Ramiro Carbajal
Professional Portfolio
Student Work: Literacy and Technology
This last year and a half has been a big transition period for me as a teacher. I began the MAET program and I also became part of the RAISE training program on my campus. RAISE is a literacy based program that prepares teachers for the upcoming Common Core changes by introducing them to several literacy strategies, techniques and procedures. Therefore, I have had to make a lot of changes as to the way I teach and assess my students. I have introduced new technologies to students to give students another way to express their creatity and demonstate their mastery of the content. Thus, the majority of student's work involve either literacy, technology or both. These are some examples of the good work my students are doing in my classes.
Since I began teaching eight years ago, I have felt that writing is one of the key ways that students can demonstrate their understanding of the material. The majority of my assignments have always involved interpreting the notes I give my studentts and having them write summaries, articles and outlines. I felt it worked pretty well. But I always felt that I was not doing enough to help students with the interpretation of the content. I would have really good lecture/discussions with them in class but once those students went home, they were on their own to figure the main ideas of their content notes. This year in particular, I have spent much more time teaching students literacy strategies they can use to find the meaning of what they are reading or analyzing. We have spent a lot of time annotating the content notes and then having a pair share discussion followed by a whole class discussion. I have spent much less time lecturing and I have given students more opportunties to show me what they have learned based on their analysis and discussion of the content notes, images, and primary or secondary resources. Below are three examples of some of the good work they have done this year. Please click on the title below each to get a closer look. Thanks!
Literacy in my classroom
Technology in my classroom
Before I began this program, I felt that I used technology pretty well. I had my students in the computer lab at least once a month and they usually did some sort of powerpoint. But entering this program has opened my eyes to many of the great Web 2.o programs out there. There are so many that you can incorporate into your lessaons. So far this year, I have introduced Google Docs, Google sites and I am currently having them create their first Prezi presentation. To the right, you will see two examples of my student's good work using Google Docs to create a short essay on why the Ameircan Colonies declared their independence from Britain and a Google Sites page of World War II. They really liked the fact that I taught them how to create a web page. Many came and told me that they were going to create their own websites now that they knew how easy Google Sites made it to create your own personal website. I feel that many of these Web 2.o programs are giving students the opportunity to use their technilogical and creative skills in demonstrating that they have mastered the content. I look forward to introducing other Web 2.o programs in the months to come.
