Blog Post 4

     While I agree with everything that was in the reading, the whole time I couldn't help thinking, "is this really anything new?" I'm going to engage with the text here, and say that I honestly found this reading to be a little silly.

     Let's take a step back here. The main ideas in this reading were to make sure that you are not letting the media babysit your students, choose media that is meaningful and further enhances an essential question, to teach students how to effectively use media, and to make sure that you are engaging with the media yourself and not letting your personal feelings get in the way of trying new media. None of this is new. These principles are taught in 276 and reinforced throughout our entire educational major. 

     In George's book, Breaking the Learning Barrier for Underachieving Students, it talks about these very principles.  Making sure your lessons reach all types of learners, promote questions in student's minds, and reinforce connections between what you are teaching to other areas in their lives. Hm. Interesting. It's the exact same principle as not letting your media babysit your students. Aside from George's book, Understanding by Design talks about the essential questions we should have for every lesson/unit. It also talks about the big ideas we should have for every unit. This is the same idea as "choosing media that is meaningful and further enhances an essential question". To answer the first question in the prompt, "access in a public school setting" is this very idea. These ideas, when applied to media, is what the text defines as access: "finding and sharing appropriate and relevant information and using media texts and technology tools well".

     When I was completing observation hours for a CPSE class last semester, I sat through three class periods (that's 4.5 hours people) of the teacher popping a movie in and letting it play the whole class period. There was no discussion. There was no worksheet. There was no interaction with the film at all; it was a babysitter for this educator. Now, having taken a few pedagogy classes here and there, it was obvious that this was a terrible "lesson" (if you can even call it that). Of course we don't let an entire class period be a movie while the student's place their heads on their desks.Of course we choose media that is pertinent and interests our students while engages them with the material. This isn't revolutionary. The first two main ideas I mentioned (make sure that you are not letting the media babysit your students, choose media that is meaningful and further enhances an essential question) have been covered over and over and over. Why wouldn't we apply these principles to media in the classroom? It's simply application of attained knowledge to this area of pedagogy. 

    As far as the last two main ideas I mentioned (to teach students how to effectively use media, and to make sure that you are engaging with the media yourself) isn't something I feel needs to be explained. It doesn't take a scientist to see that media is constantly changing, and today's students' are changing with it. Obviously, if you can't keep up with the media, you won't be able to reach your students. Students use media now more than ever to communicate, entertain, complete homework, and a whole host of other things. Because of their extreme interaction with it, you must interact with it to interact with your students. Again - I don't feel this is a concept that really needed fleshing out. This is a no-brainer to me. The second question in the prompt asks, "How can you help students to use, find, and understand in your classroom setting?" Keeping up with media yourself is the answer. If you can use it and integrate it, your students will be able to use it an integrate it. This doesn't mean you need to be a pro at every program ever made, but it does mean that you need to be willing to explore and engage with the media yourself.

    To answer the third question in the prompt: To me, the biggest complications of accessing media would be making sure that whatever media you are using enhances. It can be easy to turn on a movie. It can be easy to show a fun clip in class to kill some time. It can be easy to do popcorn reading of a play. We must resist as educators. We must be selective in our choices of media and plan very carefully how we use it. Although, again, nothing new (see section on George's book).

     So, in conclusion, I agree with the reading. I think the ideas and principles on how to use media in our classrooms and how to make sure that our students are savvy as well is great. Do I feel like it's a revolutionary idea? No. Do I feel that it really needed 46 pages to explain it? No. If we can empower our students with the ability to effectively use the media to enhance their understanding of the concepts we are teaching, we are hitting two birds with one stone. We are giving them the media skills they are going to need in the real world, and we are also teaching them theater/English concepts. 

Media With A Purpose

At first glance I read these chapters that I thought were really great, and came out with some great ideas about how to integrate different types of media into my classroom. I read about the warnings of using media in an ineffective way (as the “babysitter” discussed by Lindsey) and as the throw away assignment teachers give to substitutes. I read about how the teacher utilized MTV to draw parallels between the drama of these reality shows, and the drama/dramatizations of The Crucible. But what does this have to do with access? I found myself wondering that question. I get that I should pick contemporary media kids will be interested in that I can draw parallels to. From there I can even get them to write research papers that they’re excited about. But what does this have to do with access?

I flipped back to the definition to remind myself. Part of it is that there are different access points for each type of media. You need to know the format, or genre, of blogs to be able to access and use them. If you don’t understand how computers work then you can’t access them. Things like that. But most importantly, I loved the definition that said that access was “finding and sharing appropriate and relevant information and using media texts and technology tools well” (12). Amen to that. I thought about the educational description of reading a book and watching the movie. The author remarked that during this kids are often bored, with fall asleep with their heads on their desks. At first I thought to myself, “Well that’s not true at all! I loved watching movies in high school.” And then I remembered that that was because it meant no work. Often we watched historical movies, or movies made after books (ahem, Of Mice and Men) that I found terribly boring. This is a great example of busy work.

Are you showing this movie for a purpose? Or just for the heck of it?

