sharing links

http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/pop/tvrguide.html This link is from teachingmedialiteracy.com

This is one of the many useful links this website refers to that offers educators advice on how to teach and incorporate many media forms into the classroom. This particular site is about integrating popular culture and critical thinking. It focuses on "issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, cultural imperialism and censorship, as shaped by and reflected in various mass media." This site gives you the option to look more closely with tons more links about different types of popular culture like fashion or advertisements. The advertisements section brings up information about advertisements and offers many links to view current popular ads or commercials. It also gives you insight as to how to critically analyze popular culture and what type of lens to wear. This would be a great site to use on a daily basis when teaching these children that will be experts on popular culture.

Beach's Media Literacy Reflection

I am a digital immigrant. I did not have a computer until I bought one my second year in college. In fact, I was interviewed on an infomercial for the electronic portfolio website we all use as an example of how simple it is. I had to explain that I did not even have an e-mail account set up or a computer at home to work from. Then they had me show all of the stuff I added to the electronic portfolio and explain how easy it truly was to use. I was impressed with myself that I could scan pictures in and put it on my portfolio as well as downloading papers or adding links. I think that if it wasn't for the urban teacher program or education in general making me use the computer, I would still be clueless. When I was younger I remember telling my brother that I did not like computers and hope they do not become very popular. Now, I cannot seem to go a single day without Googling something, or checking my e-mail, or checking facebook, or working on my electronic portfolio, etc. I have become dependent on technology over the last eight years and can only assume we are all going to be virtual.

Reflection for Burke's chapters 12 & 13

These chapters are important to read when an educator needs to find ways to incorporate multimedia into the Language arts classroom. Chapter 12 gives great insight into the ten standards that teachers should know about technology. I guess I never considered standards for media literacy before. I assumed teachers would know the basics, but now the basics are becoming more in depth with the growth of technology. Many of our students will know how to do much more on the computers, so we need to try to stay in-tune with the technology or else our students will find loop holes or bring something to the table that is unexpected. In the classroom we need to be aware of some of the issues that may appear and be one step ahead. Educators also need to be prepared to not only teach subject matter but also the digital literacy and incorporate it as part of assignment expectations. Chapter 13 focuses on how to incorporate media literacy into an already jam packed curriculum. It is important to teach students how to filter through the mass amounts of information that passes through them as they surf the net. Some scam artists find teens as a great audience and feed them lies. This chapter goes into great detail how to teach students to filter through the filth that I will try to implement in my classroom some day!

Frontline

“The frontline” is a PBS show that discussed issues of advertisement and multimedia in two different episodes. The first section, “The Persuaders”, discusses how advertisement companies work and how we have become immune to many of the persuasive slogans we encounter. That means that advertisement companies have to make the advertisements bigger and better in order to connect to the audience. The other episode, “Merchants of Cool”, mentions how companies and products try to connect to that audience. In fact, it states that the audience is what gives inspiration to new ideas for products. The best thing that teachers can take from these videos and use in the classroom is the awareness of the influences of multimedia in our daily lives. At the same time, educators can use the media and advertisements to relate to students with popular culture.

If we walk down any major street in the heart of the city there is nowhere to look without spotting an advertisement. They have become background clutter. What educators need to do with all of this clutter is point it out. Students need to learn that advertisements are even in the movies and TV shows that they watch. We can use this video to show students why they might want to choose a specific product over another. Students can learn that they usually choose a brand for a sense of community because that is the biggest seller. Advertisements sell more than products, they sell solidarity. It is up to the teachers to help students understand consumerism. Students have the right to know that advertisements are, “what people want to hear, not what you want to tell them”. Educators need to be the connectors for students to understand who the audience a specific product is for or what the advertisement is secretly trying to sell in order for students to learn to devise their own sense of filters through the clutter. I plan to use the quote, “As long as we are thinking about ourselves we are better consumers.” I would want students to look at it from the aspect of consumers and then again from the perspective of producers and determine who would benefit more from the quote.

If we use these videos we can show students that they are the whole reason our economy thrives on popular culture. The second episode in Frontline refers to consumerism as a machine. It is constantly running and even running in circles or, as the TV show states, “feedback loop”. Educators can use popular culture to relate some higher order thinking theories to the students. The multimedia of popular culture can be used in conjunction with teaching persuasive elements and even poetry. We can use it to connect stereotypes to figuring audience in a speech. We can even incorporate advertisements into writing assignments or focus on literacy skills. All of the media that bombards our children can be used constructively if we intertwine it into a thematic unit of critical thinking.

There are some issues with trying to incorporate multimedia and advertisement discussion into the classrooms though. For instance, some schools do not have access to some of the newest technology or even chances to educate teachers to use it. Also, if we had students looking on-line there is a chance they could get bombarded with things that are not allowed in the school setting. Some technology can get distracting as well as forcing popular culture into the classroom. Some people may not agree with the popular culture and may get offended if we discuss advertisements. There is a chance that parents may assume we are trying to teach their child to be like the stereotypes in the advertisements. Also, if the discussions of stereotypes do follow a structure, it can lead to a mess of insults to others. The conversations would need to be controlled.

