Final - Double Entry Journal

Philosophy of Education

Education is important for people to gain a better understanding of the world around them. Education is necessary to create an informed citizenry that will actively engage in their community and has the capacity to influence the future for the better. Furthermore, education allows people to become self-directed, lifelong learners who are better able to determine goals and action plans for their individual lives.

The role of the teacher in education is to facilitate activities that challenge a student to examine the subject matter in an interesting and critical way. I plan to do this by creating a culture of curiosity and inquisitiveness within my classroom. I will do this by modeling curiosity - allowing spontaneous explorations of random topics of interest. I will utilize digital technology and the Internet to help in this exploration.

I believe the ultimate role of the teacher in education is to teach the student how to become an independent, self directed, and life long learner who takes responsibility for their own education. I do this by placing emphasis on and teaching goal setting activities.

I believe the role of the teacher and student is collaborative. The teacher should hold the student responsible for their own learning, and they should TRUST that the student is capable and willing. While the student should TRUST that the teacher is capable and has their best interest at heart. The role of student is to take responsibility for their own learning. I encourage my students to ask questions  and be curious. I feel establishing trust between a teacher and student is tantamount to my philosophy of education.  I agree with John Dewey's belief that education depends "on the development of relationships among students, between students and teachers, and between students and the community. It was schooling for democracy." (Goodman, 2003)

Within a community the role of a teacher should be be as an advocate for the student’s learning.  A teacher should model positive, proactive, responsible community engagement. I plan to seek out community opportunities and members to bring into my classroom that will benefit my students.  I, as an active citizen, will model community engagement by asking questions, challenging preconceived notions,  and participating in public forums.

I can think of multiple ways a Critical Media Literacy curriculum can help promote my philosophy of education. Media has a loud voice within a community - even small ones - and by teaching students how to read and make media, they are empowered to create an alternative voice. "Critical media literacy not only teaches students to learn from media, to resist media manipulation, and to use media materials in constructive ways, but is also concerned with developing skills that will help create good citizens and that will make individuals more motivated and competent participants in social life." (Kellner & Share, 2005)

The development of critical thinking and higher order thinking skills are crucial to an informed citizenship, Critical Media Literacy helps develop these skills. A report entitled “Measuring the Acquisition of Media Literacy Skills” examined a study conducted to measure the effectiveness of an intense one-year Media Literacy curriculum. “Results suggest that media literacy instruction improves students’ ability to identify main ideas in written, audio, and visual media. Statistically significant differences were also found for writing quantity and quality. Specific text analysis skills also improved” (Hobbs & Frost, 2003)

I believe Critical Media Literacy helps students become engaged, active citizens in society. It teaches students to question power dynamics and bias. It teaches students how to create media to present alternative viewpoints.  Ultimately, it helps students understand the world around them, and gives them the tools to become change agents so they can create a better future.

Sources: 

Goodman, S. (2003). Teaching youth media: A critical guide to literacy, video production & social change. NY: Teachers College Press.

 Hobbs, R., & Frost, R. (2003). measuring the acquisition of media-literacy skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3), 330-355. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/415182

 Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2005). Toward critical media literacy: Core concepts, debates, organizations, and policy. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 26(3), 369-386. Retrieved from http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/2005_Kellner-Share_TowardsCriticalMediaLiteracy.pdf




Additional Resources:

1.) http://marcprensky.com/writing/     This is a web page with writing by Marc Prensky, who I first read while studying how to engage "digital natives" in learning activities. The first article is highly recommended.

2.) http://www.ithaca.edu/looksharp/   This project has great media literacy lesson plans and resources for teachers. I came across this resource while doing research for this class one week.

3.) http://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources/find-lesson  A resource for Media Literacy lesson plans from Canada.

4.) http://mediaeducationlab.com/curriculum/materials Easy to follow lesson plans to teach media literacy. Created and/or compiled by Renee Hobbs.

5.) http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/college-bound-9-12  More lesson plans and resources on this website - but particularly thought about this lesson plan as a way to teach the IC3 computer literacy certification my students can earn.
     

Digital Story Final Draft

Thanks for watching - I hope you enjoy it!

Digital Story Rough Draft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-J7Spa6EJM&feature=youtu.be

This is definitely a rough draft, please bear with me. My story still needs more supporting images (there is a lot of black screen with voice-over that will change) and music. I need to still cut about 30 seconds. I plan to re-record some of the narration and tweak a couple things, but I think its in a good place for some feedback. I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks so much.

Digital Story Outline

I focused on the narrative outline and just wrote notes about what images I wanted because I didn't want to spend too much time on it (I tend to get immersed in that part) -this week I will work more on collecting and creating the images I want.

Digital Story Outline

I'm interested in feedback, please let me know if you have any! Thanks!

Double Entry Journal 12

Chapter 4: Dreams and Nightmares

1. How can documentary video production help prevent the underdevelopment of urban youth minds and spirits?

 Documentary video production allows the student to develop critical thinking skills by exploring a subject in that has a personal or community relevance to it.

2. What school-based literacies does documentary video production help to develop?

Documentary video production can help develop reading & writing literacies, as well as research-based literacies. Reading and research are developed through learning more about a subject, which is needed in order to guide a project and write interview questions and narration that is informed. Writing literacies are also developed through the brainstorming and project development (pr-production) phase of a video documentary process. It is also developed in the interviewing phase (developing questions). In the logging phase of a video documentary, the students must also engage their critical thinking skills to differentiate useful information from non-useful information, and must start developing a mental outline for there final pieces.

3. What 21st century skills does documentary video production help to develop? Provide concrete examples from the chapter. Use this Wikipedia article  to help you answer this questions.  

Critical thinking: when logging the footage of the Dreams project, the students had to decide what was relevant to write down in their logs and what wasn't relevant. Another example - When interviewing subjects, students must decide what is relevant to ask, and makes sense in order to guide their final video.

Creativity and Innovation: Majandra pulling out the video camera and interviewing her father - innovative. The editing process is a creative example. The brainstorming process - the students journaling what to include in their video - an example of the creative process.

Communication & Collaboration: Majandra & Jonathan's talk in the principal's office. Majandra communicated with Jonathan, in order to get him to understand why the topic of Teen Suicide was important. This resulted in Jonathan's collaboration on the project.

Information Literacy: research into the issue of Teen Suicide - evidenced by Julius' question to the boy whose friend committed suicide, asking what his take on more boys committing suicide instead of girls.

Media Literacy: the students had to learn that the media often looks like they are interviewing "on the fly," but in actuality, the questions the media asks are usually preplanned and only made to look spontaneous.

