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2007-03-05T09:33:00.001-06:00

Readings for March 8

It’s hard to comment on these articles since most of us recently took Beach’s class – I feel I’ve already talked the digital reading/writing issue to death. What I like most about using digital writing, is the student freedom that I believe it promotes. When using blogs in terms of literature circles or book discussions, students have the freedom to comment on parts of the book they found interesting. This is in converse to the typical teacher-lead discussions where students may feel as though they are “missing something” or are “way off” because they don’t find the details highlighted by the teacher appealing. In addition, students have the freedom to peruse other’s blogs without their knowledge, they can decide which blogs to comment on, and they can decide which responses they want to keep on their own blog. In a broad sense of freedom, students can choose to their blog layout and personalize it as much as they want. In addition, they can most likely choose when and where to blog. Thus, they are free to work when it bests suits them.

I think blogs could work particularly well for peer editing. While it seems unlikely that students would post entire papers to their blog, they could post ideas for or sections of their paper. Whereas a student may not feel comfortable critiquing a fellow classmate’s work in a face-to-face setting, blogging may put those students at ease. It would give them time to articulate their concerns in a situation that is not as stressful as a face-to-face interaction. Blogs could also provide a way for students to participate in discussions that they otherwise may not. Those students may be extremely shy, not work well under pressure, have trouble articulating their thoughts quickly or perhaps an ESL student is embarrassed about her accent. Blogging would eliminate most or all of these concerns.

Here is a website with loads of teaching ideas. Obviously many of you were in Beach’s class with me so we’ve all posted our own ideas here. However, I figure we should get as much use out of our work as possible. http://teachingmedialiteracy.pbwiki.com/IntegratingMediaintheCurriculum

2007-02-25T20:52:00.000-06:00

Readings for March 1

Petit’s article made me question why I personally am so scared of grammar. Is it because of the way I was taught grammar? Is it because I don’t remember what I was taught? I think it is a combination of the way I was taught and the terminology that seems to confuse more than clarify. You feel stupid for not being able to formally name the parts of something you use daily (writing), particularly if you’re an English major. Thus, I was attracted to Dean’s article because she avoided the standard, confusing terminology. However, Williams made a valid point that we need to have a common language to use when teaching grammar and usage. I then began to wonder if perhaps Dean’s approach is not as grand as I initially thought it was. I despise thinking about teaching to tests, but if we are teaching parts of sentences and grammar anyway, shouldn’t we teach the students the proper names so that they could score higher on standard tests? Perhaps Dean’s approach could be slightly modified to include proper names after the students have already mastered identification.

Another reason I was drawn towards Dean’s approach was because I felt as though students were given the freedom to fail, in an informal setting. I think all three readings pointed to the fact that students deserve more freedom in grammar, and they deserve the knowledge to make grammatical choices. I think a teacher’s goal should be to give students knowledge that creates options for them and then let them choose for themselves. Petit, Dean, and Williams all seem to agree on that aspect.

Here’s a website that no one has heard of, I just know it. It lists some of Dean’s lesson ideas for teaching revision, organization, audience, and genres. http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/author_detail.asp?authorid=225&lessonid=978

2007-02-19T13:19:00.001-06:00

Readings for February 22

After reading Spandel and Williams, I realize how difficult it is to properly assess student writing. I am particularly frightened assessing creative writing as I personally do not write creatively. I think one way to try to make each student successful, is to grade their process of writing in addition to their final product. Peer review, self-assessment, and various drafts will all combine to make up a student’s grade. In addition, I hope to have the time to allow students to continually revise for a better grade.

I really liked Williams’ approach about reading papers twice, and putting them in piles of similar strength. My cooperating teaching recently spoke to me about this approach and the numerous benefits so I was already sold on the idea. I think one way to cut down on grading and paper load is to have students write fewer papers, better. That is, to have multiple revisions of every paper. I think this gives them a deeper understanding and makes grading easier, since as a teacher you will have seen their paper numerous times.

Both Williams (although less blatantly) and Spandel spoke about the role of testing as a measurement of successful learning. Since we as a cohort have been discussing this for about a year, I don’t feel obliged to go into detail and I feel as though most of us agree current educators should play more of a role in making the standards. I did like Spandel’s advice on compassionate assessment and focusing on finding ways to assess that encourage students.

Spandel made some very interesting points regarding straying off topic. I feel that not allowing students to stray produces boring, restrictive, and possibly contrived writing. I also like how she mentioned that restricting students to prompts implies arrogance and a need for control on the part of the teacher. I couldn’t agree more and would like to add that it may also point to laziness (or time constraints) as a teacher would be able to grade papers more quickly when everyone writes about the same thing. Looking back on my most successful writing, I would come up with a thesis but would eventually stray as my research would point me in a different direction. Had I not had that freedom, those papers instead would have been some of my least successful.

