Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical
Practice of New Literacies
After reading the article I wasn’t surprised by the results.  The major barrier for new literacies practices to occur in classrooms was limited access to technology.  I think in today’s world most teachers’ aren’t afraid of new technology and would embrace new literacy practices but the lacks of available technology in school buildings are killing educator’s motivation to use technology.  I think most educators have come to terms with the idea of the use of technology to support their lessons.  The bottom line is no access; no technology, equals computer illiterate students.

Social Networking Sites
Social media as part of teaching strategies will encourage students to view social networks as less of a pleasurable distraction, and more as something that can be used in projects and for personal expression.  Some possible strategies for teachers to use social media have been outlined in article.  Using free social networks help incorporate real-world experiences into the classroom as well as the ability to encourage collaboration between students.  For students, social networks provide a mix of creative expression and group work through tasks like contributing to a blog, designing websites, uploading video presentations, and creating Facebook pages for class projects.  Social media can be used productively in schools.

Edmodo for ELA class
Class announcements-  Edmodo is a great way to get class announcements out quickly and easily.  Lessons can be posted, resources, and basic class information.
Assignments-  Students can post reading assignments.  Next to their name, it will tell you if the assignment has been graded or not, and it will also tell you if it hasn't been turned in.
Formative Assessments- "Polls" a feature to give a quick assessment, either during a lesson or at the end of class.  Polls are great ways just to get a general feel for how a class is doing while learning is taking place.  Also, feedback is instant, and there is no going through documents or papers in order to collect data it tallies the results.
Sharing folders from the Library-  You can create folders in your Library and add links or documents to them.  Then, you can share these folders with an entire class, small group, or individual.  This is a great way to distribute ELA class resources.
Quizzes-  You can choose from multiple choice, true/false, or short answer questions, pick time limits, edit previously assigned quizzes, and assign them to groups or individual students.  This is a great way to test students on reading comprehension.

Edmodo Screen Shot

Article: "Research confirms social media's impact on adolescent development"
This article suggests that social networks have negative impacts on adolescents.  The article also suggests that social media sites distract students, take way from study time and makes students unfocused on independent class assignments.  However the author does give an example of the positive that can come from social networking such as expression.  This short article makes you really think about the positive and negatives of a social media platform.