Career & Life skills: Majandra learned interviewing skills and specialized in that area because she wanted to go into Journalism. Jonathan learned flexibility in working on a topic that wasn't his initial choice. Julius learned how to talk to people and listen to them without inserting his own viewpoint.

4. Would you support a documentary video production in school or after-school program in your community? Why or Why not?

Yes, absolutely - and I'd love to be part of it! I have seen documentary video production work by making students think deeper about the issues that influence themselves and their communities. I have also seen them come out of a workshop with a better sense of collaboration and communication, and a deeper respect for hard work and research based inquiry.

Elements of a Digitial Story

Element #1: Know your Audience
I think the audience for both video's was the students & possibly parents - to inform them of something & to reinforce the learning by making a video of the results and process.  In the second example, I like the use of text because, for me, I understand things better if I read them rather than if it was told to me. I would have enjoyed hearing more student voices, however, and probably would have added that if I was doing it - like the first example did.

For my story, I plan to use first person narrative. I'd like my audience to be my fellow students, maybe my family (particularly my children).

Element #2: Dramatic Question

Although the first example video 's ending was very cute (with the videomakers waving & saying their name into the camera), I didn't think it did a great job answering the dramatic question "are we making Guam Ugly." I thought it could be better if it showed more places with trash around it (what they showed look just like they went to one place - although this could be wrong).

I love the idea of the surprising ending that makes sense within context of my story. I'm thinking of how I could incorporate that into my story. I'm expecting my dramatic question to be something around culture identity..... I was 20 years old before I realized what culture was.

Element #3: Emotional content
The first example uses depression and feeling of loneliness as its emotional content. The second example uses a mother's wish to learn about her culture in order to pass it on to her children... the universal feeling of inter-generational connection is the emotional content that hooks the viewer. The third example asks "what is a stranger" and it is resolved in a surprising way - strangers look like regular people  not the scary monsters the children drew pictures of... they can even look like the teacher.

Element #4: The gift of your voice
Wow - love the first example. The expression the woman had on her face when she talked about licking salt was wonderful. I love the "mountain" people and the "ocean" people content - something wonderful about hearing that from her voice.
Example two included the children reading their story & singing the background music which really made it feel like a child-directed story vs. if an adult would have read it. The written word also gave the feeling of the video being more like a story-book.... and interesting choice.

Element #5: The soundtrack
I can see using old-time, traditional, music as a soundtrack to my digital story....

Element #6: Economy
What a great idea - to create story's from pictures and record them into movies - love it. For the most part, the images stayed on the screen just long enough and followed the story nicely.

Element #7: Pacing
The basketball team (and the teachers) made me laugh! I would have liked some of the photos towards the end paced faster.... but my ultimate criticism is that - I want to see more!!!

Week 11 - Double Entry Journal

1. What are your concerns about teaching young people to make videos about social problems?
A few concerns: first, that adults (teachers, administrators) influence what is said or addressed about that social problem. two, that the depth of understanding about the social problem isn't deep enough. three, the young people don't contribute enough solutions to the problems - and it can come off sometimes like they are just complaining without being proactive about a solution.

Questions about Chapter 2:

1. Name a social issue specific to the Appalachian region that you think young people in your community would or should address. 

 Environmental concerns:I think it would be really interesting to explore the difference between mountain top removal and underground mining, and how those differences (or lack of distinction between the two) impact economics, political dynamics and environmental concerns. I'd also be interested in seeing young people's perspectives on climate change and coal mining - particularly those who benefit economically from coal mining.

 

2. Find an online resource you might use to scaffold community-based  video production process.

I'm not sure what is meant by "scaffold" in this context, but I found a website with some curriculum available:  http://justthink.org/curriculum/     (The Hidden Heroes curriculum is really good - I've used a version of it in a past workshop).

3. Choose one of the following perspectives; teacher, parent, or community member. From your chosen perspective, would you be supportive of a school program that engaged students in community-based video production? Why or Why not?

As a parent, I would absolutely support a school program that engages students in community-based video production. For one, it would be important for me to know that my child is being exposed to a larger community beyond just the school. It is also important for me to know that my child is being taught how to be a proactive producer of media (and not just a spectator). I would also support this within the school because I believe that video production is a form of literacy that can deepen my child's cognitive abilities and depth of knowledge.

 

Quote:

 

"Some students claim to distrust information reported by any students - including the electronic and print news media - other than someone in their neighborhood. Their problem is not knowing how to gather and make sense of information is therefore compounded by their difficulty in knowing how to decide what and what not to believe. And second, they often voice a deep sense of hopelessness and pessimism that any amount of learning or community involvement could make a difference in the social conditions that shape their lives." (Goodman, 2003)

My attention was thoroughly captured while reading Chapter two of this book. I enjoyed reading about the process of making Young Gunz, and I enjoyed Mr. Goodman's analysis of the young filmmakers' learning process. However, when I got to this passage, I realized I might as well be reading about the adult students in my class. I underlined many other passages in this chapter that related to them as well, but this was the first. I was especially drawn to the "hopelessness and pessimism" part because with the election coming up, I have been talking a lot about the electoral process and was surprised to hear not one of them was planning to vote.

The difficulty in knowing how to decide what and what not to believe also rang true. Later in the Chapter Mr. Goodman writes that his students assess the reliability of street information  based on their personal connection to the source. This seems to ring true for the lower income rural adult students I work with too. It is interesting to me, because the reliability of information is almost always linked back to the source of information, however the "personal connection" is tricky. I think of this in terms of the internet because computer literacy is something I teach. Part of this literacy is teaching students how to decipher if a website is reliable or not. Most of my students have a hard time figuring this part out - especially if they are unfamiliar with the website (which I guess could be seen as the "personal connection"). Personal connection can be tricky because although you trust that source, it might not be accurate. For example, Wikipedia is usually accurate, but can't be trusted to always be right and isn't an acceptable research website.

Additional Resource:

This is the place I used to work that does community-based video production with Appalachian youth. I haven't kept up with what they've been doing much in the last few years, but around the time I was there youth produced videos about prescription drug abuse, Appalachian music, living wages, stream quality, coal-mining, LGBT acceptance and dialects/accents of Appalachian people:

www.appalshop.org/ami

Source:

 Goodman, S. (2003). Teaching youth media: A critical guide to literacy, video production & social change. NY: Teachers College Press.

Week Ten - Activity 1

1. A positive event from my childhood:
My grandmother moved in with my family when I was 4 years old. She was much older than other grandmothers of children my age because she had my father when she was 35. My father was almost 30 when he had me, so that made her about 65. 65 now doesn't seem that old, but at 4 years old, 65 was ancient. She never wore hair-dye, so she looked like a grandmother. She also had a hard, but good, life. She worked at a lot of service jobs, and had Scoliosis bad, so she was always bent over which made her look like she had a hump on her back. When she married at 19, she was 5'7" but she had shrunk to about 4'10" by the time she died at the age of 88.

