Intersession Reflection Day 3:

Today was another great day for Intersession! We had the students read during homeroom and then share a bit about the books they read--which they all easily participated in. Then we did our bell-ringer and it was great to see so much creativity and detail. Tom even had the number of turrets on his castle mentioned in his setting. I got to work more with Jamie in coming up with a setting and I really enjoy talking to her and helping her brainstorm different ideas. She is so bright and delightful; I think she benefits from extra scaffolding and one-on-one instruction/aid. It seems to help her focus and continue working on her own once she has confirmation that she is on the right track.

I was nervous because Nikki's reflection note card was misplaced and so we didn't have one to return to her, especially since she seemed to have been going through something yesterday. Luckily though, she was really involved in today's class. She raised her hand a lot and even went up to the board to draw a plot diagram for the rest of the class.

We talked about plot and the different pieces of it, which went well, and then we dove into Little Red Riding Hood. We read one version and then several alternate endings together. The students LOVED the one in which Red calls out the huntsman for trying to "help" her and to kill the wolf, killing the huntsman in the end and befriending the wolf. After this we mapped out the plot of one story together and then they paired up to work on mapping the plot for a different version. They all were engaged with this activity and worked well together.

Then we had them reenact their own version of LRRH and it was AMAZING! They all got so involved and engaged in this activity. Even the students who are more introverted--and our classroom addition, Jacey--were so excited in planning it out. They performed their skits to the opposite group and they were great! Jamie and Nikki were a bit lackluster in the actually acting of the play, obviously shy--but they were smiling and laughing and having a good time along with everyone else. It was great to see even Edward, a quiet but clever boy, getting caught up in the plays; he was literally leaping through the air! We had them talk about the key plot points and map them out, as well, and they did a great job with this.

Next we went back to character analysis. They did the "What's in your wallet?" activity and were really creative. Bella had a folded wanted poster of the Wolf in his wallet, "Because he doesn't want anyone to see it. He tore it down and put it where no one could see it at all!" At the end of the class they did their reflection cards and it was unanimous--today's class was really fun! They also asked if they could create another play, which is great because that is one of the options they can use for their final project. We are thinking of letting them pair up into groups of 3 to create a play for their project.

Some things to work on...I think we need to find a better way to refocus the students when they get a bit carried away during discussions. They tend to become louder and talk over one another which makes it hard to hear everyone in the class. Sometimes, in trying to get them to be respectful of their fellow students and to quiet them down, we end up adding to the noise with comments or "shhhh!" I think this is something we need to work on, and yet, since we only have a week with these kids it is hard to establish consistent classroom expectations. In reality, I am mostly glad that they are so into the lessons that they are talking so much, but I know that there need to be guidelines and more structure in the discussions to make sure that everyone is heard.

On the plus side, the kids always apologize when they get too loud and they are quiet when they hear us tell them to be respectful to their peers.

One thing I still need to work on is regaining student focus and figuring out my own, successful way of dealing with loud talkers and discussions that get a bit loud and unrestrained. I won't always have two other people there to help with this and I need to find what works for me that I am comfortable with doing.

Tomorrow we write!

Intersession Reflection Day 2:

Day 2! So, I thought that today went pretty well. It was my day to be the lead teacher for our big activity which was using sticky notes to help us identify characters within different versions of Cinderella--focusing on indirect and direct characteristics for the characters within the story. For homeroom we had each student say hello in another language--this was a great opportunity for some of our more culturally diverse students to shine. One girl, we'll call her Jamie, is Hmong and she is very quiet in class. She shot her hand up to give us an example of a different way to say "Hello!" It was great to see her so engaged. Everyone had fun. Then we played "What's my name again?" and all the students seemed to like this as well--they wanted to go another round but we decided to get to work.

The bellringer was GREAT! Everyone shared their newly made characters by taking on that persona--even the three teachers had to do some improve acting. We were laughing and having a good time, the kids are excited to put it together later in the week.

Next we talked about Cinderella--what does she look like. Because we had a lot of Cinderella books out in the back of the class, I think some of them drew images from there. They also had theri newly created characters in their minds, so, I think they felt like they had more choice in their creations. Despite this, we still had a nice discussion on why our Disney Cinderella looks a certain way and what that says about American values. We went over the definition of culture and value--which went very well--and then we introduced sticky noting by doing a "story time."