But then I thought of very rich movie experiences that we had in high school. They were not movies that we watched because we had read the book, they were movies that allowed us to discuss post-modernism or social issues. They were movies that brought an emotional reaction, and prompted us to engage in highly emotional and controversial debates. The themes of the movies mirrored the themes of what we were learning about. I think the teacher in the book did just this. He had an advantage of having a teenaged daughter because that exposed him to a show (and network) that he was otherwise completely unfamiliar with. At least in the contemporary form. However, like the book mentioned, there are television shows and movies that both teachers and students enjoy. We should take advantage of this as we carefully choose these technology tools and media texts to share that appropriate and relevant information that ties to the curriculum and themes we’re teaching. I think a challenge to accessing media is just not knowing those new forms of media that kids will be interested in. If this man hadn’t had a teenage daughter he would have never known about 16 and Pregnant and would have never had this idea. Does he already know about Twitter? Instagram? I think somewhere there comes a line where you just don’t have access to the new things kids are watching/doing unless you have that insider access. I think that will be the biggest challenge of meaningful access, but it’s not impossible. We just have to use media as a tool to drive home important themes and conventions. Once we use it as a means to fill time it becomes useless. If you want to use the film to discuss how it captured important themes the book couldn’t (or vice versa) then that’s great. But if there’s no educational purpose it should just be left on the shelf. 

Babysitting Vs. Teaching

The thing that hit me the most when I was reading the read was that, as teachers, we have a responsibility to make sure that the media we use in our classrooms is useful. At first, I was astonished when I read that “sometimes, digital technology is used as a babysitter” (5). However, when I stopped to think about it, I realized that in both classes I was in growing up and classes that I have observed since becoming a teaching major, teachers have, at times, used media to babysit. There was no assignment or discussion after watching the movie, the merely moved on to something else the next day. One of the reasons why I think this is so bad is because when teachers do this, they teach kids to use media lazily. “Media is something purely created for you to sit and consume,” is the message that is sent. This is so not true! As teachers, it is out responsibility to make sure that our students are responsible, critical consumers of media that use what they consume to go out and create. Another problem with the babysitting approach to using media is that it wastes time. Many teachers often complain about not having enough time to teach everything, and I agree that there isn’t a lot of time. That is why we must use what time we do have as teachers effectively, which is never accomplished by popping in a DVD.

As I have thought about how I can use media but avoid using it to babysit, one of the best ideas I had was to use media as journal prompts. Every day I could show the students a piece of media—youtube video, song, news report, movie clip—and then, after showing it, have them respond to it. When having them respond to it, I think it would also be a good idea for me to come up with several specific questions for them to respond to, rather than just letting them go at it. I think that having these daily journal prompts will help them in several ways. For one, it will expose them to a wide variety of media. Being able to compare and contrast these different types of media will, I believe, help them to be more critical of the messages the everyday media they experience are sending because they’ve seen different techniques used in many different forms. I also think that this can help students if I show media that correlates to what we are currently studying. This will help the students learn how to draw parallels and connections to the curriculum and make it more relevant.

I also came up with several guidelines/rules that I’m going to try to use for myself when I pick media to use in the classroom. They are:

1.      For every piece of media I use, provide a way for students to respond to what they experience. Never just show and move on. Have the students write something down, talk to their neighbor, turn in a report—never let the media stand in isolation.

2.      Make the media I pick meaningful. Don’t just show the whole movie—pick a certain part that brings out a point or theme that you are trying to communicate. 

3.      Never let the consuming of media constitute an entire class period.

4.      Make the media relevant to the students’ lives. Mr. Fisher did a fantastic job at this when he combined popular MTV shows with discussion of The Crucible. It helped students to get engaged.

Hopefully, these personal rules will help me to avoid using media to babysit, and will enable me to help my students become responsible users, not just consumers, of media. 

Blog Response 4

Often times when it comes to my personal understanding of technology, the image above explains every conversation I have ever had with my computer.  It seems like I finally figure something out and then the computer stops and asks "can't you do anything right" to which I yell back "can't YOU do anything right".  According to Hobbs the definition for access in terms of a public school setting is "Finding and sharing appropriate and relevant information using media texts and technology tools well" (pg 12).  As I read the definition I feel fairly confident with the statement until the word well is tacked on at the end.  "Using media texts and technology tools well", it not really one of my strengths but that just means that I have a lot of room for improvement.  What I cannot do is walk into a classroom pretending that I know everything about everything, when in actuality, at home I am yelling at the computer "can't you do anything right?"

         If you don't know how to do something, go figure it out!  If you can't figure it out then ask for help.  How many students would love to show their teacher a thing or two about technology and media!  My siblings, who are ten and twelve years old, love teaching me all sorts of new ways to use the media and I am grateful for their knowledge, understanding and explanations.  In the reading, Hobbs suggests we use encourage use of media in our classrooms through "using technology tools", "gathering information", and "comprehending" (pg 13).

          First and foremost if we want our students to be open to using technology and media we have to be willing to use it in the classroom and on individual assignments. In class I came up with the idea of first allowing students to anonymously (from each other, you get the papers!) self-evaluate on various media and technology such as writing a blog, creating a website, using photo shop, etc.  After reviewing the evaluations, divide the students into groups where students who don’t know how to use particular programs are grouped together. The assignment that follows will require them to look at a basic outline/instruction given by you, for example "create a website that advertises the school's upcoming performance season" and work together in a group to fulfill the assignment.  You can be used a resource, but encourage them to use online tutorials.  Once the projects are completed, the students will have to present their work using a media of their choosing to the class, providing their process and the final product.  Doing projects such as this one allow the students to gain hands on experience using media for a purpose as well as learning how to use media working with other opinions and people.  

             In gathering information, the book suggests that we "model effective strategies for finding information" (pg 13).  Assign a research paper for the students to complete where they can write on anything that interests them in regards to theatre.  But give them the paper in steps - first require them to turn in a proposal of what they want to write on with three sources attached so they know they can find sources. Then in class model various ways they can find sources, through Google book, the school library, etc.  Show students websites that help them site sources, such as easybib.com, and require them to send you at least one draft of the paper for suggestions and comments.  This allows students to see examples as well as have hands on experience.

