Dodger or Quiz Contestant

I really enjoyed reading the Applegate artical. It made such sense, and I immediately began to think of students in the second grade class I am placed in and where they fit into the scheme. I think when I was learning to read, I was probably a dodger or a quiz contestant. I had an easy time relating to the text, making connections and drawing on my memory, but a harder time talking about what the text was actually saying. I would also dodge questions I did not want to answer and simply make the comment I wanted to make. I really think these profiles help us to look at individuals and cater our strategies to improve each individuals comprehension skills beyond just memorization.

Chapter 2: Teaching the Reading and Writing Processes

As a more advanced adult reader, I do not think that I go through all of the steps and features of the reading process, nor do I go through them in the order of steps presented in the book. I do, however, take part in each stage in some form that best suits the purpose of my reading.
In the prereading stage, for example, I definitely set a purpose for my reading; I either read for pleasure (usually over the summer) or for information (usually during the school year). The other prereading activities I participate in depend on my purpose. I do agree with the point that Tompkins makes that setting a purpose directly affects the comprehension of the selection by guiding the reading towards a particular focus.
I think that processes I go through as I read and respond to text combine and overlap. For example, I may take notes if I am reading for school, but I do this for comprehension goals that I have set in the prereading stage. In addition, in my notes I also respond to what I am reading by questioning what I am reading or making connections to other knowledge I have. This may also be considered part of the applying stage Tompkins discusses, although for school, it is often required that I apply what I have read in some particular way after I have done the reading.
This chapter did help me to pinpoint some of the strategies I use when I am reading, but the information seems more geared towards reading in school. When I was a younger student, I am sure I was encouraged by teachers to explore each of the different parts of the reading process, and that is how I have come to create my individual reading process, one that I know works for me.

Reading Comprehension

While reading the Applegate article, I thought it was very interesting and somewhat humorous that my reading comprehension profile best matched that of what the article referred to as a "politician". Although I don't necessary fit all of the elements of a "politician", this definitely reflects how I used to approach academic reading, especially when I was younger. In response to a teachers question about the reading, I would usually try to produce the answer that I thought they were looking for, or at least come up with something that sounded like I knew what I was talking about.
Part of the description of a "politician" highlights the readers limited comprehension of text elements. However, I don't think that this part of the description really applies to me, I simply did not enjoy reading and therefore would become easily distracted from the reading task.

Digital Native

I do not think anyone in this class can claim to be a digital immigrant. We all grew up with computers around us, we all use them for school, for learning, for fun. While we may have different experiences and confidence levels with technology, it is something that permeates our lives and has for nearly all of the years we have lived.
The quiz does not seem to be an effective way to categorize people as either digital immigrants or digital natives. I think there is much more to determining if someone is a digital native than being able to define a few trendy tech words. In a year, maybe blogs and wikis will be old news and there will be some new term it is important to know. Someone who fears technology and would never dream of using a blog, might understand what a blog is. I think what is important about this idea is not what specific technologies we can define or even know how to use, but our mindset about using and learning technologies. It is more important that we are comfortable trying things out with technology, that we know where to find help learning technology, and that we can see its benefits in our lives. The way we think about technology is what divides immigrants from natives.
When working with others to teach technology, I come across this often. There is a definitely difference in thinking when it comes to teaching a technology to a younger person than an older person. Having this framework (native/immigrant) for thinking about this difference, will really help me be a better technology teacher.

Digital Native

I consider myself a digital native, because I definitely see technology as "my friend, not my foe" and use it in many ways. When I took the quiz, I was unable to define modding and smart mobs, but was able to define blog, wiki, instant messenger, and massive multi-player online games. Technology is everywhere, so to be emergent is not difficult. People are exposed to the digital world daily, but whether or not they understand and are comfortable with the actual technology is what distinguishes people as natives or immigrants.

Someone in an emergent digital literacy stage would probably not be fully comfortable with the digital world. One major connection between digital literacy and traditional literacy is the ability to multitask. Young children do not learn all the skills necessary to be literate at once, rather they build on skills. This is true with digital information as well. People become comfrotable or knwoledgeable about one aspect of the technology and use that knowledge to learn more in depth about that or other technologies. For example, in my mind, a blog is an easier form of a wiki, so someone would probably be exposed to a blog and very easily be able to understand what a wiki is. Also, like an emergent reader, I am exposed to many different technologies, but I do not always understand all of them. This is a quality of an emergent literacy learner.

Digital Natives

I would consider myself a digital native. Although I am not as computer savvy as Alison or Rachel :) I have been exposed to various forms of technology since as early as elementary school. I was able to define four out of the six terms on the Digital Natives quiz, and have been exposed to/ used all four of the other digital terms included in the quiz. I have been familiar with Instant Messaging since early middle school, and currently use texting, blogging, and wikis such as Wikipedia (or YouTube might even apply to this) on a regular basis.
I think I would consider my digital competency to be much more advanced than what Tompkins would refer to as "emergent". However, not unlike Tompkins descriptions of emergent literacy learners, I have learned about technology by observing and participating in real life settings. I also am able to recognize digital concepts, even if I am unable to fully describe them or use them, which is similar to Tompkins description of emergent literacy learners abilities. I would consider my digital/technical competency to be somewhere between beginning and fluent in accordance with Tompkins descriptions of developing readers and writers.