Philosophy of Education

Education gives us independence and power.  We use it to improve our lives, our community, our country and the world.  The more we learn the more I hope we are humbled at what there is still left to learn.  I believe in instilling students with the value of hard work, the power of confidence and need for ethics. "Work smart AND hard." (Ritz, 2013)

As a teacher, I am kind but firm.  I take the task of learning and working hard very seriously but I have a sense of humor in my classroom.  I am impressed with bright students and continually try to challenge them.  I have faith and confidence in struggling students and continually remind them to have faith and confidence in themselves because I know the underdog can prevail.  I inspired by the hard working students who try their best, no matter what the obstacles are. I actively listen to what students are saying and respond without judgement while doing everything in my power to assist them.  I love sharing with the students all the different ways they can learn about a topic and all the different ways they can apply what they learn outside of the classroom.

I believe the use of technology has greatly helped education and administration.  I have been blogging for over 8 years using various blogs and they have all been successful.  I have created and maintained wikis for high school students with great success and also to continue to use various other online tools for education.  Technology can be used in safe and very effective ways to assign and collect assignments, assess and communicate with students and parents, just to name a few.  It can also be a way for students to share work with their peers. "One student emphasized how writing for an audience is more exciting than the regular way of writing for the teacher:"…at school, no one else [but the teacher] reads [my texts], so it really doesn't mean that much."(Avila, 2012)

I know the media (television, online, billboards, etc) play a huge part in all of our lives.  I will help students to be aware of the media around them by helping them create their own media and/or digital story with the messages that they believe in that are related to our area of study.  Educators should additionally help guide students in exploring their interests and values without the help of advertisers and celebrities steering them into stereotypes and consumerism.  "Experiencing such digital stories, assisting kids and adults as they create them, and documenting their meanings and significance bring home to me a most urgent need: to expand our conceptions of what it means to be fully literate in new times."(Hull, 2003)  Students need formal guidance on how to interpret the media given the amount of time most American children and adults are online and watching television. "Such interrogations can lead to disruptions of taken-for-granted realities with an explicit aim of the critique and transformation of dominant ideologies, cultures and economies, and institutions and political systems."(Avila, 2012) "Recent research has highlighted the need for educators to bring digital literacies into our classrooms."(Avila, 2012) 

Educating others and educating oneself is beautiful and timeless.  My passion for educating others, improving the education system around me and educating myself will never die.

Resources and Links:

Avila, J. & Pandya J. Z. (2012). Critical Digital Literacies as Social Praxis: Intersections and Challenges. Peter Lang: New York

Ritz, Erica. "Mike Rowe on How Many Are Following the "Worst Advise in the History of the World"." Blaze. 23 Oct 2013: n. page. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/23/mike-rowe-of-dirty-jobs-speaks-about-hard-work-how-many-are-following-the-worst-advice-in-the-history-of-the-world/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ShareButtons&utm_content=buffer5e27a&utm_medium=twitter>.

Storyful, . Model Transformed by Airbrushing Highlights Media Distortion of Women. 2013. Video. Yahoo! News, Global DemocracyWeb. 3 Nov 2013. <http://news.yahoo.com/video/model-transformed-airbrushing-highlights-media-130320963.html>.

Hull, Glynda. "At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times." Research in the Teaching of English. 38. 2003. <http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.fairmontstate.edu/stable/40171638>.

"The Visual Literacy Toolbox." Teaching Visual Literacy to Students with Technology. Center for Teaching Excellence. Web. 1 Sept 2013. <http://www.humanities.umd.edu/vislit/activityplans.php>.

Cameron , Russell. Looks Aren. 2013. Video. You Tube: TED channelWeb. 25 Aug 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y>.

Digital Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcH0oJjn-MY

Please use the link as I have posted it as unlisted.  I hope it is meaningful to you in some way.

Reading Discussion #14

"Experiencing such digital stories, assisting kids and adults as they create them, and documenting their meanings and significance bring home to me a most urgent need: to expand our conceptions of what it means to be fully literate in new times."

I believe this quote stood out to me because the author has the same sentiment that the author of our text does in the urgency to teach digital literacy.  I would say I agree but am also surprised that the author says it is an urgent need.  I think most people feel that using the internet or watching television is something they have a lot of experience in and they feel they can handle media messages just fine.  It does take research to be presented the way DUSTY does to make an impact to people that, yes, we are swayed by the media and advertisers in the way they want us to go.  DUSTY does sound like a really fun and worthwhile organization that really empowers people to be their own agent of change!

http://www.youtube.com/user/DUSTYOTEC

Above is the link to a DUSKY YouTube channel.  It had a lot of different links to info about media literacy and even lesson plans!