          To assess that students comprehend, I love that the book suggests for you to check to make sure that whether or not students are challenged.  In Mr. Fisher’s class he took the play The Crucible and instead of having students read the play and watch the film, he chose to relate it to the reality show 16 and Pregnant.  By relating to what students are familiar with, Mr. Fisher was able to assess that the students comprehended the main ideas of the Crucible through making connections to how reality shows are affecting our every day media.  He outlined how the students needed to find credible sources as well as had them search for sources to show to the rest of the class.  The Crucible can be challenging for students to understand and by relating it to students interests, Mr. Fisher was able to really access students’ comprehension while challenging them. 

          The complications that still occur with having students access media goes back to the participation gap.  Not everyone will have easy access to media.  But everywhere I have been there are public libraries fairly accessible.  Always be open to your students’ needs and if someone is struggling obtaining access to media you can always allow them more time, but each incident will be a case by case call.  You want your students to learn to persevere even when it is difficult.  Another struggle, I mentioned earlier, was my ability and knowledge of media.  But that is going to be up to me.  I want students to have access to media in my classroom and see me using and incorporating it into lessons and activities.  I don’t have to necessarily know about the newest technology the day it comes out, but I have to be willing to research, learn and find ways to utilize media in my classroom. For example, by using Facebook for character work, playing music off of Pandora while they are working, and helping them design advertisements in Photoshop, etc, I hope to help them become comfortable with media access in the classroom.

Kristen's Response to Sarah!

             I completely agree with Sarah regarding the fact that we as teachers need to embrace participatory culture.  The article definition is as follows, “A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices” (pg 3).  Our classroom environment’s need to have little to no barriers that allow students to access their artistic expression and move forward feeling support for their own creations and hard work.  By creating a safe classroom environment, whatever subject material it may be, allows students to feel comfortable in their own skin and be willing to take risks.  If each response or new idea is shut down or disciplined by their teacher they will lose all interest in the subject material, class, and what you have to say.  Each and every opinion and values our students share are important. 

                Jenkins also provides that “A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created)” (pg 3).  A classroom is the perfect space to allow students to not only value their own work, but value the work around them.  I appreciate the thought Sarah provided regarding students understanding the value of performing a show for the community.  Not only are they able to see how the show affects their community, but they are also coming together as a cast and crew learning to value one another.  I grew up playing sports my whole life, and although we were a team it felt like we were constantly competing with one another and trying to prove ourselves.  Although this is still prevalent in theatre, when given the right environment students are able to come together and support one another because each member of the cast and crew is crucial to the success of the show; no one is sitting on the bench. 

                In the classroom itself we need to constantly embrace the new media around us.  During my senior year of high school, our student teacher in my English class began each day by asking for a volunteer to come and play a song from their ipod for the class.  As we listened and then after the song was over we worked as a class to analyze the song, the message and how that message was conveyed.  The student teacher also asked the student why they picked that particular song and why it was important to them.  We worked together as a class expressing our beliefs and values as well as the teacher taking time to really appreciate the response of an individual student because of their specific choice of media.

Our students interact with new media every day and most of the time will be more versed then we will ever be.  We shouldn't be afraid or embarrassed, but rather embrace the fact that they know more and ask them how they could incorporate what they know into our class project.  As Sarah mentioned, the article stresses the point that there is the problem of the participation gap.  Fortunately if we think creatively, there are ways to combat the problem of students not having equal access to new media.  First and foremost we need to incorporate it into the classroom, such as in our individual lessons and activities as well as the shows.  If students don’t have access to new media at home, we can do as Sarah suggested and travel to the local library or the school’s library.  Media is around us constantly and our students experience it every day, whether that is at their own homes, looking over their friends shoulders, or in the classroom, etc.  As educators we need to be open to participatory culture and really caring about what our students have to say and what they create.  It is our job to set the example as well as the environment for our classroom so students can be given with the best learning atmosphere we can provide!  

Participatory Culture (Response 3)

I love the snippet from the article that states, “We are moving away from a world in which some produce and many consume media, toward one in which everyone has a more active stake in the culture that is produced” (10). This is completely, 100% pertinent to teachers, especially as we prepare to enter our own classrooms and teach a class (or multiple classes) this very concept: that they are, quite literally, the future of civilization as we know it. Looking at our culture today, that very largely means that they will be utilizing the media that is so rampant all around us and making it into something that is their own.

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I feel that with our art form of theatre, we have an even greater responsibility to influence our students and help them to see the kind of impact they can have on the world around them. Just taking a more specific and direct example, the mere act of producing a show for the general public could help students see what kind of an impact their own choice of media can (and undoubtedly will) have on the people around. Take advertising for one. Most students, especially at the high school level, will have access to the internet and (most likely) have a Facebook or similar networking online account. Even more students may have blogs, YouTube accounts, Twitters, and the list really goes on and on. As you rehearse your show and get your students amped up for their performances, you can encourage them to take video at rehearsals and upload them to their YouTube accounts; invite their friends to “attend” the Facebook event for the play; snap a photo of some really cool set or costume designs and Instagram it, or upload it to their Twitter page. This kind of advertising – almost 100% media-based, will allow students to see first-hand the effect of what they are doing (from stage to the World Wide Web) to help bring their show to life, audience included!

