Teaching Idea

For our unit, we will be reading and studying from the book Whirligig by Paul Fleischman.  This is a postmodern novel, meaning it's layout is not at all linear.  The timing of everything is confusing - we never really know at what time certain things are happening.  This though, adds meaning to the overall message/theme of the book.  In the Core Standards, one of the goals is to "Analyze how an author's choice concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g. parallel plots), and maintain time (e.g. pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise" (RL 9-10.6).  As a class, we would get together and attempt to put the events of the story in order.  After discovering that it isn't possible, we would talk in groups and discuss how the format of the story helps to make the point that a person's influence is never ending - it can span time, regardless of whether or not they are alive.

Teaching Idea--Conventions & Choices

At the end of the Language section the author states: "One of the aims of media education is to encourage students to reflect on the choice they have made, and to consider their consequences."
Here is my teaching idea primarily based on the Language section and this quotation.

Start with a clip from 500 days of Summer that uses a convention that is different from most movies (the firework slowmotion scene). Ask the students why they think this director chose this convention and made the choice of filming this scene in a stylistice way. Have a discussion about how choices have consequences that are affective, ineffective, positive, and negative. After the students have reached a good understanding of what a convention is and identify the different choices made in the clip show the another clip from the same film (the split down the screen scene: expectations and reality). Ask the students why this director made this choice. In this discussion focus on how we as artists make choices to affect our audience. Ask them what they think the director wanted us to experience and feel. To practice these principles have each student write down on a sheet of paper, if they could create a film what would they want their audience to feel and experience. Tell them they can use 1-3 words. Then have them get into groups of 3 with those that have similar words written on their piece of paper. If a student's word doesn't match up with any other students' put them with a group and have that group use both words. Once they are in their groups assign them to create a story board that uses certain conventions and choices that they decide that ultimately captures their objectives of what they want the audience to feel and experience.

Teaching Idea

A teaching idea for our units of instruction, inspired by the Buckingham reading seems like it should come more naturally than what I’m finding to be the case. Part of that is I feel like Buckingham just reiterates what Hobbs says, but just in a different way. So I’m going to take my inspiration from Buckingham in the fact that the different facets of understanding the media she talks about are present inside the teaching idea in one way or another. Those aspects she says we ought to focus on include: production, language, representation and audiences.

Our unit of instruction is focusing on storytelling through different media. One idea I had for this would come early on in the structure of the unit. Have 5 different media bits placed in different areas of the room (this can include a two minute clip from a podcast, a 2 minute portion of a music video, a photo essay, a written creative brief, non-fiction essay and a newspaper column). Have the students get into groups around each media. Give them a few minutes to just purely encounter the media, telling the students they only need to read the media and not necessarily delve any deeper than that with this first look at it. Then after everyone has looked over their specific medium, ask them to look at it again, only this time talking to each other about what makes this medium unique from other types of media. Have them write some of their findings down on a piece of paper for the group or a group worksheet you provide (tell the students they will report their findings to the class). Have the students look at their media again and this time talk to each other about what they think the story being told is and what the message of that story is. How does this medium tell the story specifically? Who is it for? All of these things are written on the worksheet. Have the students come together and share their media and findings. After each presentation, ask the students in general this question: How is performance a part of the way this medium tells its story? I think this connection needs to be partly made because it is a theatre class and the final goal would be to get the students to create their own story told through some sort of medium with a performative element (this goes along with the idea that you’ve talked about the fact that you can construe many many different things to be performance, writing an essay is a type of performance).

This teaching idea supports the ideas of representation and language and audience. Audience is found in the question of “who is this for?” language is present as the students investigate how the story is told specifically in the medium. And representation is maybe the trickiest, but I think it is most prevalent in the asking the students how performance is present in the creation and the actual product of the medium. How does the author represent himself in the piece? How is it a performance of the author’s identity or her perception of others’ identities? Those really are the most interesting questions to me inside of a secondary theatre class. But it would require quite a bit of background knowledge

This is the last post. So last. The lastest. So last.

Buckingham sure has a lot to say, doesn't he? Most of what he says is good for a new teacher trying to learn how to approach media literacy in the classroom, but I also think that he has a way of writing that makes it seem like he is the know-all end-all of this subject area. Maybe I am alone in this, but I was a bit nettled as I read. If he is trying to teach this to people that do not know much about it, perhaps he should keep his tech vocabulary reigned in more, and I disliked how he was always telling me what students "should do" in order to learn ________.

Tone aside, I got some ideas from this reading, and the one I am most interested in is one about language in media. You see, where I am from in Washington there are no high schools with a film program. At least if there are I have not heard anything about it. In my drama class we touched on it a little bit, because it was drama and not theatre specifically (though the focus was obviously on theatre, because it's the best). I am planning to teach a unit on film in my own theatre class and I feel like it is a great way to tie in all of those language questions he mentions. The language of film has always been an interest of mine. It is a language most of us know subconsciously now; it is one that most people do not put much thought into understanding - you just do. When you grow up with a language, you don't really ponder too much about how you understand it or why it is the way it is. It just... is. So I intend to have my students really think about the language that the cameras speak, and I want to bring in commercials and news reports into it.

