Re/Mediating Classrooms

Recently, I read an intriguing article on "re/mediating" classrooms.  The piece, by Donna E. Alvermann of the University of Georgia, is titled "Seeing Themselves as Capable and Engaged Readers: Adolescents and Re/Mediated Instruction." Since it had obvious connections to our class, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the article. If you're looking for validated research to rationalize your inclusion of film and other media resources in your lessons, this article would be useful.

Alvermann's study focuses on using "re/mediation" to reduce aliteracy, which she defines as "the capacity to read but electing not to do so." Aliteracy, according to the author, is caused by a perceived lack of relevance in school-related (or other) reading. Three key pedagogical targets are highlighted that are central to addressing this problem: (1) building self-efficacy, (2) establishing real-word relevancy, and (3) incorporating re/mediated instruction (a pun on remediation). Re/mediation is explained as "refashioning curricular and instructional conditions so that they include multiple forms of media," including music, film, and digital media. She supplies several examples of of successful implementation of this technique in classrooms with high percentages of academically disengaged students. I was amazed to see the transformative impact this simple change had on struggling students. We assume that these students just don't want to learn, but this just isn't the case. The reality is that they aren't receptive to lessons because they don't see personal relevance or practical application in them. Like it or not, our hyper-individualistic society has conditioned students to immediately dismiss things they don't consider "important." As teachers, we have to proactively respond to this unfortunate reality. Using a popular song or a high-interest film--even a video game--to explain a concept can have a tremendous positive impact on student engagement.

As I read this article, I realized that I don't use this type of technique often enough. I tend to use this kind of activity as something different, a break from the norm of traditional instruction. I really need to start thinking of it as an everyday strategy.

If you're interested in reading the article, follow the link at the end of the post.  It's definitely worth a few minutes.

http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/readers.pdf

The Woodmans

I just had the pleasure of watching the most incredible documentary. It is called The Woodmans and it is avent garde in the texture and beauty in the filming. The summary is as followed from Netflix: “The intimate documentary profiles the Wodmans, a family dedicated to the making of art in all forms, and their reaction to the suicide of their most famous member, daughter Francesca, whose startling, sexual photographs established her legacy.”

The filmmaker draws you into this incredibly artistic family through glimpses of the pieces that each member creates. Their lives seem perfect, the children are exposed to art pretty much at birth and their playground were art museums in Italy. As a result, there is a great appreciation in art and a need to create. Unfortunately, what seems to come with this great ability is a deep sadness.

The film documents the entire family, but focuses on Francesca’s photography, which is well before its time in technique. This is not a film to show in a classroom of minors as there is nudity in the form of art. It is however a great for students studying film because many of the techniques used in film are also used in art and photography. But not only does it have artistic value, it also touches on loss and how one reflects on that loss in addition to how one becomes a person who survives losing someone you love. 

Trailer http://youtu.be/qu9LSFFnn54

 Photography by Francesca Woodman

"Media Malpractice" & Argument

I recently watched the documentary Media Malpractice which outlines the problematic media coverage in the last presidential election.  The director, John Ziegler, constructs a two part argument: 1. Obama was elected because of media favoritism and slant and 2. Palin was targeted and maliciously mocked in an effort to undermine McCain's campaign.  The documentary has a significant bias and frequently falls short of sound logic, but it would be an excellent teaching tool for a unit on argument. 

What was most interesting was not the documentary itself, but an interview I found on the Huffington post website. John Wellington Ennis includes a transcript and video clips from the interview.  The interview would provide a perfect opportunity for students to unlock tone, bias, and slant. 

Ennis prefaces the interview by explaining how Ziegler walked in.  He states, "He arrived casually contemptuous."  The interview is followed by corrections/retractions that Ziegler allegedly requested. The most fascinating part of the corrections is the interviewer's decision to include Ziegler's own email.  The choice is extremely manipulative, though effective.  Ziegler's tone and word choice in his email are rather incriminating and do nothing to endear him to readers of the article. 


