Week 9 Reading: Protection and Empowerment

After getting a little carried away on the 2 deconstruction examples I found a great deal more to think about in the Chapter 6 reading for this week. My first quote reminded of how this class began with a clip of Cameron Russell talking about her life. This led me to this, "Kids lose out in this culture... a cramped vision of girlhood that enshrines sexual allure as the best or only form of power and esteem," which echoed the words of Russell and her struggle with self-esteem issues. Carol Dweck, talks about this phenomena (in her book Mindset) that occurs with (middle school aged) boys and girls as it relates to achievement. In a study, that found a segregated all girls math class compared to an all boys math class revealed the girls were markedly higher achieving. Yet, when they combined the classes to a higher male to female ratio the girls fell behind and began performing below their previous levels and even below the boys level. Why? What variables could so influence the girls that they began falling behind... social norms? Smart girls won't be popular? Girls aren't suppose to be smarter than boys if they want boys to like them? How do social norms have that much control? Remarkably they found that when the girls were separated from the boys they returned to their previous coed achievement levels, which seems to suggest that when social sexuality norms are not in the equation girls excel in academic achievement.

The second quote is really not a quote, but a Venn Diagram found on (page 109).
I like visual prompts that can offer good details to assessing a contrast and compare style data set. In this case Mrs. Jenkins was using the Venn diagram as tool to help student's with an essay writing activity. The reason I chose the Venn diagram was not because I like Venn diagrams, but rather the content of the diagram and why that content might have been chosen for this publication. The follow-up on the following page (110) offers explicit instructions for the activity that students in a pair-share group needed in order to complete the process. It starts with 2 famous people, which takes me back to why the author might have chosen the US President and Tiger Woods. What the men share is very small compared to differences, yet on some levels they fit very nicely when trying to get students to think, analyze, and write critically.

The third quote comes as I was having a surprisingly timely conversation with a hand full of my students this past Friday. The conversation with like this after I over heard some students sharing a comedic video clip that seemingly perpetuates stereotypes (what it was exactly is not relevant) which prompted my question, "in the name of comedy... what crosses the line?" I had to further clarify my question by offering pop culture examples like "South Park", "SNL" and others as to what crosses the line from being funny to being racially hurtful. What a great opportunity I had to have a "real" discussion with these students about culturally accepted media crossing the line and the idea of creative freedom. This led me to this excerpt from the reading, "Media companies are in the business of selling human attention, ..., and other characteristics of the audience," which completely aligns with what the general consensus of the students, as to what crosses the line... "if you are watching a comedy show then everything within that show is comedy and should only be seen as comedy and very little crosses the line." When I offered an example about an event that portrayed West Virginians has dumb hicks during halftime at a football game, they were incensed and angry. The quote I chose really emphasizes the need for strong critical media skills to be taught to all students, especially at a very early age.




Citations:

Dweck, C. (2012). Mindset. London: Robinson.

Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

Cameron Russell: Published on Jan 16, 2013

Cameron Russell admits she won "a genetic lottery": she's tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don't judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16-years-old. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.) Cameron on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CameronCRussell 

Pre-Packaged Deconstruction?