I remember she always cooked. My parents both worked, but she was home when we would get back from school. She would make us grilled cheese sandwiches. She loved to bake, and would make lots and lots of cookies during the holidays. Unfortunately, these cookies were old-world cookies with funny names and funny, adult tastes. She would make almond cookies and balish, strudels and potica. She was famous for her potica. Potica is a Hungarian nut-roll with walnuts and lots (and lots) of sugar. When I was a teenager and had an opportunity to go to Europe for a few weeks one summer, my grandmother and mother baked Potica's to sell and paid for my trip that way. I should have helped, said I would help, but didn't. I never really baked Potica's with my grandmother. It wasn't until after she died that I started baking Potica with my mother. It started as a sure-fire way to make extra cash during the holidays, one year we made enough to fly four people to Florida, but as I did it, and loved it, It turned into a way to honor my grandmother and, I hope, I hope, a way to show her my appreciation for always being there for me.

2. A negative event from my childhood:
I remember middle school being particularly traumatizing to me. I am the only girl among three brothers, as a child I was assertive, outspoken and bold. When I hit middle school, and puberty, things changed drastically. I NEVER spoke up in class or even raised my hand, I was shy and introverted. I had a small group of friends, but not the close knit group I had in elementary school. As far as a detail.... hmm, I remember being picked on a lot, although I don't really remember why - I imagine it was because I was an easy target because I didn't speak up.

3. A particular event that stands out from my teenage years:
When I got my driver's license. I couldn't wait to get it, I signed up for my temps as soon as I could, took my drivers ed class immediately and took the drivers test as soon as I was eligible. I remember the first time I got to drive by myself. It was a day or two after I passed my test and I drove my Mom somewhere to drop her off. One rule my parent's had when I was learning to drive was that the radio had to be off. I understood why, it was for my safety - to cut down on the distractions. I dropped her off and started the 15 minute drive home. I got about 5 minutes into the ride when it hit me that I was alone, the car was quiet and I had my drivers license! I turned on the radio, thank you very much, and loved the freedom - and defiance - of it!


4. A vivid/important memory from my adult years:
Driving into Kentucky for the first time. I was on my way to eastern Kentucky where I was to spend the next three months interning during my college years. I didn't know what to expect from the job, nor from the area. I didn't know anything about Eastern Kentucky or Appalachia... hell, I still pronounced it Apple-Aye-shon because that was how I was taught in school. The only thing I remembered about being taught about Appalachia in school was that it was a mountain range in the eastern U.S. That's it. Nothing about the rich culture and traditions. nothing about the streams and forests, nor about the coal that came from those mountains that powered our lights and what that meant to the people who lived in that region - for better and for worse.  I had no idea that the term "hillbilly" had multiple meanings and was largely embraced and celebrated. My only experience I had with hillbillies was my grandfather, who called himself one while he cussed and farted in public (much to my embarrassment).  I remember driving to eastern Kentucky, unsure of how to handle the winding, two lane, 55 mph roads, and unsure of what to expect. I remember embracing the idea of having no expectations. I started my work, scared but open to whatever happened.

This internship was supposed to be my required "cross-cultural" experience I needed to graduate. I at first thought - what a joke, kentucky is my "cross-cultural" experience? It was pretty early into the experience when I realized that I had no idea what culture even really, really meant until that time. I could clearly see how spanish culture differed from mine, for instance, but it wasn't until I experienced the subtle but strong difference in Appalachian vs. the northeastern middle American culture I came from, did I understand what culture was or how persuasive and encompassing it was.

5. A turning point in my life:
I guess I have to turn back to my Kentucky experience for this one. I always wanted to make movies as a kid, and I always thought I'd end up in New York or some other big city. I never in a million years dreamed that I would fall in love with the mountains. I was supposed to stay 3 months in Kentucky for my internship, I ended up staying 9 months that first stretch. I fell in love, both literally and figuratively, and ended up returning to Kentucky 9 months later to live and work. I married the mountain-raised man I fell for, had my first child in the mountains. Along the way I discovered a passion for education, having taught young Appalachians how to make media so they could offer an alternative view of their culture.  I realized that mainstream media was co-opting and exploited a true, but incomplete part of this culture for commercial gain and money.

Double Entry Journal #10

1. Do you think topics that center on "frustration with official power" and "attraction for mass media fantasies would differ in  rural communities from those that inner-city teenagers focus on? How? Give some examples. 

No, I don't think it would differ all that much. I think what might differ is the form the "official power" takes. According to the author students he works with want to talk about police-youth relations, youth crime, violence and police brutality. What the "official power" looks like might change in a rural community - perhaps less police centered and more school administration and community/church leadership frustrations. I think topics such as prescription drug abuse, unfair treatment within schools, the seemingly inability to voice/see alternate viewpoints in a school (athletic vs. artistic students), GBLT issues within a community might be more relevant to rural  students. 

2. How do traditional social institutions and mass media work to silence inner-city kids?

Traditional social institutions silence inner-city kids by telling kids how they should or shouldn't behave in society and school and punish them as criminals. Mass media silences kids by co-opting their culture of defiance and marketing it to them (and to larger society).

3. What is your reaction to the statistics presented under the heading "And Justice For Some?" Do you think the system in intentionally organized to disadvantage urban youth of color?

My reaction to the statistics is that I'm not really surprised. I'm not sure I'd go as far to say that the system is "intentionally organized" that way, but I do believe that it has been institutionalized this way for a long time and has its roots in fear and racism.

4. Link to an advertisement or commercial that you consider to be influenced by hip-hop culture? 

http://youtu.be/Ul63nCoYhBc -- interesting because it seems to be marketing to 20 something white men who watch football - but uses hip-hop to do so, which must be because the style of hip-hop it features (heavy use of auto-tune) appeals to middle class white men of a certain age.

5. What dangers to young people do you see in the relentless marketing of "cool"?

Positive decision making can be affected by the marketing of "cool". Young people may choose to make a decision that is anti-thesis to their goals and wants in life because of the influence of "cool". The other danger is that young people trying to avoid and "one-up" the marketers find themselves in more extreme situations.

6. What is your reaction to the research that shows youth violence in decline? Do you still think that is the trend in 2012? Find some statistics to support your answer?

Yes, I do.  

 

Juvenile Arrest Rate Trends

The juvenile arrest rate for all offenses reached its highest level in the last two decades in 1996, and then declined 36% by 2009.

