Weekly reading #1- Print Culture

The article defines print culture as “embodies all forms of printed text and other printed forms of visual communication.” To me this description means that everything we read whether it is the alphabetic form of letters or character writing such as Chinese writing, is considered to be part of the print culture as long as it is printed. I am still confused as to what they are referring to as scribal culture, my assumption is that this is anything written but not printed, such as words or drawings written in caves or on paper not mass produced. Oral culture is simply information or communication passed on by word of mouth. The benefits of print culture is that more people are exposed to the information and the information is more accurate because once it is written it is simply copied and printed again. This prevents confusion of history and other important pieces of information. Print culture’s effects on society is amazing, information is able to be spread very quickly and can continue to be spread as long as the information is still accurate. In current situations people in New York can be privileged to the same information as those in California without much difficulty at all. As far as how technology is changing print culture, we are more quickly exposed to information through the internet so therefore the actual use of a printing press or even a printer are things that are becoming part of the past. The digital technology age is fantastic for the spread of information however I wonder how it will be to keep historic issues. Another issue is the assumption that all written work is credible and not copied, it is true we have copyright laws to try to protect these problems however it does not always work that way. Holding a paper or reading a paper book are things that aren’t destroyed easily, books have been around for hundreds of years and have great value in present day and history. Our students should be able to have exposure to all forms of literacy including paper. They may not understand completely how books could have been manufactured by a printing press but if they had a book made from paper at least they would be able to see hands on how difficult this process was.

Activity #2/ 3

Bible, New International Version 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, 13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Not only do these quotes come from one of the most important books of all time, but they refer to a subject all human beings can relate to. In a world of chaos and concusion, love must be there to pull us all back together. Even though the Bible has many different translations and versions this particular verse always has the same important message. Love is important, every human is touched by love whether they want to be or not.

So What!

Pink

“So, so what
I'm still a rock star,
I got my rock moves,
And I don't need you,
And guess what,
I'm having more fun,
And now that we’re done,
I'm gonna show you tonight,
I'm alright,
I'm just fine,
And you're a tool,
So, so what,
I am a rock star,
I got my rock moves,
And I don't want you tonight.”

The chorus to this song is so encouraging. Whenever I have a bad day or start to feel down on myself I remember these words and almost immediately feel better about myself. The idea is to just get over how other people affect your life and live for you. In this particular song she is talking about getting over a relationship, but in my life it goes for all bad situations.

Activity #2/ 1

Because You Loved Me

Celine Dion

For all those times you stood by me

For all the truth that you made me see

For all the joy you brought to my life

For all the wrong that you made right

For every dream you made come true

For all the love I found in you

I’ll be forever thankful baby

You’re the one who help me up and never let me fall

You’re the one who saw me through, through it all

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me faith ‘cuz you believed

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me

You gave me wings and made me fly

You touched my hand I could touch the sky

I lost my faith, you gave it back to me

You said no star was out of reach

You stood by m and I stood tall

I had your love I had it all

I’m grateful for each day you gave me

Maybe I don’t know that much

But I know this much is true

I was blessed because I was love by you

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me faith ‘cuz you believed

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me

You were always there for me

The tender wind that carried me

A light in the dark shining your love into my life

You’ve been my inspiration

Through the lies you were the truth

My world is a better place because of you

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me faith ‘cuz you believed

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me

I’m everything I am

Because you loved me.

When I was younger my parents divorced. My mother had a lot of rough times after this, but one day she started dating this wonderful man who helped make her life happy again. He helped her deal with all of the awful things my dad was putting her through. He treated me like I was one of his own and filled that space my father left when he decided to leave my mom. We had a few years together as a somewhat complicated family until one day he died right in front of us. Mom and I were completely crushed and once again our lives were turned upside down. Shortly after he passed this song appeared on the radio and comforted both of us. I’m sure Celine didn’t write it for the same reason we needed it but I’m really glad the song appeared. I still sit here and find myself crying at the words and memories sparked by this song, and always remember the happiness he brought to our lives.

Step 3. An introductory post

The active link for my "literacy" video choice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3kbwfaMEKY

Step 3. An Introductory Post

I am from a rural community in Central WV that values the importance of a simple life while being completely engulfed in a fast paced busy world. I am a teacher, a coach, and an assistant manager at a clothing store. I hope to gain more ideas to use in my classroom from this class. The simple definition for being literate is to be able to read and write. I feel that literacy is slightly different than this though, with this concept you should be able to comprehend all aspects of how to read and write. By reading texts written by different authors you should be able to understand the meaning of their article without ever talking to the individual, likewise you should be able to write this way also. The video I chose doesn’t necessarily define literacy but instead shows different example of how to incorporate literacy and 21^st Century Learning Skills. I found this video to be very informative and quite interesting for a variety of different reasons starting with the basic facts listed in the beginning. She then walks us through different aspects of literacy and technology and how the two can be intertwined.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3kbwfaMEKY

