The idea of this past reading was how the media has shaped how we view ourselves and our society. It is human nature to use the views of others to define our own views, at least in an early stage of development. Later on we may oppose these views, conform to or try and ignore these views. However, they always play their role.
When I was young I was obssessed with heros, well... I still sort of am. My first obsession was popeye, I used to eat cans of spinach while sitting in front of the television when I got home from kindergarten and my parents encouraged this because I was eating healthy. Throughout school I struggled to a degree with not being a bigger guy and when I was in high school and undergraduate college at purdue I got heavily involved with weight lifting and body building. Many people can not believe that the pictures of me at this age are actually of me, and that's because it required so much work just to pack on a few pounds of muscle, I am genetically not a large guy and if I am not in the gym for 3 hours a day I will wither away to my present size. In desperate moments I considered using steroids but thankfully I have a cousin who tried some and looks like a freak so it was never really an option for me. But, if anything can be said about this experience it is that I fully understand the negative affects the media can have on self image.
For many, like me, the consequences are not that serious. It is more of a right of passage we are all forced to walk through in a society which has no formal right of passage. We must struggle with our identity and how the media portarays people like us and decide what type of person we truely wish to be. Should we give into the pressures the media gives and become "masculine men" and "feminine women" and all that entials through the medias aka societies mind. Or do we break free and define ourselves through our own lens. Unfortunately many people never make it to the stage of self definition and they mold their lives off of this "ideal" image. Even worse still are those who are completely emotionally or physically destroyed by the unrealistic or misrepresentations the media portrays as ideal. I couldn't count how many girls I have known who have struggled through at least a minor eating disorder. (not that any eating disorder could ever be deemed truely "minor")
When it comes to racial stereotypes and the idea that there needs to be black princesses and white servents and all of that stuff I personally think that people who make a big deal about this and point out the lack of diversity are actually causing people to notice that all the princesses are white and servents are black. And when I really think about that, its not even true. I can think of so many examples where this is not the case. And the idea that we should adopt a person of every background for everyrole is just making an issue out of nothing. But, it doesn't really affect me too much so I will just continue to roll my eyes and shrug when someone ggets all bothered over cinderella being white and try not to point out that princess jasmine is persian and ciderella was also a white servent so what do they want? oh well, if it does bother someone then all my sympathy to them, but I believe that there was no malicous intention when they decided to color a girl one way or another and harm can only be taken if it is continually pointed out and we live in a world of diversity and there are tons of examples of that within the media when it comes to ethnicity. Beauty and gender roles are another matter, but I think they are slowly getting better. And its not like making a bunch of princesses fat would really help, thats not healthy either! The focus should be on helping children define themselves and being able to look objectively at the media.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Multimodal Texts
The main thing that I took away from this reading was that while I personally think that it is a great idea to include other forms of texts in the classroom we are adding another important lesson that children need to be taught. There is a difference in what will work for a book and what will work for other medians when it comes to texts. We already know this is the case, as students and teachers, when dealing with novels, biographies, news articles and business letters; but, what about the less conventional medians such as the text message and advert? Each genre comes with its own guidelines, and I am not sure if it is a good thing to teach all of the rules in the classroom and different guidelines, let the kids do what they want and introduce rules gradually, or just stick to the conventional for writing and use alternatives for reading. All suggestions have possibilities, and there are many more options as well.
The one problem is that children may try to use text speak when writing a research paper or something like that. So, it is important to teach different styles and why different styles are used in different genres.
The one problem is that children may try to use text speak when writing a research paper or something like that. So, it is important to teach different styles and why different styles are used in different genres.
Literacy Moves On
This article starts out by pointing out that children are eager to talk about what they know and are interested in.And, I whole heartedly agree, actually I am not sure how you couldn't, and more importantly a child who is already interested in a topic is naturally going to work harder on perfecting when in the classroom. So, what does this suggest for use in the classroom? The rest of the world is changing their strategies with text to draw in children, why isn't the classroom?
