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.