This article and the proposal to critique cartoons and society in particular Disney movies is a double edge sword for me. This situation reminds me of last spring semester when I was in Children's Literature and heard the real fairy tales for the first time. I am glad that Disney changed the ending to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" because the ending is too cruel for a young child to see or read about in a story. The issue of this "secret education" that a child gains from a Disney movie is not preventable and is not all that bad. I am the perfect example of a child who went to Disney World about 7 times throughout my childhood and found that it brought my imagination to life! I am a kid at heart or my family and friends would tell me to grow-up. Cartoons and society's portrayal of characters is harsh, but stories will everyone equal does not sell and is not history. These stories were an escape for the time period because the child during the time of these original fairy tales was thought to be a mini adult. Having literature that is designed for children and their thoughts is a great starting point, but hopefully Disney books get them reading and them they discover "Bridge to Terabithia" and create their own world.
A child's impressionable minds can be molded, but it is for the parent to have discussion and the child to exchange the roles of being the villain verses the princess when playing barbies or real life dress-up etc. I do see the harm in say Cinderella's gender roles and lack of education which is a common theme for women in Disney movies (besides Belle in Beauty of the Beast). But, Disney is a fantasy, an imaginary world that a child enters without needing to know the right from wrong so critiquing this should occur later in life. This is not to say that parents or family friends should not have discussions of the reasons of being a princess and give them a taste of real princesses. I would definitely discuss and question Cinderella's feelings in terms of being locked up, not being able to stand-up for herself as an individual that possess selfworth (as an advocate for herself), and why does she requires a prince to save her or not a princess or anyone at all. I recognize that I have been manipulated by media and other cartoons, but hopefully the media that is introduced is not all from one sources and the home provides a variety of outlets to explore media.
As a young child my favorite movie to watch over an over again was the black and white film "HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME" (1939). My dad and I watched black and white films and I would request them over Disney movies in some cases. The "secret education" that cartoons and our society form is and will always be there. As an informed viewer and reader you must lead discussions and introduce a variety of media to counteract a saturation of misleading Disney character ideals and society's social inequalities. In terms of my favorite Disney film it was "Sword in the Stone". I enjoy the boy learning how to survive without a strong family. He also discovers his own power with in to remove the sword. Also, the issue of not wanting the sword after getting it demonstrated being humble and not desiring fame. The two wizards during the wizards dual is marvelous because a child learns that your actions do have repercussions, but they might not be visible. This invisible repercussions and be explored deeper in Disney films and can be discussed in terms of visible or not and are the two as hurtful or is one worse.
Now the Help Me Syndrome is say Popeye as the article points out is true. But, that is a stage that children go through as they develop and get older. As child who once again watched cartoons with my dad every morning before he went to work for about two hours I was manipulated by media under his watch. Fortunately like Olive my dad or my family rescued me during my mistakes or moments of weakness to see that if I want something I have to get it done. Popeye is a unique character because he has a speech impediment and was abandoned by his father who in some cartoon stripes or cartoon films just chooses to not be a part of his life. Also Olive is not attractive like the princess's in Disney films or stories. She has her own job as a waitress and supports herself. I like the idea that you don't fall in love right away like in the Disney films. My parents would say they fell in love over time and my dad had to prove himself and work to show his love like Popeye. Anyways I see the point this article is getting at, but I would not enter this discussion with children because I think other sources are more appropriate to target these issues. I would hope in this life own childhood stories can stay happy and have happy endings! Life is not about happy endings so why rush into that reality. A child learns that, but finds hope in their imagination, which I still imagine all the time about my endings and hope that others still possess the ability to imagine and dream.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Igoa and Hill reading for November 15th
Igoa:
Two summers ago I was a teacher's aid in summer school here in Monroe County School Corpration at Clear Creek Elementary. I was working with a young lady who had recently moved here from South Korea and it was extremely difficult to help her advance to he actual grade which was 6th and to compensate for the culture shock she was placed in a fourth grade class. I think it is unfortnate that I was not able to help her feel confident in terms of her use of english literacy. I assume if she was able to use multimodel forms of literacy she would feel more confident in her work!
Hill:
I really liked the Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales projects explained by Hill on page 54. I am 100% that this multimodal project is definitely an activity that I will do in my classroom. As I said in the previous post on Evans my MGRP used many of these themes discussed in these reading. My inspiration came from a digital story of Little Red Riding Hood for my MGRP. Having students write their own version of Little Red Riding Hood similar to the Stincky Cheeseman 's book is very fasinating to see students creativity and use of an alternate ending. Also by using technology I think that will enhance students engagement in the project and reach more students in a variety of ways as Millard's isx aspects descibes to be essential when implementing a new approach to literacy. Using literacy in the form of multimodal texts if will encourage the students to see the opportunity of past print text and how it can be updated to the 21st century using a nonlinear approach. In conclusion photostories and multimodal texts supported student centered learning and was able to be used as a scaffold and build confidence in all students.