The kids sat around me, with their sticky notes ready, and as I read a page we would stop and see what characters and characteristics we found. The kids really got into it and were making a lot of great suggestions. It was nice to have Kim and Brittany in the audience adding their comments too--this gave the kids more scaffolding and modeling by being able to observe their teachers participating and adding to the reading. We cut the group story short and let the kids pair up and chose their own book to sticky note and gave them the worksheet we modeled together. This was the best part of the day!

All the kids were so engrossed in their books! Even Nikki (we will call her), who was having trouble focusing today--Brittany talked to her to make sure she was okay, but we think there is something going on outside of class--was reading her story outloud with her partner and talking about their sticky notes together. Jamie grabbed the Hmong Cinderella book and she worked with her partner--an older and more confident English reader--spent the rest of the class reading their book and filling in their worksheet. Those who finished their books went back and grabbed more. Even Tom, who said he hated fairy tales, was reading another book as soon as he got the chance. Tom and Liza were being a bit chatty, again today, and we did have to separate them, but they worked on the sticky note project together and did well. I think they just get really excited and loud about things which can distract the rest of the class.

It was great to see them so engaged in fairy tales! Kate was checking out the YA adaptations we had on hand--there is a Chinese YA Cinderella book that she was really interested in, she is Asian herself and knew the child version of the Chinese Cinderella already, so this book really appealed to her. It is so important for kids to see themselves represented in books and I saw the power of that today. Anther girl wanted a copy of the Grimm's story to take home and read--spurring similar reactions in Tom and some other students. Based on the enthusiasm that these books were met with and the desire of the students to read more of them, I think we are going to have silent reading tomorrow morning during homeroom so they can check out more of the books!

Overall, I thought today was great. We had to cut out the PSA because we ran out of time, but it is better to have too much planned than not enough. I think we need to besure to give the students the time they need whcih cuts into other activities; as long as reading and writing are getting done, and the kids are having a good time, I don't think we need to worry about the other fun activities that get cut out.

For tomorrow, we have our reflection note cards to hand back--with more messages from the three of us. I hope we can get Nikki's attention and keep it for the whole class while making sure that Tom and Liza don't talk too much or too loudly. We also dive into Little Red Riding Hood tomorrow! Wahoo! Day 3 here we come!

Intersession Reflection Day 1:

Alright, today was our first day of intersession and my first day of teaching--what a rush! It was so exciting to be actually setting up the classroom and prepping for our students to come in. I had been nervous this past week that I would be so tired of looking at my lesson plan, but last night I couldn't sleep from excitement! During the course of the morning, I was so glad to have added more detail and descriptions to our lesson plan this past week. It comforted me to have a plan as to what the day would entail--even though it didn't go quite as we imagined it would. There were certain activities within the lesson plan that took longer than we had expected. Creating our coat of arms for the realms took quite a long time and the students didn't finish them. I think a bit more structure in the creation would have made it easier for them--they could have benefited from a set outline from which they created their crests. This illustrated to me the need to provide choice and a sense of agency but also the need to provide some scaffold in order to move the process along more smoothly. Because this took so long, we had to cut down on our reading time, but, the reading went really well!

After looking at our Intro to Fairy Tales powerpoint (which they all loved) we generated a really great list of ingredients on the wall. With this list we created symbols for each ingredient as a class. Next I read "Rumpelstiltskin" out loud and the students followed along on their own copy. After each paragraph we would stop and I would ask them what happened in the paragraph--or, what could we mark. Everyone was following along and participating. I only saw a couple of students who weren't keeping up as well, but even one of them really stepped up when we talked about the morals of the story. I was surprised at how well they were able to pick up on the morals both on their own and with some prompts from us.

The word castle was another hit within the class and the kids enjoyed a little game at the end. It was during the game that two of the most distant students opened up. One boy who tried to get out of the game on purpose through lack of any kind of effort, ended up winning the game and celebrating his victory (after we called him out on trying on purpose to get out). It seemed like he needed a little push and to feel more confidence in his abilities--where have I heard this before.

For tomorrow, I think that we can work on scaffolding even more, making sure that students aren't talking out of place, and being careful not to try ant talk over or interrupt each other. These were things that I noticed as well as things that were mentioned by the students in their reflection note cards. We asked them what worked about the class, what they could do better, and what we could do better. All around the kids said they had fun and that they could listen and focus more while we could give them more time, repeat directions, and not talk over/interrupt each other. I think after today we have a better division of labor and the experience from today will really help with this as well. It is great to get feedback from the students and to be able to discuss the day with each other!

