My Note Card Confessional:
Teaching a note card confession
Just saying it aloud brings the connotation of a hidden secret about to be revealed. This week's reading is filled with wonderful ways to connect learning and make it relevant to the social classroom of today. Students need to understand how their learning is connected to the world in which they currently live. The quotes I chose for my "note card confessional" were...
David Buckingham has explained, " very different conceptions of morality and very different cultural traditions exist side-by-side." (Hobbs pg. 29) This powerful quote explains the cultural diversity teachers and students face everyday in the learning environment. I immediately thought of the sociology side of "in-groups" and "out-groups" of "social norms" and "folkways" and "socialization" in general with the thought that educators are not just purveyors of content, but teachers of life skills and social awareness. Helping students make connections from content to real world experiences and vice a versa produces the greatest of "ah ha" moments (teachers live for these moments).
"Reality TV is just a new type of drama, blurring fact and fiction in ways that keep audiences psychologically involved in the lives and experiences of the characters." (Hobbs pg. 32) is the second quote I chose to illustrate another point I found very interesting. Back in the day, I mean way back, the reality TV of the time were "Greek Tragedies" and like reality TV of today the audience had to have some real connection to the characters. While I must admit I do not readily have anything in common with "Snookie," I do recognize the connection to choices and consequences. On a very deep and even somewhat subconscious level "reality TV (Greek Tragedy)" is designed for us to self-reflect on our lives and how we exist in our local / global community.
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"students in Mr. Fisher's class began to see how Arthur Miller's dramatization of American history was similar to the dramatization of daily life that we see on reality TV shows," (Hobbs pg 32) was my third quote. This is the "ah ha" moment I was talking about earlier. I believe in the interest driven model of education, knowing that many students will inherently try to learn more about subjects that interest them. Therefore, the educator must find ways to turn interest driven learning into interesting relevant connected learning (try saying that 5 times fast). I understand that not every student will like the content you are teaching, but I also know that No student lives in a vacuum. Connecting the social envirnoment the student lives in to the content provides a chance for an authentic learning experience, which will Not occur in a self-guide packet. Try and remember just how much you hated "busy work" in your own education, things have Not changed, students today hate it too!
Buckingham, D. (2003). Media education: Literacy, learning, and contemporary culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press ;.
Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.
6 comments:
I like the colored note cards and you have some great handwriting. The pacing and quotes were great. Using this as an assessment is a great tool to see what the students liked about the reading.
Rafe,
I really enjoyed reading your note card interpretations of the text. As someone who isn't a fan of reality television, I can still appreciate your argument that it can have some value.
While considering how well note card confessions work as an assessment, I've had a tendency to lean to the positive but your post makes me consider some negative aspects of using it. You included some additional commentary to your quotes, which I found beneficial, but made me realize that placing thoughts onto a few note cards creates physical limitations on what a student can express.
I love the color and upbeat music of your confessional notecards as well. WIth my favorite being the orange card - "Authentic learning connects past events…"
Very well done.
I think these can be beneficial in the classroom because it once again connects kids to a different form of creativity and self-expression, while integrating technology.
Loved it! Nailed it! I think we all still have so much to learn...especially from one another! Thank you for ideas that I might borrow for future notecard videos!
I totally agree with you, I also have so much to learn! I enjoyed your unique presentation of the note card confessional. I also like your use of style and color to accent your message.
You make so many great points in this short video. It is very important to use reality to teach students. They become more engaged when they can relate what is being learned to events they understand and relate to. Many diverse cultures exist, and it behooves us as educators to use these diversities to teach our students about each other, about themselves, and about the world around them - in and out of the classroom!
You are wise beyond your years and I am thankful to have you as a guide for this class!
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