Media Literacy Project and Narrative

Kid President says, “Life is too short at not be awesome.” When I began this project I was struggling with my identity. I didn’t know how to even start being awesome. I have taught so many different grade levels and curriculums. I have taught at 4 elementary schools. I don’t have a home. Maybe I am a Nomad but I am also a hoarder. I don’t hoard just physical things, but I collect new strategies, teaching methods, and ideas from so many wonderful teachers. I feel that I carry a little piece of all the teachers I have ever taught with as part of my new identity. With this struggle of my own self-identity I hope to guide students to establish their own identity and who they are.

Through this reflection of my self-identity and some recent conversations with my former student I have developed what I believe in as a teacher. I believe students learn best when they can make a personal connection to WHAT and WHY they are learning. I love to find out their interests as well as their fears. I try to incorporate the students and their interests into our lessons. I also love when my students can teach the lessons. They need to be a part of the process. Prensky would agree I need to be more aware of who my students are and what they already know. Sadly, I feel that over the past few years with all my moves, and new district and state initiative, I have almost completely stopped making these real connections with students and their families.  

When I started teaching I was a techno-constructivist. My students created digital portfolios of their work through websites. We used google drive to share work and they used the Showme app to create videos to teach others and much more. Technology was a part of my classroom and in the hands of students every day.  They were creating, they were owning, they were learning. With three years in 4th grade, I was able to develop this work. After moving to 1st grade, special education in two different buildings, and then 2nd grade at yet another building, I have downgraded to a techno-traditionalist. I constantly use my LCD projector, document camera, and my personal laptop to teach my students but I believe the students need to be creating and sharing with their tools, not me. About once a year, I free up a little bit of time to be a techno-constructivist again. And these are the things that students remember. These are the activities my students remember years later, that time when they “created” and learned.

This upcoming year, I am teaching special education with inclusion and pull out. I will be working in 4 different classroom across 1st to 3rd grade. With a crazy schedule like this, before this course I would have said, “No way, I can not add any technology onto my plate.” But now I am encouraged and empowered to get back to my techno- constructivist ways and find a way to build personal connections with my students. Instead of just the simple “About Me” poster we make at the beginning of the school year that I honestly don’t really read. I want something more meaningful to the students and myself. Maybe they create a map of themselves either with technology or actual paper and materials. Or an artwork. Or a video. I want to know their “real” hopes and dreams. Their “real” goals in life. Not just “get better at reading and math.” Like I get from almost every student,  every year.  

Sir Ken Robinson says that kids are more engaged if the curriculum reflects them and their diversity. So I created a google form for parents to answer survey type questions about their funds of knowledge. In my last class with Dr. Hesson, we created a long list of possible questions for families. I used this list as a guide. I also created a google form with pictures and words to learn more about my students quickly within the first week of school.

I still did not feel that this was enough to really get my students to think about themselves and their goals. I liked how Simon Sinek explained Dr. Martin Luther King Junior had so many followers because he had a dream not a “plan” like our government. We always have a “plan” for our kids. Especially teaching special education, my students come with very specific goals for me to teach from their IEPs.  But the kids do not have any say in these goals. We often ask them “What are your hopes and dreams for 2nd grade?” But we don’t actually change our teaching or curriculum to meet their goals nor do we provide time or ask questions to get to know our students “real” dreams. Wesch and I both agree that we need to give students goals THEY WANT to attain. For example the kid that was falling asleep in class, I want to help my students find their “real” interests and goals.

So I created a Padlet for the student to read articles, watch videos, and discuss topics around their hopes and dreams. I can add more to the padlet as I learn more about each student. I started thinking about the Kid President videos and his “Pep Talk for Teachers and Students.” I watched a bunch of his videos and my ideas grew about the big dreams of my students and how we need to find them. I added articles from Newsela at 2nd grade reading level to make it accessible to all of them.  This is where I will begin some discussions with my students, like what makes you awesome? What do you want to be able to do at the end of this year? What do you want to do after high school? There are so many possibilities with this Padlet. I hope my students can learn about themselves just as much as I want to learn about them.

I tried to keep it open-ended, using Kid President, inspirational, leadership videos. I have provided choices and I hope that the students will be able to share their learning on Padlet to teach their peers.  My hope is that this will help them discover who they are and what they want to be when they grow up. What are their hopes and dreams in our world? Where do they see themselves in our big world? I want my students to find their self-identity as it is right now and watch it change as they grow and develop just as I have done through my teaching career.