I hope tomorrow goes just as well! :)

CI 5472: Documentary

I watched the documentary Red, White, Black, and Blue which recounted the experiences of two 85 year-old men who fought at the battle for Attu island--of the Aleutian Islands--in 1943. The documentary serves to retell an unknown history of the forgotten battle between Japanese and Americans on Attu Island. In 1942 the Japanese invaded Attu and took control of the island, a year later American troops were sent in--unprepared for the bitter conditions of the island--and the expected 72 hour battle lasted 19 grueling days. The story is told from the point of view of Bill with comments made from his friend and fellow infantryman Andy. By using actual footage of the American troops and still images captured during the battle in combination with moving accounts from Bill and other members of the Attu infantry, the creators of the film are able to capture the forgotten horrors of war waged on American soil. Bill and Andy return to the scenes of battle and photographs and film footage from 1943 match both the newly filmed scenes and the accounts of the two men with shocking clarity and validity. The documentary follows the men from their landing in Massacre Bay through the hardships of weather and fighting until the end of the battle 19 days later. The film crew uses moving images and footage (past and present) of the formidable Attu landscape combined with interviews from Bill and his contemporaries as well as experts--Coast Guard members on the island and an Alaskan historian. These shots are filmed in silence or presented with music that adds to the tone by matching the narrative and images--letting you know how to feel about the shots (as if there even was another way to feel).

The documentary focuses entirely on Bill's point of view with comments from other soldiers that emphasize and reinforce his accounts of the battle. What is interesting about the documentary is that it uses images captured from Japanese soldiers on the island. These images suggest the humanity of the Japanese and they seem to be inconsistent with the grenade wielding men who "bonzaied" the Americans killing themselves and their enemy without mercy. Yet it is important to remember Bill when he says that no one can understand what they went through except others who have fought in hand-to-hand combat with a mortal enemy. Bill and his men were sent there to eradicate their enemy and take back the island and the Japanese struggled to maintain their hold; surrender was not an option on either side of the battle-line.

The film is clearly biased by the patriotic feelings of Bill and Andy. Bill acknowledges that the youth of nations have been used, but not abused, as the front-line of defense for their countries since the dawn of time. He was sent there to do a job and he didn't think about the consequences to him or those around him until after the fighting was over. To this day, Bill has some serious racism toward Japanese and these feelings come across in the film. On Engineer Hill there is a titanium star-burst monument erected by the Japanese to honor their fallen soldiers; Bill is outraged by the "audacity" of the Japanese government in erecting the monument on American soil for men who "stole" Attu Island from the U. S. He tells of his efforts to have the monument removed--pushing his own agenda in that regard. He mentions a trip to Hawaii in which he saw Japanese vacationers by the bus load. The image this created for him of Japanese again on American soil disturbed him greatly and seemed to be a catalyst for further work to remove the monument.

In all reality, the documentary accurately captures the account of these two men and the use of photographs and film from the battle itself only add more validity to their claims. We hear the men talk about the "Little Falls Cemetery" which no longer exists only to see the image in a photo; we hear the men talk about the Japanese men racing toward them with grenades and then see them rushing through the fog or with their heads blow up from their own grenades in film clips moments later. I had no doubts in my mind after watching the film that the battle for Attu was bloody and dangerous on all sides. Even Bill's racism can be if not justified then at least explained by his experience. It is only be luck and the ingenuity of an American captain that he survived the battle; while injured from a shot in the leg he had to sit by while the Japanese raided their make-shift hospital tents, killing wounded troops with guns and bayonets.

Bills heartfelt account and the use of excellent primary images and footage made this story successful in convincing me of both the ill-prepared and ill-equipped American soldiers who slid down frozen mountain faces in an effort to win back Attu. They succeeded in doing their duty to their country and while their story has been forgotten by many--their success and pain is undeniable. I leave this documentary feeling patriotic, proud, sympathetic, and more informed--mission accomplished.