This website makes some strong points on the importance of formative assessments for writing rather than summative. http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter/Resources/sumform.htm

2007-02-12T16:32:00.000-06:00

Readings for February 15

I feel much better about our Voice mini-lesson after reading #9 of The Nine Rights of Every Writer. It would have been interesting to try to define voice by asking students what type of writing doesn’t have voice and why. Spandel also echoed Joe’s thoughts on voice by comparing it to fingerprints; they may be either faint or obvious, but your fingerprints are on all of your writing.

Rights #5 and #6 were very helpful. The right to write badly reminded me of teaching. Teachers should have the right to teach poorly on their way to becoming an effective teacher. Writers and teachers alike deserved to be praised for taking risks to make something better rather than continuing on the safe path. I particularly liked the idea about changing the wording of directions or writing prompts in order to get the student to unknowingly take risks in their writing. I felt that it corresponded nicely with Harper’s toolbox article. When students are taught the tools of revision, it is not as scary to take risks in writing because they know how to improve their work. I particularly liked the toolbox approach because it clearly defines how to begin revising. In addition, the tools are not specific to a writer; my tools can be used on your writing and vice versa. To become a good writer, I think it is helpful to recognize certain aspects of writing and to be able to critique writing. Harper’s toolbox makes this seemingly daunting task possible for students of all levels.

I feel as though the majority of the articles we’ve read in the past and for this week stress the importance of more focus on fewer issues. I think this is crucial for revising. Right #6 outlines how important it is to show writers the little steps in writing that often get over looked or that teachers assume students already know. I believe teachers often fail to teach when they are trying to cover too much and skip small steps on the way to getting to the top of the stairs. It is not enough to show a student a finished writing product. To understand the process, they need to see it modeled for them from start to finish.

I think this link is pretty self-explanatory, http://www.writers-toolbox.com/

2007-02-05T10:50:00.000-06:00

Readings for February 8

I don’t think it’s necessary to review the different points made regarding the pros and cons of the five paragraph essay. Instead, I’ll focus the one I agreed with the most, Nunnally. Nunnally made excellent points about the relevance of the five paragraph essay. Although the formula is not always applicable and reading them is tedious and dull, the five paragraph essay does teach useful writing skills such as thesis, clarity, relevance, and support of ideas. What I find baffling is that teachers often don’t relay this information to their students. Instead they focus on the three ideas. Students get caught up in following this formula without understand what they are doing. Thus, instead of relevance of ideas and support, students often are limited (by the three) or distort their ideas to fit (again three). I think it is important to tell them that they should concentrate on coming up with a thesis, and then finding ways to support that. Teachers should specify that an entire paper could be support of one idea or support of 10 ideas (or perhaps the paper does naturally have three ideas and it should be noted that that too is acceptable). More than one paragraph can be dedicated to supporting one idea. Again, students need to know why they are doing what they are doing. Nunnally sums this up by suggesting that, “students should be encouraged to see the FPT for what it is: a helpful but contrived exercise useful in developing solid principles of composition” (71). I do think that students should know about the five paragraph essay if for no other reason than to pass state mandated tests and to have an idea of where to start when writing a paper; however, they need to know that the formula can be changed to suit the needs of the paper and the thesis. The five paragraph essay is a good way to learn how to write but there is no need for it to be used repeatedly after one has mastered the concept.

The following website kind of outlines how a five paragraph essay can be used as a skeleton to start a paper, and how once you get into it, it often becomes far more than the standard FPT: http://www.brooklyn.liunet.edu/fw/portfolio_resource_guide/d1a.htm

2007-01-29T17:31:00.000-06:00

February 1 Readings

Once again, I felt as though the suggestions for teaching presented in this week’s readings make learner easier for students and teachers. Perhaps I’m just looking for easier approaches. I like the idea of multigenre papers, largely because of the wide variety of material you would get to read as a teacher. The thought of reading the same papers over and over with merely slight variations is sickening. Not only would a multigenre paper essentially eliminate the tedious work of reading the same papers, it also gives the students choice in their learning (which in turn leads to increased motivation). Obviously Spandel believes that writers should have a choice in order to perform well and I am inclined to agree. A good way to get someone to hate writing is to make them write about things that they have no interest in or possibly even hate. It is important that students get to write on a topic of their choice, but perhaps more importantly, like a portfolio, they can choose to submit the work that they feel is their best. Multigenre papers can be seen as providing countless ways to engage students in their assignment. They are also useful for discovering your students’ interests on your way to being a caring teacher. Once you know what your students like, you can better cater future assignments to meet their needs.