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We as teachers need to embrace this participatory culture, not shun it or run from it. If we want to prepare our students to make big decisions and let their voices be heard, why not start within our the walls of our classrooms and theatre auditoriums, and give them a safe way to do so? Certainly with every attempt to integrate this culture with our students will not be successful at every turn. Among the challenges that we are likely to face, using the internet in and of itself can quickly turn into a mess, as it is very hard to edit or censor what goes on, especially as it leaves the classroom. As the article suggests, certainly the wider use of online interaction will increase students’ ability to interact with their peers and others in a more comfortable and casual manner.

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On the flip side, however, one of the biggest concerns brought up is that of the “participation gap”. It is certainly not the case that every student across the globe (or even the US) has ready access to a computer, much less the internet, as frequently as they may like. However, most every high school should have some form of library in which students can access computers (and the internet); otherwise a local library may suffice and after-school transportation (or perhaps even a mini field trip one day a week or so) could be provided to ensure all students are getting access to the media they are interacting with. I love the idea of having students work together online, while also being physically together and present in the classroom. This could open the door to broader communication and we could readily see one another’s’ interactions online within our technological realm as a class. It still isn’t full-proof in the sense of monitoring and censoring inappropriate behavior or comments made, but it could at least hopefully foster a sense of community within the classroom. This will hopefully lead students with a desire to be more actively involved within their classroom and excite them into engaging in participatory culture as a whole.

Participatory Culture

I really loved Jenkin's statement when he said, "Empowerment comes from making meaningful decisions within a real civic context...Today’s children learn through play the skills they will apply
to more serious tasks later." It's interesting here that he says "Today's children" as if children haven't been doing this exact thing for ages. Little girls play tea party so that they can practice for when they are older and need to know proper etiquette. Just so, children today are learning through their "playtime" with technology, how to function the the evolving world of technology. For instance, I've watched a two year old do more stuff with an Ipad than her mom knew how to do with it.

It's interesting what a positive outlook Jenkins has on these new forms of "particpation."He briefly addressed it in the article, but a lot of research has been done pointing out the negative effects of "media consumption." Even terming it "consumption" makes it sound like the act of engaging in meda activities is gluttonous and wrong. But like he points out, it doesn't have to be.

I think key elements pertinent to teachers include the idea of using the "participatory culture" to aid in our classroom learning. Rather than discouraging the use of simulation games, blogs and other means of expression and learning, even to incorporate it into our lesson plans. He said that when people feel like they can contribute to their community, they are empowered and they're so much more willing to put themselves out there. The possibility that a kid who would roll her eyes and sleep under a desk during "reading time" in school, and yet would go home and do research about a topic she wanted to blog about (teach herself how to crochet by watching youtube videos, etc) is quite the paradox to me. I had a friend in high school who never took a music class in his life, and yet was able to teach himself how to play rockin' guitar, solely through guitar hero and youtube videos.

That kind of concentration is present in kids today. They just have to be invested in what they're doing.
I think if you want to up literacy grades, you need to get them invested. And you do that by letting them do things that are pertinent to and interest them. I think this is one way I can embrace the opportunities of the participatory culture. I know that personally, my favorite projects were the open-ended ones where the teacher didn't give a format, but said, do it how you want, in the medium that you want, and include these elements. Those were not only my favorite, but generally the ones at which I did my best.
I think it's no different for kids today.

I think challenges will come when we need to direct them to other things that don't necessarily interest them. For example, a kid who wants to learn how to play guitar and then is told he has to do a history assignment might be a bit reluctant. But perhaps we could still find something about the history that could be relevant to his interests. Perhaps establishing the rapport with the child--that we do care about what he cares about, and want to help him discover and develop his interests and talents, perhaps if we can establish that relationship, then he would be more willing to do what we ask him to do because he knows that eventually we'll come back to what invests him and help him further those skills.

 I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I like this line of thought, and would like to continue to ponder it as we discuss it more as a class.

Those are all my thought for now. Thank you! And goodnight. (:

Thinking Creatively About the Challenges of Participatory Culture

Considering the surge of youth as online media creators and sharers, Jenkins article makes it clear that educators today have a duty to teach their students in harmony with participatory culture—not at odds with it. Though the statistics can be intimidating, I felt encouraged by the ideas presented in the article about how to embrace the participatory culture of my students and use it as an asset to my teaching and our classroom environment.

The article’s definitions of participatory culture are so fresh and inspiring that I feel that they are suited to become a sort of mantra or credo to our future classrooms if we want to offer our students the best and most relevant knowledge and skills they will need in the 21st century. Take a look at this language:

• “relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement”
• “strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations”
• “members believe their contributions matter”
• “[members] feel some degree of social connection with one another”
• “producing new creative forms”
• “collaborative problem-solving—working together in teams”

These are the exact same attitudes and perspectives I want to promote in my future classroom! I wholeheartedly want my students to support each other’s creations and problem-solve together. I would love it if they felt connected and worked in teams for artistic endeavors. And most of all, I deeply hope my students will believe their contributions matter.

Clearly, these principles specified by the article are pertinent to our future as educators.

Nevertheless, challenges obviously arise in conjunction with the vastness and mutability of a participatory culture. One particular phrase from the article stood out to me as the ultimate challenge facing prospective teachers in this setting:

“a changed attitude toward intellectual property.”

While this is shift in outlook has positive potential, I am aware of the problems it presents. So, although I could spend the rest of my 684 allotted words describing the benefits and opportunities of participatory culture, I will instead devote the remainder of my response on the challenges raised by participatory culture and pose some possible remedies I think fit to countering these difficulties. The primary hazards I anticipate involve (1) an unequal distribution of access to technology in our various students’ residences, and (2) the transformation of plagiarism and regulations as new forms of media permeate the educational realm.