Solid point, I liked comparing and contrasting what Janet Evans had to say with the Multimodal Texts passage by Eve Bearne because I feel that while Evans makes a great point it is important to try and establish the caveats in bringing in texts with different rules. Having said that, I think that the classroom does need to evolve after all society has!
Solid point, I liked comparing and contrasting what Janet Evans had to say with the Multimodal Texts passage by Eve Bearne because I feel that while Evans makes a great point it is important to try and establish the caveats in bringing in texts with different rules. Having said that, I think that the classroom does need to evolve after all society has!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
MGRP reflection
Alright, it's over it's over. I really enjoyed the research aspect of this paper, but the making up my own genre's bit was a little bit trying at times. I just sat looking at a long list of options and couldn't decide where to begin. I hope I chose the right five, I feel that I did, but I guess I will let my grade determine the effectiveness of my work.
My favorite bit would have to of been the poem I made, it was funny and I looked up thousands of idioms in order to find the right ones for my purpose. There are a lot of funny sayings out there, most of which I have never heard of but I would love to start using in my everyday conversations with peers just to see their expressions. Most will think that the I have found my way into the Elmers if I try using in an everyday conversation. But, on the other hand, some expressions are old that we use now, and our children will have no idea what they are but then their children will once again use the expression. Words are like fashion, it goes in cyclical trends but the old one day will eventually become chic again. Well, I can't see anyone using plum as an anything in the future but who knows.
If the MGRP had one hidden benefit it would be reorienting me with the microsoft sweet and formating options! I can't wait to turn this in and feel that sense of relief which I have waited so long for!
My favorite bit would have to of been the poem I made, it was funny and I looked up thousands of idioms in order to find the right ones for my purpose. There are a lot of funny sayings out there, most of which I have never heard of but I would love to start using in my everyday conversations with peers just to see their expressions. Most will think that the I have found my way into the Elmers if I try using in an everyday conversation. But, on the other hand, some expressions are old that we use now, and our children will have no idea what they are but then their children will once again use the expression. Words are like fashion, it goes in cyclical trends but the old one day will eventually become chic again. Well, I can't see anyone using plum as an anything in the future but who knows.
If the MGRP had one hidden benefit it would be reorienting me with the microsoft sweet and formating options! I can't wait to turn this in and feel that sense of relief which I have waited so long for!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
My "messed up" teaching philosophy (off topic)
Okay, so this is an off topic post. I know that my views on education are a lot different than most in our class so I thought I would just spell out what my philosophy is and if anyone wanted to talk about it with me I think it would be great. Because, any oppurtunity to see someone elses perspective is an oppurtunity to grow in my opinion.
My overall philosophy is that students need to fail. They need to be consistently taken to the point of failure and they need to know that life goes on and failure is inneveitable if you are pushing yourself as hard as you should. This is in stark contrast to the mentalitly of most American teachers that I have come across. The idea of students making 90's or above in all of their subjects consistently is just a sad sign that they are not being pushed hard enough and they are capable of so much more.
It is my opinion that everyone is unique and special in their own way and these differences should be encouraged. Children are capable of so much more than we are currently giving them credit for. They are capable of failing and picking themselves up and being better for it, it is my experience that the parents are the ones that have the hardest time with this concept.
I know that to many it may come off as cruel to fail everyone in the class if they are not trying hard enough but to me it seems quite cruel not to. We are in a safe learning environment when we are inside of the classroom. And students need to learn what they are capable of within this environment instead of setting them up for failure once they have entered "the real world".
In many ways this is quite a hard way to teach. You have to take each student as an individual and push them to their own individual limits. no student should have to stay behind and wait for the rest of the class to catch up to where they are at, and no student should ever be expected to accept mediocraty. There are close to 6.6 billion people in this world, and each one has a unique nature about themselves, when a student is within my classroom I would like for them to learn how to seperate themselves from the masses.