Closely tied to student choice in assignments is relevance. What I liked most about the Williams chapter were the assignments (the examples of “good” assignments) that were relevant to the real lives of students – events that would have a direct affect on them. I also liked the way in which he emphasized the importance of building assignments off of each other and writing a new assignment in comparison to what the students had done on the previous assignments. I think as a busy teacher, it would be easy to take for granted that your students know the differences or similarities from one assignment to the next. I think it is a great idea to spend a sentence or two comparing and contrasting them as way to clarify and review. However, it is getting harder to take positive aspects away from Williams’s book. I question how much of his knowledge about students comes from personal experience and thus I question the credibility of his advice.

Here’s a website that has some interesting ideas for multigenre assignments based on grade level. There are also links for many more resources on multigenre assignments. http://www.ncte.org/profdev/online/ideas/freq/114026.htm

2007-01-23T14:06:00.000-06:00

Blog for January 25

It appeared to me that all three readings pointed to ways to ease the work load and stress from the teacher, while doing something that is also beneficial for the students. I found Carney’s article insightful as I had just spent Friday afternoon grading World Literature essays. It was very time-consuming and I had trouble pointing out all of the errors. I realize this was a waste of time for me and for the student trying to decipher my critiques. I should have focused on the high-order concerns and pointed to one or two issues I saw rather than trying to fix everything at once. Had I prioritized, it would have been far less overwhelming for both me and the student. The HOCs and LOCs are a tool I will definitely take with me into the classroom. I think the following website would be helpful to students to highlight important issues as they begin peer editing. You could have students focus on different aspects throughout different stages of revision.

http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/WritingRubrics/sld006.htm

I really like the idea of group or peer editing. I think Williams gives very clear and concise directions on how to approach this in your own classroom, which was very helpful. However, I think Atwell did a nice job summarizing it’s usefulness in the following quote: “In the past I relied too much on conferences with individuals as the forum for helping students reflect on and improve their writing, at the expense of discovering what we might accomplish together, and I put too much pressure on myself” (Minilessons, 151). When students work collaboratively to better each other’s papers they are learning to do far more than write. They are learning to articulate what good writing is and they are also learning how to accept and learn from peer criticism (in addition to numerous other benefits). All the while the teacher reduces her own stress load by allowing students to help and cooperatively learn from each other.

The other thing that resonated throughout the readings was going further in depth rather than covering more topics. It takes time to produce multiple drafts of a paper but it seems to greatly increase understanding which in turn makes that knowledge transferable to other situations. Ultimately, greater understanding is more likely produce independent learners, one of the fundamental goals of teaching.

2006-12-04T13:52:00.000-06:00

Incorporating Film into Class:

I think it would be neat, fun, and educational to study Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and the film Apocalypse Now. As a starting point, I would have the students search for simalirities and differences. However, I would also like to point out aspects that have the same meaning in both the film and the book, but use different objects or narrative techniques to portray that meaning.

Students could also come up with their own way to show the meaning they gleaned from the text. I like the idea that the film is a modern telling of the novel. In addition, there are tons of historical aspects from both the film and the book that would be interesting to discuss.

2006-11-29T18:34:00.000-06:00

Types/Genres of Music - The Beatles are and always will be the very, very best.

I like to listen to all types of music (except country, I prefer the older country music and alt country as opposed to current pop country). Since I was 10 years old and until the day I die, the Beatles are and will be my favorite band. The shows that I go to see depend largely on the cost of the ticket and the night that they play. There are some exceptions to these rules. For example, a few years ago Cake played during the week when I had to work the next day. Cake is one of my top ten favorite bands so I felt as though seeing them live outweighed being tired at work the next day. In addition, location plays a big part. A cab ride is pretty expense from northeast Minneapolis to the Turf Club in St. Paul. I guess I listen to a variety of music because I don’t like to hear the same thing over and over. The current was a godsend! They play everything from Billie Holiday to Big Star to Radiohead.

Probably the song that best illustrates my musical preferences at this time in my life is “Working Class Hero” by John Lennon. There are obvious parallels between this Lennon song and the Beatles catalogue. There are many autobiographical associations that I identify with throughout the song. Essentially John is singing about how hard it is to try to figure out what you want to do with your life. You get in trouble for being too stupid and in trouble for being too smart – one need be average and ordinary. They (parents/teachers/society) force you to act the way that they want, and then they want you to hurry up and choose what you want to do for a career after they’ve chosen everything up to that point for you. He then finishes the song by talking about what you have to endure to have the “right” or “preferred” career and proposes that if you want something better out of life, follow someone who is original (him).

Throughout his life John struggled to be himself. He was given up and abandoned by his parents (he was raised by an aunt) and his Plastic Ono Band solo album outlines this nicely. John was not only a musician; he was also an artist and eventually married another artist. In turn they produced an artist/musician child – Sean Lennon (whose new album and corresponding dvd with videos, “Friendly Fire,” is awesome). He solo work is raw and honest in a way that I’m not sure was possible within the Beatles.