1.  Digital storytelling promotes academic literacies because it encompasses written and spoken language, requires the storyteller to brainstorm and organize ideas and be creative, artistic and engaging.
An example from the text, "...we can help draw on interdisciplinary insights from fields such as communications theory, film studies, visual culture, semiotics, and ethnography of media…"
2.  Absolutely not, a digital story has more dimensions to incorporate various sound throughout, various images/videos and then written or spoken text.  I believe only a highly skilled writer can engage most people better than through the digital story's visual images of text and pictures as well as the auditory components of music and spoken words.
3.  They will definitely become more proficient in the programs needed to make the movies, which is better than just using media to be online.  Ideally, they will also be more likely to realize that the media is always giving us the images and messages they want us to hear (the same way they, as creators of a digital story, only shared what they wanted to share).  Additionally, it becomes more of an interactive yet personal project which will help the students feel more pride and accountability in their work which will inspire a stronger desire to create a high quality product.

At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times

Glynda A. Hull

Research in the Teaching of English , Vol. 38, No. 2 (Nov., 2003), pp. 229-233

Published by: National Council of Teachers of English

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.fairmontstate.edu/stable/40171638

Reading and Discussion #13

"Gronseth et al. (2010) advocate for "maintaining a level of authenticity in technology experiences" as a means of providing real-world context for technology training (p.30)."

This quote stood out to me because there is a lot of talk about the value of a college education.  The cost has increased to much higher than the rate of inflation and it is considered the new high school diploma.  This leaves college graduates with a lot of debt and a sense of value in their abilities that may be as inflated as their student loan payments.  What I am saying is students and their parents are so focused on their child getting a college degree that they overlook the job outlook and the cost of tuition.
As a business education teacher, I work in a career and technical center where we value and encourage students who are working towards a trade.  We believe college isn't the only way to a successful career path.

This is an article that was circulating amongst some of my friends.  There is another article by linked in by Mike Rowe, from the show "Dirty Jobs" and Ford commercials that is also very good.  Rowe has spoken at a conference some business education teachers I work with attended giving the same sentiment there as he did in the article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-stewart-holland/i-might-not-send-my-kids-to-college_b_4219594.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/23/mike-rowe-of-dirty-jobs-speaks-about-hard-work-how-many-are-following-the-worst-advice-in-the-history-of-the-world/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ShareButtons&utm_content=buffer5e27a&utm_medium=twitter

Additionally here are a couple images I'd like to share on the topic:-)

(This comic was posted at Randolph Technical Center.  I took a picture of it.)

1.  The authors use the term 'critical digital literacies' "to de-emphasize the relative importance of technology skills, and emphasize the critical understanding of and engagement with functional technology skills within the broader contexts of technology use.  Additionally this term includes not only the functional aspect of digital literacy but the broader digital literacy framework and contexts.

2. I would say it was more literacy based because we didn't focus much on certain tools, even a smart board, but we did make an online education portfolio which helped us incorporate functional skills and the other components of critical digital literacies.

3. I like the TPACK solution which focuses on the intersection of content, pedagogy and technology tools and affordances to best implement critical thinking as it relates to use in school.

4.  At the Randolph Technical Center where I completed my student teaching and where I substitute often, I believe most of the teachers I work with in business and technology classes do give these students all of these rights.  For example, students in the Desktop Publishing class are able to create very unique images and in Web Design class students make very individualized web sites.  Both of these examples shows how students explore and experiment with one's own digital space.

Reading and Discussion #12

"However, despite the flooding of "South Los Angeles" in the media, I have never heard any of my students refer to this community as anything but "South Central.""

This reminds me of being in my late teens (I think) and hearing about riots and other violence in South Central through the news and through hip hop music.  I did not know the media was trying to change the name but my initial reaction is to agree that a name change might improve morale.  Although, the residents might have pride in their neighborhood.  I know I have pride in my little neighborhood even though it wasn't much.  It was still my home.

I also chose this quote because I am interested in what really happen in that area.  Like I said, I was too young to really know for sure.  It is fascinating knowing there are essentially no white students in that school considering the area I live in now has very little diversity besides white people.  My middle school was predominately non-white in Florida but this goes to show white people are not going to be the majority for long (if they even are now!).

http://www.southcentralhistory.com/la-riots.php

This article gives a history of the LA a riots which started in South Central.  That seems like it might be a difficult thing for students to handle knowing about their neighborhood.  I know their elders must mention the riots somewhat regularly considering the widespread damage and publicity it caused.