Self-assessment Rubric

Core Beliefs

My three core beliefs for learning, teaching, and the world.

• I believe learning is emotional, fun yet messy, and a social action through real world experiences.
• I believe teaching is facilitating students to take risks and challenge themselves to do HIS or HER best every day.
• I believe the world is constantly changing and our teachers need to keep up with the changes.

My running thoughts for this project...very messy...sorry…

Who am I?

I’m struggling with my identity, because I have taught so many different grade levels and curriculums. I have also taught at all 4 elementary schools. I don’t have a home. Maybe I am a Nomad but I am also a hoarder. I hoard not just physical things, but I collect new strategies, teaching methods, and ideas from so many wonderful teachers. I feel that I carry a little piece of all the teachers I have ever taught with as part of my new identity.

I believe…

• People are social learners
• Learning is messy and we need to make mistakes
• Students need non-stressful time, and lots of exposure and practice of a skill to truly learn it.
• People learn better when they feel comfortable and safe
• People learn better with real world activities
• People learn better when it’s real
• Explicit instruction is not necessary for ALL subjects or for ALL kids
• Kids have the ability to learn on their own when given the right tools and guidance
• Learning should be fun
• Students to need be encouraged to do HIS or HER best not to be THE best.
• We need to teach empathy to decrease cyber bullying...and much more...

Why?

A student told me, “one of the most memorable things was how you genuinely cared about us as the students and didn’t just teach the class but honestly created a family environment where we all felt comfortable to ask questions and fully understand whatever it was we were learning at the time. You really made the classroom less intimidating for so many students and that helped us in places beyond just elementary school.” This makes me think about my why. I teach because I want to make a difference in the lives of young people. I love kids. I love watching them change and develop. I love seeing success on their little faces. I love to be able to show them that hard works pays off.

I had a student this year that was new to the building just like me but not new to South Kingstown. I had worked with her the year before at my previous school. At that school in 1st grade she was a clingy students who was not much of a risk-takers. In 2nd grade in a new environment, she began to settle into her old habits, fake reading and constantly needing one on one support.  With lots of encouragement and a little tough love, she started to work hard and challenge herself. About half way through the year, she became aware of what the other students were reading compared to what she was reading. She asked about the read alouds we read in class. She began the year reading level E, when she reached level J and could read a favorite read aloud series, Henry and Mudge, her reading took off! She was the child walking in line to the bus at the end of the day with the book in her face. She took all the Henry and Mudge books out from the library. She asked to do a read aloud for the class! By the end of the year, she could read level M, the end of year benchmark for 2nd grade. The joy on her face when I told her, “You can read Magic Tree House books now!” And that is my why.

What’s working? What’s not working in my classroom?

My vision?

What makes them feel that way? How can I actively work to sustain that?

I believe students learn best when I make a personal connection with them. I find out their interests and their fears. I try to incorporate them and their interests into our lessons. I also love when my students can teach the lesson. I feel that over the past few years I have moved away from these real connections with students and their families. I would like to find a way to build these connections this upcoming school year and beyond. One idea is to create a google form for parents to answer survey type questions about their funds of knowledge. Prensky helped me here...In my last class with Dr. Hesson we created a long list of possible questions for families. Within the classroom I could also do a google form or other type of questionnaire to learn about my students quickly within the first week of school. Teaching special education this year I will be playing a different role with the information I gather. I’m not quite sure how that will all work….

Instead of just the simple About Me poster we make at the beginning of the school year that I honestly don’t really read or the question page that I photocopied from another teacher just because they use it but again I never really read them. I want something more meaningful to me and the students…maybe the create a map of themselves...or an artwork...or a video...I want to know their real hope and dreams...their real goals in life...not just get back at reading or math like I get every year. But HOW???

I started thinking about the kids president videos...I just watched a bunch of them and that might be where I begin some discussions with my students...like what makes you awesome? There are also a bunch of videos that a few of my students with behavior needs might connect with and we can talk off of those videos...I hope my students can learn about themselves just as much as I want to learn about them.

