1. Describe a positive scene from childhood.
When I was younger, my aunt was always the one who took me Trick-or-Treating. At seven, my cousin was born and she started joining us, as did my uncle. One year, we decided to do a group costume. My aunt, cousin, and I dressed as the Three Little Pigs. My uncle was the big bad wolf. Each time we drove to a new house, my aunt, cousin, and I would get out and run to the door, pounding and begging to be let in. A couple minutes later, my uncle would show up, doing his "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in" thing. We were a hit, and the people we visited had fun trying to figure out who we were (we wore masks). With halloween coming up, I thought back on all of the times and memories I have from this night, and this one is probably my favorite.
2. Describe a negative scene from childhood.
My grandfather had one of those big, old fashioned tractors. Actually, he had two. One evening in the summer, my grandfather was getting ready to put the tractor away after plowing the garden. He would always let me sit on his lap while he drove, and while he was parked in the yard, I ran to climb on. Except, I climbed up the wrong side. There was a pipe that stands on the other side, I honestly don't know what it is used for. While trying to climb up, I grabbed this pipe to pull myself up... and burnt my hand. It was really hot, and as a result, I got second-degree burns from grabbing it. I don't remember much about the race to the emergency room or what happened afterwards. They gave me a cream and wrapped my hand and I went home, but it's a story my family would tell often for years to come.
5. Identify particular "turning points".
When I was a senior in high school, my grandfather died. This would be tragic for anyone, but for me it was especially devastating. Because my father had been absent, and my mother was struggling to provide for us, I had been partially raised by my grandparents. For five years of my life, I even lived with them. My grandfather was always a father figure to me, and so him getting sick was the hardest thing I've ever dealt with in my life. This is a turning point for me in a number of ways. For one, I learned how my family and I would begin to live without someone who was incredibly important in our lives. As my grandmother says, we never realized how much he did until he wasn't around any longer to do them. In another, I found out how strong I could be. When my grandfather died, I was the one who held it together while everyone else fell apart. I helped my mom and my grandfather. I made the necessary phone calls. It was a lot at the time, especially after the months of taking care of him and the long nights spent sleeping in hospital waiting rooms. This changed a lot in my life, as it did for my family.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Teaching With Current Events
What is Noteworthy?
There are three purposes for writing news: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Most of the time, reporters chose what to report based on their position and what will gather an audience. Tabloid reporters talk about the unbelievable things that celebrities do because it gets them more views on their blogs and sell more magazines. No one wants to believe their favorite celebrity went to rehab, so they buy the magazine to see if it could really be true. And then, when the star who is known for being a walking disaster cleans up their act, everyone has to read about it. Local newspapers might report differently on an event then the national media, because they're part of what's going on and understand the situation better, whereas the national media might just want a news story. Point of view has a lot to do with how and why stories are chosen and reported.
Student Motivation
While students take an active interest in the stories that entertain, they can also be very opinionated on the other things that take place. Kids are capable of media literacy when given the chance and the instruction, and they take an active role in it. It's especially motivating when kids are asked what they think about a topic. One of the lessons I taught that I feel the most proud of was a digital literacy lesson. It didn't start out that way, but eventually that's the role it took. Students were engaged and interested, and brought things about what they saw and what they wanted to know that even I didn't. Interest and motivation can be achieved just by getting them involved.
Authentic Learning
I love how literature can be used to teach about media. Later books in the Harry Potter series show a lot about how the media can twist the truth to it's own means or to just make an entertaining story. The Hunger Games is another good example of this, which is a great novel for an area like West Virginia, which is rural and dependent on it's industry. I liked the point made in this chapter that talked about how younger people have a distrust of the media. People are becoming much more knowledgable about what the media does and how it might twist a story.
Place-based Education
Sarah Stuteville talked about making stories that connect and inspire. She also mentioned coming back to her home of Seattle to get support for her and her friend's project, and all of the educational opportunities that are now taking place because of it. It's easy to create interest and motivation when bringing the place a student knows into the lesson. It's something familiar, and when they can comment on it and display their own knowledge, it's exciting.
There are three purposes for writing news: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Most of the time, reporters chose what to report based on their position and what will gather an audience. Tabloid reporters talk about the unbelievable things that celebrities do because it gets them more views on their blogs and sell more magazines. No one wants to believe their favorite celebrity went to rehab, so they buy the magazine to see if it could really be true. And then, when the star who is known for being a walking disaster cleans up their act, everyone has to read about it. Local newspapers might report differently on an event then the national media, because they're part of what's going on and understand the situation better, whereas the national media might just want a news story. Point of view has a lot to do with how and why stories are chosen and reported.
