Many of you have heard me speak about the
explosion of data due to Web 3.0 and the “cloud.” Data can now be collected, organized, analyzed and synthesized
to find trends, make predictions and make decisions in ways that just a couple
of years ago was not possible. It is often referred to as Big Data.
There is so much data that it is becoming
increasingly difficult to transmit it simply by text. More and more, we find
that information is transmitted via sophisticated tables, graphs and charts.
Consider the examples the data presents in the following examples:
Best Practice 1: Make Student Thinking Visible – Reflective Writing Across
Content
Catherine
Truitt, Diane Jones, consultants, International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE): Reflexive writing
allows students to write about their own learning in a rigorous and relevant
way. This approach offers both language arts and non-language arts teachers effective
tactics to embed consistent writing assignments into lessons. Ask these
questions:
1.
Reflect on a prior
learning experience.
2.
Reflect on visual
stimulus.
3.
Reflect on a
reading assignment.
And so on. Teachers appreciate the simplicity
of the exercises, while students enjoy the reflective nature of the writing
assignments. Everyone wins!
Best Practice 2: Teaching Digital Literacy
Salmon River Middle
School, Fort Covington, NY: School
leaders realized they had to educate students to use technology in a safe and responsible
way. They ultimately selected Common Sense Media’s free Digital Literacy and Citizenship
Curriculum. The curriculum
empowers students to think critically, behave safely and participate
responsibly in the digital world.
Best Practice 3 — Student Literacy Growth Profile
Hamilton/Fulton/Montgomery BOCES, Johnstown, N.Y.:
The Literacy Growth Profile is a longitudinal data tool used to track student literacy
levels. It is based on the Lexile Framework for Reading and tracks the progression of a student’s reading over time. The
profile monitors how well a student comprehends various sources, like high
school- and college-level literature and textbooks, military texts, personal
use items and entry-level occupational reading. Students are stretched
throughout elementary, middle and high school and are at both college- AND
career-ready literacy levels when they graduate.
Is this reading? Is it statistics? Is it
logic? Is it probability? Is it measurement systems? It is writing? The answer
is ‘yes’ to each of these questions. Twenty-first century literacy is in
multiple disciplines!
Is your instructional program designed to
teach these skills? They are in the nation’s most rapidly improving schools.
At this year’s 25th Annual Model Schools
Conference, held June 25-28
in Nashville, we will showcase schools that focus on 21st century
literacy.
Next week’s blog will focus on the effective
uses of technology.