1. How did Ask Anansi game support critical literacies?
"…the main product of this game is one of problem-posing critical thinking and civic participation…" (p. 113)
2. How did the Ask Anansi game support academic literacies?
"Illustrating the connections between 21st-century literacies and the academic literacies that are most heavily emphasized by standardized curricula, tests, and policies" (p. 113)
3.  How did the Ask Anansi game support digital literacies?
"Alleviating teachers from the strain of a digital participation gap" (p.113)
4. What is meant by the term "reading the word and reading the world and writing the world"?  Give an example from the chapter.
"Later, the digital world, too, was written upon by the class since the students took to the official Wikipedia page for South Central High School Wikipedia." (p. 122)

Addressing the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Point of View:
My digital story will likely be from my point of view.  I might try to tell it third person but I'm unsure if it will sound right.  My story's message, and title possibly, is, "Life ain't a track meet, it's a marathon".  It is important to tell people this message so they know they know life goes on and they can improve and also no matter how well they are doing bad decisions can cause them lose their way.  I think my audience could potentially be very broad.  It is an important message for teenagers but people trying to move on from a divorce might also benefit.

Dramatic Question:
"At what point is someone's fate determined?"

Emotional Content:
I will share some of my life experiences that showed I was an at-risk youth who was likely counted out by many teachers.  Then I will share how I changed to become a different person.  I will also include some information about my best friend in high school who had a GPA of 4.3 due to excelling in honors classes.  She became an alcoholic and committed suicide at age 28.

Voice: I like the suggestion of talking as if I'm talking over a cup of coffee.  I will narrate and hope to be able to surprise my viewer throughout the story with twists in the story and changes in inflection.

Soundtrack: I agree instrumental music will likely be best but I may use some music with lyrics briefly.

Economy: I hope the narrated story is full of ups and downs that keep the audience interested.  The pictures and music hopefully will give a fullness to the story that help make words and narration less necessary (i.e. a picture is worth a thousand words).

Pacing:  I hope to have a steady pace to help get to the point of each idea then allow a moment for brief reflection during strong endings of ideas.

Reading and Discussion #11

"One student emphasized how writing for an audience is more exciting than the regular way of writing for the teacher: "...at school, no one else [but the teacher] reads [my texts], so it really doesn't mean that much."

I just thought this was a fascinating quote.  I would like to say I strongly agree because I think everyone works harder when they have to present it to the public or peers.  Although, I feel there are students who have different talents and interests that do not include writing and it may be embarrassing for them to share writing with the public.  I still think I would agree because even if a student is not a strong writer, it would still be nice for them to feel confident in their improvements in writing.  I have always tried to communicate to students that everyone has different talents so I hope they would support each other- the less talented writers complimenting the best writers and the better writers cheering on the struggling writers.

Please open the link to the following article for more information about this topic:

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/10/wikipedia-when-college-students-have-audience-does-their-writing-improve

1. "In the essentialist account of technology, interest focuses chiefly on abilities in the medium in itself, without paying attention to the actual settings in which the technologies are used."
The topics here are really fascinating because I had never really formally thought about the difference between how well a specific technology worked in comparison to how it can actually be applied.

2. "They were blogging in a different but related class.", "Students could work on their computers writing their blogs any where they felt natural for them: at their desks, outdoors..." and "Most of what the students did during Anne's classes had to be displayed, depicted, summed up or reflected upon...".

Brainstorming My Digital Story

There are several ideas/events that come to mind after completing this week's assignment.  

The first would be my history in athletics throughout my life.  I have always excelled in gym class and sports as a kid and now as an adult I have completed a triathlon and run marathons regularly.  I also have played softball for almost 25 years and still take it seriously today in my adult leagues.

Another idea could be a history of friends and relationships in my life.  I think I have been very lucky to have the ability to get along well with people and have had a lot of great friends and even great ex-boyfriends in my life.

Unfortunately, I have had and still do have some difficult family problems so I could discuss how I feel that has affected me and how it continues to affect me.  My brother struggles with these family problems, as well.  When talking to him about how he feels, which is ashamed, I have told him about friends I know and students I see everyday who also have difficult family problems.  Maybe in telling about my problems it can help people appreciate or better accept their family situation.