The common criticism I have gotten when expressing this mindset is that I am not teaching the students to become apathetic and caring. However, it is my opinion that quite the oppposite is true. When pushing a student to become the very best that they are capable of they often find failure and shortcommings within themselves which makes them more understanding of those around them who are struggling. It is also promoting a global environment in which people the professionals are more capable and the people who shouldn't be doctors or lawyers because their strengths lie in other fields are not in positions of power just because their parents had the money to send them to nice universities.
Yes, some students are left behind. In the classroom I am in now there is a student which is holding the entire class back because of how slow he is. This frustrates me to know end, why should the one affect the many? If I was the teacher I would simply move the class on as they are ready to progress with or without him, and I know this seems heartless but it is the job of him and his parents to get him back the the level he needs to be at. I would have an easier time explaining this to one set of parents than explaining to 30 sets of parents why I did not get their children to the level they need to be at. If there was a way to provide seperate instruction for this student outside, I would gladly offer it but bar that I don't feel that it is fair that this child is getting 90's on tests because they are making the levels of tests low enough for him to do so.
My overall philosophy is that students need to fail. They need to be consistently taken to the point of failure and they need to know that life goes on and failure is inneveitable if you are pushing yourself as hard as you should. This is in stark contrast to the mentalitly of most American teachers that I have come across. The idea of students making 90's or above in all of their subjects consistently is just a sad sign that they are not being pushed hard enough and they are capable of so much more.
It is my opinion that everyone is unique and special in their own way and these differences should be encouraged. Children are capable of so much more than we are currently giving them credit for. They are capable of failing and picking themselves up and being better for it, it is my experience that the parents are the ones that have the hardest time with this concept.
I know that to many it may come off as cruel to fail everyone in the class if they are not trying hard enough but to me it seems quite cruel not to. We are in a safe learning environment when we are inside of the classroom. And students need to learn what they are capable of within this environment instead of setting them up for failure once they have entered "the real world".
In many ways this is quite a hard way to teach. You have to take each student as an individual and push them to their own individual limits. no student should have to stay behind and wait for the rest of the class to catch up to where they are at, and no student should ever be expected to accept mediocraty. There are close to 6.6 billion people in this world, and each one has a unique nature about themselves, when a student is within my classroom I would like for them to learn how to seperate themselves from the masses.
The common criticism I have gotten when expressing this mindset is that I am not teaching the students to become apathetic and caring. However, it is my opinion that quite the oppposite is true. When pushing a student to become the very best that they are capable of they often find failure and shortcommings within themselves which makes them more understanding of those around them who are struggling. It is also promoting a global environment in which people the professionals are more capable and the people who shouldn't be doctors or lawyers because their strengths lie in other fields are not in positions of power just because their parents had the money to send them to nice universities.
Yes, some students are left behind. In the classroom I am in now there is a student which is holding the entire class back because of how slow he is. This frustrates me to know end, why should the one affect the many? If I was the teacher I would simply move the class on as they are ready to progress with or without him, and I know this seems heartless but it is the job of him and his parents to get him back the the level he needs to be at. I would have an easier time explaining this to one set of parents than explaining to 30 sets of parents why I did not get their children to the level they need to be at. If there was a way to provide seperate instruction for this student outside, I would gladly offer it but bar that I don't feel that it is fair that this child is getting 90's on tests because they are making the levels of tests low enough for him to do so.
Monday, November 1, 2010
SeedFolk
Is anyone else concerned that the lot in seed folks was being used to dump dangerous chemicals and now people are eating the crops grown there?!
This story was very simplistic and the message was clear, people want to have value and worth. Even though the simplisticity of the story did come off as too stereotypical at times the idea of people wanting to actually make their own good mark on the world is something which I loved.
The story, seedfolks, started with a vietnamese girl planting lima beans in honor of her father. And it ends with her planting lima beans, once again too early in the year but we will see this as a success and not a failure of common sense. Once she planted the seeds the initial reaction was that she was up to no good. Which is a safe assumption in a vacant lot in the ghetto, but I loved the way that the accuser became the savior of her crop.