Open me in a new tab--I get bigger!

First, we will have to be mindful of the assigned work we generate for students outside of class. If nothing else, we have to beware of putting some students at a disadvantage if they don’t have the same technological opportunities at home. Instead, we can create and structure learning activities to be done in the classroom as much as possible. I can only imagine the enormous benefit to students by taking our classes to labs available in the school (computer, music, photography, etc.) and teaching them as a class how to apply the concepts of theatre or English in a technological setting.

A memorable example of this surfaced in my grammar education course last semester. We read an article about a teacher who spent a few class periods in computer classrooms with her junior high students to learn the nuts and bolts of Spellcheck. The students were familiarized with word processing and quickly became aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the program. By playing a game to try to “trick the spellchecker,” the Language Arts teacher not only reinforced grammar principles for her students, but also helped them understand that we cannot simply rely on or completely trust the accuracy of technology to do our thinking for us. (Another example of this is when ESL students might try to use Google Translate or a similar program to compose their essays for them.) By adapting some of our traditional English/theatre lessons into a non-traditional classroom setting (like a computer lab), we’re benefiting our students by helping them learn how to be responsible for the work they create.

On that note, the other potential challenge instigated by the rise of participatory culture is the spread and transmutation of plagiarism. In the past, teachers have only had to check written essays for plagiarism (for the most part). Now, in this adapting participatory culture, educators will need to be mindful of the new forms of plagiarism as it might surface in different mediums beyond the written word, such as photographs, images, blogs, videos, message boards, etc.

Honestly, the best way I believe that we can help students understand the parameters of plagiarism and how to properly credit references is to require them to use these current advances of participatory culture in our classrooms and then guide them in their efforts to appropriately cite their sources. We can do this by setting up blogs, message boards, or online communities for our students to regularly contribute to. We can ask them to find mixed media (music, photographs, art, and video) to design a creative project. If we as educators do not stay informed and active in participatory culture, then we are disabling ourselves from being able to empower, inform, and teach these principles of responsibility and creativity to our students.

Blog Response 3

Before I start, when I was reading the article and it was talking about different forms of participatory culture, and one of them was Expressions, most specifically mash-ups, I was reminded of a really cool youtube video I saw! (I know a lot of people do this, where they mash-up the year's hit songs into one, but this guy mashed fifty together and it sounds really good!)

Click HERE to see it.

Anyways, on with participatory culture.

Jenkin's article discusses the different forms of participatory culture, why it is a good thing, and how it is the responsibility of the school and of the parents to teach children to take part in media. He says that in each of the forms of participatory culture there is the opportunity for "learning, creative expression, civic engagement, political empowerment, and economic advancement." No one is saying that participatory culture can't be used for negative things, but if teachers and parents are allowing students to participate in various forms of media, and are actively teaching them how to use it for self-improvement, then it can be a very good thing. 
There are challenges that come with participatory culture, and we will face challenges in our classroom, but the benefits can outweigh the risks. The term "affinity space" in reference to participatory cultures, means that students can learn so much more from them than they can just a textbook. Using a variety of media in your classroom, encouraging students to participate, teaches them more than you could otherwise. We should allow time in our classrooms, instead of expecting the children to be able to use media at home. We should teach students how to use the various forms of participatory culture. 
(Another example is this blog we use to write our reading response. It could just as easily be printed off and turned in during class, but we are being encouraged to use different forms of participatory culture.)

I think just being aware of the problems that encouraging participatory culture can cause, and knowing the benefits can help when we are teaching. Being consciously aware of the struggles our student's face with it, and also being able to teach certain aspects of it to students who don't follow as easily. If we, as teachers, are making an effort to teach this way, then it won't be so bad!

Blog Response 3

What are the key findings of the Jenkins article that are pertinent to teachers? How do you think you will face the challenges of participatory culture in your future classroom? How might you address some of the challenges and opportunities that Jenkins talks about in the article?

Download the article here. 

Blog Post 2

Going back over the reading with the prompt in mind (how I can incorporate these ideas into my classroom) made me realize how much media we use as theater practitioners to communicate our ideas to one another. Directors and designers need to put together presentations, story boards, or "mood boards" in order to let the rest of the production team know where they are going with their concept.

As a teacher of theater, I think teaching students how to analyze an image, a poem, an advertisement, a painting, a photograph, etc. can be so effective in theater practice because different things will connect with different people.

As a director, for example, I will need to communicate the concept of a show with my lighting designer. If I show my lighting designer a poem that I feel encompasses the feeling that I want, and he doesn't understand at all what I'm trying to get at, I should have another medium to communicate with. I should be able to find a photograph, painting, movie, short story, or something else that effectively communicates to my lighting designer what my concept is. If I am able to use the skills outlined in the reading (effectively analyzing any form of media), then I can communicate to anyone what I need in a show.

This idea of course goes beyond directing or even designing a show. The skills to analyze any form of media can also help in interpreting a show, script, costume choice, etc. This will empower my students to think more critically about the media they are engaging with-rather than being mindless consumers.

A Multiplicity of Medias

I think this chapter does a great job at getting me to think about how I can use media in my classroom (in so many different ways) because it gives so many examples! And asks such thoughtful questions. Reading this chapter has caused me to look at all the different medias listed in a different way. I think I just took a lot of things at face value, or just tried to understand them at first glance. What does this mean? How do I understand it? Do I like it? But there are so many other questions than just those!