Reading and Discussion #10

1. A way social media changed reading and writing processes is they have become interactive. "When readers engage with a blog, for example, the are able, indeed expected, to click on links, add comments, and reblog or remix content."
2. Students need to understand cosmopolitan practices through school so they do not learn through error.  Cosmopolitan practices help them to recognize they are publishing information to a global audience that can remain on record permanently.  They can also learn how to respond to material they've read in a 'hospitable' way using cosmopolitan ethics, which take into consideration the very broad audience comprised of many cultures who may interpret information differently.
3. The cosmopolitan conversation video challenge taught media literacy because "the youth initially discussed images from blog posts and profile pictures" then the students "were given the challenge of composing a digital story with the Space2Cre8 global audience".
4. Digital technologies should be used to support student learning throughout the class to continually let students have an "active role of authorship" instead of just digitizing the final capstone assignment.
5. The videos I watched this week supported the concept of cosmopolitism by being informative about various cultures and practices.  Many seemed to have a message they wanted to share with the world- a unique identity.
6. "Most reported having never written a full essay independently..."
When reading about the 25 juniors and seniors involved in the cosmopolitan conversation video challenge the text went on to say how the students had traveled physical boundaries from the Bronx to New York University but also societal boundaries regarding socioeconomic status.  Even so, I know students start writing small essays in elementary school.  I cannot help but be surprised when I learn how academically behind students can be for their age, despite how many times I see it as a substitute.  I believe the public does not realize this is so common, at least in my area or state.  Before I became an educator, I believed that if students did not learn the required skills needed for a specific grade, they were retained and then they were able to catch up to their peers, even if it took being retained for 2 grades.  Now I know as an educator and as a parent, there are several issues or complications for the student and his/her peers that go along with retaining a student.  However, we all also know there are several issues and complications that go along with being in high school junior or senior and being incompetent in reading, writing and math.

How Does Retention Impact Children

This article lists negative and positive outcomes from retaining a student.  I think there is always going to be a gray area regarding this matter because all students are different.  I suppose that should remind us to always recognize that all students are unique and a one-size-fits-all approach in education is always going to hurt some students.

Analysis of Digital Storytelling

Activity #2 

"Participant/Observation"

The point of view and the voice is from the author and creator of the video.  Maybe the dramatic question (although not really a question) is, "I was supposed to be an observer."  The emotional paradigm is the regret of making a bad decision due to being naive, young and unaware of the gravity of a situation at the time.

"Deep Water"

This story is from the point of view and in the voice of the author and creator, a woman who describes the role she is playing in her mother's battle with cancer.  The dramatic question maybe could be, "Water scares me."  It prompts the viewer to think, "Why did water scare her?" or "What made her afraid of water?"  The emotional content is strong with incidences of the bond between mother and daughter, stress in crisis, watching a loved one suffer with illness and helping someone through a difficult situation.

"The Gift of Nonviolence"

This video is in the point of view and the voice of the creator.  The essential question could be, "How did he get his father to stop beating him with the garden hose?".  The emotional content includes the struggles between parent and child, the struggle of being physically abused, the struggle of being abused by a parent and the feeling of reliving a painful childhood memory.

The Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Activity #1
Element 1:
First Example: The purpose is to briefly show people how salt is harvested.  The point of view and the voices seem to be from the students who created the video.
Second Example:  The purpose of the video is to show how this school is raising fish for a science project.  The point seemed like it could have been from the students or the faculty.  I only remember hearing music, not voices.
Element 2:
Example 1: "Are you making our island ugly?" is the dramatic question.  We did not get an answer but I think it is intended to make people think.
Example 2: The dramatic question could be, "How can we save our natural resources?" There was a resolution to how the woman could save her fish.
Element 3:
Example 1: The emotional paradigm in this video is the difficult feelings most teens have at times that can lead to depression or thoughts of self harm.
Example 2:  I think the emotional paradigm in this video is guilt.
Element 4:
Example 1:  The elderly woman's voice helped the story seem more interesting and credible.
Example 2:  The children's voices are adorable singing and speaking so, yes, they improve the overall effect of the story.
Element 5:
Example 1: The music makes the video's location seem relaxing and shows the culture so I do think it helps the purpose of the video.
Element 6:
The first two examples seemed to make sense and sequence well but the third was missing a lot and did not make sense.  It had a variety of images that did not coordinate with each other or match a theme.
In the first video, it worked well how they quickly went from one slide to the next.  On the slide with the girl in the tree they did not acknowledge she was sleeping in the tree like the other video did.
Element 7:
I did not think the students paced very well in this video.  I feel it was a bit too fast.  At least at the end they could have spoken more clearly, slowly and with more inflection when the young man said, "Practice and be prepared."

Activity #2 

Participant/Observation

The point of view and the voice is from the author and creator of the video.  Maybe the dramatic question (although not really a question) is, "I was supposed to be an observer."  The emotional paradigm is the regret of making a bad decision due to being naive, young and unaware of the gravity of a situation at the time.

