The type of literacy that my group is studying is emotional literacy. When doing research, the most common definition regarding it that I found is, it "is the ability to recognize, understand and appropriately express our emotions. Just as verbal literacy is the basic building block for reading and writing, emotional literacy is the basis for perceiving and communicating emotions" (Feel.org http://www.feel.org/emotional_literacy.php). When I was looking through our class definitions of literacy, I really did not see ones that focused on emotions. There truly weren't any on becoming literate with emotions.
The main aspect of emotional literacy is about how to convey and understand emotions. People can see emotional literacy in books. It is possible to use and teach emotional literacy in classrooms through children's books. When people talk about their emotions and learn how to express them, they are practicing emotional literacy. If someone is writing down their feelings or writing about how they feel about how someone else is feeling, that is using emotional literacy. If someone is conveying how they are feeling through speaking, then that is a form of emotional literacy as well.
I honestly have never really thought about emotional literacy, so I am learning a lot. I learned that emotional intelligence is similar form of emotional literacy. From that same source listed above I have thought about emotional literacy in a different context. There was a quote that I thought was interesting. It stated: "Emotions influence our thoughts and actions; they aspire our needs; they affect our bodies and impact on our relationships" (http://www.feel.org/emotional_literacy.php). I have learned more about how to teach emotional literacy. As someone to has babysat a lot over the years I have had conversations with young children about how to show their emotions appropriately or how to say how they are feeling. I can see how that can be needed in the classroom and the importance of continually setting an example to students of how to show and share emotions appropriately. I can also see the importance of telling students that it is okay to have certain feelings and provide them with ways of seeing those feelings shown in decent, positive ways. I loved a quote that I found from another source regarding emotional literacy in the classroom. It said, "Our emotions impact our readiness and ability to learn" (http://www.successpartnership.com/emotional_literacy.phtml). That statement also made me realize the importance of using emotional literacy at school, especially for students to be able to say how they are feeling during school and when learning certain subjects. Certain strategies that I realized were possible to teach this is to share how I was feeling in a positive, appropriate way. Or to have a scenario and state how it made me feel. If a student was not showing their emotions appropriately, then I could ask them how they could have shown their emotions differently or provide more positive words that would help them convey how they are feeling.
Another helpful resource that I found that I can use in the future is: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/35374_Bruce_Sample_chapter.pdf
The students in my class do a good job with stating how they are feeling in a decent manner. They are good with using their words to share joy, good news, disappointments or when they are sad. My MT says, "use your words," a lot, so the students have practice with staring how they are feeling. If they don't handle a situation as best as they could, then she will either say how they could have handled it better or ask the class if they had any tips for how the situation could have been handled. She also will read books where the characters have different feelings. Learning about emotional literacy has made me realize the significance of it and to see how it can be found within classrooms.
The new technology that my group is using is Photobucket. It essentially is a place for someone to upload pictures and for them to be in one spot. Once uploaded the pictures can be altered to different styles. This program seems to be similar to other photo storage/share ideas, such as Flickr.
This technology could be used in the classroom in a couple of different manners. I see a couple of useful ways that a teacher could use it. One could use it to take pictures of their resources in class and upload it. For example, if a teacher writes a lot of material on their white board and they want to have it be the same the following year, they could upload the image onto Photobucket. Or if a teacher wanted to have final pieces of class work documented, then they could upload the images onto Photobucket as well. If a teacher put a lot of notes on the board, then they could take a picture and put it on the website. What is useful is that if there was a class page then students could log on and see the picture. If any pictures are taken in the classroom, of teacher materials, student work, on field trips, anything, then it can be put on Photobucket. From there the teacher, students or parents could all view them if desired. One of the main keys though, is to monitor students who are uploading material onto the page. If it is a class page then it is vital that all images on there are appropriate.
The audience could be anyone who is "set" to view the material. If one has the ability to get to one's page, then they can see the images available. For a setting like that, the teacher, students and parents can all be involved on the page. Since this is a free tool, it also does not cost anyone anything to be part of this program.
If emotional literacy is being used in the classroom, then photos can be taken and uploaded to Photobucket to show how it is being used. Or, students could upload pictures of them using emotional literacy appropriately.
This tool allows people to upload images, alter and edit them. Besides storing them, there is not much else that can be done with the images on this tool, which is its limitation. The main sense for this tool is viewing since people look at the different images. It is possible to add captions, which would require minimal reading to take place.
It is quite straight forward with how to upload an image. Some might find the editing to be more challenging if that is what they would like to do to their images.
This tool essentially lets someone communicate through pictures, images and drawings. Illustrations in books also allow for readers to experience that same thing.
The students in my class are in first grade. I am assuming that many of them do not have their own cameras to post their own pictures on the site. Their computer skills right now are very minimal, so that is something that would need to be worked on first. They would then need to know how to take and use appropriate images. They would then need to learn how to upload the picture, which would require them to be able to follow directions with multiple steps. Realistically I can see my MT using this program more. Whenever they go on outings or have important moments at school she takes pictures. She could easily upload those pictures onto Photobucket so the parents can see those images. If I was in a classroom where the students were older, then there would be more possibilities for student involvement. Students could have some type of scavenger hunt and would need to post the images onto Photobucket. If they built something, then they could also post the images there. Any images of student work could be put on Photobucket to share. Any pieces of literature or writing in the curriculum that focuses on emotional literacy could have their picture taken of
(or with students doing it) and put on Photobucket. There are many possibilities depending on if one wants the teacher, students or both involved with the program.
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