April 2009 Blog Posts (14)

Media Circles Toward Social Action

Have you taught something in your classroom, and suddenly you see it on Rahmel’s face, he was been struck with that “aha!” moment? The moment that us teachers live for, the one that signifies why we teach. Well, as I sat listening to Pam Goble’s presentation on “Building Historical Background Knowledge While Viewing Film” I felt as if I myself was caught in one of those moments.

For the past month I had been working in my class on literature circles. I have challenged my second graders… Continue

Added by Sophy Joseph on April 30, 2009 at 10:30pm — 6 Comments

Media That Matters!

The Media That Matters presentation screened and discussed documentaries and short films that teach children about social and global issues. Every Third Bite and Ashray were the two documentaries that I was most inspired by and wanted to know more about. “The Media That Matters Film Festival is a project of Arts Engine, which supports, produces, and distributes short… Continue

Added by Cindy Peattie on April 30, 2009 at 9:00pm — 5 Comments

Star Trek vs Star Wars (Newsweek)

If you've seen the cover story in this week's issue of Newsweek Magazine, then you know already that they're promoting the new "Star Trek" movie. What else is new? But what is not on their web site is this sidebar (which I have scanned) in which the editors astutely match up past and current administration officials with their Trek/Wars characters. Enjoy!

Added by Frank W. Baker on April 28, 2009 at 9:21pm — No Comments

Media Circles

Pam Goble’s presentation focused on how to use media to enhance the learning process. She introduced the concept of media circles and provided us with an opportunity to experience them first hand. To prepare for the media circles, we were given a chance to choose one of the following roles: connector, economist, etymologist, fashion critic, questioner, recorder/ spokesperson, scene master, sociologist, technology specialist, or visualizer. In the classroom, these roles can be used to help… Continue

Added by Daniella Nusblat on April 26, 2009 at 8:30pm — 7 Comments

Reflection on William Goldman at TTP 2009

I need to put my sense of awe and excitement out there to all you Ning-ers before I can launch into a reflection. It was such an honor to hear Mr. Goldman speak, one that even rivaled seeing Elmo. As a child I watched and re-watched The Princess Bride, imaging myself as Buttercup and my neighbor Wesley (a Goldman-esque stroke of luck) as Westley. My… Continue

Added by Caitlin Nagle on April 25, 2009 at 10:30am — 5 Comments

Media circles!

As an educator and an individual I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I am quite intimidated by technology and media in my life, much less using it in my classroom. Before taking this class I had only briefly experimented with the use of technology with my students, but I am slowly coming to the realization that media can be a great resource to use in the classroom, it is really a way that can help us reach our students on a whole new level. Whether we choose to accept it or not, the reality of… Continue

Added by Cheza Al-Kudmani on April 25, 2009 at 2:30am — 10 Comments

Thoughts on Jen Powers' Teach, Think, Play 2009 Conference Presentation

I had been looking forward to Jen Powers' presentation from the time I saw it listed in our conference schedule. Unlike the majority of the TTP's attendees, I am not, nor do I plan on becoming, a classroom teacher (though I have lots of respect for those who do—you're brave souls!). As a former film major and a student in the Communications, Computers and Technology in Education (CCTE) department at Teachers College, my interests lie more in teaching… Continue

Added by Kate Rosenbloom on April 24, 2009 at 10:30pm — 5 Comments

Reflection Paper: 2009 Teach, Think, Play III: The Moving Image in the Classroom

Our second session of Teach, Think, Play III, The Moving Image in the Classroom, held at Teachers College, Columbia University on Saturday April 5 2009, began with a presentation by Mary T. Christel entitled “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Gender (But Were Afraid To Learn From Classic Hollywood Comedies)”. Christel presented the pedagogy of using film in the classroom through a “genre” approach towards… Continue

Added by Dina Paulson on April 22, 2009 at 8:00pm — 10 Comments

Deconstructing Popular Advertisements

One of the reasons why visual/media literacy education is not more widespread is that educators haven't had sufficient training in deconstruction. With that in mind, I share the following web resource. The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding has devoted a portion of its web site to Current Popular Culture Advertisements, available to download and deconstruct. One of the reasons this site is so valuable is--you don't have to own the… Continue

Added by Frank W. Baker on April 20, 2009 at 10:14pm — 1 Comment

Columbine left its indelible mark on pop culture

A CNN news story: The massacre of students and a teacher within the seemingly safe hallways of Columbine High School has generated a lot of creations from artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers over the past decade.

Added by Frank W. Baker on April 20, 2009 at 9:39am — 1 Comment

William Goldman at Teach, Think, Play – April 5, 2009

Interesting visit, interesting difference in the degree of reverence accorded to this guest vs. other guests – but yes, we wanted to make him comfortable speaking to a crowd of us considering he does not like public speaking in front of groups of strangers. Can’t say I blame him.

Some things I thought about while he was speaking:

First of all, he made some comments when speaking to us that if we were thinking of becoming screen writers, there were things we needed to… Continue

Added by Diane D on April 9, 2009 at 10:22pm — 4 Comments

Homer's Odyssey on Twitter

I'm laughing so hard I can hardly breathe!! Check out this version of The Odyssey done in Tweet format! Some inappropriate comments but would SO be a hit in a HS classroom:
http://cdn.holytaco.com/www/sites/default/files/images/ithacarulerdotcom_twitter1_sized.jpg

Added by Kelly Farrow on April 9, 2009 at 8:15am — 1 Comment

NCSS' New Policy Statement on Media Literacy

Media educator Jeff Share, a past member of the NCTE Commission on Media, has asked me to share this news. The National Council for the Social Studies has recently published a new position statement on media literacy. It is a very important move that NCSS has both recognized and recommended media literacy be taught as part of social studies instruction. The statement, which Jeff helped write, can be found here. Please consider… Continue

Added by Frank W. Baker on April 5, 2009 at 1:16pm — No Comments

We Are Everywhere Youth Summit

My students are organizing a youth summit that will combine hip-hop, social activism and social movements, and any unconventional arts integration. The summit is titled "We Are Everywhere", motivated by the book with the same title about anti-globalism movements around the world. The event will be held at our school, the Multicultural Arts School in Chicago, on May 21 and we are hoping to attract 300-500 youth from the Chicago area. One of the projects that my Popular Kultures classes is… Continue

Added by Raven on April 5, 2009 at 11:18am — No Comments