Juvenile Arrest Rates for All Crimes, 1980-2009

Note: Rates are arrests of persons ages 10-17 per 100,000 persons ages 10-17 in the resident population.

[Text only]  [Excel file]

• In 2009, there were 5,804 arrests for every 100,000 youths ages 10 through 17 in the United States.
• The overall juvenile arrest rate was lower in 2009 than in 1980.

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Internet Citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available:
http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05200. October 16, 2011.

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7. Why is it important to let youth speak for themselves and their voices to be heard?

They can offer an alternative perspective, and a more correct view of urban youth than mainstream media.

8. What prevents Urban Youth from articulating their own lived experiences in ways that might be productive? Do you think this is problematic in rural areas like West Virginia? Do you think rural youth are victimized by mass media in ways that are different than Urban youth? How?

Urban youth, and Appalachian youth which includes the rural areas in West Virginia, have a cultural history of oral communication. They also have a modern-day culture that include visual communication. Visual and Oral communication is the primary form used out of school, while print communication is used in teaching. This gap disinterests and disengages the student from the process of learning, which also prevents the student from learning the vocabulary that is necessary to articulate their own lived experiences in the dominant media of the white middle class. Rural youth are victimized by mass media in similar, but contrasting, ways as urban youth. Rural youth are depicted as overweight and unhealthy, as "backwards," racist, unwelcoming, drug addicted and "rednecks." 

 

 The lack of vocabulary - which in public schools is the the vocabulary of the white middle class.

9. According to the author, what is the best way to address the literacy challenge?

Experiential learning, with more emphasis on oral and visual communication - which is the communication these students use more out-of- school. Also more exposure and learning opportunities from people who look the same and sound the same as these students.

10. Why is the skill and drill approach to literacy instruction ineffective?

The vocabulary skill and drill approach uses is the vocabulary of the white middle class, separate from and in direct opposition to their culture and experiences. This approach detaches and disinterests the student from teaching in print communication they receive in traditional school.

11. What should schools offer to improve literacy instruction for Urban Youth? Do you think this strategy would also benefit student of the Appalachia region whose literacy rates are similar to those of youth in the inner-city?

Experiential learning opportunities in oral and visual communication, and instruction from people who look and act like themselves. Yes, I think this strategy would also benefit students from the Appalachian region. 

12. How is the process of reading changed by media?

The idea of Literacy is changing because young learners are now "reading" a variety of non-print communication. The use of both visual and aural senses allows for a greater understanding and recall of what they learned.

13. According to the author how might the imbalance between inner-city kids strong command of oral and visual language be used to improve print-based language? Do you think this would also work for low-literacy kids in the Appalachia region?

By widening and deepening the definition of literacy to include oral and visual language and teaching those within a school would help bring an inner-city teenager to greater success within the classroom and the work world. It would also help the inner-city teenager be able to express themselves and insert their experiences and viewpoints into the mainstream which would ultimately improve print-based language for all. Yes, I think this would absolutely work with low-literacy kids in the Appalachian region for all the same reasons it works with inner-city teenagers. The culture of Appalachia is based in oral traditions and the modern-day American culture is based in visual communication.

Double Entry Journal #9

 Quote:

"Mass communication in our contemporary culture might arguably bear greater similarity with the late 10th century, when there was a revival of the image, not the word..... theologians used church paintings, sculptures and the very church buildings themselves as a form of collective communication to teach the Bible to the unlettered masses.... Within the context of our 21st-century media culture, the language of images also tells stories and teaches lessons about the order of things. However, today's symbols are most commonly used to teach that the promise of salvation is brought about through material acquisition instead of spiritual devotion." (Goodman, 2003)

Extra Resource:

http://www.ithaca.edu/chartres/learn/glass/glass_master.html




Response:
 I wanted to respond to both the quote I chose from the text, and the additional resource I found this time, because I was really struck by the comparison the author brought up. It made me recall my trip to Europe as a young teenager, and the beautiful, awe inspiring cathedrals I visited while I was there. The stained glass windows that adorned these cathedrals were just amazing, much older and much much more elaborate than I had ever seen in this country. I remember being taken aback by them and learning that these elaborate stained glass windows were developed with the intention of education in mind. They depicted bible stories at a time when very few - the most wealthy and most powerful- knew how to read the actual bible. The images conveyed the stories that the leaders of the church wanted the congregants to know.

This led me to an online search to look for examples of stained glass and what continually came up in my web searches was the Chartres Cathedral in France, which dates back to around 1200 ("United nations educational," 2009). The glass and architecture of this cathedral is beautiful. It is awe inspiring, and I can clearly see how it made a person feel as if they were in the presence of something greater while within that space.

Unfortunately, I fear that the modern day equivalent of the Chartres is something akin to Disneyworld. I feel when we look at pictures of these amazing stain glass windows, we are seeing the 12th century's version of glossy, colorful magazine covers and advertisements. The places being built today that give people a sense of amazement, (eyes up.... mouth agape) are places like Las Vegas, amusement parks, football stadiums, fancier shopping malls. When I think of modern-day icons and symbols, I think about logos such as Gucci's and Apple's. When I think about bright, colorful beautiful images, I think about advertisements - billboards, posters, and commercials.

Critical media literacy allows the viewer to understand that these modern-day media images - albeit beautiful and awe-inspiring - are manipulating the uneducated, often into spending their money on something they only think they need.  Much like the 1200s, the wealthy and powerful - media moguls and corporate giants - control what the populace sees. The unfortunate part is that today the message the corporate media is sending is that happiness is only acquired through material goods.





Additional Questions:

1. According to the author, what is the main reason school have ignored engaging student with critical media literacy. Schools, along with the system of global media, both want young people to "be passive and willing vessels for a prescribed set of knowledge and skills." Media wants students to be consumers, schools want students to be orderly and not question authority and systems. Critical media literacy teaches students to question the authority and meanings they read around them, and this might lead to a question of school's authority. Furthermore, the author argues American schools are factory-schooling, where a supervisor (the principal, the teachers), expect total obedience from the worker (the student). Critical media literacy encourages and seeks community collaboration between teacher and student, and this disrupts they typical structure of a school system.

  2. Define critical media literacy. Studying media with a critical eye towards the power dynamics and economics at play within the media by identifying the codes and constructions media uses to manipulate the viewer.

 3. How can film making or digital story telling support the goals of critical media literacy? By creating media, especially film & digital stories, students (people!) learn the countless choices and decisions made throughout the process of producing a piece. The act of producing media leads students to understand more thoroughly the ways in which media can manipulate the viewer because they themselves will be manipulating their footage to get the story they want out of it.

