In April 2011, the Third International Literacy Coaching Summit hosted by Widener University was held in Philadelphia. One of the goals of the summit was to foster literacy leadership and to emphasize the role literacy coaches play in promoting quality instruction. The conference was advertised in Reading Today as well as in the newsletter of Specialized Literacy Professionals. Educators came from far and wide to participate in the full-day institute chaired by Rita Bean and the two days of sessions that offered literacy based topics pertinent for educators from pre-school through university levels. 

In April 2012, the co-chairs of the conference, Mary Strong and Annemarie Jay of Widener University, co-edited a volume of work related to the summit. Conference presenters were invited to submit manuscripts for publication. A peer review process took place and eventually Promoting Quality Assurance in Literacy Instruction: The Preparation, Inquires and Practices of Literacy Professionals was published by New Foundations, an on-line educational publisher.

Jack Cassidy, the former IRA President who chaired the first two coaching summits and served as a keynote speaker at the summit in Philadelphia, wrote the foreword for the book stating that literacy coaches are “still an important and vital part of the national landscape.” He concludes his comments by saying, “…this volume will be an important resource for all K-12 professionals as well as the teacher educators who prepare them. The literacy professional was, is, and will be a crucial part of the educational milieu.” 

Promoting Quality Assurance in Literacy Instruction has been online for only one month and has already had over 5,000 readers access it. The book is divided into three specific sections: Part I is a stand-alone article by Rita Bean which reflects the focus of her presentation at the summit’s institute. Bean discusses the role of coaches as providers of professional development; she shares ideas about the role of coach in helping to support school change as a means of improving student learning.

Part II of the book focuses on preparation of literacy coaches. The chapters contained here provide information about the graduate level training coaches receive as well as the job-embedded training they afford their colleagues. The coach’s critical stance as a reflective practitioner is emphasized throughout this section. 

The emphasis of Part III is on the work of literacy coaches and reading specialists in the field. Topics include reading across the curriculum, stages of concern of teachers’ instructional development, working with inflexible teachers, working with special education students, RTI, high-stakes testing, supervision plans, infusing technology and instruction and helping teachers gain confidence with new literacies. 

The editors hope that this book will be a valuable resource for professional learning communities within/across schools, for course readings as part of graduate work, and as a self-help guide to the reading specialist or literacy coach seeking perspectives  from a range of literacy leaders. Since many school principals are not specifically prepared for literacy instruction, this book should also be a crucial resource for those with school-wide curricula responsibilities. 

For additional information contact Annemarie Jay by e-mail at abjay@mail.widener.edu or by phone at 610-499-4652. 

by Janice Friesen

Many of the students at University of Texas Elementary School, where I currently work, use only Google to search the Internet for projects that they are doing. I have found that many teachers and students are not aware of any other options and Google always seems to come up with something that works. The problem with Google is that sometimes (especially when searching for images) it returns inappropriate results. Students also need to understand issues of copyright and how to find images and other media that are free for them to use.

Here’s an example of how we learned about alternatives to using Google to locate images. Recently the second grade students were working on animal reports. They were all looking for pictures and information on the animal that they had chosen. Instead of just using Google, I wanted them to use a safer search engine. I also wanted them to understand some important things about the search results that they were getting. 

Using the interactive white board, my students and I did the following:

1. I went to Google Safe Search and dragged the icon of the squirrel that appeared in the URL bar over to the desktop. Now there was something on the desktop that they could click directly on to search. 

2. Then I spent some time talking with the second graders about how to use this search engine. I had them tell me one animal to search for and I typed in the term. This is what came up when we searched for Panda: 

3. Then we looked at the results. I explained to them that the results that come up at the very top (See Panda Antivirus) and on the sidebar are paid advertisements. That means that someone is trying to sell something. If you are shopping, it is OK to use these links, but they probably are not good for research. 

4. As we explored the search results for many different animals, we also found out that every animal we searched for had a link to National Geographic Kids, which was a great place to find pictures and information and it was written at their reading level.

5. I also showed them that the GREEN words below the name could give them some clues about what kind of site it was. 

6. This also gave me a chance to teach them a few things about copyright. The project they were doing would stay in their own classroom and was used for educational purposes, so it is clearly under fair use laws. However, students are publishing more and more of their multimedia projects on the Internet. If something is shared with the world this way, all of the content needs to be copyright free. That means that the students need permission to use whatever they have found and they need to cite where they got it.

Here are a few sites that can make searching for images and other media a little easier and much safer.  Some of these links also help with copyright.

