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Module 2: Reflection

Jessica Peralta

Arizona State University

RDG 323: Literacy Process

Professor Arnett

October 6th, 2020

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Module 2: Reflection

Planning and designing instruction so that students actively engage in literacy and discipline

specific activities is challenging, but not impossible. The environment must be engaging and

motivating otherwise, students will not participate and learn.

Engagement and Motivation

Many students struggle with completing assignments along with paying attention to the lesson

that is needed to complete the assignment. They often view their time in class as something to

“get through” and not as an opportunity for meaningful experiences (Irvin, 2007). There are

many factors that contribute to this mindset. For example, the material might be too difficult for

the student or the content is not relevant to the student’s experiences. Likewise, the material

might be too easy and present surface level details that students are unable to connect to real life.

Making sure that content is relevant and grade level appropriate are important details to consider

when trying to create an engaging and motivating environment.

Face to Face and Digital Learning Environments

Adolescents already take part in literacy activities and it is easy to incorporate those, whether

you are teaching face to face or digitally. Students often send direct messages through social

media platforms, email teachers, speak on the phone, utilize search engines, create online

content, and so much more. Teachers need to understand that these practices are valid forms of

literacy and that many educational technologies mimic the interfaces of popular social media

platforms. Flipgrid, for example, requires students to make short videos, much like Snapchat,

Instagram, or TikTok. Most students are familiar with these types of software and it is relatively

easy to learn and teach students who are not familiar with it. This can help cultivate an online

community whereas in face to face learning, students would participate in small-group or whole-
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group discussions (Tucker, 2020). However, using technology in face to face learning is essential

too. Digital learning offers more flexibility than face to face learning but both can facilitate an

ongoing conversation about the content and promote a socially inclusive learning environment.

Deep and Surface Learning

Whether students are learning face to face or digitally, the environment must be engaging,

motivating, relevant to real life, and provide multiple opportunities for collaborative work. These

elements are essential for deep learning (Wickline, 2015). On the contrary, surface level learning

takes place when students can repeat or remember information. Deep learning takes place when

students are able to take those concepts and apply them to similar or new situations. They should

also be given opportunities to create and explore with those concepts. However, a crucial

component to effectively achieve Deep Learning is the school culture. Is the school prepared to

offer those opportunities? Teachers usually have great ideas for students on how to expand their

knowledge and understanding of a topic. The school should be willing and prepared to provide

the resources that teachers need to collaboratively plan so that students are afforded the

opportunity for application and creation.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessments are essential because they can be given before, during, and after a lesson

- they afford students an opportunity to demonstrate their prior knowledge and/or their

understanding. They provide teachers with the data they need to inform their lesson planning or,

to continue or reteach a lesson. Providing feedback is perhaps even more important than the

assessment itself (Fisher, 2014). It is not enough to individually assess students. Teachers need to

link their assessments with the content and ensure that the assessments are valid. The complexity

of the material should match the complexity of the assessment, but they need not be elaborate.
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Formative assessments can be exit tickets, short quizzes (digital or physical), or a simple thumbs

up or thumbs down. It depends on the level of understanding and monitoring you want for the

portion of the lesson. Assessments should also be aligned to the content and language objectives.

Content objectives explain what students should be able to do or understand by the end of a

lesson or activity while language objectives determine how the student will reach that level of

understanding i.e. reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking. Therefore, students need to learn

and understand how to engage and interact with specific text types. It is up to the teacher to

utilize explicit strategy instruction to scaffold and provide a step by step process on how to do

that. For example, instead of giving students an article and letting them fend for themselves, the

teacher can chunk the article into pieces, start with making inferences about the article based on

the title and the type of text it is; highlighting key features, underlining unknown words, and

circling main ideas.

Frameworks for Planning Instruction

In this module, we learned about the BDA framework for planning instruction. It stands for the

time Before, During, and After a lesson and what the purpose of each stage and strategies that

are involved to promote the standard and objectives.

This framework is a good template for teachers to methodically choose literacy strategies that are

entertaining yet serve the purpose and objectives.

References
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Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Assessments That Highlight Strengths and Challenges.

https://secondaryliteracies.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/assessments-strengths-

challenges.pdf.

Irvin, J. L., Meltzer, J., & Dukes, M. S. (2007). Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy. ASCD.

Retrieved October 7, 2020, from

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-

Engagement,-and-Achievement.aspx

Tucker, C. R. (2020). A New Reality: Getting Remote learning right. ASCD. Retrieved October

7, 2020, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-

leadership/summer20/vol77/num10/Successfully-Taking-Offline-Classes-Online.aspx

Wickline, H. (2015). Creating the Conditions for Deeper Learning. In Hewlett Foundation.

Retrieved October 7, 2020, from https://hewlett.org/creating-the-conditions-for-deeper-

learning/
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