Activity:
Provide students with clips from different types of documentaries to watch in class. These clips can come from different time periods. Clips can come from early propaganda focused documentaries from WWII to documentaries, historical documentaries meant to inform, or documentaries with social awareness agendas like Super Size Me, just to name a few. As they watch, have them identify different techniques used by the director of the film, how the documentary is presented, what is the goal, is their an agenda behind the film, who is the audience, is the film biased, what is the purpose of the film, etc. The class can discuss the different reasons for creating documentaries and what makes a successful or effective documentary. Lists can be generated by the class to identify the goals for making these different types of film. For a final project students can choose a type of documentary and create it using the class created lists as guides. This is great way to get students to think more critically about agendas and biases behind the media, as well as a way to work on persuasive or goal based creations (writing and media based).

CI 5472: Media Analysis

While I was watching the news (Fox 9 News--it was the first one I flipped to) I noticed that there were more local than national news stories—which I understood and expect from a local news program. For the most part, stories These stories ranged from brief overviews of national and world events to community stories. The longest amount of time was spent on a news piece recounting a memorial service held at Ft. Hood in Texas after 13 people were killed by a shooter, a health piece on a local boy who is battling a rare and serious disease, a look inside the Petter’s case, a long segment on weather, a news story on an older St. Paul couple facing foreclosure, and the follow-up account of a stab victim in St. Paul. I was surprised by the length of the weather story as well as the 5-6 minute account of the young boy who is recovering from brain surgery and therapy. Weather is important and the story about the boy is uplifting, but much less time was spent on trying to determine whether or not President Obama will be sending more troops to Afghanistan or if terrorists in the Middle East had gotten their hands on U.S. weaponry. These issues seem more newsworthy than the small health piece that was very specific and the back-and-forth banter of the weatherman and the anchor news reporters.
Overall, it seemed that in order to get through a variety of news stories the reporters spent a small amount of time on stories—enough to mention the story and quote a source—before moving on. This allows the audience to hear a variety of stories in a short amount of time. They also use images and video clips to give the audience more information about the story than they can report in a short amount of time. The stories they spent more time on included eyewitness accounts and interviews with family members or experts in an area. The voice of those being accused of something was usually not heard unless it was a paraphrase or quote that adds to their guilt. Interviews lend a sense of credibility to the stories, especially if they are experts—doctors, lawyers, members of executive or director boards, et. al.. The anchors used their voices to set the tone for the story--letting you know how to react to the story from their tones alone. The anchors themselves were a white man and an African American woman--which was a nice mix to see--yet the stories typically focused on white members of the community and nation unless they were involved in crime stories.


The shows I watch are The Office and Bones, as well as movies featured on HBO. As for news sources, I check the news on AOL Online and BBC America Online. The Office is broadcast on NBC which is owned by General Electric, Bones is a show on FOX which is owned by News Corporation, HBO and AOL are both owned by Time Warner, and BBC America is owned by the British Broadcasting Company. News Corp and Time Warner are major media producers being two of the leading media conglomerates in the U.S. While this means that they have the ability to provide national news and high quality media, it also means that these companies have a major hold in the media market. Eventually this control can become a monopolistic and influence what the American people receive from the media.

Activity:
In order to examine the differences between different local news stations, I think it would be beneficial to have students watch at least two different local news channels and compare the news reports of each channel. They can observe the different stories that are aired as well as the different ways in which channels report different stories--do they use the same footage, witnesses, quotes, etc. If they are able to, they can also note the different techniques used within the broadcast that appeal to the audience--are these the same between stations or do they differ? How effective are the techniques? From their observations students will be asked to identify which station seems more reliable to them and why. Students can then reflect upon their findings and report them back to the rest of the class. From these reflections the class can determine which news sources they find to be the most effective and reliable--this can lead to further descussion as to why students made these decisions.

CI 5441: Alexie Response

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.

Arnold Spirit Jr., or Junior as he is known on the “rez,” is a Spokane Indian who realizes he is being suffocated and trapped by the limited opportunities available to him. Junior’s realization leads him to a difficult decision; he must leave the reservation in order to reach his full potential by attending a white school twenty miles away. The novels follows Junior on his journey of discovery among the white students at his new school—Penelope, his anorexic girlfriend; Gordy, his genius friend and ally; Roger, the star-athlete and Junior’s teammate; and Coach, who has unswerving faith in Junior. While Junior is adjusting to his new relationships he also struggles with the existing ones, the troubled lives of his family and the loss of his friend turned enemy—Rowdy—on the reservation. The book explores general themes of class, race, and power as well as more defined themes such as resilience, death, and success. The book forces us to question hoe we think about these important themes by creating contradictory feelings of hope and dejection. As we follow Junior we learn that things are not as clear-cut as we imagine them to be and that for every up there is also a down, sideways, and every-which-way in between. In the end, Junior learns this for himself and comes to terms with his identity as white, Indian, basketball player, loser, winner, boyfriend, friend, enemy—he is what he is; a part-time Indian, full-time human.