It is risky to incorporate the popular culture into the classroom because it has not been understood yet. Many teachers have a hard time finding a connection to popular culture and the current curriculum. I think it is important that teachers study the culture so that we can all help our youth become better consumers. If we teach our youth the power of persuasion and impulse buy, then it’s possible we can eliminate some of the individualistic mentality of wanting more materialism. I have not had the opportunity to witness many teachers incorporating popular culture into the classroom. It is a new approach to learning and that is why teachers are afraid of it. It is not yet understood or fully accepted yet, but if we hold strong we can convince the right people that learning the truth is more beneficial in the long wrong.

Introduction to Ernest Morrell's "Linking Literacy and Popular Culture"

What is the book all about?

Ernest Morrell is an educator and researcher that worked with our urban youth. He composed a study to find creative ways to reach our ever growing diverse population within the classroom setting. He conducted his research within two different schools; North Bay High and South Bay High. North Bay High is a large multicultural school with low academic self-esteem. The educators had given up on trying to help these students realize their academic potential because they did not have the tools or determination to relate to these students. On the other hand, South Bay High is an average sized multicultural school with high academic scores. Unfortunately, the scores at South Bay show, “…huge disparities in achievement between students according to ethnic and socioeconomic background” (14). Ernest Morrell explains his experience of bringing popular culture into the classroom and watching the academic confidence rise throughout North Bay and the achievement gap shrink at South Bay.

The first section discusses what popular culture is and why it must be included in our classrooms. There are hidden messages everywhere we go. A person cannot walk down the street without being bombarded or even sit in their room listening to music or watching tv without being told how to feel about a topic or what to buy. It happens so often that it is almost impossible to separate a unique want or idea from the interference of popular culture and the media. Some people are even unaware of how the media affects their decisions, especially our youth. It is important to make our youth aware of the impact the media has so that they can become aware of their own decisions.

In the Second section, Morrell paints a pictures of what it looks like to include popular culture in the classroom. He mentions how he included popular music, film and television, mass media, and sports into the classroom with astonishing achievement of critical thinking. Considering that hip-hop has swept over the nation and become a money market industry, he includes it into his classroom. He discusses a research project that gets students motivated to learn and think critically as well as a presentation. Then he goes onto to discuss how he links classical texts with film and had students analyze the two by themes to attack those higher order thinking skills. He had students questioning the messages in mass media and got students reading and writing with sports.

The last section encourages other educators to take a risk and how to overcome skepticism of inclusion. Sometimes teachers need to be willing to take a risk and teach something that is unfamiliar like popular culture. Some of our educators need to realize that it is ok if we incorporate something not yet categorized or analyzed. Unfortunately, though, many of our educators disregard popular culture in the classroom because they label it as inappropriate. Think back to when you were young and the music, clothes, or even words you liked did not conform to the expectations of elders. Popular culture is always going to be critically looked at and questioned because it is not yet understood. At the same time, the curriculum includes a vast majority of our human weaknesses that are deemed appropriate, so why not the weaknesses of the popular culture? There are many possibilities to get students thinking critically about the world that will grasp their attention better when we include themes related to popular culture. If we are going to capture learning in our classroom and create an understanding relationship with students then we need to encourage our students to explore the impacts of popular culture without creating a negative outlook.

Quotes from my Reading!

These quotes are from Linking Literacy and Popular Culture by Ernest Morrell.

Part 1: The Prospect
"Critically teaching popular culture can go a long way in creating an informed and engaged citizenry of young people that are able to more carefully discern and interact with the messages that bombard them on a daily basis." (44)

There are hidden messages everywhere we go. A person cannot walk down the street without being bombarded or even sit in their room listening to music or watching tv without being told how to feel about a topic or what to buy. It happens so often that it is almost impossible to separate a unique want or idea from the interference of popular culture and the media. Some people are even unaware of how the media affects their decisions, especially our youth. It is important to make our youth aware of the impact the media has so that they can become aware of their own decisions.

Part 2: The Practice
"Students must be given permission to engage popular music in ways that respect them as critical cultural consumers as opposed to ignorant partakers of a base and common culture". (71)

Too many times have I seen the hip-hop or popular culture looked down upon by politicians, religious groups and yes, teachers. Think back to when you were young and the music, clothes, or even words you liked did not conform to the expectations of elders. Popular culture is always going to be critically looked at and questioned because it is not yet understood. If we are going to capture learning in our classroom and create an understanding relationship with students then we need to encourage our students to explore the impacts of popular culture without creating a negative outlook.

Part 3: The possibilities
"...teachers shouldn't be dismissive of potentially great texts that they see as problematic because of language, content, or theme. I hear many teachers dismiss genres of popular culture as violent, vulgar, or oppressive while they have no problem teaching classical texts...that feature killing, adultery, fornication, excessive drinking, and racist and sexist language." (119)

Sometimes teachers need to be willing to take a risk and teach something that is unfamiliar like popular culture. Unfortunately, though, many of our educators disregard popular culture in the classroom because they label it as inappropriate. At the same time, the curriculum includes a vast majority of our human weaknesses that are deemed appropriate, so why not the weaknesses of the popular culture? There are many possibilities to get students thinking critically about the world that will grasp their attention better when we include themes related to popular culture. Some of our educators need to realize that it is ok if we incorporate something not yet categorized or analyzed.

Waiting to start classes.

Sometimes when I have time off of school I cannot wait for classes to start up again. Once they do though, I dread the homework. This is where I am going to post my assignments for a class as part of my education licensure program requirements. This is great practice though becasue I am a writer and now can say I officially have a blog site where I can post my writing. Many of the posts will be specific assignment requirements, but I will try to incorporate some fun and unique thoughts of my own.