For my film unit I plan on opening with clips from different genres of movies and asking the students to identify what genre it is based solely on the few screen shots or segments of the movies they see. The conversation will turn into a discussion about what clued them into what genre each clip was. I am hoping that an in-depth discussion will occur about the different messages each camera angle, lighting choice, and music track sends. This activity would bring in the bullet points he creates with genre, conventions, choices, and codes. The thing I have in mind most right now is the final assessment of the unit, and the actual lesson plans would be created in order to reach that. My idea is that my students would have to create a short film (which would bring in audience and production ideas that he mentions). This film will be like a TV show on Hulu; it must have at least 1 commercial interruption, which the students will create and place on their own.

I am simply excited to be able to work with students using various forms of media. I use media in my lessons all the time anyway, so I don't know if I will want to have a unit focusing on media literacy. I plan to lace it all over my lessons, taking time to explain certain media creators (such as Photoshop, Garage Band, etc.) only when it must be explained for a project. I am guessing most of my students will be able to use a lot of the things I will teach them to use either way. I am looking forward to learn more about different types of media as they become available so that I can tie it directly into my curriculum.

The Last Post

Buckingham had many ideas, to say the least.  The reading was interesting, and though I quite appreciated the teaching strategies at the end, what I most liked about this reading were the areas Buckingham defined when describing the field.  It is those that I would look to and utilize in my own classroom.  I utterly loved the questions he asked after each designation. 

In general, I think it would greatly benefit any teacher and any classroom to take each of these areas and each of these questions, and then form activities and classroom discussions around each one.  The questions are beautifully structured in that they are open-ended, invite the students to think, and are likely to inspire immediate opinions in the reader or listener.

For example, under “Studying Representation”, the question asked about the category of “Presence and Absence” is, “What is included and excluded from the media world?  Who speaks, and who is silenced?”  Before class, I would find a number of images and advertisements (some could even be playing on computers or iPods) that lend themselves well to the above question.  The question itself would be written on slips of paper and given to the students as they entered the classroom.  Upon receiving the paper, they would be instructed to read the question and ponder upon it as they slowly and silently walked around the classroom, looking at the images and advertisements provided.  (Judge how long the class needs, as it will vary with each class.)  When finished, the students would be asked to sit and write an answer to the question asked on the paper.   When all have had time to ponder, split them into groups to discuss their answers.  Eventually, each group will briefly present their answers/what they feel is most important to the class.  They would be given large pieces of paper so that they could write down their thoughts or create a poster to help them with their presentation. 

This is just one example of what could be done with the categories and questions provided by Buckingham.  However, I would not recommend just using his categories and questions; I would find and teach my own.  And, it must be noted, that doing an activity for every question could take a lengthy amount of time.  I would choose what subjects I feel are most important and go from there.  I may also spend more time on one activity and subject than I do on another. 

As for his strategies on teaching, I love that, as stated, “Broadly speaking, they all begin by recognizing the validity of the fact that students already know about the media; and they all involve active learning on the part of the students.  Nevertheless, they also implicitly assume that there are things students do not know, and that they need to learn.”  I have to admit, I struggle to find fault with that statement.  However, one thing that I must point out is that in today’s world, students know more and more about media and technology—often they know more that the adults that surround them.  I would adapt his teaching strategies to give the students a chance to teach what they know, as well as explore what they may be unfamiliar with. 

However, all is not roses and cotton candy—I did disagree with some of what Buckingham wrote and described.  For example, I strongly disagree with the wording of some of Buckingham’s teaching strategy descriptions.  For example, when speaking about textual analysis, he states (after telling the reader in detail how the students should describe the text), “Only when this process of detailed description is complete should the students move on to the second stage of textual analysis, where they are invited to consider the meaning of a text.”  Why?  Why?  Why in the world would you wait to invite students to find meaning in what they see?  I recognize the advantages that can come from having the students describe what they see, but in my classroom, as stated above, I want to give the students the opportunity to teach, because when a student teaches, they will retain more information.  Only by finding meaning, and then by describing why it means something to them will they truly learn, and remember what they saw.  And, in the process of teaching about the meaning they find, they will describe what they see as well, thereby fulfilling the first step that Buckingham states is so essential.

In short, Buckingham provides an excellent starting point, wonderful categories and questions, and some good ideas when it comes to teaching strategies.  He also provides an excellent place to start when trying to teach Media Education. However, Buckingham is not God, and therefore, as a teacher, I will take the good stuff, and as for the rest, I will take it with a grain of salt.  