Two summers ago I was a teacher's aid in summer school here in Monroe County School Corpration at Clear Creek Elementary. I was working with a young lady who had recently moved here from South Korea and it was extremely difficult to help her advance to he actual grade which was 6th and to compensate for the culture shock she was placed in a fourth grade class. I think it is unfortnate that I was not able to help her feel confident in terms of her use of english literacy. I assume if she was able to use multimodel forms of literacy she would feel more confident in her work!
Hill:
I really liked the Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales projects explained by Hill on page 54. I am 100% that this multimodal project is definitely an activity that I will do in my classroom. As I said in the previous post on Evans my MGRP used many of these themes discussed in these reading. My inspiration came from a digital story of Little Red Riding Hood for my MGRP. Having students write their own version of Little Red Riding Hood similar to the Stincky Cheeseman 's book is very fasinating to see students creativity and use of an alternate ending. Also by using technology I think that will enhance students engagement in the project and reach more students in a variety of ways as Millard's isx aspects descibes to be essential when implementing a new approach to literacy. Using literacy in the form of multimodal texts if will encourage the students to see the opportunity of past print text and how it can be updated to the 21st century using a nonlinear approach. In conclusion photostories and multimodal texts supported student centered learning and was able to be used as a scaffold and build confidence in all students.
The Changing Nature of Literacy in the Twenty-first century by Janet Evan
This introduction by Janet Evan's would have been amazing to read in regards to my MGRP paper and genres pieces. At the school at which I am observing I am seeing this transition of literacy in the 21st century becoming multimodal and teachers bridging the gaps between children's popular culture interests and school requirements. The past couple weeks at my school the students have been discussing Star Wars and videotaping the circle discussions and translating it into stories and pictures during writer's workshop. I enjoy seeing the students completely engaged in the discussion and their writing because it pertains directly to their personal interests. The main concerns that Lambirth (2003) points out is the ethical struggle that former teachers have with encompassing popular culture in class becasue of the linear model of education is highly focused on the past methods of teaching. A teacher might "say they get enough of that at home; why should I use it in my classroom?" But if you look at it in the eyes of a nonlinear model of education and as a student centered learning model - one would recognize that this opportunity will open educational doors for a student who typically might not engage in the learning activity. By using these digital literacy or technology literacy frameworks teachers will begin to see the curiosity to return to their students thinking and classroom engagement, will increase their ability reach the 21st century learner through multimodal texts, and will prepare their student for their future career paths that will involve technology!
I also like Gunther Kress's explanation of "different reading pathways between designed or displayed text and continuous print as the different between showing and telling," which highlights the use of and ability to navigate technology without proper instruction and experience (Kress 2003, 152). Students, teachers, and 21st century readers in general are experiencing the lack of continuous print and a need to read flexibly in a variety of texts as information is becoming so diversity in its representations and forms. By teaching students how to navigate the 21st century literacy model using a nonlinear approach, you as a teacher will see remarkable understanding and transformation of students confidence and ability to communicate. Students will formulate thoughts, ask questions, and begin to discover their own prefer forms of communicate in this diversity selection of options in today technological advanced literacy world!
I also like Gunther Kress's explanation of "different reading pathways between designed or displayed text and continuous print as the different between showing and telling," which highlights the use of and ability to navigate technology without proper instruction and experience (Kress 2003, 152). Students, teachers, and 21st century readers in general are experiencing the lack of continuous print and a need to read flexibly in a variety of texts as information is becoming so diversity in its representations and forms. By teaching students how to navigate the 21st century literacy model using a nonlinear approach, you as a teacher will see remarkable understanding and transformation of students confidence and ability to communicate. Students will formulate thoughts, ask questions, and begin to discover their own prefer forms of communicate in this diversity selection of options in today technological advanced literacy world!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Reflection
The MGRP I got me to look deeper into our first assignment about literacy signs and apply my new definitions of literacy. This project was at first difficult to see the direction of my overall project in terms of genre pieces and how it would come out. Overall, I am very pleased with my finished product and look forward to our gallery walk later today.