”Working Class Hero” Lyrics:
As soon as you’re born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool
Till you’re so fucking crazy you can’t follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Keep you doped with religion and sex and tv
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free
But you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

There’s room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

If you want to be a hero well just follow me
If you want to be a hero well just follow me

2006-11-13T16:56:00.000-06:00

Documentary, why not Mockumentary?

Sara and I thought we were pretty clever to come up with the idea to make a mockumentary about our 2006 cohort. Sara is taking the professors’ point of view while I’ve chosen to represent the actual students. What I would like the audience to take away from the film is the idea that the world of academics isn’t necessarily all that intelligent. I think people who are not pursuing advanced degrees often think they would not be able to do so. I want viewers to realize that higher education can include humorous and annoying aspects just like a typical job. Essentially, we’re all human and we all have many faults to be mocked. However, we would like to mimic Christopher Guest’s approach and still make the characters loveable.

One of the characters we would highlight would be a nontraditional student: she’s 87 and this time she’s sure she found her calling. It would be a lot of fun to come up with archived footage of this character as a way to tell her history. Another character is a constant complainer. She’s always finding faults with the professors and feels she’s being short-changed in her education. She also likes to complain about her lack of free time because of all the homework. However, we would off-set her interview footage with footage that shows that she’s drunk the majority of the time. We would also stress that she refuses to meet for group work unless it’s at a bar or at someone’s house (where there’s alcohol). Of course there could be the know-it-all and perhaps a student who speaks little English and says off-the-wall things that don’t get a proper response because no one can understand him. The possibilities with a character like that are endless. I think it would be funniest if everyone talked loudly and slowly to him (treating him like an idiot) while he made insulting and hilarious comments back that no one understood.

Since all of our classes are three hours, which can be pretty tedious at times, we would exaggerate this class time even further. By doing so we could have a common theme be the students’ lack of attention during class. When a student is obviously not prepared to answer a question, they would just say, “engagement” (it seems to be an appropriate answer for various questions). In addition, it would be funny to have the camera in the back of the classroom when the students have laptops so that the audience could see the wide variety of things that they are actually doing while in class (maybe on-line shopping, instant messaging, etc).

There are really limitless possibilities. Check out spike speaks for Sara’s side of the film.

2006-11-09T15:04:00.000-06:00

Viewing Log for Wednesday, November 8, 2006 4pm Channel 5 Eyewitness News KSTP

Opening: The program opened with a short statement about Rumsfeld resigning and Pawlenty remaining Governor of Minnesota. They then went immediately to a quick weather forecast (record highs today with possible snow by Friday)
– 30 seconds

Top Story/National News
Next, they went further in depth about Donald Rumsfeld resigning. They showed clips of President Bush at a press conference saying it was time for a change. They then showed clips of Robert Gates at a press conference reviewing the reasons why he accepted the position. They gave a brief history of Gates, how he’s served under seven different presidents, etc.
– 4 minutes

Local News Stories
Moved onto local election results. They have a correspondent at the state capital and showed clips of Hatch conceding the race for Governor. Over the clips they discussed the way the election was plagued with mud-slinging. Next they went to Pawlenty’s acceptance speech.

They then briefed other election results, highlighted that Klobuchar was the first woman elected to the US Senate from Minnesota. They also highlighted Keith Ellison’s win and the “yes” to the transportation amendment.
– 6 minutes

Back to National News
Quickly reviewed National election results. They show clips of John Tester from Montana talking about Democrats gaining control. They also briefly talked about Bush’s disappointment. They briefly showed Pelosi (new Speaker of the House and the first woman to hold the position), saying that the people spoke with their votes.
– 3 minutes

Before going to commercial, they quickly have teasers of what is up next (flooding and attacks in Iraq)
– 30 seconds

Commercials – 2 minutes 30 seconds

Return from Commercial – jump around several topics

Upon returning, they go over the latest attacks in Iraq (Calling for revenge against US after Israelis attack today, because America supports Israel)
- 1 minute

Car fire on France avenue slowed traffic today
- 10 seconds

Election reverses 8 years of Republican control. Showed clips of people voting and political analyst’s opinions.
– 1 minute

Quick story about Macy’s
– 15 seconds

Flooding in NW
– 30 seconds

Weather – very excited about the high temperatures today. Time lapse shot. Cold front over night with possible snow by Friday. 7 day planner, talked about problems for commuters.
- 7 minutes

Lost – tell viewers to get your fix now. Talk about splitting seasons. Why are more networks doing this? Go to radio hosts Lori and Julia. They don’t like it, and can barely follow the show. (Spliced picture to show Lori & Julia (FM 107) on one side and the studio on another.) They made a quick comment about go Brittany for divorcing K-Fed
- 2 min