I think the first thing that was most key to me is the fact that we should always be digging deeper. Don't say, "I don't want to use this picture because I don't like it." Or, "Advertisements have no place in my classroom." You have to look for patterns (737), images, language, audience (739), sounds (740), tone (741), framing (742), and so much more. There's always something else you can notice. There's always use. I can't think of any media described in this appendix that isn't applicable to theatre, or just life in general. Every production ever produced has advertisements, production photos, and literature written for and about it. I think that this shows that media (and art) is very purposeful, and often everything is included in a piece of work for a reason. Understanding the messages we receive and send is powerful.

The second key thing I learned from this chapter is that media is so powerful. To only look at what media is communicating at face value is to ignore the ridiculous influence that it has. I believe that media rules our world, and that this is only becoming more true. If you think that you can flippantly put something out in the public arena without anyone noticing, you are wrong. We have great responsibility in the work that we present, and I can teach my students that the use (or absence) of media in their work creates powerful messages. It says things that words can't. If they are aware of how deeply they can analyze things like film, poetry, ads, pictures, paintings, and mixed media and how much they can get across with each then they can use that to their advantage. However, if they do not know all that a photo can and is communicating, yet they still choose to use it in their work that can create a lot of problems. It can say things they didn't intend to.

Last, I was struck by the notion of finding the narrative, or story, behind an image (736). I believe this is not just true for still images, but any image we encounter. If you're analyzing an essay, poem, or some kind of mixed media what is the narrative behind it? It's easy to do that with short stories, and sometimes even poems, but not always. I think that when we understand and identify the narrative behind our work it can become so much more powerful and inviting. I think it can be much more universal and relatable. People understand and are engaged by stories. Everyone has stories. If I can teach my students to always find the narrative that they're depicting I believe that they will become stronger artists. If you can identify the narrative and you're not pleased with it then it is your job to change it, or move on to a different project.

This chapter is very powerful, and was very helpful in giving me many insights on the different ways to teach media in my classroom.

Asking and Answering Questions

One of the main points made in the book is that in order to understand media well, you must ask good questions. When interpreting a poem, for example, they suggest you ask: “Who is the speaker of the poem? What kinds of images are present in the poem? What does the poem sound like? What is the setting? How does it look on the page?” Asking questions are important because they give the reader/viewer purpose and reason for engaging with the work. They take the work off the page or canvas and make it into something that’s tangible to the mind—from dead 2D material to the realm of the human mind. Questions give the work meaning. Questions make the piece of work a puzzle to solve.

Ideally, I would like to bass my teaching around asking and answering questions. We did this in my biology class here at BYU. Instead of just learning the dry facts, our teacher asked us questions relevant to big issues in today’s world, such as: “Is cloning okay?” Then, we would learn the science surrounding the question—in this case, we learned the properties of a cell—and then came to individual conclusions about the matter. It made the class engaging and worth-while. In an English classroom, asking questions will help make reading an old poem or looking at a piece of art more engaging because it invites students to solve a puzzle. They shouldn’t just read the poem because I’m grading them on it, they should read it to find out who the speaker is and why they’re telling a story or why their story is important.

Another main point made in the reading is that, when asking questions, one has to realize that you will ask different questions for different forms of media. The questions you ask when analyzing a short story will be different than the questions you ask when analyzing a painting. In the classroom, this is important to teach our students. For example, if teaching an AP literature class, I have to make sure that students know the questions they ask and answer in their essays about a poem will be different than the questions they ask and answer when writing about pros. To do this, I will have to teach students the difference between the mediums.

Last of all, a point the reading makes is that there is no right answer. The reading doesn’t specifically say this, but it implies this. Now, there are definitely wrong answers one could come to when interpreting a piece, but there is no one, solid “right” one. The reason for this is because every person has their own story. Every piece of work will touch each individual in a personal way because the way one interprets is personal. The big thing to teach kids here is that there is no dictionary definition when interpreting. They can make the piece mean what they want it to as long as they are able to support their claims with solid evidence. This is probably the most important thing we can teach them out of all these three points.

Media in the Classroom

As the above image suggests, the more I study Media and think of ways to incorporate it into my classroom the more I like it - the more I give Media a thumbs up!  At first the reading titled “On Reading Visual and Verbal Texts”, was just a nice, easy read with interesting suggestions.  But as I went back over the reading and reviewed the material with the idea in mind of how I could incorporate it into lessons and teaching in my classroom, I was fascinated by how many new ideas popped into my head. 

            For instance, the other night my roommate and I were discussing her use of “mood” boards that help inspire her and her classmates to design products for the desired consumers.  Upon reading over the photography and image sections, I related the idea of gaining stories from images to the use of mood boards.  In design classes, such as makeup, it proved beneficial to have images that provided examples of the skill set we were trying to learn.  In my future classroom I can use photography to create projects for the students to be able to have a reference to describe how they want a design to look, what mood they want for a particular scene in a show, or images that describe their characters personality.  They would take specific photos for the assignment and then could use mood boards to describe to the cast, or their class what this image means and the story it narrates.  Seeing and Writing states, “Our culture is driven by narrative, driven by a desire to draw connection and to create-or imply-a story. So the easiest way to begin reading an image is to determine its story.” (pg. 736)  Students are already familiar with our narrative driven world and as such it makes sense to allow them to use what they already know to better understand a world they may not be as familiar with.  That could be the world of the play, the mood of a story, the desires of the character, or the world of theatre itself.  After all a picture is worth a thousand words, right? :) 

          Another way I found to incorporate Media into my classroom is through advertisements.  Students see advertisements everywhere, from the tv, to newspaper, to the social media networks, etc.  Advertisements use both words and images to convey meaning.  Through studying various form of advertising, students could gain research in order to design the advertisements for the school production.  They could create posters, fliers, marquee announcements, the play bill, and/or ways to advertise on the internet.  Seeing and Writing states, “The purpose of advertisements is to market something to a specific audience on the basis of particular values and aspirations.” (pg. 739)  In order to get the community to participate in the local high school theatre, good advertising is required that focuses on appealing to the local communities’ values and aspirations.  Allowing the students to research advertising and then permitting them to create the show’s advertisements, lets the students use their research to make a tangible product that benefits the school.  They can analyze how words and images are arranged/used to best promote the product and then translate their research to an advertisement that incorporates what is the best way to invite the community to the production. 