The book is a well-written account of a fourteen-year-old boy who tells his life as it happens, how it happens. The use of a diary and the comical cartoon illustrations help readers identify Junior’s part in creating the text—it’s his story and he is going to tell it how it is. Because Junior’s character comes through the text and medium of the text it is easy for readers to identify his characteristics as a teenager. Junior’s voice also shines through with the breadth of teenage topics he is more than willing to present to the reader; he is not afraid to talk about kissing, masturbation, fighting, swearing, or boners. The major themes of the text themselves are important and Alexie creates a character who faces these difficult themes in his day-to-day life. The variety of issues assures that readers will be able to identify with some aspect of Junior’s life and make a relevant connection with him. I loved this book for its humor and ability to broach difficult subjects in an effective, meaningful way. Alexie invites readers into Junior’s world and doesn’t hold anything back and I appreciated that. I liked going through everything with Junior and reading his thoughts as he faced many things far beyond what any young man should.

I think this book is teachable because it is a captivating and humorous text that deals with many important and relevant issues students will face today: prejudice, classism, racism, power struggles, and self-identity issues. The book places these topics in a modern context that is accessible to students and allows them to see themselves and their own experiences mirrored in a text that they can relate to more easily then canonical texts. I think this text would be a great choice for teaching in a classroom. I think this book would be well-received in literature circles and could be looked at through reader-response, postcolonial, and privilege and social class lenses. Something I think you could really focus on throughout the text is identity; this text would be a great way to have students explore their own identities and discover how many different “tribes” they belong to themselves.

CI 5472: Ad Analysis

This commercial from the Norwegian Association for the Blind is targeted at those people who feel inclined to distract working blind-seeing eye dogs out in the community. The variety of participants in the commercial allows the audience to assume that the commercial is intended to be seen and internalized by a variety of different people. By using images of people treating working citizens like pets—using a discourse reflecting someone playing with a dog—the audience can comprehend that the ridiculousness of behaving in such a way mirrors the irreverent treatment of working dogs as mere pets when they are doing their job. The ad starts with a simple enough comment and gradually becomes more and more identifiable with the way one treats a dog, ending with a woman taking away a train station workers flag and throwing it in a game of “fetch.” The ad ends with an image of a working dog and the script “vest on = at work.” Letting people know how to recognize working dogs and how to treat them accordingly. The ad is emphasizing the need to respect the animals at work and their owners when they are out and about. I think the ad does a great job in getting this point across by mirroring the work of the dogs with the work of people; the connection makes such behavior seem funny and out of place for both humans and animals. Overall the ad adds a new spin on how we think about working dogs.



In this ad I tried to capture the never-ending search for perfection that over the years has been starting at younger and younger ages with a parody on a common Maybelline commercial tag line. Here we see a picture of an adorable little girl juxtaposed with an enhanced version of the image in which she is wearing make-up and fake hair as well as having been airbrushed to remove some of the flesh around her cheeks. I hoped to convey the ridiculous obsession our nation has with superficial beauty and the tireless pursuit of an impossible, ideal perfection. The use of an infant in the commercial centers around the idea that as children we are typically praised and exalted for the natural appearance, but the search for beauty and perfection is never too early a quest to begin. Today, more and more products and agencies are marketing beauty products or toys to girls—from the newly vamped image of Strawberry Shortcake to makeover kits for girls. Even the much beloved Barbie forces girls to have a false sense of what is natural versus what is an impossible standard of physical and superficial appearance. I chose the Maybelline slogan to help highlight the comparison between natural “born” beauty and the use of make-up or other appearance changing tools that target women from a young age.

Ad Analysis Activity:
I think it would be neat to divide students up into small groups and assign them each a channel to watch 30 minutes of television on. Students would record the different commercials that are presented during that time slot on their designated channel. Students can note not only how many commercials are broadcast during this time period, but also what ads have been selected for that particular channel. In class the next day, students could pair up with those who watched the same channel as them and compare their notes on the commercials aired during the 30 minutes they watched. Using their data they would come up with a summary of the target demographics for the commercials and assumptions of the ads and compare that to the channel itself and the assumptions made in connection with the channel—for example, there might be a lot of beer commercials targeting men on ESPN fitting with the assumption that men are the ones primarily interested in sports and that to enjoy sports one needs alcohol. Groups would then present their findings to the class or use their findings to create a parody commercial that illustrates the connections made within each group between the channel, commercials, target audience, and assumptions.