4. Why does teaching media literacy become more complicated as student become consumers of news? News is a business, which makes money by increasing market share via increased viewership. For this reason, news has relied on spectacle and students have "grown up in a culture that has normalized the notion that entertainment is news and news is entertainment."

 5. What is the difference between learning through the media and learning about the media? Learning about the media includes being critical about the message and the pro-consumer bent the media is teaching you. It is about being aware of the codes and constructs the media uses. Teaching through media is just about using media as a vehicle to teach a set curriculum - like watching an educational film about water quality in science class.

Sources:

 Goodman, S. (2003). Teaching youth media: A critical guide to literacy, video production & social change. NY: Teachers College Press.


United nations educational, scientific and cultural organization. (2009). Retrieved from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/81

Week Nine Activity

I chose Distance by Marianna Corona, because I thought it was really well done.

• Point of View: This story is about the dream of owning a house this narrator had as a young girl, and the steps she took to reach that goal. The author/narrator is a Mexican-American and this story is also about the cultural background she comes from, and the prejudice she had to overlook in order to fulfill her dream. It is told from the point of view of a successful woman who came from humble backgrounds, which I get the feeling she never saw that as a relevant part of her future.
• Dramatic Question: The dramatic question that is asked used to hook an audience forms from the narrators first words "I remember the day that a friend told me I didn't live in a house." This statement/question clues the audience into knowing the story will be about houses and neighborhoods, and also class issues, because the house in question is a trailer.
  

• Emotional Content.The story of how important it was to the author to own her own home, and how far she came, what she did, in order to achieve that goal really added to the emotional content. Also, how she lives in the same neighborhood that she walked in as a kid and was called a name that reeked of hatred, but she owns the home she dreamed of, despite the hatred she felt as a kid. I really felt emotionally connected to the walking across 3 stages, and one aisle part - which, for me, brought the long journey she made into focus.
• Voice. The narrator did a great job of retelling her story in a straight forward, casual manner. She has a very soft but steady and determined voice that fit well with the story she had to tell.
• Soundtrack. This story had very little music (none?), but it did have the sound of birds and cars - the same sounds one would find in a sleepy neighborhood that this author referred to in her story. 
• Economy.This script used metaphor to relate a large portion of this authors life journey - I'm thinking specifically of the "lived across the state, walked three stages and one aisle"  line, which documented her schooling and her marriage. Great choice of words. Also, tied into the theme of walking, which pulled together the whole story.
• Pacing.This story used a literal "pace." The walking was a theme throughout the story, and was paired with continual video of a sidewalk as one would see it if walking. The voice narration was well-paced as well, and the images that faded in and out (while the sidewalk continued to show in the background) complimented the script well.

Week Eight - Reel Works Digital Story

I picked "Home" by Nael Samara




 1.What do you like about the digital story? I like hearing views of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict from individual people who are affected by it, rather than in the general political and governmental terms I typically hear. I was also really interested in how the two women interviewed at the beginning felt so strongly about their homeland, and how that affected the next generation. Even though the young filmmaker had never been to Palestine, he still felt connected to it as his home.

 2.What did you learn from the digital story? I learned a lot about Palestinian culture - which clearly emphasizes family and ties to roots evidenced by the strong pull it has on immigrants. I also learned about how this culture permeates deeply enough that the generation born in America still refers it to as their home.

 3.What surprised you about the digital story? How strongly the young filmmaker felt about Palestine, even though he had been born in the U.S. and had never visited there. The culture came with the immigrants, and permeated their existence in New York.

 4.How did the digital story provide an example of how digital story telling can build self esteem, help young people voice an opposition to social problems, or create an alternative to stereotypes of adolescents typically portrayed in mainstream media? This digital story definitely provided this young man with the ability to portray Palestinian's in a way that counters what most of the mainstream media portrays. I really appreciated that this film took that portrayal head-on (how couldn't he have, though, because the stereotype is so prevalent, and clearly a part of his everyday life). The most telling part to me was when one woman he interviewed spoke about each side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict not wanting to concede that they both had a claim to that land. This viewpoint - that there are people on both sides of the issue that believes the other has a claim too - is not typically deemed newsworthy by media looking to pit two sides against each other.

 5.How can digital storytelling promote critical media literacy?  Digital storytelling can promote critical media literacy by teaching students how to share their own stories, and how to recognize that their stories are not always the ones that are shown in the media. This is best done while putting digital storytelling in a larger context, examining mainstream media stories, and determining which stories are not being shown and why. Furthermore, the art of crafting a digital story allows students the opportunity to learn first hand that the art of media making means leaving certain things out for the purpose of the story. Knowing this, gives students a better framework for being able to question what and why mainstream media left out certain aspects of a story.

Week Eight - Double Entry Journal

Quote:
  "For example, students learned that it takes courage to share their stories publicly; they risk judgment from others. But once they develop confidence and commitment to the storytelling process, students can generate many new insights related to media production as a vehicle for engagement with culture identity work through producing short videos and by remixing and repurposing existing media content to tell new stories." (Raimist, Doerr-Stevens & Jacobs, 2010)

Reflection: 
 I was moved by the acknowledgement that it takes courage to tell a personal story, which I completely agree with. I think this is something that, as teachers, we must address and acknowledge to our students at the beginning of any process that storytelling is involved. I have taught documentary media production in the past, in which we asked students to create a piece about an issue affecting their community. The students with the strongest videos were usually the ones that came from a very personal place. I am sometimes wary of putting personal stories out into the open because I am a pretty private person. This sometimes effects my ability to tell a whole story and affects my ability to encourage my students to put themselves out there in a brave and courageous way. One thing this class is helping me to understand is that in order to tell an alternative, honest and empowering story, one must overcome initial feelings of exposure (tempered with good judgement, of course), and be brave enough to put it out there.  

What I am struggling with: I teach career-readiness and one thing we talk about is being careful about what you put out into the internet that can be seen and searched for by employers. We encourage our students not to put anything damaging out onto the world wide web. We even tell students not to mention they have kids to prospective employers. How do I reconcile this with being brave and courageous to put yourself out there in a digital storytelling format?

What do I do if I have someone who is 22 and looking for work, but also made a film as a teenager that showcases she was a teen mom or made some bad choices at 16? For instance, on the Reel Works website, I watched a film by a 17 year old who had dropped out of school and was documenting the immediate days afterwards while reflecting on how much she felt going back to school would be a waste of time.