Student Motivation
While students take an active interest in the stories that entertain, they can also be very opinionated on the other things that take place. Kids are capable of media literacy when given the chance and the instruction, and they take an active role in it. It's especially motivating when kids are asked what they think about a topic. One of the lessons I taught that I feel the most proud of was a digital literacy lesson. It didn't start out that way, but eventually that's the role it took. Students were engaged and interested, and brought things about what they saw and what they wanted to know that even I didn't. Interest and motivation can be achieved just by getting them involved.
Authentic Learning
I love how literature can be used to teach about media. Later books in the Harry Potter series show a lot about how the media can twist the truth to it's own means or to just make an entertaining story. The Hunger Games is another good example of this, which is a great novel for an area like West Virginia, which is rural and dependent on it's industry. I liked the point made in this chapter that talked about how younger people have a distrust of the media. People are becoming much more knowledgable about what the media does and how it might twist a story.
Place-based Education
Sarah Stuteville talked about making stories that connect and inspire. She also mentioned coming back to her home of Seattle to get support for her and her friend's project, and all of the educational opportunities that are now taking place because of it. It's easy to create interest and motivation when bringing the place a student knows into the lesson. It's something familiar, and when they can comment on it and display their own knowledge, it's exciting.
The Danger of a Single Story
Reading #1 - The Danger of A Single Story
Three things I learned about storytelling are a single story show a people as one thing, a single story robs people of their identity, and stories can be representative of power, and by leaving out details, a new story is created, but the most important thing I learned is is that you need a balance of stories.
Reading #2 - Chapter 6: Protection and Empowerment
"Researchers explained how young teens take their cues from the cultural environment in developing a sense of self." -- pg. 106
This is a topic that you hear about often. It's not a recent problem, either, but one that has been around for many years. Now the ways in which students go through puberty and the crazy things they ultimately do are more dramatic, and seen as crazy to adults, but that's much different than how it's ever been. One thing I thought of when I was reading this part of the chapter was the incident that took place between Demi Lovato (who is mentioned, as well) and Disney Channel. There was a reference to an eating disorder in an episode of one of the station's shows, and Demi exploded on them. Her points were very much in line with what this has been saying: young kids take their cues from the media, and that would tell them that having an eating disorder was something that was okay, and something they might even consider in order to look like the celebrities they see on TV and in magazines.
"They're not used to sharing what they know about media in a school context. I was surprised at how deep and complicated their feelings are about these people." -- pg. 108
I feel like a lot of educators are very out of touch with what their students are experiencing and go through. We get so caught up in what we have to teach and what we have to do, that we forget that kids have solid opinions about things, especially things in popular culture. As an avid reader and English teacher, I'm constantly complaining about how books are turned into movies or TV shows and how badly they're done. The thing is, my students have these exact same thoughts, and they can be just as passionate about them. Many English teachers are opposed to using popular books in their classroom, but I think that they can actually help to create student interest, because then it's not something old or tired or BORING, but something they can put in their own context.
"Readers, viewers, and listeners pay attention to stereotypes because they are familiar. We pay attention to contradiction because it's novel and unexpected." --pg. 115
This makes me think of the TED talk, and how she talks about a single story. Stereotypes are the single stories we receive. She gives many examples of this in her talk. The contradiction comes when we see the other side of the story, the part that we may or may not have ever known, or maybe just the part that we never wanted to pay attention to.
Three things I learned about storytelling are a single story show a people as one thing, a single story robs people of their identity, and stories can be representative of power, and by leaving out details, a new story is created, but the most important thing I learned is is that you need a balance of stories.
Reading #2 - Chapter 6: Protection and Empowerment
"Researchers explained how young teens take their cues from the cultural environment in developing a sense of self." -- pg. 106
This is a topic that you hear about often. It's not a recent problem, either, but one that has been around for many years. Now the ways in which students go through puberty and the crazy things they ultimately do are more dramatic, and seen as crazy to adults, but that's much different than how it's ever been. One thing I thought of when I was reading this part of the chapter was the incident that took place between Demi Lovato (who is mentioned, as well) and Disney Channel. There was a reference to an eating disorder in an episode of one of the station's shows, and Demi exploded on them. Her points were very much in line with what this has been saying: young kids take their cues from the media, and that would tell them that having an eating disorder was something that was okay, and something they might even consider in order to look like the celebrities they see on TV and in magazines.