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/VeXhmIT2LhM?hl=en_US&amp;version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/VeXhmIT2LhM?hl=en_US&amp;version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

This story is from the point of view and in the voice of the author and creator, a woman who describes the role she is playing in her mother's battle with cancer.  The dramatic question maybe could be, "Water scares me."  It prompts the viewer to think, "Why did water scare her?" or "What made her afraid of water?"  The emotional content is strong with incidences of the bond between mother and daughter, stress in crisis, watching a loved one suffer with illness and helping someone through a difficult situation.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P_aZtlsoziU?list=PL47B77396AAEEF956" width="480"></iframe>

This video is in the point of view and the voice of the creator.  The essential question could be, "How did he get his father to stop beating him with the garden hose?".  The emotional content includes the struggles between parent and child, the struggle of being physically abused, the struggle of being abused by a parent and the feeling of reliving a painful childhood memory.

Reading and Discussion #9

"Digital Storytelling is one such practice in/through which youth can construct identities as they tell their personal stories."

Children and adolescents are trying to find themselves but our culture and the people in the communities these children live in have a preconceived notion of the type of person they are.  We all create identities about people, whether we mean to or not, by impressions we get from them or background knowledge we have about them.  Children can better express themselves and show their identity through the use of videos, pictures, voice overs and text when digital storytelling.  For example, the students at Las Redes were between the ages of 6 and 10 so their linguistic skills aren't developed enough to tell a story with text alone as well as they could with pictures of videos.

"Youth Re-Imagine Life Through Short Films"

http://electronicintifada.net/content/youth-re-imagine-life-through-short-films/8987#.UmbHZsSiTyw.email

A group of 20 Palestinian students from refugee camps became a part of the Re-Imagining Project which uses digital photography and storytelling workshops to support Palestinian youth in expressing their cultural identity, personal narratives and creative vision.  Some of them had never even used a camera before.  The films highlight the unusual struggles of a teen in these situations that are difficult, like escaping from the noise of diesel generators at the camp or soldiers not allowing them to go to school at times, with humor and in creative cinematic ways.  The films were then shown at film festivals and on youtube.com.

Digital Storytelling and Reel Works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tWJREUmLdAs

I really liked all the videos for different reasons.  Even and amateur nature of them made them more endearing.  But this was my favorite for personal reasons because sometimes I feel like I've 'taken the long way' in life.  I've made some bad decisions and have had to work hard to overcome them and almost try to undo them with a lot of hard work.  Particularly, after playing softball very well and very competitively, I decided to quit in 11th grade.

Although I know many people regret giving up on something, the video really showed the regret and shame she was feeling.  I learned how that looked through the video when she was watching the boy in front of her play the piano and she couldn't keep up.

It was surprising how bad she felt about quitting her piano lessons but to me she still seemed to have talent.  I still play softball tournaments and in leagues and still play very well but I know I didn't meet my full potential so maybe that is how she is feeling.

The digital story helped create an alternative to stereotypes by showing a teen who already understood the effects of making a bad decision as a 13 year old.  The media gives an image of fun loving teens who don't think much about consequences.  This video shows that some teens are already facing the effects of the decisions they've made.

I created my PSA to shock my intended audience of parents, teachers and administrators, primarily in secondary education, to the fact that these types of images by a very popular artist to young teens are common online.  I also wanted them to see how a very hard working and talented young girl could get caught up in the media and make herself a marketing tool.  This is also such a current topic that has been discussed a lot lately, so I thought I should take advantage of it to incorporate my message of promoting digital media literacy.  I also showed the other advertisements to prove Miley is not the only culprit in negative media messages and these types of negative media messages may have influenced her.

My persuasive techniques include fear, slippery slope, a rhetorical question (Has the media negatively influenced Miley?), timing and hopefully a little bit of humor.  I hope it made you think!

Reading and Discussion #7

Reading #1:

The three ideas I will use to inform my PSA of the need to teach critical media literacy are the following:

"Youth between the ages of 8 and 18 have increased their daily media usage from 7:29 hourse in 1999 to 8:33 hours in 2004 to 10:45 hours in 2009 with media including TV, music, computer, video, print and movies."

"In addition, the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) standards recognize the relationship between digital tools and the development of print literacy."

"Alvermann found that teachers and teacher educators (of pre-service and in-service teachers) choose to exclude these forms of literacies in their instruction, mostly because they feel that students already have plenty of time with digital literacies outside of school."

Reading #2

After reading "Critical Pedagogy and the Teaching of Reading", what I learned about critical pedagogy was that there is not always one answer.  When teaching reading, the author might have various messages they are trying to send and it is valuable to have that pluralism and diversity within a variety of different student answers.

