As I think about how school libraries should be affected by the Common Core State Standards, 21st Century Skills, and really most standards movements that have happened over my 17 years of teaching; it's all about literacy. How we define literacy is broad - information literacy, global literacy, transliteracy, reading, decoding, multi-modal literacy, media literacy, phew! LITERACY is a big term and it's important to treat it that way - finding ways to integrate literacy into everything we do. Can we add a reading to an activity in the library that used to just be about students using technology? Can we allow students to struggle through finding an answer through reading rather than telling them? Can we help our teachers require that students use well-evaluated websites with appropriate text complexity when researching? Can we work to be sure that literacy is an important part of the all-powerful STEM?
So, an ongoing goal of mine is to work to help teachers find tools to enhance student literacy and embed literacy into everything I do in terms of professional development, collaborative instruction, co-teaching, etc. I'm starting by really looking at how I can use the Subtext app with classes/pd sessions (iPad app only). Subtext helps a teacher/facilitator track how students/participants are reading and guide them through readings with embedded video, multiple choice questions, additional information, open-ended questions and more. Thus far I have used this enhanced reading/guided literacy tool with adult learners and in modeling lessons with pre-service teachers. The pre-service teachers read a poem using Subtext - answering questions, sharing thoughts and helping me (the instructor) gauge their comprehension and engagement.
I'm looking forward to continuing work with Subtext and hoping to find more tools that will enhance the literacy experience for students, teachers and librarians.
A little Learn.ist board on technology and literacy: http://learni.st/users/98996/boards/21912-literacy-using-technology
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