Week 2

When discussing understanding media literacy it is basically like reading a book or is it? Media Literacy is sort of like a 3-D book, several ideas are displayed for you at the same time. The media uses different characters, songs, sounds, colors, etc... to influence a person's opinion on a certain subject. Even when the media is in magazine form, more is being presented than what meets the eye. As stated in the article: "Critical media literacy involves cultivating skills in analyzing media codes and conventions, abilities to criticize stereotypes, dominant values, and ideologies, and competencies to interpret the multiple meanings and messages generated by media texts. Media literacy helps people to use media intelligently, to

discriminate and evaluate media content, to critically dissect media forms, to investigate media effects and uses, and to construct alternative media." Basically by studying media literacy critically we can try to understand the entire message presented in whatever form given. We have to look not only at what is being presented but by what is being said by not being said. The picture being the simple part of the message while the subliminal  message being the real meaning and the audience to be affected."The media has a huge effect on popular culture. Television programs underscore stereotypes of various groups of people. By looking at the media critically, students develop an awareness of the messages that are portrayed through the media." (readwritethink.org)

Week 11~ Justifying uses of Digital Tools

The main idea of this article is how to justify using digital media in the classroom. Most classrooms are crunching minutes to get in all the content they are required to teach every day, the addition of media literacy to the curriculum seems almost impossible. Professor Beach feels that we can somewhat combine regular print reading/ writing and media reading/writing to enhance both literacies at the same time. He states: “Given the marginalization of media literacy standards/curriculum in American schools, teachers need to be able to justify the inclusion of digital tools for teaching both print and digital literacies in their classrooms. It is therefore important that teachers, particularly new preservice teachers entering the profession, learn to formulate purposes for use of digital tools to teach print and digital literacies. As teachers increasingly find that employing digital tools in their classrooms does enhance students’ use of both print and digital literacies, they will have the evidence to push for further inclusion of digital tools for teaching media literacies in American schools.” He also states within this comment that new teachers need to formulate purpose of digital tools. He is saying that new teachers have less of a routine and therefore adding something new into their lessons will be easier from the very beginning.  According to the article Media Literacy Across the Curriculum, by David Considine, PhD:  “In reality, teachers, librarians, school media specialists, and students need a common set of skills that will enable them to access, analyze, and evaluate information in any form. Teaching young people to think critically about the Internet is only part of the picture. Those skills need to be applied to all their sources of information, including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, advertising, and film. These media are all part of the communication culture we live in – a fact understood by most English teachers, who now recognize that the term text, once restricted to print media, today includes numerous non-print formats.” Both articles tie in the idea that digital media and media literacy is important in the classroom but in today’s classroom in the “21^st Century” we still have to be clever with when and how we teach it. We have to teach the standards they require but we also need to teach the current life skills to our students using media and digital literacies.

Week 10-The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling

There are several different definitions of Digital Storytelling found within this article. The author not only explains how to use digital storytelling but he also defines exactly what digital storytelling is. He states: “There are many different definitions of “Digital Storytelling,” but in general, they all revolve around the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia, such as images, audio, and video. Just about all digital stories bring together some mixture of digital graphics, text, recorded audio narration, video and music to present information on a specific topic. As is the case with traditional storytelling, digital

stories revolve around a chosen theme and often contain a particular viewpoint. The stories are typically just a few minutes long and have a variety of uses, including the telling of personal tales, the recounting of historical events, or as a means to inform or instruct on a particular topic.” With this explanation you can gather that digital storytelling is basically telling a story but using different media to make it better. When we create a digital story, we add different aspects to make our story stand out and get the audience’s attention. If a student was to give a lesson on a president, they might use digital storytelling to add in personal opinions of the president, pictures, artifacts, music, etc. Basically they have created their own short movie to show their class. Reports are interesting when using different items to share along with words but with a digital story you can use every resource available to make the presentation better. “Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights. Tell your story now digitally.” As stated by Leslie Rule, of the Digital Storytelling Association, (http://electronicportfolios.com/digistory/). Digital Storytelling is a fantastic resource to help students learn, it uses many different types of media to enhance the story being told and has the potential to be a very influential learning/ teaching tool.

Week 8~ Are you Hip to This?

This article describes some of the issues with teaching media literacy in schools. It begins by demonstrating examples of how some teachers have tried to integrate media literacy into their classrooms. The different grade levels were able to pick out different ideas that were important to the commercials. These ideas were different for everyone involved thus showing the complexity of media literacy. I found one of the most interesting thoughts within the article had nothing to do with the way media literacy is used in the classroom but instead, how it is intended to be used and not carried through that way. “It's not surprising that in an educational environment which values product over process, media production classes (in both print and video) become playgrounds for creative grownups who make all the really important decisions about the construction of the school newspaper or class video project, then set young people on the task of finishing the scut work.” This quote demonstrates how sometimes teachers have control issues when it comes to creativity. Media is a creative process from the very beginning and students should be encouraged to tap into their own creativity to make the finished product. A rubric or guideline is a must for media projects that outline the do’s and don’ts for each project. Being a teacher I can see how it is hard to “let go” and “let them be” but if we want to see a project from our students we must relax and let them do the project. I could not find a quote per say that would back up my theory to let the students experiment and be creative but I found the youthmediaproject.org site that provides an entire website to showcase student/ youth work. This website is entirely donated to the presentation of student work, written by students and produced by the students.