I also liked how not everyone had the noblest of intentions as they were farming. Several wanted to turn a profit such as the father with his lettuce and the kid who wanted to grow pot. However, everyone seemed to find some worth in their efforts. There is always a positive result when we try to make the world a better place. And that is what I took away from this book and even though in the real world it may not be as blatently obvious I believe this to be true.
The Multigenre part of the reading was a bit dull. I am trying to put together my stuff to hand in next week, but I am swamped with a million other projects. So, I am planning on pulling an all nighter tonight and knocking out everything that I need to do this week.
This story was very simplistic and the message was clear, people want to have value and worth. Even though the simplisticity of the story did come off as too stereotypical at times the idea of people wanting to actually make their own good mark on the world is something which I loved.
The story, seedfolks, started with a vietnamese girl planting lima beans in honor of her father. And it ends with her planting lima beans, once again too early in the year but we will see this as a success and not a failure of common sense. Once she planted the seeds the initial reaction was that she was up to no good. Which is a safe assumption in a vacant lot in the ghetto, but I loved the way that the accuser became the savior of her crop.
I also liked how not everyone had the noblest of intentions as they were farming. Several wanted to turn a profit such as the father with his lettuce and the kid who wanted to grow pot. However, everyone seemed to find some worth in their efforts. There is always a positive result when we try to make the world a better place. And that is what I took away from this book and even though in the real world it may not be as blatently obvious I believe this to be true.
The Multigenre part of the reading was a bit dull. I am trying to put together my stuff to hand in next week, but I am swamped with a million other projects. So, I am planning on pulling an all nighter tonight and knocking out everything that I need to do this week.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Poetry
I feel like I might be in the slight minority after having read others' posts, I have always liked poetry, and this has always seemed like the easiest thing for me to teach students. When I was teaching overseas the idea of grouping together similar sounding words, which is probably the simpilist form of poetry, encourages children because they are able to compose something which actually sounds good quite easily.
On the other hand, some of the ideas presented in this book made absolutely no sense and I am looking forward to class to gain clarification. What is an I Am poem? Which songs that are popular today have lyrics which would even roughly be considered as good poetry? I know that songs do exist, and some rap is amazingly lyrical, but these songs are simply not on the radio and if they are I have never heard them.
I feel that poetry is a good way of expressing a variety of senses in a short composition. A good poem should not only tell you something, but it should make you feel something and think. I tried teaching poetry the first time after reading "Never More-by Edgar Allen Poe" this was such a bad idea! The kids did not understand the poem, and they didn't have a clue what to write when I asked them to get out their pens and paper. The second time I taught them to write Buddha Death Poems, they are simple and profound and more than that they are easy to understand, well superficially at least. This was a much better lesson and I was thinking about different things which I might take from this reading to adapt my style of teaching poetry from now on and I am at a loss. Maybe it will just take me a while to turn over the thoughts and adapt them with my own experiences, but once again, I am really looking forward to class today.
What's your favorite poem and why? Mine is Life Story by Tennesse Williams, because it makes me laugh everytime I read it.
On the other hand, some of the ideas presented in this book made absolutely no sense and I am looking forward to class to gain clarification. What is an I Am poem? Which songs that are popular today have lyrics which would even roughly be considered as good poetry? I know that songs do exist, and some rap is amazingly lyrical, but these songs are simply not on the radio and if they are I have never heard them.
I feel that poetry is a good way of expressing a variety of senses in a short composition. A good poem should not only tell you something, but it should make you feel something and think. I tried teaching poetry the first time after reading "Never More-by Edgar Allen Poe" this was such a bad idea! The kids did not understand the poem, and they didn't have a clue what to write when I asked them to get out their pens and paper. The second time I taught them to write Buddha Death Poems, they are simple and profound and more than that they are easy to understand, well superficially at least. This was a much better lesson and I was thinking about different things which I might take from this reading to adapt my style of teaching poetry from now on and I am at a loss. Maybe it will just take me a while to turn over the thoughts and adapt them with my own experiences, but once again, I am really looking forward to class today.
What's your favorite poem and why? Mine is Life Story by Tennesse Williams, because it makes me laugh everytime I read it.
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