UPDATE: The originally posted version of this article included a statement that Mr. Ziegler refused to shake my cameraman's hand upon arrival. Upon clarification, my cameraman has informed me that after Mr. Ziegler first waved off shaking his hand when offered, he then made a repeated thrust at Mr. Ziegler of his hand to ensure a proper greeting. We regret the error.
2nd UPDATE: Mr. Ziegler was not satisfied with the previous retraction on the handshake claim by my cameraman, so I am now printing his exact words so that how cordial he is cannot be called into question:

I saw your update. Do you even remotely care about being a lying sack of crap? I told you what happened with the "handshake" and you still lie about it. I have no idea what delusions your cameraman is under but I can assure you that I did not avoid shaking his hand. Once again, do you not recall that I was on the phone with you when this person unknown to me tried to introduce himself and I had no hands available?! You people are absolutely amazing. You have no standards, no principles, no argument other than trying to do anything you can, no matter how petty or inaccurate, to make someone look bad. Is that really all you have? Really? Wow.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-wellington-ennis/sarah-palins-greatest-def_b_179260.html

The book Engaging Readers & Writers with Inquiry by Jeffrey Wilhelm discusses a teaching tool called "Critical Review Responses."  Simply put, this activity has students read reviews of pieces they read in class.  This could easily be tweaked to fit a lesson on nonfiction film.  Media Malpractice, reviews, and possibly this interview could work together as a text set that encourages students to look for patterns, ask questions, and determine reliability.

The Active Role of the News Consumer

After reading the next chunk of The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone, I was struck by her ideas on objectivity and the ultimate desires of news consumers.

Gladstone asserts, "News consumers say they want objectivity but they choose news outlets that reflect their views" (115). 

If we are making choices to consume news that will reflect our views, are we really getting a rounded view of current events?  Should we be consuming "comfortable" news that doesn't challenge our personal beliefs and viewpoints?  I think that this idea ties into our conversation on Friday.  When we attempted to rationalize using news in the classroom we cited the fact that we are molding future citizens.  Shouldn't we teach our young people how to choose their news?  I believe that an awareness of disparate viewpoints is a very necessary tool.

Gladstone also stated, "Today reporters aren't supposed to make the world better.  Their job is to tell you what's going on, so you can make it better" (112). 

It is no longer the job of reporters to better the world; instead, they are responsible for educating the masses so they will have the power and knowledge to transform society.  This is an immense responsibility with scary implications if we don't adequately prepare students.

Marco Torres

I’m currently reading New Literacies in Action by William Kist, in which the author profiles five different middle school or high school teachers who have transformed their teachings by weaving new literacies (also known as digital literacy) into the fabric of their classrooms.

I was particularly blown away by a teacher named Marco Torres. As a way to help his social studies students study and interact with their social surroundings, Torres incorporated intensive video composition projects into his curriculum. However, what started out as simply a social studies activity expanded into a popular extracurricular organization called the San Fernando Educational Technology Team (SFETT). Unfortunately, Torres ran into problems with the district and lost his teaching job for eight weeks because he didn’t have the credentials to teach what the school perceived as computer skills.

I’m so impressed by how Torres handled himself in this situation. He wasn’t fazed at all when his job security was threatened. Torres took a risk for the sake of his students and never backed down against the administrative pressures. Today, the SFETT is a cross-curricular organization that allows students to create multimedia projects for all of their different classes.

As I thought about this particular school, I couldn’t help but raise the following questions:

·      Why do you think schools tend to view each subject as mutually exclusive? Do they not recognize the overlap among the various disciplines, or do they simply choose to ignore this fact for practical purposes?

·      Do schools foster an environment for risk taking (for both students and teachers) or have they become a place of complacency?

·      Do you know any teachers who think outside the box and take risks for the sake of their students? What exactly do they do to make their classroom experiences unique?