 I disagree completely with the idea that an employer wouldn't hire someone because they made a film 6 years ago detailing their struggle as a teen mom, or as a drop-out, but I recognize that this is a reality. I am interested in using critical media literacy as a way to change the culture to recognize that every story is individual, but I'm concerned about what some stories could mean for the students' immediate future. One thought, is that teacher education could be the answer, because it could be the responsibility of the teacher to address these issues. I know that these could be somewhat separate issues, but important to think about and address. I believe creating media is a hugely important part of critical media literacy, but so is determining what to share of yourself personally, especially if the digital story will be published on the internet.

Additional Resource: 
 http://www.storycenter.org/ethical-practice/

  I was looking for a resource that helped me come to terms with my struggle I wrote about above. I was very pleased to see that the Center for Digital Storytelling addressed my concerns. I was not surprised because I felt like someone had to have brought these same concerns up and I knew the CDS was a great organization. I would hope that any teacher or organization entering into a digital media curriculum would follow these principles. I am, unfortunately, doubtful that this is the case but hope with greater teacher education (such as this class!), this will be addressed and the CDS' core principles will be adopted.

 Resources:

 Raimist, R., Doerr-Stevens, C., & Jacobs, W. (2010). The pedagogy of digital storytelling in the college classroom. Retrieved from http://www.seminar.net/index.php/home/75-current-issue/145-the-pedagogy-ofdigital-storytelling-in-the-college-classroom

Critical Media PSA

That was fun!

Double Entry Journal #7

Quote:

Many young people who are disillusioned or cynical about student journalism programs in high school point to their inability to take real responsibility for the choice of message content in the paper. Similarly, plenty of video magazine programs are produced by students who are coerced into making promotional messages for the sports program, the foreign language program, or whatever programs the grownups approve. Such is more or less standard educational fare in our schools.

Of course, such practices occur because to truly empower children and youth with the ability to design the content and form of their own messages would entail tremendous risk to the current educational system. The issues which concern our teenagers today— sexuality, classism and racism, drug use, violence, the environment and the nation's future— are topics that most educators are unprepared to bring into the classroom. Teachers and parents in a community often find the voices of young people very uncomfortable to hear and nearly impossible to respond to. (Hobbs, 2002)

 Response:

This made me think of a quote I ran across while doing research for my PSA:

The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.
James A. Baldwin

I thought about the majority of schools in our education system, and how questioning administrative authority is discouraged. I understand why questioning authority isn't encouraged, but from a critical standpoint, I wonder what teaching opportunities are being lost because students are not being encouraged to question why a certain status quo exists within in their daily lives. For example, I remember quite clearly in high school wondering why we had to call all our teachers Mr. & Ms. My parents had told me that you called someone by this formal title if you wanted to show them respect however, by example, it was only the very oldest and most traditional family friends that we called Mr. or Ms so and so in our household. The only adults that I called by this title were found in my highschool. I definitely respected a few of my teachers, and I didn't want to show disrespect to the ones I didn't respect nearly enough, but I always questioned why this archaic tradition still existed.

In contrast, when I went to college, I was taken aback when my professors preferred to be called by their first names. I remember feeling surprised at how this changed the dynamic of the classroom for better or for worse. For me, it contributed to my sense of independence and ownership over my education that I didn't have before. I continued to question the education I was receiving, but, in contrast to high school, I felt that my professors and I were equal partners in my education. 


Sources:  
Hobbs, R. (2002). Center for media literacy. Retrieved from http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/teaching-media-literacy-yo-are-you-hip  
 

James A. Baldwin Quote found at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/society_3.html#H6xt1BP0QvGBgug9.99

Double Entry Journal #6

Why did the authors do this study?
To study the effect a critical media literacy curriculum on student's reading, listening and viewing comprehension, writing and skills of message analysis.

How did the authors do the study?
They used two groups of students in the 11th grade, one as a control group that didn't receive any formal media literacy education, and one that attended a high school with a year long media studies and communication course as part of their language arts/english class. Both schools were of similar size, instructional quality and student demographics.
At the end of the year, the researchers administered a test to measure the student's comprehension and media/message-analysis skills. Three message formats were presented, and the students were asked a series of open-ended questions about each format. They used non-fiction media messages because of the media literacy curriculum's emphasis on non-fiction.

What data/results emerged from the study?
In reading comprehension - the students that had the media literacy curriculum scored higher than the control group. They performed "statistically significantly" better at identifying the main ideas and identifying details in a reading analysis.

In listening comprehension - the media literacy group scored higher in identifying the main ideas in a radio broadcast, but no differences were found when it came to identifying details.

In viewing comprehension, the treatment group that studied media-literacy scored better at identifying a main idea, and specific details in a television news broadcast.

"For all three formats, these results indicate that media-literacy instruction improves students' ability to understand and summarize information they learned from reading, listening, and viewing" (Hobbs & Frost, 2003).

In writing quantity & quality - the length of a paragraph rose significantly in the treatment group that studied media literacy. However, no statistically significant difference was found in the holistic writing quality. Spelling errors went down in both groups, but there were more spelling errors in the treatment group, which could be attributed to the increase in word count for that group.

Construction techniques - "results suggest that students receiving media-literacy instruction were significantly better than control-group students at the identification of specific construction techniques used to create print, audio and video messages.

Identifying point of view - rose significantly in the treatment group with the year-long media literacy curriculum, although both groups improved from the pre-test.

Without recreating the entire results list - to sum it up: the treatment group that studied media literacy scored either just as well, or in most cases, higher than the control group in analyzing print, audio & television messages.

 What do the authors conclude from the data analysis?
The authors conclude that a year-long media literacy curriculum is just as rigorous as a standard literature-based instruction in improving students' reading comprehension, writing, message-comprehension and critical-thinking skills. They also conclude that teachers need to "be less fearful of making use of a wider range of multimedia fiction and non-fiction texts as study objects..." (Hobbs & Frost, 2003).

What is the significance of the study?
It is the "first large-scale empirical work measuring the acquisition of media-literacy skills in the United States" (Hobbs & Frost, 2003) and it strongly suggests that the use of media in a language arts/english classroom can improve upon the students' comprehension and messaging skills. 

How do these findings influence your position on  media literacy and school curriculum?
The findings strengthen my belief that media-literacy should be part of a child's education, and that media could be a much needed addition to just literature based instruction in a language arts curriculum.This study influenced my views on literature based instruction, and made me question that standard. To me, it does seem like using media is a better way to teach those comprehension and analysis skills. If I think back to the last time I read a book, I have a hard time remembering when, but if I think to the last time I was reading something on the internet, - it was probably 10 times today.

Source:
Hobbs, R., & Frost, R. (2003). measuring the acquisition of media-literacy skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3), 330-355. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4151822 .