CI 5472: Genre Analysis

Musical Genre Powerpoint:

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dfv8576_0sqxwzpf7

Don’t Stop Believin’ – The Musical
She’s just a small town girl … living in a lonely world
A city boy born and raised in south Detroit meets a small town girl on a midnight train going anywhere and they sing a romantic duet about their life in a lonely world. Despite the smell of wine and cheap perfume, these two share a night that goes on and on and on and on, which leads to another song. Later, the city boy joins some street gamblers and shakes dice, and sings when he realizes some were born to win, some to lose, and he was born to sing the blues. In the face of such adversity, he finds encouragement in the smiling faces, well-choreographed dance moves, and chorus of voices of the people of south Detroit who tell him “Don’t stop believin’ …”

CI 5441: Course Readings-- Wk 8: Oct 27

When it comes to discussions on literature within the classroom, I never realized how many different strategies could be employed to create a meaningful conversation among students. I’m glad that this week’s readings provided us with a few strategies we can test out in the classroom. I love the concept of a literature circle, the profound ideology behind the Socratic Circle, and the new advances in technology that take the discussion out of the classroom.

The Daniels article on literature circles provided a great definition and outline for literature circles. What I thought was the most interesting, and perhaps important element to remember as a teacher, is the importance of choice. Daniels notes that “Student choice tops the list, because the deepest spirit of literature circles comes from independent reading” (18). The choice of text offered in the literature circle is compared to the choice given to children by their parents in what books to read before bed, or whenever. While this is something that would no doubt be limited in the classroom, I think Daniels is right when he says, “you can’t fall in love with books that someone stuffs down your throat. For reading to become a lifelong habit and deeply owned skill, it has to be voluntary, anchored in feelings of pleasure and power” (19). I want reading to become a pleasurable experience and passion for my students and I hope I can give them the autonomy that will further this hope along.

Overall, I think that the literature circle is a great idea and I believe Copeland is right when he links them with Socratic circles. I can easily imagine how it would be useful to use both of these techniques in the classroom as ways to promote student-driven learning. Copeland notes that through the Socratic circle students will learn “that all new understanding is linked to prior understanding, that thought itself is a continuous thread woven through our lives rather than isolated sets of questions and answers” (8)—while this might be a bit existential, I love it! I think this is a profound insight that will be helpful in teaching students the malleability and constant reshaping of thought as we add and expand our experiences to shape understanding. This connects with his later acknowledgement that the Socratic circle will help students, “quickly see critical thought as an ongoing, developing skill rather than some secretive society to which some students belong and others do not” (12).

He further adds, “A Socratic circle turns the vast majority over of the guidance of the conversation and the ownership of the material over to the students” (9). Similar to the literature circle, the idea it that when given the reins of their education, students will be more motivated to fully engage in the development and creation of that learning—a constructivist view that I fully support!

I think the main thing I will take away from these articles—and perhaps my favorite point—is that in using these strategies we are teaching students to take their reading and learning into their own hands. By giving them the ability to chose their own text, form their own hypothesis, take their own notes, and discuss their ideas with their peers and teachers on a more equal level, we are preparing students for the future. We are actively giving them the tools that they will use to navigate in the “real world.” Daniels says that, “Students must learn to take full responsibility for locating, selecting, and pursuing books, rather than always expecting teachers or other adults to choose for them” (20). By reducing student reliance on teachers, we open up a whole new realm of possibilities and responsibilities for students that will lead them into a more successful life beyond the reaches of the classroom. Awesome!

CI 5472: Fan Ethnography

Steelers Fan Ethnography:

This past weekend I observed several die-hard Steelers fans as they cheered on their team. The group I observed has very specific rituals that they perform every weekend when the Steelers play. Here are a few:

- Get out “Terrible Towels” and have them close at hand
- Put on Steelers Jersey’s
- Take Rouse’s jersey off its hanger and put it on him—Rouse is a dog
- Turn the TV to the appropriate channel
- Order Pizza
- Get out the beer
- Sit on the edge of the seat
- Chew fingernails—not really a ritual, but it happens nonetheless

Once these things have been done and the pizza arrives, it is game time. The group sits, literally, on the edge of their seats and watches the Steelers with great concentration. Kelly, clenches his hands and watches with wide eyes—biting his nails when the stress becomes too much. He wrenches his body from side to side every now and then as if he can influence the movements of the players. There is no talking during the game—unless it is a question about a call or a comment/criticism about the players and/or coaches. The only other sounds during the game are the loud and abrupt curse words that fly from Kelly’s mouth as he watches the game. While Kelly is a true fan, he will be the first person to provide negative beliefs about the future outcome of a game or to criticize the team after a loss or win.