I understand that it might be idealistic and irrational of me to think about risk taking in this way, but I firmly believe that students will never be willing to take necessary risks and challenge themselves if teachers and schools cannot model this sort of behavior.

Setting the Bar Higher for Students

"Low expectations create problems when teachers don't expect that young people will care about civic issues.  When this occurs, some teachers may rely on lecturing, explanation, and recitation, which one scholar has conceptualized as defensive teaching strategies.  This happens when teachers control knowledge and classroom interaction, summarizing texts on behalf of students in order to guarentee a particular interpretation." (p160). 

Hobbs, Chapter 8, has been one of my favorite chapters to date. After reading this chapter, I remember during my undergrad days when the "www" was just created.  I was a Journalism major and assigned the University President as my beat for the semester.  I met with him each week to receive his glamorous updates about what he wanted me to write about.  Many of the articles we wrote for class were published in the University's paper that competed with the town's local paper.  On a few occassions I did not shed the positive light on the President or his chosen topic for the week.  I did not change his quotes, or misreport information, I simply gave the facts.  I usually received my best grades for these assignments.  (haha)  Eventually he began to ask to see my articles before I submitted them to class. This made the remainder of the semester less interesting.  Although my professor was not happy with the arrangement, he needed a paycheck and agreed to it.  One of the articles that I wrote concerned the ability to interact with other schools around the world.  (Imagine!)  The article did not take a positive spin in the Presidents eyes because my article pointed out that there was little purpose for University to spend the money to fund the program.  Students could sign up to be part of this "amazing" experience, but again no purpose. 

After reading Hobbs, I began to research some of the sites mentioned in the text.  Imagine my excitment with nothing substantial to compare it too.  I am in the classroom often, but have never observed a teacher using any sources similar to these.  While I think that teachers are missing out on a great teaching opportunity, I also understand their hesitation of the unknown as many have had the same experience with media as I have.  What I found most amazing was how easily these sites can be navigated and implemented in the classroom.  Why wouldn't you want to use them?  Then I came to my next realization - so many do not know about them.  I have often had similar thoughts of - Can my students handle the difficult topics of global issues or other current events?  Will the students be engaged?  How will I handle their reactions to these topics?  Will I be able to handle their reactions?  Students encounter similar issues on television, but how in tune with what is really going on are they?  I was excited to explore scratch.mit.edu and Ayiti: the Cost of Life because this seemed to partially answer some of my questions.  It allowed students to explore these ideas in a familiar medium.  Pulitzercenter.org offered many tools for teachers and students to use with their curriculum and even made connections to the standards.  I am eager and excited to eventually be able to use them in my classroom, but I am just as eager to see them being used by current teachers. 

Video Games and the Broadcast News, Unlikely Bed Fellows

I personally have never been one to play video games; however, I have played Mario Cart on occasion with my daughter on her Game Cube. My husband and I would purchase educational type games for our daughter to play when she was younger, but I’m not sure how much she actually got out of them.

The Hobb’s text suggested a website called http://scratch.mit.edu/, which I checked out and The Hunger Games trivia game that was created by a student, seems to be well received by the trilogy’s readers. The game requires the player to recall portions of the book and the creator has requested that after completion you blog how many answer that were answered correctly.

The portion of the text concerning TV programming ands as a fan of TV, I was surprised with the statics concerning the facts people learn through watching their favorite TV program. However, the portion of the chapter that covers using the news as a source concerns me. I believe the BBC is a perfect choice when dealing with adult learners, but the better choice all around may be PBS’s News Hour, since this may be a little more sterilized then the BBC. I am at present, reading an article recommending using news broadcasts in an ESL classroom. If interested the article is called, “Using News Broadcasts in the ESL/ EFL Classroom” and was published by Teachers of English to Speakers of other Languages and I will be posting an abstract of the article on our discussion board.