• Pics4Learning: This site is a collection of photos that people have donated for students to use. There are no issues with copyright when using these photos. 
• CompFight: This site searches Flickr (a photo sharing site) and can easily be limited to searching for images under a Creative Commons License, which is a license that clearly states that others may use these images in their work. 
• KidsClick is a categorized search engine page with results for young children that have been hand selected by library media specialists.
• Sources for free audio in the classroom is a great website for locating audio clips. One strategy I have found that works well when helping students use audio clips in their work is to create a folder on your server (I use one called Music by Mood). Inside that folder, I create a few folders for moods like happy, sad, scary, and mysterious. Then I download a few audio examples for each mood to give children a place to start. There is just too much out there to sift through and it takes far too much time away from more productive parts of the project. I've found this strategy works well in helping children organize great sounds that others can use later.

Here are some really helpful websites about copyright issues for educators: 

• Janice Friesen’s Copyright for Educators provides a very simple summary of what copyright means for educators. It is in a question and answer format and has links to other useful websites. 
• Wesley Fryer’s Conference Session on Copyright contains lots of helpful links and information about copyright as well as some links to other copyright free resources that contain media for school projects. 
• Kathy Schrock’s Reading Reference & Copyright Sources is a very helpful site with links to various reference sites that guide elementary students through the process of creating citations or linking them directly to online forms that create the citations for you.  

I encourage you to introduce your students to these safer alternatives to locate images and audio files that they can use in their projects while also teaching them how to navigate the challenges of search engine results and follow the terms of copyright usage. These will be useful skills for students to have as they move into the upper elementary grades and middle school. 

Janice Friesen is a self-employed teacher. Her business I’m not a Geek.com helps people to be successful using technology. Her searchable blog http://helpimnotageek.blogspot.com offers tips for successful use of technology.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG). 

by Jen Donovan

Skype has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to provide teachers with the materials they need to enhance the learning experience beyond the classroom. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity community that provides donations to public schools in need across the US. Teachers are able to post their project or request and receive individual donations through the website. These donations provide resources like books, art supplies, and technology to schools in need. Through the partnership, Skype plans to donate $250,000 to teachers requesting the necessary materials to provide Skype video calling in their classrooms. 

The goal of the Skype Initiative is to break down the barriers of communication by connecting one million classrooms across the globe. Skype video calling gives students the opportunity to collaborate on projects and share ideas with other students from other cultures around the world. Currently 1,816 projects, 24,356 teachers, and 608 resources are involved in the initiative, and Skype has already funded several of the projects posted on DonorsChoose.org. 

Teachers can take advantage of this program by registering for Skype in the classroom today. For every new registered teacher, Skype will donate a $25 USD DonorsChoose.org Gift Card which can be applied to any classroom project posted on DonorsChoose.org, including any project they’ve created themselves.

To learn more and register with Skype in the classroom visit education.skype.com

To create an account and post your classroom project or request visit www.donorschoose.org.

Jen Donovan is the strategic communications intern at the International Reading Association. 

by Dr. Kristine Pytash & Dr. Richard E. Ferdig

The PEW Internet & American Life Project recently produced a report entitled, “The Rise of E-Reading.” In the report, they surveyed 2,986 Americans, ages 16 and older, to investigate people’s e-reading habits and preferences. The report noted 21% of Americans have read an e-book in the past year. They also found the average reader of e-books reads more than average none e-book consumers. Finally, 30% of e-reader users spend more time reading than they previously did.

Three key perspectives emerge from this report:  research, literacy, and technology. From a research perspective, the audience surveyed were adults ages 16 and older. Much can be gleaned from this report, as will be highlighted here. However, future research could consider replicating this important work with younger students and/or specifically focusing on e-reader use in elementary, secondary, or collegiate classrooms.  

Some of this work has already been started. For instance, Larson (2010) found second grade students’ reading comprehension was supported by using e-readers because they could adjust the font size, access online dictionaries, and activate text-to-speech features. Literacy researchers can continue to explore this area by asking what other features of e-readers might aid students’ reading acquisition and development? 

Specifically focusing on literacy, there are two key findings in the report that warrant attention. First, the survey indicates the number of people purchasing and using e-readers is increasing. This might signal an increase in the number of children and adolescents with access to e-readers at home. Literacy educators have argued for recognition of students’ personal literacy practices. Does using e-readers in the classroom help bridge students’ out-of-school reading and in-school reading practices? 

Second, according to the report, people using e-readers stated they were more avid readers than previously. In fact, the longer they owned an e-reader, the more reading they did over time. Also, those using e-readers read more than people who read traditional print books. This has interesting implications for literacy teachers and researchers as they begin to explore students’ motivation and engagement when reading using e-readers. Are students more motivated to read using an e-reader versus a traditional text? Does students’ motivation stem from using the e-reader or would e-readers be a way to provide students with opportunities to have increased choice and access to a wider range of reading experiences?

