New Literacies - What am I learning?

Many of the definitions of literacy that we posted on the wiki discussed literacy as having multiple aspects – as being more than simply being able to read and write (although these skills are important as well).  I think that looking at literacy in this way, as being something so intricate and multidimensional, absolutely relates to emotional literacy.  Being emotionally literate goes far beyond the “traditional” view of literacy; in fact, literacy is almost used as an abstract term in this context, as we are dealing with feelings and emotions (which are abstract concepts) and how we control, interpret, and act on them.  However, that being said, traditional literacies play a part in emotional literacy as well, especially speaking, listening, and viewing.  Because emotional literacy deals with one’s emotions and how they are managed and perceived, as mentioned above, the interactions we have with others are extremely important.  Whether we are speaking directly to someone, listening to another person, or simply observing body language, these traditional literacies are essential to the study of emotional literacy.

There is a lot to be learned from studying emotional literacy.  I had no idea that it was so prevalent  in our everyday lives, and that it is something that applies to nearly everything we do and say, whether we are aware of it or not.  Emotional literacy is really like another language, that really takes skill and at times, conscious effort to master.  Being emotionally literate can greatly improve our daily life and our future, including improving our mood, enhancing our relationships with others, and helping us to better control our emotions that often get the better of us such as jealousy, anger, and selfishness.  As adults and teachers, it is really our responsibility to teach others to be more emotionally literate, especially our students and other young people.  Even more important, we must be role models and show them how to be emotionally literate.  Teaching by example can be most powerful, and as our students will look up to us, we must keep this in mind.  Often in schools, most of the attention is focused on academic subject areas, which seems to make sense because that is what students are tested on.  However, it is so beneficial for students to learn to be more emotionally literate, and many parents are recognizing this fact as well, although they may not know the official term.

When I began researching emotional literacy, I had absolutely no idea just how big of an influence it had on people’s lives – my own included.  I now see the huge importance of teaching and demonstrated emotional literacy to my future students, and even my students at my placement this year.  I can think of one student in particular that would really benefit from this, as he often allows his emotions to take over and lets them affect his attitude toward school and teachers, and how he approaches and handles himself during daily activities.  What I would like to learn more about is strategies of how to actually go about helping students achieve a higher level of emotional literacy.

We are creating a digital presentation using One True Media.  This technology provides a different and fun way for students to gather information; one that hopefully will capture their attention and help them to see the importance of whatever it is they might be learning about.  This technology allows us to present information in a variety of forms alongside images, video, and music, and can be edited and altered at any time.  I think students will be able to get much out of this form of technology because it is something different; it is something that stands out from the normal, everyday lesson.  Although a limitation of this technology is that it would take a considerable amount of time to put together, and could in no way be used on a regular basis, it is something that will capture students’ attention, and is something that can be saved and used time after time.  It is nice for the audience, because the presentations can be made as interactive as the creator would like.  For example, you can incorporate “slides” with questions, incorporate samples, or even demonstrate how to do a particular activity.  This technology offers the potential to feed students information in an interesting way, and hopefully in a way that makes the information relatable and dynamic.  Still, it allows us to apply the traditional forms of literacy as well.  Listening and viewing are probably most obvious to this type of literacy, as the audience will be interpreting information based on what they hear and see throughout the presentation.  However, speaking and writing can also be incorporated through making the presentation interactive, by using some of the ideas mentioned above.  These things can also be applied through follow-up activities in the form of promoting discussion or through some sort of journal or response, or perhaps even a digital presentation of their own!