Media Literacy in the Classroom

In this media-saturated world, it seems critical that the education system redefine literacy and make changes to the traditional English Language Arts curriculum. Students obviously need some sort of change because they are bored and not motivated to read the classic literature we force down their throats. We think kids aren't reading and writing anymore, but that is simply not true. They aren't doing it in the form the older generation is used to--opening a text and reading from left to right or taking pen to paper--they are reading widely in ways we are only beginning to grasp because these kids were born with the Web at their fingertips. They are used to getting whatever information/knowledge they need at the touch of a button.

We need to channel this exciting new energy for media and the Web so students can learn to critically analyze the images being thrown in their faces every day. Renee Hobbs' book Reading the Media is just the sort of thing our education system needs for its' youth. Her program teaches kids to look at all the media images with a critical eye--students are still learning the essential elements of the N.Y.S. Standards--learning to comprehend information, summarize it, organize it, analyze it, synthesize information into new ideas and finally to evaluate everything that the media throws at them. Students can now learn these skills with a curriculum that they can sink their teeth into with relish. The media is of high interest to adolescents, thus leading to intrinsic motivation. Without motivation, learning will never occur.

Unlearn the past and take hold of the future in front of us

Reading Will's "unlearning curve" seemed to put down in black and white what I have been thinking in my head about what I want to do in my classroom. We, as teachers, are not the sole content expert in the classroom. I want to make that clear to my students so they take charge of their own learning and seek out experts whereever and whenever they seek knowledge. The important thing is that they take the reins of their learning and direct themselves to where they want to learn. This is the only way we will see passion in our students. It needs to be relevant and personal FOR them.

I also firmly believe that education is a community undertaking on different levels. We need to use every resource out there that we can and get everyone involved. And Will is saying that the Read/Write web is an excellent source to make that happen. The web is a community of learners all coming together on the same page, the same playing field, the "flat world" according to Friedman.

One of the comments to Will's post caught my attention. Rosie Sherry said we need to unlearn that school/college/university is only option for learning. This brought to mind for me John Gatto's book again, Dumbing Us Down because he writes that the essential learning takes place in the home, surrounded by immediate and extended family and the community around which they live. We learn from the jobs we take on to help other people. I like the idea of apprenticeships (think Tobey MacGuire's character in Cider House Rules--he was Dr. Larson's apprentice--he learned everything about becoming a doctor by doing, not by sitting in a classroom all day) Granted that is a fictional account, but that is the way people learned and I think it is the way people learn best today--through hands-on, active engagement of the thing itself.

Doctors do it in med school with their practicum as an intern, teachers must be interns first too (as pre-service observers/participators and then as "student teachers") Why can't we start this with children at younger ages like middle and high school? Kids want to know that they are driving towards something and they deserve to know what their school is useful for. High test scores and an A grade is not enough motivation. Those external rewards will not build self-esteem and passion for learning in our students.

Passion in Learning

Okay, before I respond to Will's post on the "Unlearning Curve", I want to draw your attention towards a post that Will asked me to read. It is an incredibly powerful piece on inspiring passion in his students and I can't wait to hear the feedback on how his unit goes on The Diary of Anne Frank after everything he will be doing in class. One of his quotes struck me and, hopefully, you will be as inspired as I was and be compelled to read the rest of his post:

we need to give our students the freedom to learn and engage with ideas that they find relevant and important.

I think I am going to subscribe to this guy's blog post if I can. He has some very insightful, useful suggestions for the classroom and interacting with kids.

Langston Hughes reading....

A Negro Speaks of Rivers read by the author and where he was when he wrote it

Too radical or just what our education system needs?

I think everyone that wants to be a teacher right now needs to read this book. It has some really heated arguments and radical ideas in here about reforming our educational system. Not just tweaking it here and there and improving it, John Taylor Gatto is talking about overhauling the whole system and starting from scratch. He knows what he is talking about and has some solid ideas about what our children really need and what they are actually receiving in schools today. He writes about how they have been conditioned to act in certain ways every since the beginning of compulsory schooling began.

Gatto says that our nation ranks at the BOTTOM of nineteen industrial nations in reading, writing, and arithmatic. The BOTTOM!! He also said to "pick up a fifth grade math or rhetoric textbook from 1850 and you will see that the texts were pitched then on what would today be considered college level."

So anyway, I hope I gave you enough of an interest and emotion to go pick up this book and read it. It is fascinating and sad and unfortunately true. At first, I thought he was being way too radical and reformist, but he's been a teacher for over 30 years and won several Teacher of the Year awards. Check it out and tell me what you think. Especially those of you who are in my EDU 471 class and are already reading it--what do YOU think of his ideas?

"Multimodal Literacies" from the NCTE site

This is a powerful statement on what teachers need to be doing now in the classroom with regard to teaching our students. It's not just about teaching them how to read a book from front to back or writing in a particular form. It is about composing with nonprint media as a broader scope of literacy. As teachers, we need to promote multimedia composition in classrooms. Allow students to compose position papers and research papers digitally, post onto a blog, and turn in assignments on a class website. We need to allow them the freedom to create compositions in presentation software using video clips, podcasts, and whatever other creative elements are at their disposal. The opportunities for learning and researching information are endless these days.

The one critical thing we need to be helping students with is helping them decipher what information is true and accurate. Evaluation and investigative skills are crucial to navigating the web in this age where everyone is a publisher, a composer, a designer no matter what the degree or educational background. It is a great universal tool, a way to bring about tighter globalization and equality. It has "leveled the playing field" according to Friedman, but we need to teach students to become private investigators and to question everything that is out there. Question everything and back up your arguments with evidence and proof!

This was another short position statement I read that was connected to the NCTE one. http://www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/123773.htm

Help!

And no, I'm not talking about the Beatles song. I need a little help with bloglines. I'm not sure how to contact Ray directly on this and it's not urgent enough to send Dr. Stearns an email, but if I don't get any responses to this post, I will do that some time in the next day or so. Anyway, tonight I have been finishing up my blog roll, putting all my classmates blogs into my feed list. This is done. But now I am not sure how to get it to look like Ray had it today in class with everybody's new posts showing up on one screen. That would be so much easier for me to read everyone's posts quickly and more efficiently and respond to them in kind instead of opening a new window every time I read a new blog. Please help me.
signed,
lost in translation =(

A little poetry from one of the greats...... =)

read by herself, Lucille Clifton

moving away from technology to the real nitty gritty....

this is sooo cool!

my cousin's Nikki's sonogram pic =)

Technology is soo amazing now. I thought this was an excellent example of what are world is really becoming... my entire extended family was able to see my cousin's sonogram picture within seconds of her doctor's visit with this being digitized now. =) i just thought it was really cool.

but anyway, to the question of WHAT should we be teaching the future generation these days?? we have entered the INFORMATION age--children can access information so much faster and easier than we ever could only ten years ago. As Warlick says, "they (children) need to learn to control their information in positive, productive, and personally meaningful ways." (22). I also really like the idea of Personal Information Digital Libraries--fancy long term for your favorites list and bookmarks to navigate the web even faster. as if accessing anything you want to know through google isn't fast enough.
Speaking of Google, is google the new verb for the 21st century? "Oh, don't know it? google it!" Have you ever googled yourself? try it and see if you are on the net. You might be surprised. :)

a little clip interviewing teachers