Student Teacher Spotlight: Ms. Michelle Casten

By Teresa M.

With the increasing demand of teachers in Alberta, it's only fair to give the potential teachers a chance to showcase what they're all about. Upon hiring, principals and superintendents need to know what kind of teachers are emerging from teacher ed programs and whether their beliefs and values about teaching align with theirs. This post focuses on a Professional Vision of Literacy, with University of Lethbridge Student Teacher Ms. Michelle Casten under the spotlight.

Note: the dialogue on this blog post has been transcribed from the video interview. Pictures used are from Ms. Casten's classroom.

T.M. "Thank-you for taking the time to meet with us today, Ms. Casten."

M.C. "The pleasure is all mine."

T.M. "As you know, the focus of this interview is about a professional vision of literacy. Firstly, what is literacy as you understand it?"

M.C. “To me, literacy is the ability to comprehend, interpret, and create different forms of communication through any sort of medium, whether that be through reading text traditionally through a book, or a more contemporary form, such as viewing a youtube video. I learned about some of the literacy frameworks in Alberta Education through my PSI Language in Education class, specifically the 6 pillars of literacy: reading, writing, visual representation, speaking, viewing, and listening. All of these make up what I believe to be literacy in the 21st Century. Literacy is used in our daily lives, such as when reading the newspaper or when watching a play, but is also something to be worked at frequently, especially in school. It must be taught properly with support and practiced often."

T.M. "You mentioned 21st century literacy. How do you view other the forms of literacy besides the standard book?"

M.C. "The 21st century is very technology driven. Being a digital citizen, I am very immersed in technology, using it as a source of education and entertainment. I believe that technology is the future, and it’s only fair to educate my students how to use it safely. It is especially important to be literate in media-technology, with emerging technology in the classroom, such as the Smartboard. One must understand a message that is being conveyed, and understand the meaning of the medium used to convey that message. For example, to be literate with viewing a video is to understand the meaning behind it, and the ways in which that video was created. One should learn to take into consideration the duration of a shot or the lighting used within a video, of which create a meaning in itself.”

Ms. Casten showing her student how to properly comprehend information from the web.

T.M. "I also agree with educating students about how to properly use technology. I know even I have trouble accessing all the features on my new iphone. Secondly, what are the values and beliefs that you hold about literacy practices in your classroom?”

M.C. “As I learned in my Curriculum and Instruction class, we teach students, not content. This concept helped me place value on the importance of enjoying learning. Having many passionate teachers in the past who cared about students’ enjoyment and success in their classes motivated me to follow in their footsteps. In order to foster that enjoyment, I must be able to discover with my students their interests, and provide literacy-rich environments where they are able to discover them. I do this by providing different forms of literacy, such as books or blogs, which I will have spent time ensuring that there is a variety of genres and styles to suit my students’ interests.

T.M. "How do you do foster that enjoyment in your classroom?"

Ms. Casten in the reading corner, ensuring that the book her student chose is within his level.

M.C. "Students in my class are given opportunities to develop their literacy skills, using the Goldilocks Strategy, where students choose a book of their choice that is within their reading level. This ensures engagement and independence, and develops their fluency and comprehension skills. I believe that every student has a right to be supported with their literacy, which I do by teaching the right skills to them. Skills such as decoding, comprehending, interpreting, reproducing, and creating are practiced through reading, writing, viewing, or the other pillars. Students can work at this with examples of literacy from previous years that I provide for them so that they understand what good literacy is. A hypothetical situation would be during Health class, where I can show previous examples of a project about Canada’s food guide to demonstrate good literacy to my student. Projects such as videos or presentations are different forms of literacy which students can use to aid in their development of mastery. As I learned from my Education Technology class, there should be a balance with technology literacy in the classroom. I need to teach my students how to make critical decisions when receiving messages through media in terms of finding, interpreting, and evaluating the messages properly. With teaching different skills needed for all forms of literacy, I truly believe that my students can thrive.”

T.M. "What about your role as a teacher of literacy across the curriculum?"

M.C. “As a future elementary school teacher, I am responsible for teaching various subjects to the students. Having read Knipper and Duggar's article, Writing to Learn Across the Curriculum, in my Language in Ed class, I learned that subjects are different from each other in that each one requires particular kinds of literacy skills. Not only do I have to be knowledged in my subjects to teach it, but I must alter my style of teaching to suit my students’ needs, especially when it comes to gaining literacy skills in that subject.

T.M. "How would you do that? Specifically with reading and writing?"

M.C. "Math requires skills with equations and formulas, whereas Science requires skills with experiments and hypotheses. I think incorporating reading and writing into across the curriculum can be engaging and worthwhile. There have been occasions in the past where sometimes, my students don’t understand a concept or have trouble memorizing facts. I learned from my Education Psychology class in PSI that using storytelling as a way to teach can be effective. For example, in a content-heavy subject such as Social Studies, I can have students create a “timeline” through telling a story in the perspective of a soldier or a doctor in the World Wars, rather than having them memorize facts."

A student asks Ms. Casten to look over his "timeline" story in Social Studies.

T.M. "Yes, memorization has been proven to be ineffective in terms of long-term remembering."

M.C. "Exactly. Students not only learn dates and events, but learn the required content and practice their writing skills in a way that is creative and engaging. In Science, I can use an “act-it-out” strategy, where students are given a concept, such as the process of photosynthesis. The students must act it out without the use of words, but are able to move and make sound. This is not only engaging and rich to their learning, but develops their viewing pillar in literacy."

T.M. "What about in another subjects?"

M.C. "In Math, I can use books to explain concepts to students who don’t understand. Books such as The Best of Times by Greg Tang or Multiplying Menace by Pam Calvert are books teaching multiplication that enhance students’ reading and math abilities. These strategies take the concept of reading and implements them into the fundamentals of that subject. Students are not only practicing their literacy skills across the curriculum, but are learning differently, which will create life-long learning.”

T.M. "That is a great way to incorporate reading into different subjects other than ELA. Unfortunately, that's all we have time for today. Thank-you for coming in and chatting with us."

M.C. "Thank-you so much for having me."

With the definition of literacy changing from the traditional reading and writing, student teachers are being taught a new concept of literacy. Ms. Casten has explained to us her version of what literacy is in the 21st century, taking into account the six pillars of literacy and pointing out examples to support her beliefs and values. Next week, we'll have another guest from the University of Lethbridge to interview them on their views about the No Zero-Policy.

Teresa M is a professional journalist, writing weekly blogs regarding interviews she has with student teachers from across Alberta.