Commercials – 2 minutes

Return with what’s on at 5:00 news – 30 seconds

Hunters know they’re a lot of deer. Buck wandered into parking garage in Wisconsin.
– 1 minute

The news ends with another recap about the wonderful weather today
– 30 seconds

Analysis
This news reminded me of a five-minute workout. I’m sure there was some benefit, but it was minimal. Basically, the news was highly random (for example I was not sure why they showed a clip John Tester from Montana). They jumped from topic to topic. For national news, they didn’t have correspondents but merely showed clips. When they did have an actual correspondent on site, it seemed like pointless attempt to broadcast some sort of inside story. For example, there was a correspondent at the state capital building. She did not talk to any candidates but merely showed the office where Mike Hatch was currently employed, then walked across the hall and pointed to another office and said this is where he had hoped to move if he had won the election.

Each news story was extremely short and it was hard to glean any information from them. They spent as much time showing a picture of a deer in a parking garage in Wisconsin as they did on recent attacks in Iraq. The most time was spent on the weather, and it was addressed three separate times. Almost as much time was spent on the new trend of television programs splitting seasons as it was on the National election results. In addition, the two radio hosts they cut to in order to discuss this trend did not offer an intelligent viewpoint but merely stated they did not care for it and could hardly follow the television show Lost (I’m surprised they would admit this on television). They seemed to want to gossip about celebrities if they had been given the time.

This is not a program that I would watch to get news. In my opinion, it is a small step above a celebrity news program. However, that may be the point as they are sandwiched in between the Greg Behrendt Show and Inside Edition. The program excluded a lot of material. I’m not sure if this was due to trying to cover too many topics in a short of amount of time or if it’s purpose was to somehow influence the audience. This appeared to be a warm-up to their perhaps more valuable news program at 5:00pm. My opinion is that this program fills a 4-4:30 void in an inexpensive way. Since there was no sports coverage, I'm guessing this program was aimed at women, not men.

2006-11-02T17:51:00.001-06:00

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*Like A Virgin

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2006-11-01T18:46:00.000-06:00

Critical analysis of political ad – Mark Kennedy.
I chose to analyze one of Mark Kennedy’s political campaign television ads. In this particular ad, Mark is sitting on a park bench reading the paper. An elderly lady sits next to him, eyes him, then taps his shoulder and asks if he’s Mark Kennedy. He replies with a, “yes, ma’am.” The elderly lady then smacks his shoulder with the back of her hand and asks why he’s picking on Amy Klobuchar. Mark looks surprised and asks, “What?”. The elderly lady then begins to list the things Mark has accused Amy of such as giving too many plea bargains, rationing prescriptions, raising social security tax, and giving social security to illegal immigrants. She asks why he said all those things. Mark simply replies, “Because they’re true.” The elderly lady says, “They are?” and Mark replies, “They are.” The elderly lady then replies, “Oh, well, never mind then.”

I believe this ad is targeted to senior citizens. It specifically makes claims regarding social security and prescription rationing, two things that greatly affect the senior citizen population. It is additionally linked to senior citizens by portraying the voter as a concerned elderly lady questioning Mark Kennedy. Mark calls himself the “common sense” candidate and I believe he is trying to emphasize his rational approach in several ways. First, he acknowledges who he is then calmly listens to the somewhat agitated elderly lady. After she is finished with her rant and asks him why he said those things, he simply and again calmly answers, “Because they’re true.” The elderly lady doesn’t need much more convincing. She merely replies, “They are?” When he assures her, “They are,” she is satisfied and says, “Well, never mind then.”

I think Mark tried to find a clever way to air a negative campaign ad without viewers recognizing it. How can a sweet, concerned, elderly voter be associated with a negative campaign ad? He additionally has ho-hum, jolly music playing to further hide his negative ad. I also believe Mark is trying to promote himself to the elderly population with the closing remark from the lady. It is as though “never mind then” closes the door to further discussion and the accusations he has made against Amy Klobuchar are true. I think that type of clear-cut conclusion appeals to the elderly population. The elderly lady is supposed to represent all seniors and if she is satisfied with Mark’s retort, then all senior citizens should also be satisfied. I think this ad is successful in its appeal to the elderly, as long as they do no additional research on their own.

2006-10-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

Genre – Mockumentary
Sara and I chose the Mockumentary genre. What appeals to me most about this genre is the humor. Anyone or anything can be mocked and subjects are all around us. The characters are very human and thus are easy to sympathize with. The characters, setting, and themes of mockumentaries are numerous. There are the loveable losers, creepy sidekicks, and just plain quirky characters: All of whom either parallel someone we know or are someone with whom we can identify ourselves.