I like the idea of reading or viewing someone else's deconstruction, but not until after I have had a chance to think about it myself. I'm going to offer a viewpoint about this subject and I really want you to keep an open mind while I'm sharing my thought. I'm not bashing Hollywood or Disney, I'm just making a observation. The premise is that there is a vast majority within the most recent generation that have lost their ability to really use their imagination. This is what I meant when I said, "I like to have a chance to ponder or think about a topic prior to hearing or viewing someone else's POV" because now their thoughts become yours or at least in some ways bias yours. This is also the point about the loss of imagination... many of the students I know and work with are so accustom to having the visual provided that they almost refuse to imagine what the scene looks like in their mind. Case in point I set the stage for an activity that involved a historic piece of audio (a radio drama that forever changed radio regulations) by telling the students the customs of the era (circa  late 1930's) and the lack of TV, some cinemas were starting to show "talkies," but radio or live entertainment dominated the "American Lifestyle." I further described what they were about to hear was not presented as one of the normal radio dramas, but rather it was being portrayed as live orchestra entertainment. Orson Wells' presentation of the "War of the Worlds," in its unedited original October 30, 1938 version, which failed to generate any excitement in fact it was met with several "I don't get it" remarks. This caused me to really quiz the students on how they really think about stories when they read or what they're thinking about when listening to others tell a story. The general consensus seemed to be they don't read and they don't listen to stories. Moreover they cited the most recent remake from Hollywood as the visual cues for what was really going on and would never have believed that what they were listening to could scare anyone much less cause panic. I know this seems so far off topic, yet I would ask a simple question in relation to the Qwest / Alltel videos, "how many of the details discussed did you pick out?" be truthful. This is the point when media dominates the visual texts and overrules the power of imagination then what happens to original thoughts. Is our ideology compromised because our only understanding comes from some elses' vision, like when you hear the word princess... do you conjure the visual of one of Disney's young maidens? or do you have your own original vision?
I find that after watching and reading I could offer a response, but my response is filled with the bias of what the deconstructions offered. I might even say that the Alltel deconstruction seemed to slant the deconstruction in light of her own biases, which either garner support for her viewpoint or build animosity to refute her points. Either way, I feel an observational bias, which I also believe is a contrived motive designed to win support. So, I could easily agree with the commercials and everything in the deconstructions, but that's not what keeps coming to mind.
In the beginning of this class we talked about and read Neil Postman's speech calling for the education system to equip students with a BS detector (mine is alarming quite loudly), which was a good segway into introducing us to this great educator. I had already been introduced to Mr. Postman in two books... "The End of Education" and "Teaching as a Subversive Act" both are great reads, but the "End of Education" offers the premise that generations of today (written 1996) have lost the intrinsic value to education. The computer was entering the home and schools, which gave way to greater access to information with less of a need to learn and carry that learning everywhere you went never knowing when it was going to be useful, but knowing you had it when you needed it. This sounds somewhat hokie, but in the information age in which we live most students today argue that if I need to do math I'll have a calculator and no need to learn how to do math, just how to input data (sound familiar). There's no need for me to learn this or that I'll ask "Siri" and she'll tell the answer. There's no need for me to read the book and let my imagination wander where the author is leading me... I'll wait for the movie. I know it sounds cynical, maybe even surreal, yet I believe that as a facilitator of education I can and do make a difference by trying to instill the need to seek the "rest of the story," in my students. The endeavor is to equip students with the tools they need to become thinkers and learners for a lifetime.

Week 8 Reading: Creating... Unlocking the Power of Understanding

Before I read and re-read "Mindset" by Carol Dweck I would have easily been one of those individuals that exclaimed, "I'm a terrible artist and could not ever draw wonderful beautiful images that are in my head, but refuse to come out the end of my pencil." I still cannot draw or paint like an accomplished artist, but my mindset of that skill has changed and the ways that I could represent those images has changed too. Because the power of creating a representation of your own unique understanding of a topic is very empowering and just as malleable as any other learning construct.

This led me to this statement in the reading, "Today, every teacher needs to be a media composition teacher." What a powerful statement! when I read this I was instantly reminded of a learning project I did with students in 20/21st century US History about WWII. The chapters were dense and filled with a great deal of information (which reminded me of Post War by Tony Judt nearly 900 pages of reminding), on the battles, casualties, and the Holocaust, which I separated out. I assigned the students the task of creating a visual essay about their understanding of the Holocaust. The activity included a grading rubric and the requirement to cite their sources (including pictures), but gave them the freedom to create original works of art, PPT presentations, Prezi presentations, or any other media form. I was not fully prepared for the work the students created and their excitement about sharing their work with not only me, but with their classmates as well. By setting very few restrictions on this activity students were empowered to create and construct their understanding that could never be achieved by standard multiple choice style assessment. The rich details of an original drawing or the careful selections of photos for presentation were filled with emotion and life; I was wonderfully surprised by their efforts, so much so I included this work in my Showcase Portfolio (follow the link and explore WVPTS #1).

Quote number 2 struck the chord that slaps me in the face more and more these days, while trying to deal with my frustrations in a required class. This says so much to me as a new educator, "I've never been satisfied with those who simply use technology for technology's sake." Technology is a tool like a strategy is a tool. When I said I cannot adequately draw the representations in my head that I want to convey, I do not yet possess those skills, but I can use technology to bridge the gap. This would be an example of using technology to accomplish the goal. This is also somewhat limiting because now I have to conform my vision into someone elses creation (and give credit where credit is due), but through a sequencing and editing process I can (with help from technology) create an original work. When I was creating my digital story I was enlightened to the extensive amount of time it takes to really plan, select images, sequence, narrate, edit, and publish, which doesn't include the time spent learning how to utilize different tech tools needed to complete the project. This is where the real learning takes place, during the process. The students mentioned above had to analyze their understanding, construct a plan, build a narrative (even if it remains in their mind), and create their project, which leads to the final product a representation of part of the learning. Yet I'm convinced that the true authentic learning occurred during the process and will continue beyond the product as you reflect on and add to that learning.