Week Six Activity

This week we had to pick a media literacy lesson plan and follow it ourselves. I choose:

Exploring Change through Allegory and Poetry

The first lesson was to create a "Me-Tree" to represent a visual allegory. I involved my whole family in this project and this is what we created (it was fun!):

Mine is on left, Mazie (age 3.5), on right.

Jamez on left; Avery (age 8) on right.

I then had to complete a worksheet with a few questions about the Me-Tree:

“Me Tree” Reflection Questions 

1. What is an allegory?
   Something that has multiple meanings. On the surface it seems or looks like one thing, but they can also be read as having deeper or different meanings.
2. What type of allegory does the “Me Tree” represent?
   On the surface it is a tree, but it actually represents me - who I am, what I like, where I want to go.
   
3. In what way does the “Me Tree” fit the characteristics of an allegory?
   It was created using my hand print & its leaves were characteristics of me. However, It looks like a tree.
   
4. Why is a tree a fitting symbol to represent a person?
   There are many different kinds of trees - just like there are many different types of people. Trees can be mighty and strong, or small & weak - they can start small & weak but grow mighty & strong. They also loose their leaves every year, and get new ones in the spring. People have many different interests, but they can change from year to year.
   
5. In what ways are your traits, interests, and roles like the leaves on a tree?
   They can change from year to year. I could cut my hair next year, I could decide I really like bowling. Many different things could change, just like leaves on the trees change, fall, and grow up anew.
   
6. If you were to make a “Me Tree” next year, would it look the same as the one you just made? What would its likely differences and similarities be?
   Not in all ways - I might not include shy and outgoing on the tree. I would include mother and daughter because I am that and those designations wouldn't change.
   
7. View your classmates’ “Me Trees.” Select two student trees, and explain which aspects of each tree you feel most accurately depict the creator.
   My husband's tree reflects his personality - he's creative and different, and it SHOWS in that tree! My son's reflects his personality because he is everywhere at once and has a great imagination. 

The second step was to read a text about change. The lesson plan was geared for grades 6-8 and suggested "The Giving Tree" as a suitable text. It also linked to a list of other suggested texts, which included the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" I had heard of this book before, and knew that it typically pertained to the workplace, so I chose to read this one instead. I completed the following worksheets in relation to the book:

 

Change Reflection Questions

1. Who in this text is undergoing change?
   Sniff & Scurry, Hem & Haw
2.  How does this character respond to change?
   Sniff & Scurry are mice who just put back on their running shoes & go find bigger cheese. Hem continually resists change, complains and declares the world "unfair" and doesn't change nor seek out bigger cheese. Haw resists change at first, but then confronts his fear, learns to adapt and finds bigger cheese after several set backs.
3. Do other characters provide help or advice for the character that is undergoing change? What advice do they give?
   Haw continually leaves messages - "writings on the wall" to help remind himself about what is happening and how to adapt to change. He also leaves these with the hope that Hem will eventually face his fear and look for cheese - with these messages as a guide.
   
4. What does the character learn about change?
   That change is inevitable, and you should always be prepared for it. That fear holds you back from seeking change. That watching for signs of change and being prepared for it can help. That change can lead to bigger cheese.
   
5. In what way is this text a literary allegory?
   On the surface, this story is about two mice, two little people, some cheese and a maze.  However, it is an obvious literary allegory for how people react to change. The maze is the journey and trajectory of life. The mice are people who seek out change, who don't ever get complacent and are always ready to move and adjust with the change. The little people - Hem & Haw, are allegories for people who resist change because of fear. The cheese is something you need to live on, that can make you happy and content. The cheese is typically read as an allegory for money or a job, but could just as easily be an allegory for marriage and love.

Then we had to create diamante poems that were about change:

How this relates to the 21st Century Skills Framework:

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes - English/Language Arts. With some slight tweaking, I can also see this relating to Financial, Economic, Entrepreneurial and Business Literacy because I could use this during a lesson I do entitled "coping with change in the workplace." It could also have a Civic Literacy slant if the students were encouraged to think about change within their communities and lives.

Learning and Innovation Skills: This lesson addresses creativity through the "me-trees" and the Diametric Poems. Critical thinking skills are challenged during the worksheets about the text readings and through the application of allegory to their me-trees. Communication and collaboration is addressed through group work, sharing of creative work and using on-line tools to create the diametric poems.

Information, Media and Technology Skills: These skills are addressed and used in online interactives, and through the dissection of individual texts for information.

Life and Career Skills: This lesson is fundamentally about change, and dealing with change. This is a valuable life and career skill. I plan to use "Who moved my cheese" as the change text, which is more appropriate and directly addresses the work I do.

Double Entry Journal #5

Quote:

"This opens the door for usage of sophisticated rhetorical devices to be used via new forms of visual grammar. However, such usage (or representation) can only be applied by political constituencies that have the financial means to pursue such ends. This leads to an under-representation of significant segments of our society." (Schnell, 2008)

Response:

This passage made me think about the seemingly over-representation of young, white, middle to upper class, 14-21 year old boys on YouTube. It may just be me (and the fact that I have an 8 year old boy who seems to gravitate towards those clips), but I am constantly weeding through videos of 15 year old boys taping their video games. They are also creating crazy, sometimes dangerous videos of stunts involving skateboards, ski's, bikes and all other modes of transportation. Sometimes they are creating amazing short videos that are on-par with some of the best storytelling (and, of course, sometimes not). 

My theory about the prevalence of this group is two-fold and interconnected. The first is that boys are attracted to video and media making as an art form in larger numbers due to societal pressures. Two years ago, I taught after school workshops in media-making and had a 2-1 ratio of boys to girls (while I was working for a girl's leadership program to boot). My theory was that media making was a creative outlet that was acceptable for boys in a way that other creative outlets weren't. It's not as universally acceptable for a young man to take up dance, arts & crafts or singing for instance. The second theory relates to the economics: YouTube videos require two things - a video camera, and a computer. These are luxury items that are found primarily in upper and middle class households with disposable income.

Questions

1. How does visual imagery negatively influence the truth in political campaigns and foreign relations? 

 Visual imagery works in subtle ways without words that can act as a trigger for accountability. Political campaigns can portray candidates in situations that are not necessarily accurate portrayals. For example, an image of John Kennedy playing football presented him as a strong, robust, youthful president but he actually suffered from crippling back pain.

2. Can you think of a recent foreign relations incident that may have been related to visual imagery?

 Although not wholly a visual image - I can't not address the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims" that spurred protests in several Muslim countries. The trailer was posted on YouTube, and stirred anti-American uprisings that have resulted in several deaths, including the death of the American ambassador to Libya.  It is difficult to not be outraged by these protests, as an American I know that this film is not a reflection of the beliefs of most Americans. I know it was an amateur film made by someone who did not have the funds or the talent to have this film seen anywhere other than YouTube. I also know that individual creative expression is valued and protected in this country, but I do not have the cultural understanding to know how much of that is conveyed in the countries these protests have occurred.