Audition Simulation

I was intrigued by the section on simulation in the reading. We use simulations a lot in theatre lessons because the easiest way to understand something is by doing it (this can apply to a variety of subjects). For example, simulations could be used in lessons about the audition process and casting. Before doing this lesson make sure that all the students have a general gist of the story and the characters for the play you are working on in class. Also make sure that every student has done research on a monologue they would recite for this audition (something they know well enough to not have the paper glued to their nose but not necessarily memorized). Start the class by selecting four students to simulate a panel of judges casting for the show Much Ado About nothing (or whatever play you are working on). During the audition process be a director (teacher in-role) and after every monologue, or couple of monologues talk to the judges and ask them what they think and why that person would be good or not in the show. Rotate through judges and auditioners—you can switch after every four monologues or so. At the end of the simulation you can have a really good discussion about the auditioning process, students fears, and the difficulties of casting a show, especially when those who are auditioning are people you know. You can also analyze what is most important about the auditioning process for each student. The next class students could bring in media works (blogs about auditioning, pictures, videos, etc) that could help to solve some of the problems that were mentioned in the discussion the previous day.

Heather, Carson, Cali Handout!

SPEAK

Laurie Halse Anderson

By: Cali Wilkes, Heather Starr, Carson Wright

Instagram

By: Cali Wilkes

OVERVIEW: Students will use the ideas of Instagram to explore personal character themes taken from Speak.

PURPOSE: Students will be given a character from Speak and a theme.  The students will be split into the groups and told to express the theme through the assigned character using Instagram.

DETAILS:

·      Split the class into 4 groups of 3

·      Assign each group a character and a theme connected to that character

·      Hand out cameras to the class or invite the students to use their own personal cameras, cell phones, or I-pods/ I-touches to complete the assignment

·      Have the students discuss how they can artistically express a theme from Speak through the character they have been assigned.

·      Give the groups 10 minutes to leave the classroom and take a picture together

·      When the students come back have each group write a description under the picture justifying their artistic choices

·      Have the groups share their images and explanations  

Blog posts

By: Heather Starr

For each of the four quarters, one character will be chosen and a blog post will be written (on a closed class blog, similar to how we do it) as if the student was the character. Each set of characters was chosen because they exhibited growth during that quarter. The teacher should provide specific questions (see examples), but the students should write more than it takes to just answer the question to demonstrate their understanding of the growth the character.

Students should take into account what they know about the character from the readings as well as what they can infer from the novel. It is expected that they will explore the thematic development of the character they choose (i.e. Melinda’s parents, miscommunication; David, courage; etc.) They may include just text in the response, or any combination of text, images, sound or video.

1st Quarter - Melinda or any of her friends from Junior High
2nd Quarter - David Petrakis or Heather
3rd Quarter - Melinda’s parents or Ivy
4th Quarter – Rachel or Melinda

Ideas for questions:

• What event has fueled your actions this quarter? (If answering for Melinda, please use something besides the rape.) Why did this one event have such an impact on you?
• If you could have changed the way that event happened, what would you have made differently?
• Who do you feel has influenced you the most this quarter? Why did this person have such an influence?

Discussion ideas:

• How do you let people know how you are?
• How does posting in a combination of images, text, sound, and video create a portrayal of who you are?
• How do relationships play out similar/differently on blogs than through other digital media?

SoundCloud

By: Carson Wright

OVERVIEW:
Students will use SoundCloud to explore characters from Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.

PURPOSE:
Students will be able to explore and create fleshed out characters based on what is given to them in the text. They will also be able to explore the character of Melinda by responding to the perceptions/thoughts of the other characters.

DETAILS:

• Assign a character to each student (any character except Melinda). You may also allow students to choose their own.
• Have students write a short monologue (written in the first-person of their character) about what their character thinks/perceives about Melinda.
• Have students visit http://www.soundcloud.com.
• They can log-in using Facebook, or they can create their own account. If necessary, dummy email addresses (available for free at mail.google.com), to create SoundCloud accounts.
• Once logged in, student can record their monologues directly onto SoundCloud.
• When asked to privatize the upload, select yes, and then have the students add the other class members
• Student’s then will listen to the recordings made by their classmates and respond to them as Melinda.
• They can respond in the general comments section, or they can respond directly by adding a timed comment.

Social/Historical/Educational Contexts, making it pertinent to a Theater Classroom

SOCIAL CONTEXT:

• Theatre is not a stagnant object. Theatre is constantly moving, updating. Theatre is always using new technologies to get a message across, not simply because practitioners want to seem cool, but because that is the language through which their audience is now speaking. If theatre practitioners don’t keep up and learn the new languages, they won’t be able to accurately share their message with their audience. These activities will help our students use these technologies to accurately express their ideas and feelings, as well as how to portray them via another persona. These will be helpful in both theatre, and in life.

EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT:

• Media is about sharing. It’s about identity. It’s about speaking. Theatre is about sharing. It’s about identity. It’s about speaking. The two fit so well together because in many ways, they’re both accomplishing the same goal. The activities we’ve designed here are not only activities that will benefit our students as thespians, but it will show them other ways to speak, and other ways to be heard.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT:

·      In the classroom it is crucial that as teacher we implement things that are relevant to our students.  Incorporating these different media forms; Soundcloud, Instagram, and blogs is evidences of people documenting their history presently.  Using current form of recording experiences, these media forms, and connecting them to older idea from theater history takes a easily boring thing and gives it a twist that engages students.