Transliteracy provides an opportunity for the students in my classroom to engage in multi-facet ways to incorporate technology and media to enhance learning. I have found in my own teaching that by providing students with numerous and creative ways to stay engaged with their learning that they tend to stay focused for more prolonged periods of time. In essence, transliteracy allows a teacher to practice differentiated instruction with technology serving as the tool for enhanced learning and understanding. For example, it is important to remember that technology in the classroom needs to be tied to content. Through technology students can share ideas, add ideas, and collaborate together, skills needed to be successful.
As an intervention teacher, my focus is "bridging the gap." 4th and 5th graders come to me with reading skills at a kindergarten level. Many of these students have "thrown in the towel" and feel that it is a gap that they will never fill in. My goal... use technology and different forms of media to grab their attention and show them that reading can be fun and interactive. Once I've grabbed their attention, I can use different forms of teaching to reach all of my students. It is so important to allow for students with disabilities to fully participate in the classroom. Many of these students require visual stimuli to support their learning and comprehension because they have deficits with auditory processing, so technology allows these students the opportunity to see and interact with what is being taught. Needless to say, Media allows students to access learning through various forms, increasing engagement for ALL students!