Final Reflection of Implementation Plan Using Digital and Multimodal Literacies

Introduction

In this blog post I will reflect and share with you the positives, negatives, successes, and challenges of the QUEST model implementation plan I created to use with my fifth grade reading intervention students.  First, it is important to understand that teaching during this pandemic is most certainly a challenge and my rural district has done everything they can with the guidance of health officials to keep our students, faculty, and staff safe.  My original plan was that I would be teaching the QUEST model during the two weeks before our week-long Thanksgiving break.  Unfortunately, due to high numbers of faculty being absent, our reading intervention team was called to assist as substitutes for part of my first week of implementation.  In this week I was able to complete two of the lessons from my implementation plan.  The following week my district moved to all virtual instruction and grade levels were split among the reading team.  I was not able to work with my group of fifth graders during this time.  After the Thanksgiving break, our team moved to mid-year benchmarking.  Although I am disappointed that I did not complete my implementation plan, I am hopeful that I will return to face-to-face instruction in the spring semester with my students so that we can continue using digital and multimodal literacies to engage in inquiry in the reading intervention setting.  However, with the activities and lessons that I was able to complete, I have reflected on this implementation and my teaching using the following question prompts:

What were some strengths and weaknesses of the type of implementation that you did (personal digital inquiry, internet inquiry, digitally supported disciplinary literacy)?  Why? 

I chose to use the QUEST model as mentioned by Dobler and Eagleton with my 5th grade reading intervention students because of the explicit teaching of digital and multimodal literacies as they relate to inquiry that students already engage in in a traditional format.  This type of model seemed to support my students by allowing me to measure their motivation and self-efficacy with using technology and online resources in order to accommodate their needs.  When we completed the Planning stage of the QUEST model, I found that three of four of my students felt confident in their use of technology both in school and on their own, and one of my students was able to list online resources that he would use in order to explore a question.  Because this assessment of students’ confidence and abilities is performed in the planning stage of the QUEST model, it served as a strength for me to get to know which students may need more assistance in their digital inquiry.  

In the second stage, Questioning, after explicit teaching of what “good questions” were, my students were able to take their knowledge and apply it to create their own questions for inquiry.  I chose to implement the creation of questions in a synchronous digital format.  My students were excited and engaged in the activity and two out of four of my students successfully created a flowchart that led them to two inquiry questions that they wanted to explore in their digital inquiry. The examples of their work in Google Jamboard are posted below.

Theme creation and students selections (circling their choices):

Teacher example of flowchart to create questions from a theme:

Student examples of flowcharts and questions:

One of the weaknesses of the QUEST model and my implementation plan was the amount of time that is required to not only teach the digital and multimodal literacy practices, but to integrate them into the curriculum and effectively reach every goal of the lesson.  In my reading intervention classroom, time is limited, but I am impressed with the successes of what we were able to accomplish in the short time that we were able. 

How would you change what you planned based on your experience?

I would definitely change my expectations of the length of time that it takes to fully implement the QUEST model.  This method of engaging in digital inquiry suited my intervention students because of the explicit teaching and guidance, but because of this in order for students to transition into completing the tasks independently, means that I need to account for the gradual release of responsibility to be slower.  The implementation plan that I designed originally called for needing six to seven days of instruction, but I would change the pacing of my plan to take at least two weeks or more in order for my students to get the most out of their learning. 

What did you learn about yourself as a teacher supporting 21st century literacy skills?

In a pandemic year, I have learned that we as teachers have an obligation to support 21st century literacy skills in our classrooms, either traditionally or virtually.  Adapting to change is one of the strengths of a quality educator and the advancements and evolution of digital and multimodal literacies allow us to engage in teaching our students the skills and strategies that are necessary for them to use in school and beyond.  I have found that in my reading intervention classroom, digital and multimodal literacies are just as relevant as if I were a classroom teacher.  My intervention students deserve to experience learning ways of exploring their own questions and presenting their knowledge in multiple ways.  I have also learned that I am capable of supporting my students in this way.  Digital and multimodal literacies in my intervention room can serve as pathways for accommodating my students.  These supports can help my students to gain confidence and knowledge that motivates them to engage in literacy practices. 

What did you learn about supporting digital and multimodal literacies in a classroom?

Although this year was exceptional in that we were a fully one-to-one device school, supporting digital and multimodal literacies in the reading intervention classroom is possible even with limited resources.  I have two student computers in my classroom that I have found that I can use as “back-up” resources for when my student’s devices either weren’t charged or they did not bring them.  This helped me to realize that there is not an excuse as to why students can or should not be able to learn about digital and multimodal literacies in the reading intervention room.  

I also learned that my reading intervention goals can be met even through engaging in a digital inquiry process.  For example, for my student who did not feel confident in his abilities with technology and online resources, his reading goals could also be applied to what we were learning about digital and multimodal literacies in order to help him gain reading skills and digital literacy skills.  

What suggestions do you have for someone wanting to support digital and multimodal literacies in a classroom?

My first suggestion to any teacher wanting to engage in supporting digital and multimodal literacies in the classroom is to plan and revise.  Planning is what educators do in many time spans, from the long to the short term.  Planning in the long term will allow teachers to think of the overall goals that they would like their students to accomplish, while integrating the essential curriculum.  The short term planning will allow teachers to individualize and differentiate their implementation in order to best support their students.  When these plans do not go accordingly, revise.  It is okay to try again.  Our teaching hardly ever goes right the first time every time, so go back to the drawing board and plan again. 

I would also suggest to educators that they need to engage in digital and multimodal literacies themselves.  Be a part of digital learning communities.  Join a discussion board on using digital and multimodal literacies.  Share with colleagues multimodal forms of your teaching successes.  Start a blog.  Practicing with digital and multimodal literacies will increase you own confidence and knowledge about digital and multimodal literacies, which can help understanding why our students should engage in the same practices.