3. What does Ben Franklin mean by the phrase "Freedom of the press only applies if you have a press." 

 The press are free to print whatever they want, the public is held somewhat captive by what the press decides to print. Those who own a press are free to print what they like.

4. Do you think that the explosion of digital media is akin to giving everyone a press?

 Yes and no. Everyone who has access and the knowledge to create digital media has a press. However, there are still a lot of folks who don't have the skill or the necessary equipment to create digital media.

5. In your opinion, is the potential for more people to create their own media a positive or negative influence on our democratic society?

I think it's a positive influence overall. Creating media is an excellent tool to tell stories that wouldn't otherwise be told. Media is also a creative art (and outlet) that wasn't possible before and that's a positive influence. I am disturbed, of course, by negative media influences on society - the recent anti-Muslim film that spurred anti-American protests in several Muslim countries (including the Libyan protest that resulted in the death of an American Ambassador) gave me pause - however, I believe that for every negative influence, one could point to hundreds of positive examples of DIY media.

6. Is our increasingly visual cultural a good thing or bad thing?

Alone, its a bad thing; paired with education and awareness of the subtle power of visual imagery, it could be a good thing. It could mean a new level of awareness and cultural evolution.

7. What can save us from the tyranny of a visual culture?
Curiosity and questioning. Education, which helps us realize we need to be curious and ask questions. All this leads to knowledge, which can prevent tyranny.

Additional Resource:

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/01/02/13-photographs-that-changed-the-world/

A list of 13 famous photographs "that changed the world." This also gives some background information on each photograph, telling a larger story that is different than what you think by looking at the photograph alone.

Sources:

Schnell, J. (2008). Suggestions for Addressing the Increased Emphasis on Visual Imagery over Aural Messages.  Media Psychology Review. Vol. 1(1). Retrieved from http://mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36&Itemid=123

Week 5 - Activity One

1. What is the product or service being sold? Tide instant stain remover

2. What is the general mood or feeling of the commercial? This ad is meant to show how not looking right, such as having a large stain on your shirt, can be distracting and leave a bad impression of you. 

3. How does the soundtrack play a role in your interpretation of the commercial? There is no music in this commercial, but there is a lot of talking, although the audience can't hardly understand a word that is being said... which is the point. A man is in a job interview and is answering a basic "tell me about yourself" question, but while he is speaking, the stain on his shirt is talking loudly and in gibberish. The stain's speak mimes the rhythm of the interviewee, but completely distracts the interviewer from what the man is saying.

4. How do the actors playing the characters affect your interpretation of the commercial? Both the interviewer and the interviewee are "everyday" men... they look very normal. It makes me relate more with the characters because they look like people I know, and they are in a situation that most people in the audience could relate too - especially with the current economic climate of high unemployment.

5. How does the commercial try to get your attention? It doesn't use anything flashy... even the office the interview is taking place looks kind of drab. But, the commercial uses a lot of auditory cues to get your attention... namely that the stain is talking loudly. This commercial makes you strain your ears to pick up what either the stain or the interviewee is saying, but it's rare a recognizable word is heard. It also has a catchphrase: "silence the stain" which works with this commercial's reliance on sound.

6. Who is this commercial aimed towards? The middle and working class, white, aged in their mid 20's to early 40s.  Possibly looking for work, or wanting to move to a better job. 


How I could use this in my classroom:
I teach Adult Basic Education and Career Readiness Classes. One unit we work on is "Dressing for Success" and I could see this as a fun way to illustrate how to dress for an interview. It could illustrate how distracting it is when someone isn't dressed properly. We could also use it to talk about how he could have looked better - for instance, if he had a suit jacket, he could have hidden that stain pretty nicely. 

When talking about who the commercial is aimed towards, we could talk about the economic climate, the rate of unemployment and the large numbers of people in the job market. This could help underline the importance of making a good impression - the resume, your experience, the job interview - it is ALL critical because there are so many people competing for that position.  A LOT of people are in the job market right now .... so much so that they are making commercials about it!

Double Entry Journal #4

Quote:
 Adolescent girls describe the ideal teenage girl as 5'7", 100 pounds, size 5, having blonde hair and blue eyes; however, a girl with these proportions is in the anorexic and amenorrheic range (Thompson & Heinberg, 1999). In fact, messages found in magazines "support, and even encourage, the perception that female happiness and success is tied to physical appearance, with ultra-thinness being the hallmark of beauty" (Thomsen et al., 2001, p. 134). Additionally, articles about nutrition in teen magazines actually place an emphasis on physical attractiveness rather than health. (Sauer & Robles-Piña, 2003)

Reaction:
Whoa - I can't believe that most girls describe the ideal teenager this way. It seems as if the message they are receiving through media are so out of whack with reality that girls can't properly gauge what is a reasonable weight for someone this height. I also doubt a girl 5'7 and 100 lbs would be anywhere near a size 5. Which is interesting to me because it makes me think that most teenage girls are aware that a size 0, for instance, is too small and abnormal, but they aren't making the same connection when it comes to weight. 

This summer I taught a media class at a summer camp for girls, and we talked about the images of women we saw in the media. One of the girls was a singer, but she said she was discouraged to pursue singing as a career because she doesn't look like the other singers she sees. It was disheartening to hear young women give up on a dreams because they don't "look the part." It made me wonder how many uber-talented girls this world is missing out on because of this.

We also discussed the changing image of female idealness between the present day and the 1800's - when bigger women were seen as the ideal. My understanding is that this had to do with money - the bigger a person was, the more they could spend on food and leisure, so it was a sign of wealth. What is interesting to me is that in a lot of ways, today's world is not all that different. I can imagine myself being able to afford a gym membership, weights and other exercise equipment if I had more disposable income. I could eat organic, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean meats every meal (no more Wal-Mart 70/30 ground beef for me!). I could buy the nutritional supplements, diet pills and protein shakes, if I thought that might help.

Additional Resource:
 In the media class, we also watched the extended trailer for a movie called "Miss Representation."  When I read this week's article, it made me immediately think about this movie, which is all about how women are portrayed in the media.



(Newson, 2011)

Sources:

Newson, J. S. (Director) (2011). Miss representation [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pM1fW6hNs

Sauer, H., & Robles-Piña, R. (2003). Magazines: What adolescent girls are reading and the way they shape body image. Retrieved from http://www.advancingwomen.com/awl/winter2003/SAUERR~1.html