            Short stories are another form of Media that can easily be incorporated into classroom lessons and activities.  Seeing and Writing discusses that in analyzing short stories you can look at: What is the point of view, what is the setting, who are the characters, how are they affected by the events of the story,  what are significant images and what are the transformations that occur or fail to occur in the story (pg. 742-743). As part of class, students can analyze a short story or a poem and create/devise a performance piece that illustrates the message, idea, or what they gained from their reading.  They could even create a piece that incorporates photography, recording, social media, or advertising.  As I look more closely at media it becomes more apparent how applicable it is to the classroom and how beneficial it is to teaching our students.

Blog Response 1

I think that media often gets a bad wrap, it seems to be a easy target for blame - for that reason, when I hear the word media I think of all the negatives that I hear about it. Reading through the standards with this new idea in mind, thinking of ways it could be used in my classroom to reiterate what I am teaching, I was very excited. Media can be used to teach every single one of the standards if you are trying to. Combining that with the core principals could be a little more easy, actually. Because we are living in such a tech-heavy world, teaching through media could very well be the best way to reach our students.
I remember in my English classroom in high school, my teacher had a blog that she used to post our assignments on and any reminders she had for us. It also had an option to email her and she would receive that email on her phone the minute you sent it. This use of media gave us the ability to ask any questions we had regarding assignments we were working on. She taught using media in her classroom as well, always having some sort of visual aid to help teach what she was lecturing on so that visual learners would be able to keep up.
Another teacher I had in high-school used absolutely nothing in her classroom. No pictures, no movies, no websites, absolutely nothing. She taught from the book. She lectured and we took notes. I don't remember a single thing I learned from her class.
Being ready to teach through media, using what we will learn in this class, will let us reach more students through our teaching. Using media, and having our students use media. I think that once it is a mind-set, once we think that way when writing lesson plans and teaching, it come a lot easier.

Response to Ashlyn!

            Ashlyn I am glad to hear that your husband is pleased with your new cooking endeavors!  Please feel free to bring any new recipes to class J.  Your analysis of the text was fascinating to read and I was impressed by the comparisons you made between the articles. For instance you said “When I saw the words “expression,” “critical thinkers,” and “communicat[ion]”, I knew that was exactly what Theatre advocates and strives to teach its students. Checking the catalog of National Theatre Standards before me, I saw similar language jump from off the page: “experience,” “imagination,” “communicating,” “conceptualizing,” “interpretations,” “evaluating,” “artistic choices,” and “analyzing, critiquing, and constructing.”  It had never occurred to me before how much the standards of CPMLE and the national theatre standards go hand in hand.

            Often when reading through the national theatre standards I feel overwhelmed and constrained by what we are required to teach.  The content standards are broad topics that allow for more personalized lessons, but the achievement standards are so specific that I get lost in the feeling of inadequacy to be able to teach all that is required to my future students, especially when I don’t see myself as an expert in the various topics.  For example Content Standard 7 in 9-12 Advanced states “Analyzing, critiquing, and constructing meanings from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions.”  Combined with the other 8 content standards that seem fairly manageable, but then adding the different achievement standards under the content standards can feel overwhelming.  For instance, the four standards underneath 7 include specifics such as “construct personal meanings from nontraditional dramatic performances, analyze, compare, and evaluate differing critiques of the same dramatic texts and performances”, etc. and cause me to stress over how we are to get through all of the standards as well as direct after school performances and run the auditorium, not to mention have a family at home and do our church callings.

            It all requires balance and imagination, just as your new found ability to combine various ingredients you have in your cupboards to a make a hardy meal.  I am grateful for the other readings that provided us with tools to create lesson plans and units that will allow for inventive ways to teach all of the content standards. I loved your idea for completing content standard two by having students analyze characters through a photo essay, and the idea that “students will reinforce their knowledge of both media literacy and character development by “analyzing, critiquing, and constructing” the various beliefs and experiences of their characters through media art.”  By combining drama with media art we will not only be able to keep students engaged through new material, but we are relating to the student’s interests in the ever increasing technological world.  Another example I thought of for character work was to allow students to create a Facebook profile for their character in a show or class project.  This way they are using media to enhance their character study as they establish online relationship to other characters in the show, post new status updates, edit photo journals, and add likes for what their character would be interested in.  Facebook is a media that most students will be familiar with and will allow them to interact with their characters in engaging ways, instead of just book work.  Speaking of food again, even as I sit here typing, I am eating a bag of pretzels and on the back of the bag it asks that you like the pretzel brand on Facebook! Media is constantly around us and will be a great teaching tool for our classrooms.  The introduction to CMPLE states that “its focus has evolved from WHAT is taught to HOW we teach.”  Which will balance perfectly with helping us teach what is required in ways that better relate to our students.