The last quote comes from the last paragraph in the reading..." When these challenges are addressed...students in the process of deep engagement and exploration of ideas." summarizing the chapter this way embodies the philosophy that I hold as my understanding of what student learning goals should be; in  that students should be learning how to think about and reflect upon their learning. Knowing the answer to the question about "what happened on this date" is good and sometimes fun, but knowing why it happened unlocks the power of curiosity to explore and build new meanings... a construct I would call authentic learning. When looking back on the some of the great theorist like Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson along with some great psychologists like Maslow, Adler, and Rogers I'm reminded that we are always building and modifying our understanding (schema) through many different venues (reflection, adversity, ZDP), which takes place over a lifetime not just a few moments in time. Creating multimedia presentations is just another venue available for us to better tell our stories and demonstrate our understanding, which will also change as we grow and change. It is not enough to just correctly blacken in the bubble on an answer sheet, but rather to really ponder the deeper meanings of those answers.



Hobbs, R. (2011). Research as Authentic Inquiry. In Digital and media literacy: Connecting culture and classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

The Common Core: A Different Look?

My interpretation of the activity is built upon the ideas presented in a previous post "The Common Core: I'm No Expert" While I used the subtlety or polysemous language to further convey my stance I also tried to use  coorelation between a sport that employes a set of well defined rules to accomplish the goal. The means in which the goal is accomplished is very indiviualistic right down to the uniform and equipment. The science and math behind the sport are pretty straight forward, but used differently depending on multiple variables like; technique, equipment, height, weight, strength, singles, doubles.... which parallels the idea that assessing strategies should somehow be part of assessing outcomes, which seems farfetched to me. The parody (Tennis and Common Core) will not be obvious to some, but most people should make the connection of teaching to coaching, that one racquet doesn't fit every person, or that Newton's Laws and Geometry (while key tenets of tennis) are not the only keys to winning a tennis match. That the standards by which players are compared and measured are usually by wins and losses, which rarely encompass the question of (how), but rather just how many? Which leaves the question should every student be judged and compared to every other student based on the outcome of one test?





Images used in the above "Magazine Cover" were recovered from GOOGLE Images with the sole purpose to illustrate an educational idea.

The Common Core: I'm No Expert

I really like the idea of demanding rigorous standards for our State School Systems and those standards must closely align for general state to comparison with regard to what defines a High School Diploma. If the High School Diploma is a benchmark for minimum prerequisite for entry into higher education, the military, and some employment opportunities then all states should meet that standard and that standard should be clearly defined. I remember back in the day that nearly every student in the nation took the SAT-9 (Stanford Achievement Test - Series 9) a standardized test given at grade level to measure grade level benchmarks. The test ranked students by state and national percentile rankings, which meant all students that took the test in one state could be compared to every other state because they all took the same test (A or B same test but questions in different order). This seemed like a good way of comparing "apples to apples," but then came the ESEA re-authorization in 2001 known as NCLB (No Child Left Behind), which mandated states to create there own test or continue to use the SAT.  Since a new component of ESEA was AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and that was going to be how school systems would continue to receive Federal Funding; systems had to decide whether to create their own test (content driven, criterion based) rather than standardized. Most States chose to create their tests, which led to state standards known as CSO's (Content Standards and Objectives). This was not necessarily a bad thing, but it no longer allowed for a good State to State comparison of students. Criterion referenced tests (if Valid) assess student achievement compared to the various CSO's for that subject and yield (if Reliable) consistent data year to year, but rarely do these tests align with what other State require in that subject.

We now have the Common Core Standards, which seeks to align every state to a certain benchmark level, at each grade, in Math and ELA (English/Language Arts). I found an article that may help to clarify or muddy the water even further,  Study of the SAT - 10   (Note: the address bar when you go to this site). The study is generated by a large textbook company and test developer, which may mean observational bias when analyzing and reporting data outcomes. There is familiar name dropping and the idea presented that this new series test will align with Common Core Standards... "Overall, 100 percent of the Stanford 10 English Language Arts items align to the Common Core State Standards." Statements like this lead the reader into a confident state of mind that they have found the assessment tool necessary to meet their needs. I agree the need to strengthen student vocabulary is critical especially for college bound students, but not all students need to go to college (nor should they be made to feel like that college is the only road to success). Increasing vocabulary to read informational text is vitally important, adding literacy standards to social studies is good, adding literacy standards to math and science make sense as well, but then would the shift of content skills also shift from being able to do math to also being able to read and understand how to do math.... Literacy is something that must happen across curriculum, but do you really need to write that into a standard in order to force teachers to do it. Every textbook (even math textbooks) I have ever opened have printed text in them, so does making a literacy standard somehow ensure that I read that text?  