"They're not used to sharing what they know about media in a school context. I was surprised at how deep and complicated their feelings are about these people." -- pg. 108
I feel like a lot of educators are very out of touch with what their students are experiencing and go through. We get so caught up in what we have to teach and what we have to do, that we forget that kids have solid opinions about things, especially things in popular culture. As an avid reader and English teacher, I'm constantly complaining about how books are turned into movies or TV shows and how badly they're done. The thing is, my students have these exact same thoughts, and they can be just as passionate about them. Many English teachers are opposed to using popular books in their classroom, but I think that they can actually help to create student interest, because then it's not something old or tired or BORING, but something they can put in their own context.
"Readers, viewers, and listeners pay attention to stereotypes because they are familiar. We pay attention to contradiction because it's novel and unexpected." --pg. 115
This makes me think of the TED talk, and how she talks about a single story. Stereotypes are the single stories we receive. She gives many examples of this in her talk. The contradiction comes when we see the other side of the story, the part that we may or may not have ever known, or maybe just the part that we never wanted to pay attention to.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Clues to a Good Story
Reading #1
Three things I learned about storytelling are like your main character, create anticipation, and use what you know, but the most important thing I learned is to make your audience care.
Reading #2
"Some of the best project-based learning assignments using media and technology give students a combination of structure and freedom, where they can develop communication skills and exercise their creativity but have some constraints that limit and shape their work."
I love this explanation of project-based learning, especially when it discusses them having freedom, but within constraints that help shape it. I think that, when not given guidelines, students mostly have no idea what to do with the task they're given. If directions are vague, they become confused. In some circumstances, having too much freedom can be challenging and confusing. Even as a college student, I've encountered assignments that were confusing because there weren't guidelines or explanations given. Some of us don't enjoy that much freedom.
Three things I learned about storytelling are like your main character, create anticipation, and use what you know, but the most important thing I learned is to make your audience care.
Reading #2
"Some of the best project-based learning assignments using media and technology give students a combination of structure and freedom, where they can develop communication skills and exercise their creativity but have some constraints that limit and shape their work."
I love this explanation of project-based learning, especially when it discusses them having freedom, but within constraints that help shape it. I think that, when not given guidelines, students mostly have no idea what to do with the task they're given. If directions are vague, they become confused. In some circumstances, having too much freedom can be challenging and confusing. Even as a college student, I've encountered assignments that were confusing because there weren't guidelines or explanations given. Some of us don't enjoy that much freedom.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Media Literacy PSA
PSA Reflection
The theme of my PSA is why it's important to teach media literacy skills in the context of political campaign ads. I discuss not only poster ads, but also video ads. These commercials are all too common come election time, and it's important for students to learn to evaluate these ads now so that they can make more informed decisions when they become a voting adult.
I chose to use campaign ads and screen captures from ad campaigns to help prove my point about why this is an important topic. I also used relevant ads, such as pro-Obama campaigns that were designed during the 2008 election. I matched my images with the facts I gave out, and even slipped the same persuasive techniques used in political ads, such as emotional appeals, humor, and the use of patriotism, to convince my audience that they need to do this.
The Power of Representation
"This is part of the reason why so many people love video games. Many video games offer users a set of choices that closely model the many choices we face in direct, real-world experience. The immersion we experience when "it feels so real" is captivating and pleasurable because it closely approximates lived experience."
What's really cool about many video games now is that you can customize your character or choose which character you want to play, which gives people a lot more freedom to represent themselves. One thing that is loved about Bioware games are their character creators. There is so much freedom within the newer games to design your character as you want, even down to facial structure. It's all pretty cool, and the most recent games have a character creator that can make such realistic characters.
As for the actual experiences from playing games, some are not so real, and don't have real-life problems, but sometimes the puzzles and problem-solving skills involved in these things is what makes it feel more real. Other games, however, can have an appeal because they do create real-world situations and experiences. Games can be powerful, not only for our leisure time, but also for use in teaching skills or lessons we need to.
What's really cool about many video games now is that you can customize your character or choose which character you want to play, which gives people a lot more freedom to represent themselves. One thing that is loved about Bioware games are their character creators. There is so much freedom within the newer games to design your character as you want, even down to facial structure. It's all pretty cool, and the most recent games have a character creator that can make such realistic characters.
As for the actual experiences from playing games, some are not so real, and don't have real-life problems, but sometimes the puzzles and problem-solving skills involved in these things is what makes it feel more real. Other games, however, can have an appeal because they do create real-world situations and experiences. Games can be powerful, not only for our leisure time, but also for use in teaching skills or lessons we need to.
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