Access Galore!

In the education system teachers struggle with a battle called having enough materials.  In high school my school came down hard on each the students to treat their books with respect and to return them at the end of the year so there could be books for students next year.  The first problem with access in the schools is first does the school have the materials the teacher desires for their lesson and then if they do have it does the school have enough of them for all the students?  Renee Hobbs say, Access is finding and sharing appropriate and relevant information and using media texts and technology tools well” (12).   After we get over the hump of finding materials we have to pose the question what do we want our students to be exposed to?  And how does this material relate to your lesson objectives. 

Mr. Fisher’s example of incorporating 16 and Pregnant with the play Crucible was a brilliant idea.  The way in which he asked the class questions to discover what they knew about reality television shows to see if showing clips and incorporating 16 and Pregnant was a smart choice.  If parents were to find out there child was watching reality television in school without a clear purpose the parents would most likely call the school and complain and the responsible teacher would get in trouble.  A point I want to make about this example of incorporating reality television is Mr. Fisher found out what is relevant to his students.  Hobbs says, “When you learn more about students’ choices, the first thing you’ll notice is how different your students are rom you.  When it comes to media and technology, every two years brings a new set of chances in the landscape of their daily life.  Even if you’re only a few years older that your students, there may be important differences because technology tools are changing so very rapidly” (7).  When I read this it was shocking to me.  I consider myself up to date with the latest technologies being a 22-year-old college student.  Hearing this though makes me realize that as a teacher my students will most likely know more then me.  Having this mindset I will try to have a student centered classroom instead of teacher centered. 

I mentioned above two different complications with access to media.  The first is what type of resources does the school have access to?  If they do have the materials do they have enough for an entire class set?  A second complication is what material is appropriate to expose your students to?

Just as Mr. Fisher did with his Crucible lesson I want to show my students that we can use contemporary media to make connections to classical texts or even basic drama techniques.  By establishing a classroom where media is used frequently and the school has access to the media the students will build knowledge of how media is a beneficial thing.  When a teacher contextualizes information for students it makes students excited about learning or sparks their interest for a minute.  When students are excited about learning it is when a teacher should step in and expose them to all different kinds of media to make ideas concrete and expand the students knowledge.