Once again my psychology interests came out in the process of researching my topic for the MGRP. I fell in love with Eisner's philosophy of literacy! This quote sums it up, "As long as schools operate on an essentially linguistic modality that gives place of privilege to a kind of literacy, logical, or mathematical form of intelligence, school limit what youngsters can learn (Eisner quoted in Leland and Harste, 1994, 339)." Through my research I discovered how technology can change those limitations of what students can learn and the restraints the teachers feel in regards to traditional educational linear model. By using Millard's six aspects I was able to identity how a teacher might go about assessing tools to add to his/ her repertoire and alter their current educational linguistic linear model to a nonlinear model to adapt to the changes in this digital age.
I assessed audio books, personal computers, and composing products. These tools are just a few there are many more, I just had to set a limit or my paper would have been a good size book.
I was fortunate to read about interesting cases of how technology transformed a classroom by fusing new times, new teaching, and learning with new technologies. A couple examples are the digital storytelling, the multiple ways of knowing using Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, podcasts, webcasts, learning mats, and new composing programs to name a few. I am very excited to try out some of these tools in my future classroom after accessing my population of students using Millard's Six aspects. The six aspects will allow for me to gauge the tools I would be selecting and determine their access, arena, agency, affordance, appropiateness, and holding myself accountable for my child-centered learning approach.
I learned that inquiry based curricula is the ideal to strive for and use in majority of all content areas. Also that writing is everywhere, I use the genre piece of bar-codes, because it is a sign system that I found myself using multiple ways of knowing. This came about in deciding my genre pieces and I like the ideal of the bar-code. A bar-code is a sign system and label that might seem constant, but is constantly changing as the student and the application of the appropriate tool that offers the best affordance will vary content to content, day to day. The artist Scott Blake presented and interesting sign system that is present in our daily life that we currently navigate and I am inspired to continue looking for these sign systems and how I can transmediate them into new meaning for expanding my definition of literacy and express my full potential as teacher and a student.
As a student how uses a variety of technology to achieve my personal understanding of different contents and express my understanding of those contents, I plan to have technology in an arms reach at all times. Technology is a challenge, but I am willing to teach myself and take the time to use various modes knowing that one mode might offer more affordances for one student than another. Throughout the beginning of a year and getting familiar with my students I would hope to know what tools are appropriate for what students and be able to hold myself accountable in fusing new literacy in my teaching of my students to be their own agency and see their flexibility in navigating all sign systems to transmediate their understanding in the digital age.
Once again my psychology interests came out in the process of researching my topic for the MGRP. I fell in love with Eisner's philosophy of literacy! This quote sums it up, "As long as schools operate on an essentially linguistic modality that gives place of privilege to a kind of literacy, logical, or mathematical form of intelligence, school limit what youngsters can learn (Eisner quoted in Leland and Harste, 1994, 339)." Through my research I discovered how technology can change those limitations of what students can learn and the restraints the teachers feel in regards to traditional educational linear model. By using Millard's six aspects I was able to identity how a teacher might go about assessing tools to add to his/ her repertoire and alter their current educational linguistic linear model to a nonlinear model to adapt to the changes in this digital age.
I assessed audio books, personal computers, and composing products. These tools are just a few there are many more, I just had to set a limit or my paper would have been a good size book.
I was fortunate to read about interesting cases of how technology transformed a classroom by fusing new times, new teaching, and learning with new technologies. A couple examples are the digital storytelling, the multiple ways of knowing using Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, podcasts, webcasts, learning mats, and new composing programs to name a few. I am very excited to try out some of these tools in my future classroom after accessing my population of students using Millard's Six aspects. The six aspects will allow for me to gauge the tools I would be selecting and determine their access, arena, agency, affordance, appropiateness, and holding myself accountable for my child-centered learning approach.
I learned that inquiry based curricula is the ideal to strive for and use in majority of all content areas. Also that writing is everywhere, I use the genre piece of bar-codes, because it is a sign system that I found myself using multiple ways of knowing. This came about in deciding my genre pieces and I like the ideal of the bar-code. A bar-code is a sign system and label that might seem constant, but is constantly changing as the student and the application of the appropriate tool that offers the best affordance will vary content to content, day to day. The artist Scott Blake presented and interesting sign system that is present in our daily life that we currently navigate and I am inspired to continue looking for these sign systems and how I can transmediate them into new meaning for expanding my definition of literacy and express my full potential as teacher and a student.
As a student how uses a variety of technology to achieve my personal understanding of different contents and express my understanding of those contents, I plan to have technology in an arms reach at all times. Technology is a challenge, but I am willing to teach myself and take the time to use various modes knowing that one mode might offer more affordances for one student than another. Throughout the beginning of a year and getting familiar with my students I would hope to know what tools are appropriate for what students and be able to hold myself accountable in fusing new literacy in my teaching of my students to be their own agency and see their flexibility in navigating all sign systems to transmediate their understanding in the digital age.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)