Having worked in a highly unappealing office setting for numerous years, my favorite mockumentaries are the BBC’s The Office and the movie Office Space. Both have done an excellent job of pointing out the annoying details of cubicle life. Unfortunately for those still working in the office setting, both also are startlingly accurate in their depiction of office life.

2006-10-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

I chose to interview Andy about his viewing of sports chat sites. There are three sites that he visits: two deal Minnesota based teams only and one deals with all professional sports. He estimated that he spent roughly five hours per week viewing the sites. Initially, Andy appeared somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he views chat sites, but as our questioning progressed he seemed to become assured that there was nothing to be ashamed about. Although he sometimes visits the sites at work, he typically views them at home and in the evening. There are seemingly few rules to posting, as long as there seems to be some valid point and the post is about sports or athletes. Andy likes these sites because they contain information that is not readily available through major media sources. There is more of what Andy called “gossip” about players getting traded, players getting into trouble, and even player sightings around the Twin Cities. Andy pointed out that since there are essentially no requirements to document rumors, you may hear about player transactions weeks in advance. Andy said he does not view these sites in order to have things to talk about, but certain topics do lend themselves to outside conversations. He gave the example of Eddie Griffin’s recent run-ins with the law. While he would not choose to view chat rooms with another person as entertainment, he would show the sites to someone if he thought they would find a certain topic interesting. I then asked Andy why he found this method of gaining information intriguing. Andy replied that chat sites were convenient – he can view them whenever and wherever he chooses, as long as he has an internet connection. In particular, he likes watching YouTube and other clips of players that he otherwise would not get to see play until the season starts, players he doesn’t know much about. Andy’s reading strategy consists of searching the sites for interesting discussion topics such as potential signings or trades. There are certain people whose comments he prefers over others and he stated that over time he has formulated opinions of the different posters (some of whom have more intelligent insights than others). Andy does not normally post comments and has rarely done so. He only posts if he feels he has a new perspective or something extremely beneficial to add. He said he would really have to have a strong opinion about a topic in order to post a comment.
A recurring theme throughout this interview was that Andy liked the wide variety of information available – unlike a typical newspaper or sporting magazine. Andy felt as though he was getting insight that he would not have been privy to without these chat sites. He also repeatedly mentioned the ease of finding the information he wanted and ignoring the information he did not care about. I can see why Andy finds these sites intriguing. If it were a topic that I was interested in, I too would visit chat sites for their convenience and the “knowledge” that cannot be found in other forms such as newspapers or news programs. In terms of sport chat sites, I have no desire to know about possible trades, etc, prior to them happening. Thus, I have trouble identifying with the chatters and glean little meaning from the site. Conversely, Andy easily identifies with the sports fanatics who chat and enjoys visiting the sites.

2006-10-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

Media Analysis - Men as unintelligent continued
Example #2 - Dominos Home Improvement Commercial
In the spot, a woman in a home improvement store rings one of the many doorbell displays which causes men throughout the store to come running like salivating dogs believing it's the Domino's delivery guy at the door. This puts men on the same level as a domesticated pet. Advertising represents man’s priorities as one of the following: food, sex, beer, or sports. Dominos chooses to highlight food in this ad. I don't think I need to say more.

2006-10-10T09:05:00.000-05:00

Analysis of Media Representation - Men as unintelligent

Example #1, Miller Lite's Square Table

In these Miller Liter commercials, several men sit around a square table discussing what should be made into “man law.” The men represented are men’s men – Burt Reynolds, a cowboy, a professional football player, etc. What they are discussing are trivial things such as whether or not to clink bottles at the top of the bottle or at the bottom of the bottle. This example highlights the insignificant points that are strenuously pondered over at the square table. This portrays men as unintelligent beings concerned with shallow points – as though they have nothing else on which to exert their mental energy. In addition, this particular example also portrays men as homophobic, since their final decision to tap bottoms was a result of realizing that tapping tops was too close to kissing another man. One man, shown as straining to comprehend, sees and up-close shot of two bottle tops touching and declares that “our saliva is touching.” Burt then says, “that’s technically kissing. Why don’t we touch bottoms?” The cowboy now has a problem with that and says, “Hey Hollywood, I’m not into touching bottoms,” with a look of disgust on his face. Burt, obviously the brains here, has to clarify that he means the bottle bottoms.

2006-10-03T11:39:00.000-05:00

Critical Analysis of Magazine commercial

The ad is a full page (front and back) in Sports Illustrated. It is for Abilify, a prescription medicine to treat bipolar disorder. The text heading states “Treating Bipolar Disorder Takes Understanding: (there are then three subtopics), 1. You’ve been up and down with mood swings. You want to move forward. Maybe ABILIFY can help: (there are then subtopics from this, stating what abilify can do), 2. How ABILIFY is thought to work: (there is then a very rudimentary picture of the brain with an arrow showing down for chemical and up for activity and a curved line connecting them. They then describe how abilify adjusts dopamine activity, etc.), 3. Ask your healthcare professional if one-a-day ABILIFY is right for you.