            This approach is similar to how the Seeing & Writing 4 book suggests finding ways to “approach a range of verbal and visual texts” (736).  There are always different ways to look at a situation.  The more versatile our students can become the more prepared they will be for whichever career path they choose in life.  As the educator it is up to use to handle the difficult task of analyzing the National Standards and filtering those standards to our students in ways that relate to their interest and promote/encourage their desire and ability to learn!  

Integrating MLE

I really appreciated the Appendix suggestions in the Seeing and Writing 4 book. I have some working knowledge of each of these subjects, but still the book brought up some good points to look for, especially with the relatively newer medias like photography and advertising. As I looked through the MLE Core Principles and then revisited the Theatre standards, I saw a plethora of possibilities opening up. Theatre is a medium that facilitates other kinds of media so easily! For instance, the idea of using photographs as projections within a show, is not necessarily new, but my ability and working knowledge of how to do so is. And understanding all the significance of doing something like that is a great thing to teach in a classroom. For then one must not only look at the scene being played, but also at the photograph (or scenic painting for that matter) behind the scene being played. In looking at images the book specified "the easiest way to begin reading an image is to determine its story" (737). Think looking at the individual story of an image compared with the story being told in the theatre scene could add depth to learning. Obviously this is only one example, but I really like the idea of putting two different forms of media side by side and reading their stories, using the techniques suggested in the book. I think this practice will only enhance understanding. For instance if we're studying a script by Shakespeare, putting a modern day image (or poem or advertisement) that construes a similar thing might be an interesting method of analyzing the piece. It would definitely add elements of historiography to our discussion, and I think this is one way that we could integrate media into our lessons based on the standards for drama we've been given. 

Try This at Home: Combinations of Standards and Academic Measurements from Your Kitchen to Your Classroom

Over this past summer, I married my best friend on a beautifully sunny (and hot!) afternoon in July. Throughout the beginning of our newlywed bliss, I have taken it upon myself to become just a little more domestic.

Of course I can!

Now, I came into college and married life hardly knowing how to cook anything. The last couple of months of matrimony have tested my perseverance as I have toiled through bland, tasteless attempts at meals and menus. And just as I was about to throw my hands in the air, this first little blog post assignment actually produced an answer to my problems like glorious dew from heaven.

As I was staring intently at both the National Standards of Theatre Education and the Core Principles of Media Literacy, I realized that I was looking for parallel threads in both documents—as if the most common themes obviously ought to come to the forefront in our future English and Theatre classrooms. For instance, the CPMLE opening statement caught my eye, in that it declares its purpose as “to help individuals of all ages develop the . . . skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers [and] effective communicators” (emphasis added). When I saw the words “expression,” “critical thinkers,” and “communicat[ion]”, I knew that was exactly what Theatre advocates and strives to teach its students. Checking the catalog of National Theatre Standards before me, I saw similar language jump from off the page: “experience,” “imagination,” “communicating,” “conceptualizing,” “interpretations,” “evaluating,” “artistic choices,” and “analyzing, critiquing, and constructing.”

I know that as prospective educators we sometimes get very overwhelmed when confronted with the National Standards in our field. We pore over the list of standards and wonder how we will ever decide what subjects to teach and how best to teach them. But I believe that referencing two sets of standards—the CPMLE and the standards specific to our field—offers us the opportunity to crosscheck our instructional priorities, streamlining the criteria and emphasizing the lessons of greatest importance.

For example, Content Standard 2 from the National Standards of Theatre Education asks teachers to foster students’ “acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and . . . productions.” In my weaker and less brilliant moments, this task can seem impossible to pin down—just how many ways are there to teach students how to develop and maintain a character? Which methods should I emphasize? However, crosschecking this standard with core principles found in the CPMLE helps me narrow my pedagogical focus and better understand which aspects of acting and character development I should accentuate in my instruction.

“Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages,” reads the sixth core principle from CPMLE. With this in mind, I am reminded of some of the guidelines presented in Seeing and Writing about reading and interpreting visual texts. Helping students understand the range of messages and analyses we can glean from media is something I can incorporate as I teach them about developing a character. Using critical thinking and modes of expression, I could have my students create photo essays for the characters they are portraying in an upcoming scene. As they carefully select which photographs best represent the attitudes and perspectives of their characters, students will reinforce their knowledge of both media literacy and character development by “analyzing, critiquing, and constructing” the various beliefs and experiences of their characters through media art.

So how does my opening tangent about newlywed domesticity and home-cooked dinners relate to these comparisons between the National Theatre Standards and the CPMLE? I have discovered a way to beat those “what-should-we-have-for-dinner-tonight” blues! Just like taking a sampling from both documents in order to configure the most useful ways to utilize Theatre, English, and Media education standards in our pedagogy, I have learned to scan my cupboards for some essential and interesting ingredients and then ask, “What common themes can I see here?” A second look at a container of chili powder hiding on the top shelf, the opportunity to make use of a bag of fancy pasta gifted to us at Christmastime, and a hankering for the delicious block of young gouda cheese we recently bought just might inspire creativity in the kitchen and yield some of the most successful and appetizing batch of homemade macaroni and cheese I have ever before produced in my life.

The husband was very pleased, in case you were wondering.

Blog Response 1

Reading:

• Core Principles of Media Literacy Education (avaiable here).
• P21 Arts Skills Map (availble here).
• Seeing and Writing: "On Reading Visual and Verbal Texts" (736-743)

Examine the National Standards for your field. Describe how the CPMLE might work with those standards in your classroom. How might the CPMLE be useful to teachers in your discipline in particular (discuss and cite particular examples from each document).

Group A posts; Group B responds.