I know a concern of other teachers is to lose their sense of power.  I do not have any concerns about losing a sense of power.  I feel like students are much more engaged when they can share a unique opinion or belief about the topic being studied.  The only concern I might have would be the ability to assess everyone fairly or my administration not being supportive.

Counter Ad

On April 24, 2013 a garment and apparel factory in Bangladesh used by American companies such as Wal-Mart and Gap collapsed killing 1,129 workers.  In November of 2012 another Bangladesh garnet factory fire killed 112 people (O'Donnell, 2013).  On September 12, 2013 a dozen retailers and clothing brands met in Geneva to discuss providing compensation to the victims and Wal-Mart did not attend (Reuters, 2013).

In the original Wal-Mart advertisement, Wal-Mart uses repetition to convey its message, "always".  In my counter advertisement, I used repetition, "no matter", and also added in rhyme, "Cost" and "Lost" to make the message more memorable.  I tried to keep it simple to mimic the original advertisement.  I think it will be a memorable advertisement for me which will make it more difficult for me to continue to shop at Wal-Mart.

O'Donnell, J. (2013, May 14). Gap close to signing bangladesh factory safety plan. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/14/benetton-bangladesh-pact/2158095/

Reuters. (2013, Sept 12). Walmart to skip discussion on compensation for bangladesh factory victims. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/walmart-bangladesh_n_3912246.html

O'Donnell, J. (2013, July 109). U.s. retailers agree to bangladesh plant safety pact. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/10/retailers-bangladesh-factory-safety-pact/2505427/

Media Messages and Critical Pedagogy #2

Subway $5 Foot Long Commercial

http://youtu.be/Lo-pfZjEK-U

• Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why? Subway restaurant created it to promote a better value on their foot long sandwiches.
• Who is the “target audience”? What is their age, ethnicity, class, profession, interests, etc.? What 
• words, images or sounds suggest this? The target audience based on the commercial seems to be a variety of people all approximately aged 18-38 in good shape who are passionate about Subway and saving money.  In the commercial there are a variety of people, not very different looking, but with very different interests although they all are very exciting about the $5 foot long.  The song is very catchy!
• What is the “text” of the message? (What we actually see and/or hear: written or spoken words, 
• photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, etc.) Interesting backgrounds such as a beautiful woman dressed as Cleopatra in Egypt, a man winning on a game show, a figure skating couple perhaps in the Olympics and a man giving a passionate performance on a stage.  Then there are shots of large sandwiches with lots of toppings being thrown on them.  A very repetitive, fun and catchy song is playing in the background
• What is the “subtext” of the message? (What do you think is the hidden or unstated meaning?) A five dollar foot long will cheer you up and is for people who are passionate about life.
• What kind of lifestyle is presented? Fun loving, exciting, exotic and passionate lifestyles.
• What values are expressed? Money saving, being a person who follows their dream (American dream), being a happy person.
• What “tools of persuasion” are used? Association, Bandwagon and Repetition
• What positive messages are presented? What negative messages are presented? Happy people, exciting settings are positive.  Negative messages might be a culture bias by use of Cleopatra and an Asian figure skater.
• What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower? How does 
• this serve the media maker's interests? This message empowers the fun loving and full of energy active person.  This message may disempower those who are over weight because there is no one overweight in the commercial.
• What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the 
• untold stories? The fine print says this offer excludes premium subs but the song and speaker say over and over again that this deal is for any sub.
• What are the taken for granted realities? That a $5 foot long sandwich may still not be affordable for some people or their families.
• What power relations are exposed as a result of your deconstruction? The power of the advertiser to continually make a claim multiple times in an advertisement then add very small print to discredit that claim.  And the power of the advertiser to chose to have beautiful and talented people represent their product even if that is not how their target market really looks.

Media Messages and Critical Pedagogy #1

How might deconstructing these kinds of media messages help students recognize connections between their individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are embedded?

Deconstructing these ads, and reading and watching deconstructions like these, can help students recognize connections between their individual problems and social contexts because they get an alternative view of the world.  When students (as well adults) see commercials, the images, themes and messages do become part of what we view in our society as normal culture. 

When we become more critical of advertisements through deconstructing, we challenge someone else's view of normalcy.  This can be very liberating for a student who feels the burden of society i.e. not having name brand cloths/high socio-economic status, not looking a certain way or part of a culture that is not mainstream.

Bad Housekeeping! Magazine Cover

I found this online and loved how it challenged the norm for moms!  I chose to use a picture of my happy kids to show them getting love and attention and us sharing a bonding moment instead of me being stressed out about cleaning!  I struggle with a lot of guilt as a mom- that I don't spend enough time with my kids, that I don't get them in enough activities, that my house isn't clean enough, etc.  I thought this was a great cover to go against the pressure of the media.