There is a large symbol of Abilify (aripiprazole) with an A and a road leading off to the distance. The caption below reads, “For The Road Ahead.” Off to the side of the ad a woman stands with her back to the camera. She is looking out over a small dirt road (background to the subtopics in the foreground) that extends through a lush green open field. She dressed in a skirt and red sweater and the wind is blowing her hair and skirt. Her hair is pulled back into a type of bun, but it is still evident that the wind is blowing through it.

The bottom forth of the page is taken up with small print information about the drug, as is the entire back page.

Feminist Analysis
Instantly I was surprised to see this ad in a men’s magazine. I felt it was not directed towards men suffering from bipolar, but at men suffering because their significant other is suffering from bipolar disorder. The first reason I thought this was because the picture of the seemingly bipolar person is a woman, not a man. Secondly, the points of what abilify can do seem to be directed towards men by emphasizing qualities men want in women – “stabilize your mood” and “Most patients taking ABILIFY did not gain weight or feel drowsy.” It could have read, “stabilize your woman’s mood.” I think men would see an ad depicting a woman with mood swings and think about their wife or girlfriend’s mood swings, not their own. I feel this ad justifies the stereotypes about women’s weight by highlighting that most don’t gain weight on this drug. The woman in the ad is neatly dressed and thin.

I also think this ad points to the age-old belief that women are mentally unstable in comparison with men. Why would they show a man suffering from bipolar when it is women who are so unstable? But why does this ad appear in a magazine dominantly read by males, if not as a guiding point for diagnosing your significant other? The large title, “Treating Bipolar Disorder Takes Understanding” points to men understanding that women are unstable and they are here to give a drug to help. It showcases the gender difference that men are the helpers and women need help.

Postmodern Analysis
Most arguments in this analysis could also be added to the above analysis. I think this ad is pointing to the quick fix of a pill to make people’s lives happier. In reality, bipolar treatment is not as easy as a nice walk down a road through a lush green field with the wind slightly blowing, as the abilify ad suggests. The ad acts as though calmness is only a pill-a-day away. Again, thinking that his is directed towards men whose significant other is suffering from bipolar, understanding the disease consists of treating it with a pill. Solutions to happiness are simple and taken with water. It does not address the messiness and difficulty associated with real mental illness. The side affects are listed in tiny print while it is highlighted that weight gain is not common. Weight gain seems trivial in the scope of a mental disease that is potentially life-threatening. However, in an ad that skews reality, weight is an important factor.

2006-09-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

More specifically, the opening of the show uses the dissolve technique to establish setting as one image slowly fades and is replaced by another.

Shaky camera accentuates the documentary aspect.

David/Neal Meeting

Camera starts behind the window and the blinds for David and Neal’s meeting. The angle is over the shoulder of Neal to show the face of David. The shot is medium, and shows Neal getting comfortable. David and Neal appear to be mic’d but the camera is not allowed into the office. As soon as Neal presses David for specifics on the progress of the merger, the camera zooms in to a single shot of David. This highlights that David is not prepared to answer this question and he is obviously uncomfortable. He fidgets with his tie and dances around the question. He uses hand motions to make up for the lack of words he has.

The Birthday Party

Yet another example of the lack of respect the employees have for David. The scene cuts to a 4 shot of office workers celebrating one worker’s birthday. The camera zooms in to show the leather basque she receives as a present. Quickly it goes to a three shot to show the reactions of her co-workers. Gareth is excited and mumbles that she should try it on. The camera goes back to a single mid-shot of the birthday girl as she holds the basque up for size. Again, the camera pans to co-workers to show their giggling reactions. The camera then goes to a short shot of Gareth leaning in, imploring her to “try it on properly without that stuff underneath.” The camera then goes back to a 4shot angle but Gareth is still mumbling about trying it on. The co-workers try to ignore Gareth’s inappropriate request.

2006-09-20T19:58:00.000-05:00

The Office – “Documentary”
Season 2, Espisode 3

Opening – Setting the atmosphere for “The Office”

Establishing/extreme long shot – camera sets the scene of Slough. First shot shows dull, non-descript office buildings and garages. Frames slowly fade out and are replaced by new ones. During this time, the opening theme music is the instrumental version of “Handbags and Gladrags.” The sky and buildings are gray; the overall scenery is bleak. A bus drives by then the camera pans to show a round about filled with cars – commuters seemingly on their way to work. The weather is wet and gloomy. The name of the city is discovered when the camera shows a plain green “Slough Trading Estate” sign, as a truck and car drive past in the background. The camera shots seem to imply that this is a manufacturing town. The introduction comes to an end showing the office building where the series takes place. It is old, ugly, and unappealing. The music also comes to an end at this time while the “The Office” is displayed over the building. The font is dull and seems out of date.

