have to think about how the integration is going to take place. It is not as cut and dry as it appears and I wish we too had time to master the technology.
I did not even realise that Dr. Conrad gave a speech at UWI's 50th Anniversary celebrations. It seems as though I missed a lot. Even if I had known I doubt I would have been able to make it as I was busy with Web 2.0 and Turn it in. I do hope that the session was taped and it can be posted using Web 2.0 technologies so that excerpts from it can be viewed. I would surely like to see what the presentation was about.
ReplyDeleteHey Clara, I too am sorry that I missed Dr. Conrad’s lecture. As one of her students, I am familiar with her passion for reading and educating others. The same goes for Mrs. Wood-Jackson who is just as passionate about technology and the vast opportunities it offers to enhance learning. Dr. Gumbs was also very zealous about reading and how it is taught. What do all three have in common? No it’s not that they are all females (woman power yeah!) or that the have all left us (Booohoohooo!). It’s that they are passionate about what they do. I don’t know about you but their fervency has rubbed off on me and has given me the impetus to really try to be a great teacher.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that struck me about them is that they are always on courant with what is happening in education and they use the technology to enhance their teaching. Although we initially complained, I thank God for they having us use the technological tools to enhance our learning as students and teachers. Because of Aisha, I am better equipped to use the Web 2.0 tools for my learning as well as my students.
I have yet to read Heather’s blog but I agree that students need to learn and master the basic skills first for learning to be meaningful. Because of our learning structures (schemata), teaching foundational skills must be explicit. We also need to provide scaffolds for them to assimilate new knowledge. I agree that in order to teach the students to use these Web 2.0 tools, we ourselves have to master and teach them the basic skills as well as.
Learning is a dynamic process, though we must provide structure, we must leave room for the dynamism to prevail.