The magazine cover has an exclamation, "Don't Toss That!".  There is also the interrogative, "Under & Behind Your Couch: How much can you hide there?".   There is also the ellipse, "Re-Using Dirty  Laundry" with examples to follow.  Lastly, there is the teaser about, "Discovering the health benefits of shower mildew".

A good persuasion technique is the picture of happy children loving each other on the cover.  I could have used a picture of a big mess in my house but that would not show the potentially good side of taking a break from housekeeping.  There is also the humor I know many mom friends of mine would appreciate.  I like the simple use of several media language techniques (as mentioned above) in a variety of colors without crowding the page much.

Overall, I am glad I was able to quickly create this hilarious magazine cover through fototrix.com.  I think it does what good advertising that works is supposed to do by creating a positive feeling from the consumer and it definitely challenges the mainstream portrayal of what it is like to be a woman in today's society!

Magazine Cover Deconstruction

Media Language:
'Get Lean', an image of Arnold's giant arm muscles, 'Recharge Your Routine', etc.
The media language is action oriented and short and to the point.  The kind of lifestyle presented is vain, competitive and extreme.  I think this magazine cover tries to disempower the average man into thinking anyone can have arms that look like those in the photo.  I think the untold is that Arnold Swarzenegger used steroids to achieve those results and there could be long term health problems that can occur due to steroid use.

Institution:
Muscle & Fitness Magazine
This institution seems to target younger men approximately aged 18-32 because the verbiage is very simple and younger men seem to have more interest in pursuing body building or create a large muscle look.  I believe this media is trying to construct a fantasy world by using a star who is known for a very rare physique as the cover model and trying to make readers believe they can achieve this 'IN LESS TIME'.

Genre:
The genre is that of vanity, power, masculinity and instant gratification.

Representation:
The groups this Muscle & Fitness cover are representing are Hollywood and the movie industry, men who obsess about their looks and men who are persuaded by intensity.  This cover represents to me protein shakes, nostalgia (from Terminator movies), simple solutions, steroids and extreme exercise and eating.

Audience:
This genre seems to be younger 18-30, single, working class men who try to portray a very masculine image to gain the fear or envy or men and interest in women.  The warm colors and large, short words give a feel tough and simple.

Ideologies & Values:
Ideologies are an image of health, power, youth and masculinity.  The values are aesthetic appearance, strength, pushing oneself to the limit to achieve a sense of greatness, efficiency and results.

Narrative:
The narrative is that there are fast and simple ways to achieve great result in body building.

*These are how I view this magazine cover and I chose this because I have the most negative reaction towards it.  It is obviously viewed more favorably in this areas by the magazine's target audience.

Photo Analysis

Photo 2 gives me the most confidence in President Obama.  I believe others would likely feel the same way.

Initial observations show that the President is speaking in what looks like an authoritative manner with hands extended to emphasis importance.  He has a very serious facial expression and his eyes are looking sharply to his right and not and the camera.  He is informally dressed with a dress shirt with sleeves rolled up and no tie or jacket which looks like he has been working very hard or for many hours.  He seems more intelligent, younger and more focused than the man sitting next to him who is looking in the opposite direction and does not seem to be paying close attention.  The background show several large photos of maps of the area and crews at work.  President Obama appears to have a glass of water in front of him still with a lid on it as if he doesn't even have the time for a sip of water.  The camera angle is straight ahead but the President does not seem to consider it of any importance given the large task ahead of him.

The message this photo is conveying is that the President has come to the Coast Guard Station and to ensure this oil spill stopped as soon as possible and there will be no problem cutting through red tape.  The photo appears to be planned with the location and the two high ranking men together but the moment it was taken was spontaneous.  The photographer makes raises some questions such as:

1.  Will President Obama be able to quickly stop the oil spill by meeting with the Coast Guard?

2.  Does Admiral Allen and the Coast Guard have what it takes to help stop this oil spill?

3.  Is the President primarily getting information from the Coast Guard or are they creating a feasible and worthwhile plan?

Obama is more focused than ever about stopping the oil spill.

The President and the Coast Guard disagree on how to handle the oil spill.

The following lesson plan was taking from this link and there are many more available to teach Visual Literacy:

http://www.humanities.umd.edu/vislit/activityplans.php

Media Analysis Assignment 

This assignment asks you to become a cultural critic by applying some of the concepts of cultural analysis to contemporary mass media.  Your sampling of mass media will be two-fold:  (1) a slice of prime time commercial television, not special news coverage and (2) an image from print media such as a magazine.  (1) Select at least a half hour of television to analyze carefully.  Take notes while watching with the prompts below in mind.  (2) In addition, select an advertisement in a recent issue of a magazine aimed specifically at teen age girls or women.  In each instance, your analysis will focus on the representations of women in these cultural artifacts.   