Previously, David Brent’s (David is Slough’s branch manager) branch and been combined with another branch. David now has a new boss, Neal, who is younger and more attractive than he is. In this scene, he is obviously envious of Neal and begins mimicking his dress.

The new boss is personable and popular with the employees. The opening scene shows him joking around with Dawn, the receptionist. It is also subtly implied that David is either late for a meeting with the boss or just starts his day later than most managers. (Frame consists of Dawn and Neal then includes David’s entrance).

Challenging Authority – David Brent Style

David saunters in. He walks in front of Neal and partially turns his back to him. This forces Neal to take a step back.

Neal confronts David in a round-about-way that he is wearing a jacket very similar to his own. (Frame zooms in to include only Neal and David). David is trying to act casual and slouches. (Frame then includes an employee walking past in the background). Neal also comments on the heel of David’s shoe. (Dawn briefly enters the frame again then the focus goes back to David and Neal). David awkwardly taps the desk while asking about the meeting and again turns his back to Neal as he walks towards his office. As he’s walking, Dawn enters the frame again and peers at David sideways. David bites his lower lip while strutting away, trying to give a nonchalant, cool vibe. He awkwardly glances at the camera.

The camera pans back to Neal and Dawn who watch David walk away. While the camera is still on them, David begins talking about being “rock-n-roll.” Neal gives a smirk and looks back to Dawn who is using her hair to cover up her attempt to suppress laughter. The camera then goes to a close-up interview shot of David from the shoulders up. David explains his life philosophy of “live hard, die old” and uses lots of hand gestures to articulate.

The atmosphere of a documentary is created by using rough camera shots. The zooming emphasizes awkward moments and creates an overall feeling of uncomfortableness. The subtle camera shots allow the viewer to discover that David’s receptionist is not fooled by his new clothes and generally does not have respect for him.

2006-09-14T12:58:00.000-05:00

McDonough District has consistently scored low on the reading and writing portions of state testing. Thus, they have decided that in order to improve test scores in reading and writing, they are going back to the basics and pulling media studies classes and much of the availability for students to access media tools. The current curriculum has only two media studies classes available. These classes are always full and students are on waiting lists. The community seems to be divided over the importance of continuing the media studies classes. Some feel as though students are not gaining valuable skills and that the classes are taken because students get to play around on computers. Others feel as though these are critical skills that students must learn to be successful in college and in their future career.

It is my opinion that media studies should not be cut but instead expanded and used in more classrooms, when applicable.

Due to modern technology, students’ brains are programmed differently than only a few decades ago. This leads some, myself included, to believe that more and more students are not, in fact, suffering from ADD and ADHD. Rather, students learn differently as they are accustomed to having multiple stimuli presented to them simultaneously. Thus, they need more stimulation in the classroom to keep them engaged. Media forms can easily serve this purpose. Neurologist Richard Restak goes into great depth on this subject in his book, Brainscapes: An Introduction to What Neuroscience Has Learned About the Structure, Function, and Abilities of the Brain. Click on the following link to read excerpts or purchase your own copy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/explorer/0786861134/1/ref=pd_lpo_ase/104-1733677-5804726?ie=UTF8

As a Language Arts teacher, my main goal is getting students to read and write. Why does it matter if reading and writing happens on a computer screen rather than with an actual text and hard copies? Students learn and are motivated to learn when information is relevant and personal to them. What better way to make something relevant and personal to a student then to present information and to allow information to be presented via media forms – something Americans spend 11 hours a day using? My primary goal is to educate and I am prepared to use whatever medium necessary in order to accomplish that goal.

Technology is here to stay and it is becoming more available and more frequently used. This includes colleges, universities, and work places. If teachers’ jobs are to prepare students for the real world, then teaching them to use forms of media is necessary. Students are using the internet and need to know how to critically analyze the information they are viewing so they can separate facts from opinions. Media studies can teach them to think critically and carefully, both when viewing information and when posting it.

In my literature classes I plan to use Blogging in the following ways for the following benefits:

--Students will be able to communicate through blogs with some of the authors of the texts they’re reading.
--Students will be able to communicate with other students from all around the world. This is particularly important for the multi-cultural books we will be studying.
--Students will be able to communicate with students from the same state who are reading the same texts, but who have different backgrounds. This gives urban and suburban students, who otherwise might never encounter each other, a chance to see how opinions vary depending on backgrounds and where they live.
--Blogging will be used as a book club where students can easily communicate in and out of class (this serves to assist shy students who might not otherwise voice their opinions). This also allows students to have the time to better formulate their thoughts prior to posting them.
--Blogging provides an easy way to keep track of students’ assignments and progress, not only for teachers and students but also for parents.