We always have a plan for the kids...IEP...But the kids do not have any say in their dreams and goals...we ask them but we don’t actually change our teaching or curriculum to meet their goals nor do we provide time or ask questions to get to our students real dreams. I want to help them develop their real goals. So I started to explore and I remembered Kid president...I just watching lots of the videos...he has a lot about how to be a leaders, and how to be awesome...Then i didn’t how how to share this with my students so I created a Padlet..

Turkle and Wesch

I started by pulling out some meaningful quotes from the articles before starting this blog. I really enjoyed reading both of them and I wish we had more flexibility in the classroom like Wesch.

Meaningful quotes:

The Flight From Conversation by Turkle

So I say, look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation.

As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters.

A high school sophomore confides to me that he wishes he could talk to an artificial intelligence program instead of his dad about dating; he says the A.I. would have so much more in its database. Indeed, many people tell me they hope that as Siri, the digital assistant on Apple’s iPhone, becomes more advanced, “she” will be more and more like a best friend — one who will listen when others won’t.

Always-on/always-on-you devices provide three powerful fantasies: that we will always be heard; that we can put our attention wherever we want it to be; and that we never have to be alone.

When people are alone, even for a few moments, they fidget and reach for a device.

Michael Wesch’s Article

If we accept John Dewey’s notion that people learn what they do, the lecture format, which is the mainstay of teaching (especially in large introductory courses), teaches students to sit in neat rows and to respect, believe, and defer to authority (the teacher).

I have even toyed with the idea of calling what I do “anti-teaching”, as I have come to the conclusion that “teaching” can actually be a hindrance to learning, especially when it is assumed that learning requires it. As most of us know from our own experience, the best learning almost always occurs in the absence of a teacher, for it is then that learners are free to pursue with great passion the questions that are meaningful and relevant to their own lives.

I have increasingly focused less on simply trying to convey good information and more on inspiring good questions.

The emphasis is on “managing” this environment rather than simply conveying information.

What is the relationship between Turkle and Wesch? Do you see them as allies, or opponents in this discussion of new media and technology?

I feel that the relationship between Turkle and Wesch is that they are both studying the world of people, how we learn and interact. I don’t see them as allies or opponents. Turkle is studying the idea that people are too attached to their devices and should step back to learn better conversation skills. Whereas Wesch is adjusting his classroom to better fit our changing world and the way students learn best. As I just wrote that it made me think, Wesch is using what Turkle is saying about lack of conversational skills, this desire to never be alone, and our connectedness to technology to adjust his classroom physically and pedagogically. Wesch is making his classroom student-centered to give them all the attention just like Turkle says in his article. This will hopefully make them not so attached to their devices and more willing to communicate and share their interests with others.

“As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters.” This quote from Turkle’s article contradicts what Wesch is trying to get his students do in the classroom. He wants students to come up with the “good questions” and from those questions come up with more “good questions.” Turkle is arguing that our need for high speed answers through the use of technology is causing us to come up with simple, easy questions even when it’s something that really matters to us. This is quite concerning to me and I hope we can have more teacher like Wesch to teach students how to come up with the “good questions” about our world and not “dumb down our communications.”

Cloe's Construction

I created an Animoto video for this advertisement.

Click here to view the short video. 

Kid Nation

Kid Nation

Creating little capitalists

By Ellen Goodman

Kid Nation was going to be a show to see how 40 kids, ages 8-15 years old would do creating their own nation. They were sent to a ghost town in New Mexico we just a film crew. I would like to start by saying this show was canceled May 14, 2008 before it was even able to premiere. It was charged with child endangerment by violating child labor laws. Parents had signed a really “creepy” consent form and none of the film crew stepped in to support crying, homesick child while filming.

The idea behind the show was quite interesting to me but it is clearly abusive to children’s rights. The producers wanted to see how the children could do better than their forefathers when given the task to “try to fix their forefathers’ mistakes and build a new town that works.” They called the child, “pioneers” and the town was called Bonanza. The problem was that the producers set the ground rules not the kids. These Hollywood producers need to make this show entertaining so they added competition, class conflicts, and consumerism. The kids had a war and the winners/losers were labeled to be in different classes; “upper class,” “merchants,” “cooks,” and “laborers.” These kids were provided with paychecks according to their work.