I.  TV Analysis (2 -3 pages)

Your analysis will emerge out of your reflections about and responses to the prompts below.  You may simply submit your work as a series of  numbered responses to the prompts.  While this assignment does not require you to write a formal essay, your responses should be carefully and thoughtfully written. Remember to incorporate specific examples from the TV program you watched to illustrate your analysis.  

1. Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the television show you are analyzing?  What factors contribute to your awareness of audience?  Consider not only gender but also age, race/ethnicity, geographic location, etc. 
2. Is there a relationship between the plot/action/narrative of the television show and the commercials that accompany it?  To the target audience(s)? Explain.  

1. Do the women who appear differ from one another, and if so, how?  What is the relative frequency of women by age? By race/ethnicity? Are women (or anyone else) represented who are differently abled?  According to dominant cultural ideals of beauty, how many women portrayed fall into the categories of 'beautiful,' 'average,' or 'unattractive'?  What range of weight is represented between the women and the men and among the women themselves?
2. In what roles do women appear (or not appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?)  What types of jobs do they hold?  How much time to they appear to devote to their different roles?  What kinds of work do they do?  Can you see any difference in the roles assigned to women or to men? 
3. What level of education do the men and women seem to hold? Do you find women represented who appear to be of working-class backgrounds or to be poor?  Are they major or minor characters?  Are they portrayed sympathetically or used in ways that perpetuate stereotypes about race or class?  
4. What is the relationship of women in the show to the products being advertised in commercials? Does it vary from program to program, from channel to channel? Is there any evidence of a famous assertion that in public representations of gender, men do the looking and women are there to be looked at? What influence, if any, can you see in the three decades plus of feminism's attempts to influence the representation of women in the media? 

II. Print Ad Analysis  

1. Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the magazine ad you are analyzing?  Explain your answer.  What is the print ad trying to sell?  How does it make its appeal to the potential consumer?  Does it appear to have any particular relationship to the articles accompanying it in the magazine?  In your analysis of the print ad, focus on how women’s bodies are positioned in the ad, whom they are looking at, whom is looking at them, what they are wearing, etc.  In what ways does the ad emphasize or construct women’s sexuality?  How does it (or does it?) construct women’s abilities to be their own subjects rather than objects to be looked at?  

Response to questions after watching the homepage video:

The reason I think teaching media literacy is important is because it helps shape our views of the world.  We get caught up in media images (and our perception of those images) and lose sight of more important priorities.  Children and teens are especially vulnerable to believing what is constantly given to them in the media.

What I want to learn about teaching media literacy is how to show children/teens what the goal of the media often is.  That it is not there to teach them what is beautiful, cool or what is moral.  Instead the media outlets are often businesses trying to sell products or improve ratings.  I want them to be able to better judge the source.

Concerns I have about teaching media literacy right now are how to incorporate this information into CSOs for business and marketing education classes but I feel confident it can be done.  I also do not want to sound too negative or jaded by society.  I would like to find a way to put a positive and fun spin on my lessons despite the truth of greed, vanity and stereotypes in media.

Try our video maker at Animoto.

I was born in Arlington, VA due to my family's history in government work in the DC area.  Although, when my grandparents retired to Florida, my parents followed when I was four years old.  I grew in South Daytona, FL until meeting my husband in 2001 when I decided to 'give Elkins, WV a try'.   I now have lived in WV for 12 years!

What do I do?  I strive for a life filled with a variety, achievement and balance... so here's what I do to 'try' to achieve that.

• I am a mother of 3 children (two daughters age 8 & 6 and a 2 year old son).  
• Assist my children in several extra curricular activities and volunteer in some.  
• soccer coach- 5th season
• gymnastics boosters fundraising volunteer 
• PTO Treasurer
• Religious education teacher- 8th & 9th 
• Substitute teacher- Randolph County Schools
• Teaching Certificate in Business Education & Marketing Eduction
• Graduate Student- Masters in Education, Digital Media through Fairmont State University
• Train for marathons
• Read (and visit with my book club)
• Play in two summer softball leagues
• Ski
• Travel
• Etc!!

In this class I hope to learn more about the media and how they chose to write stories.  I hope to incorporate media literacy and digital story telling information that may be eye opening to students in a variety of high school business education and marketing education lessons.  Additionally, just like with most everything I learn, I hope to share information about digital media with my children to help them interpret it.