The technology itself is final important aspect to consider when viewing this report. Although studying e-readers is important given their ubiquity, defining an e-reader is more complex. Some hear the term and point to a Kindle or a Nook.  However, one must also consider iBooks on the iPad or Kindle software on a desktop. Researchers must ask if there is something specific about e-readers vs. technologies that allow e-reading.  As important is the notion of literacy in reading online materials, following the important work of Don Leu (for instance, see: Leu, Everett-Cacopardo, Zawilinski, McVerry, & O’Byrne, in press).  If students learn to read through e-readers, whether at home or in school, how do these literacy practices translate to non e-reader texts? Finally, some e-readers allow writing, such as annotation, peer review, or notes to their teacher. The PEW report provides findings with implications for the use of e-readers in the K-12 classroom. Future research should continue to explore ways in which changes in e-readers promote a reading/writing connection. 

References

Larson, L. (2010). Digital readers: The next chapter in e-book reading and response. The Reading Teacher, 64(1), 15-22. 

Leu, D.J., Everett-Cacopardo, H., Zawilinski, L., McVerry, J.G., O’Byrne, W. I. (in press).  The new literacies of online reading comprehension. C.A.  Chapelle, (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Dr. Kristine Pytash is an Assistant Professor of Adolescent Literacy Education, Kent State University, kpytash@kent.edu. Dr. Richard E. Ferdig is a professor of ITEC and the RCET Research Professor at the Research Center for Educational Technology, Kent State University, rferdig@gmail.com. 

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

U. S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been busy celebrating teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, scheduled for the week of May 7 this year. 

“Whatever we do to strengthen and elevate the teaching profession, we should bear in mind that reforms that fail to heed the voice of teachers are doomed,” Secretary Duncan said in a Huffington Post article to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week. 

On Monday morning, Duncan welcomed more than 80 faculty and teaching fellows from the South Carolina Universities participating in the South Carolina Teaching Fellows program for a RESPECT conversation. The convening is one of 100 RESPECT conversations with more than 1,500 educators held by the Teaching Ambassador Fellows, a group of 16 active classroom teachers working temporarily for the U.S. Department of Education.

On Tuesday, Duncan joined National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel for a Teacher Hall of Fame reception at the NEA headquarters. 

This morning, Duncan surprised teachers and staff of Washington, DC’s Luke C. Moore High School with an unexpected visit during their Teacher Appreciation Week breakfast celebration. Luke C. Moore High School is a local School Improvement Grant recipient that serves over 300 students, ages 17 to 21, who have dropped out or who have had difficulties in traditional school settings. Nearly 80 percent of the students served qualify for free or reduced price lunch. 

Also, over 30 U.S. Department of Education staff went “back to school” to shadow teachers in the DC area and across the country today. Duncan will also invite teachers being shadowed and their shadowers to a discussion later that day so the group can debrief and reflect on the experience.

This evening, Duncan attends Teach for America's 2nd Annual Gala, which will highlight stories of inspiration and work underway to support students in low-income communities.

Parents, students, principals, teachers, and the general public are invited to join the national conversation around Teacher Appreciation Week via the Twitter hashtag #thankateacher. 

Throughout the week, the Department of Education highlights videos of people from around the country thanking teachers for making a difference in their lives. Bill Nye the Science Guy, Mayim Bialik, a PhD and actor on The Big Bang Theory, Jamie Hyneman from TV’s MythBusters, LeVar Burton, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger have recorded teacher appreciation videos.

As part of Teacher Appreciation Week, a vision document for reforming the teaching profession has been posted for public comment on the Department’s website, and will be available for comment until June 19.

As part of its work to better support teachers, the administration has held two international conferences with labor leaders and education ministers from high-performing countries around the world. And, later this month, the administration, national teacher unions, school superintendents, school boards and labor mediators are convening for two days in Cincinnati to focus on reforming the teaching profession.

“Teacher Appreciation Week is an opportunity to share the praise and appreciation that teachers deserve every day,” Duncan said. “But it is even more important to go one step further and use this week as a chance to learn more from teachers about how we can make teaching not only one of America’s most important professions but also one of America's most valued professions.”

ReadWriteThink.org, a project of the International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and Verizon Thinkfinity, offers a list of Teacher Appreciation Week activities and resources. 

RESPECT Project

Together for Tomorrow Initiative

Advocacy at the International Reading Association

Awards and Grants for Teachers and Literacy Researchers