Goodman calls these the three basic C’s (competition, class, and consumerism).  She explains that these C’s are also found in our United States parenting skills. From celebrity parent bashing of Britney Spears to fears of killer cribs, parents have “become so absorbed in worrying about the side rails on cribs that we lose focus on the cultural environment that encases all of us. And there is no bike helmet that can protect our children’s brain from the three C’s.” So overall these parents were so entrenched in the three C’s they were willing to put their children on a “mini-survivor” show just to make money and possibly be on TV.

After researching Kid Nation and reading a few reviews from other people, I realized this did air and people did get to watch it. L_Miller wrote, “The kids are All Right” as a title for his review. I feel this has two different meanings. First, the kids are fine, safe, and happy. Second, the kids are all correct. This person also add, “They're so wonderfully honest, and sometimes they like each other and sometimes they hate each other but they crash into things, look around, dust themselves off and move right along. They are all right, and they find their way, and their strength and resilience makes me feel better about the future of the world for an hour on a Wednesday night.” This person made me think that this kids actually could help our country move toward a more positive place but I did not see the show so I can’t say that for sure.

Another review from tackshop titled the post, “I couldn't believe parents would let their children do this but after watching I thought it was a great experience.” With this headline, it makes me want to watch this show because I too can not believe parents would allow their children to do this. I will close by saying that their were only 13 reviews on IMDb.com and they were all positive for this show. Many of them were sad it ended so soon. This was shocking to me.

Showme

This is an iPad app that turns the screen into an interactive whiteboard to create videos. You can access the videos from a computer but you can only create them on an iPad. You are able to set them up for your students with an under 14 tag. Students can create their own videos very easily with pictures, their own drawings, or writing on the screen. You can pause while recording and change or clear the screen if needed.

When I used this a lot I was able to upload unlimitedly for free but through this research I discovered that you can now only upload 5 videos for free and you can only make students accounts if you pay. There is also a school rate that is not shared but it would be interested in getting the school rate to have access to all parts of this app.

I have used this to create mini tutorials, mini lessons for substitute teachers, math problems to help with homework for parents and kids, students teaching other students, students sharing their learning or presentations, and much more. The possibilities are endless with this app. You can also search on the website to find videos that other people created to learn about a certain topic or a certain strategy for a math problem. I have done this with students as young as first grade.

The only drawbacks that I have had is finding a very quiet (silent) place for the students to record their videos. You also can not delete the recording and record your voice again for the pictures you have made. You have to delete the whole video and start over. This can be very frustrating to the students so they are very respectful to each other and work hard to be silent while their peers are recording.

Here are a few examples of showmes, I couldn't embed them so you can click the links.

First grade math problem video
How to create a showme video with a showme video.

Disney

I do not have much of a relationship with Disney. I have been to Disney World a few times, I watched the Disney movies as a kid but nothing more than that. This quote about young people from “Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us” by Linda Christensen made me think about a child with autism that I have worked with for over 10 years now. Young people “accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints. And often that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart.” This child has been manipulated by Disney since she was very little. She grew up watching Mickey Mouse Club House

and all the Disney movies as well as going to Disney World at least once a year. She used to act like the princesses and pretend she was the characters. Now she truly believes she will have a prince charming come in and sweep her off her feet and they will live happily ever after. She is now in high school and still loves Disney

but is also interested in Japanese Comics. I’m sure these comics and stories will begin to manipulate her mind to think in a different way. I’m not saying this is wrong but it is something we as teachers and a society need to pay attention to. I wonder what she will be doing after high school and will she still believe that a man is just going to sweep her off her feet and they will have babies together?

My thoughts about the princesses in Frozen completely changed at the end. They talked about “a true act of love.” I loved that this love did not end up being between a man and a woman. It was a sibling love. So often in movies and in our lives, the love between siblings and within families seems to be undervalued.

My next thoughts from the book...

Beverly Tatum wrote, Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

In Disney cartoons such as Peter Pan the black people are all group together. Many communities are segregated within each neighborhood and children have limited access to people of a different color than themselves. In the town where I work, this is true and in my school and classroom students often segregate themselves as well. They have only heard secondhand information about people that look different than them. This information is often not true and negative. The TA’s in my classroom often report that at lunch the students of color are the only students who will sit with the students with physical handicaps. There are a very few students who do not see the different in anyone and are friendly with all. Is there because was their family role models or do they just see the beautiful princesses and princes in all people?