Ideas For The Classroom

By Author: Tracy McGrady
Total Articles: 55
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Online book clubs are a proven hit in the public library system that hosts my research. The kids love them (average "fun" ratings are 4.5 out of 5), and parents are enthusiastic about their flexibility. These clubs can extend many possibilities to K-12 classrooms and schools—especially to those wishing to engage students in digital literacies practices. For example, the online nature of these clubs can allow an author to participate in a discussion anywhere, any time! In addition, clubs can be composed of students and classrooms from around the world, exposing students to other ideas and cultures.

Online book club environments also make possible multimodal reading and responses to texts. Students and teachers can use media to respond to texts, as well as written responses. Indeed, online book clubs Replica Tag Heuer have the power to update the format of the dreaded book report. Online book clubs are one example of how to effectively weave together old and new literacy practices (Lankshear & Knobel, 2006). These Internet-based clubs ...
... capitalize on kids' interest in new literacy practices while complementing, and hopefully encouraging, traditional reading practices.

The preceding text is an excerpt from Voces S.I.N. Verguenza (Shameless Voices), a theatrical show produced in April 2008 by Students Informing Now (S.I.N.), a student group at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). It is possible to say that S.I.N. made history by fearlessly claiming they were undocumented in front of an audience of peers, family, administration, and mostly strangers. It was not an act or a performance; it was personal and political truth on stage with lights shining on the faces of these citizens of the world who decided to no longer stay in the darkness of silence.

S.I.N. emerged from the lived experiences and struggles of its founding members, UCSC undergraduates who were confronted with the fact that their campus was doing little to facilitate the entry and retention of undocumented students like themselves, known as "AB 540 students" in California. The AB 540 law was passed in 2001 in California. It allows any student, including undocumented immigrants, to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition at public colleges and universities in California if they have attended a high school in California for at least three years and graduated, or obtained a GED. Not all AB 540 students are undocumented; approximately two thirds of AB 540 students are U.S. citizens. Although AB 540 students are Breitling Replica Watches eligible for in-state tuition rates, undocumented immigrants cannot apply for government-sponsored financial aid or loans. Many students, staff, and faculty were unaware of the AB 540 law and did not know that undocumented students were among them in their classrooms. Therefore, in late 2005, a group of first-year students decided to become their own leaders and build S.I.N., a nonhierarchical organization dedicated to educational justice and immigrant rights. They created a mission and vision statement, and even a slogan— S.I.N. Verguenza (without shame)—that became a part of many of the members' identities. Although not all members are AB 540 students, everyone is personally committed to the struggle for educational equality for all students. Every member is also connected to the immigrant experience, and their different legal statuses are not an obstacle to working together but rather a strengthening factor.