The directions for this activity say to take a stand and I'm willing to do that, but my opinion is a work in progress and I reserve the right to modify and alter my opinion as I learn more. There are large parts of my teaching philosophy that Do Not align with standardized anything! I believe that students are individuals and there is no "single" way to measure student achievement. A student that cannot demonstrate mastery on a written assessment may be able to demonstrate mastery level understanding through a constructed representation or lengthy oral argument. I also fall on the different side of the fence when talking about content knowledge... I know content knowledge is important, but regurgitating rote facts about content is such a small part of overall learning. I would rather have students build on their understanding of those rote facts and make connections to other past or current events / problems. However, I can see a need to have some level of comparison among students at grade level, most particularly the minimum for high school diploma; only because of the expectations that perspective employers have when reviewing potential employees. I think a more balanced approached is where assessments should be going and shifting tests from multiple choice to constructed responses may be step in the right direction, but then how subjective are the responses going to be judged and is spelling going to be an issue. I'll leave you with a few example questions of what I mean (please answer this question in your comments)... Define the word Present, Lead, Wind, and Minute (you must use the most correct definition): Good luck

Deconstructiong: What Does That Really Mean?

The Title brings several different connotations to mind... The obvious fire... the Not so obvious "smoking" (as in let's go "blaze" one)... the even more Not so obvious is a connection I thought of "Fahrenheit 451." The ideas presented when you look very close at the details are directly pointed toward bringing attention (inflammatory attention: pun intended) to the topic of "Common Core Standards" This work was produced in May of 2014, but the topic has been an ongoing discussion since the Adoption of the Common Core Standards. The target audience and underlying motive is a bit trickier to ferret out, but it is fair to say that subjects like this are going to fierce supporters and equally so protesters. The sound pedagogy of teaching students different strategies that appeal to the many different learning styles in the inclusion classroom of today is vitally important. However, the idea that you should incorporate the implementation of the strategy as part of the learning goal assessment is problem for me and others (research into understanding the Common Core). A teaching style that only acknowledges one correct way to get the correct answer doesn't seem reasonable to me; the idea of teaching multiple ways to solve a problem does. The questions then become why do you only want me to learn one way to solve a problem if there are in fact many ways, which then leads to more questions about underlying motives. It seems "inflammatory" to talk about the collective end to freedom, yet I'm reminded of the adage of "how to capture wild hogs" (if you do not know this adage leave a comment and I'll expound).
The targeted audience really seems directed at opponents (building support for opponents) of the Common Core and the other topics hot home for many as well... like the Nuclear Power issue... we are taught to fear it just like snakes... it true it is very clean energy (once you answer the waste issue), but it does nothing to solve the real problem which isn't dirty energy... it's over consumption ( the 1st step to solving a problem is defining the problem not finding other solutions). If we had access to cleaner energy then we will likely start consuming even more energy because after all it's "clean."
When it comes to persuasive techniques used in this cover there are many, yet each is designed to be the hook to get the reader. The fear factor will on some, but not others, which is why there is an explicit claim. The more persuasive techniques utilized the better the odds you'll hold the reader attention. This cover has a total of 17 out of the 40 recognized persuasive techniques represented on this single magazine cover. The graphics immediately draw your attention to the branding logo and students thinking independently, but all going to the same cloud (cloud thinking is that intentional in this Internet era where we send everything to the cloud? In fact are the very thoughts of our students being exported to the cloud?) There are so many subtle hints you begin to wonder if you are just exaggerating what you see or if it really meant that way (now you are truly hooked by the creator).
Political cartoonists have been pulling this off for years and make No mistake about it every stroke of the pen was purposeful.
Check out The Blaze but just for comparison you should also visit The Huffington Post

Life's Moments: A Digital Story

My Digital Story sharing the wonder of a beautiful Friendship filled with LOVE! Life's Moments are filled those that take your breathe and some that give you the courage to breathe.