Chelda Smith | University of Minnesota (original) (raw)

Papers by Chelda Smith

and literary character roles. Uses grounded theory to construct knowledge and question common ass... more and literary character roles. Uses grounded theory to construct knowledge and question common assumptions as one cycle in a larger action research project. Finds themes of (1) students enacting individual and character voice through character portrayal; (2) simulation game affordances of engagement and empowerment through opportunities to safely explore and constructively communicate multiple perspectives, respect for diversity, and democratic ideals; (3) increased student confidence and demonstration of literacy skills in authentic experiential learning activities; (4) students taking active roles in their learning and exploring unique avenues for making their voices heard; and (5) application to other types of curricula. #digital/technologytools #academictechnologyuse #perspectivetaking #motivation/engagement Rust, J. (2015). Students' playful tactics. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58,[492][493][494][495][496][497][498][499][500][501][502][503] Describes the identity tactics adolescents employ within Ning, a classroom social networking platform, when it is used in two face-to-face high school English classes and its impact on curricular purposes. Uses a qualitative research methodology to investigate students' socially embedded identity practices within teachers' curricular actions and the environment. Finds that students compose a virtual self through use of pop culture, wit, and gossip (discourse regarding characters, not peers). Indicates that students' identity tactics transformed the classroom environment into an informal space; however, this did not detract from curriculum or standards engagement. Suggests that (1) English classrooms are an appropriate forum to instruct students in digital communication and navigation skills, and (2) teachers are responsible for co-constructing new learning platforms with students and defining common expectations. Provides tactics for teachers utilizing social networking spaces in formal learning environments. #digital/technologytools #discourse #socialnetworking #identity Schwartz, L. H. (2014). Challenging the tyranny of the five-paragraph essay: Teachers and students as semiotic boundary workers in classroom and digital space. Literacy, 48, 124-135. Examines how new media and youth practices affect students' traditional literacy practices in an Arizona urban high school within the US-Mexico borderlands region. Uses a sociocultural theoretical framework and a participatory action research design to investigate how the teacher/ researcher team drew on high school writing students' personal interests and motivations, as well as various semiotic resources across learning settings, to inform their pedagogical and curricular choices and to reframe the traditional "five-paragraph essay." Analyzes students' processes in the creation of hybrid multimodal texts. Findings suggest that positioning students and teachers as semiotic boundary workers affords a worthwhile framework for teachers and students in writing classrooms who desire to create literacy practices and activities that not only meet academic standards and testing requirements but also engage youth practices and digital tools in efforts to promote social change. #digital/technologytools #writing #socialnetworking #academictechnologyuse Siu, C. K. (2014). Developing information literacy and critical thinking skills through domain knowledge learning in digital classrooms: An experience of practicing flipped classroom strategy.

OUR SHARED EFFORTS TO ENGAGE IN JUSTICE WORK from within our various positions at the university ... more OUR SHARED EFFORTS TO ENGAGE IN JUSTICE WORK from within our various positions at the university are entangled in the institution's and the broader education system's complicity in (neo)colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. We, and many others like us, attempt to dismantle this complicity even though our activities within the institution are disciplined through precarious funding situations, competitive grants processes, the devalorization of collaborative scholarship, and disciplining metrics that alienate us from our labor as educators and students. "In the face of these conditions one can only sneak into the university and steal what one can. To abuse its hospitality, to spite its mission, to join its refugee colony, its gypsy encampment, to be in but not ofthis is the path of the subversive intellectual in the modern university" (Moten & Harney, 2004, p. 101). This essay is the product of our stolen time (away from grading, meetings, assistantships, etc.) to collectively better understand the tensions between our motivations for being at the university and our experiences while here. We share our desires for the university to be a free space to think creatively and engage in social change and our lived experiences of the university as an institution that rewards and maintains the status quo of the education system.

This study illustrates the ways in which the practices of two instructors in an arts-based, after... more This study illustrates the ways in which the practices of two instructors in an arts-based, after-school literacy program serving Somali youth provide insights for teaching urban immigrant students. It draws on a qualitative self-study that examines the experiences and practices of the researchers in the development and implementation of a program called Pen 2 Paper 2 Power. It illuminates the difficulties of using culturally relevant pedagogy with immigrant youth, given the complexity of immigrant youth cultures, formed at the intersection of ethnic culture, youth culture, and popular culture. The research also examines the pedagogical implications of practicing culturally relevant hip-hop pedagogy with urban immigrant youth.