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.