Differences

I love how Kristin mentioned Judith Ortiz’s story right off the bat. I agree with her- the story explicitly deals with the differences in her life. I also think the story is great because while Judith goes through all of those categories for herself, the audience is able to go through all of them for themselves. I know I was thinking about mine. At first this prompt seemed really confusing to me, with really nothing to do with the importance of teaching media/current events. But then I hit myself over the head and thought, oh! There are a million differences between every single human on this earth. Each of our stories and experiences are different, and I really feel like that’s what media strives to show. It shows the different stories that each of us has. I think that’s the most beautiful part about media. We don’t try to make the same movies about the same story over and over again, and we don’t take the same photograph over and over (unless it’s like the invisible cities website, which takes the same picture at different times, and which shows the evolution of an area). We try to show how things change, and we do different things with our art. I’ve heard of directors directing the same show twice, but hardly ever more than that. I’ve never heard of a film director directing the same piece twice. I wouldn’t have students read the same book twice in my class. Are lives are enriched through the differences; that’s where they gain meaning. Differences bring nuances and shades of experience.

I believe to better explore difference we do different projects, utilizing different medias, and discussing different stories. We study people different from ourselves. I liked how in the Hobbs reading she mentioned students studying a foreign newspaper, and comparing that to Newsweek. The students studied how they were similar and different. What did each say about its culture and the people that read it? What did it say about morality and ethics, or believe on population intelligence. Students discussed all these questions and more. I think the media sometimes exploits difference to get a good story. I’m reminded of the Omayra story where the photographer mentioned he got flack for taking the picture while there were news reporters that actually did seem to be exploiting her. The students who made the flash mob video games seemed to be a little exploited by the media since they inaccurately portrayed the situation. It just depends. When it’s political (and Hobbs mentions that politics now sort of feels like a dirty word) I feel like media often exploits things. But when we see things on networks that are neutral or notoriously academic I really feel like the purpose is to explore.

I definitely feel like we have a responsibility to actually educate our students and talk about current events, or things that affect them. Like the book says, and like we have mentioned in class there are some times when you’re talking about specific issues that you might need parent approval. But also like the book says, we can’t just assume that these kids can’t/don’t want to talk about these issues. We can’t assume that they have nothing to say and then rob them of valuable experiences. My favorite quote from this reading was on p 168 where Hobbs says, “When teachers use mass media, digital media, and popular culture to address social, political, and cultural issues, students develop the capacity to make sense of and critically analyze the world around them.” I think this is so true. If we don’t talk about current issues, or connect plays we direct with their current lives/current issues then we are doing our students a disservice.