Kelly’s wife, Eva, also gets into the spirit of things and her quiet attention contrasts the loud and physical reactions of her husband. Every now and then she will make a comment or pose a question about a call made by the coaches, players, or referees discussing bad plays and calls with her husband. She watches the game with her hands folded across her lap as she sits on the edge of her seat.

The third member of the group is visiting for the weekend and he is also decked out in his Pittsburgh gear. He makes jokes every now and then that Kelly responds to with only half of his attention—he is focused on the game. Nevertheless, Ryan is just as eager as Kelly to point out mistakes and bad calls on both sides of the field.

The eating and drinking, while going on during the game, is more of a habit than an actual relished meal. It is interesting to note the level of focus and interaction that is felt by the members of this small group. With every moment of the game, it is as if the people sitting in the room believe they have some say in the outcomeProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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f the game. The way in which they talk to each other and the people physically involved in the game is remarkable. It is as if they think their words will make it to the ears of the coaches and players—even the refs.

For Kelly, his love of the Steelers never diminishes throughout the year; even when he is on vacation in Hawaii, he will watch the NFL draft to keep up to date with the new members of his favorite team—forgoing time he could be spending out in the sun, on the beach. He references the Steelers all year long and is known to ask people trivia questions about his favorite Steelers. I have heard him see a number and tell anyone who will listen whose number it is and why it is so great. And any other Steelers fan he meets is an instant friend. Just wearing the combination of black and gold will inspire him to comment on how nice the colors work together and ask the wearer if they are Steelers fans. This translates over to his wife who is equally addicted to the Steelers—although not in such an intense way, as far as I can tell.

The group gets together whenever possible and Kelly and Eva always watch the games either together or apart—which means they are on the phone together either during or right after the game. The purpose of the group is to actively participate and watch as “their” team battles its way to victory. They are similar people and their similarities are drawn into perspective during their intense watching of Pittsburgh football. Kelly is from North Dakota, Eva is from Sweden, and Ryan is from Wisconsin, so none of them are able to claim Pittsburgh as a place of origin, and yet, they still have a deep passion for cheering on their beloved Steelers. Kelly says that his love for the Steelers comes from his childhood in the 1970's when the Steelers dominated football--the "Steel Curtain" era. Eva's love comes from her relationship with Kelly as does Ryan's --he is a huge Packers fan as well. Whatever the reason may be, they will follow their team to the ends of the earth.

CI 5441: Course Readings-- Wk 7: Oct 20

I found the readings for this week to be both incredibly insightful and interesting, but at the same time a bit daunting. The different authors of our readings each expressed in their writings elements of the type of classroom I want to create, but now I find myself worried about being able to accomplish all that they have set out on the table.

I desperately want to create the type of social justice classroom that Christensen defines as a combination of belief, multiculturalism, empowerment, critique, and growth. It is extremely important that teachers believe in the abilities of their students and make these beliefs known. Christensen passionately claims, “Teachers must see the gifts that each student brings to class, not the deficits. The teacher must absolutely believe in the potential of the student, but even more essentially, the teacher must believe in the right of the student to have access to a rigorous education” (171). In doing this, students can overcome the damage down by other teachers and members of society who have told them otherwise. I loved the quote by one of Christensen’s students who asked, “Why figure out ahead of time for people what they’re going to do with their lives?” (170)—it is up to the individual to figure this out for themselves and to create the future they want without the doubt placed on them by society.

One of these prejudgments made by society concerns language—what is right and what is wrong. The readings emphasized the political aspects connected to language and how as teachers we can try and combat ideas of right and wrong. Christensen mentions her own torment in school over the correct pronunciation of “lawyer.” Myself, whenever I tell someone that I am an English major, they automatically reply, “Oh, better watch what I say around you!” implying that I will constantly be on the look-out for misuse of the English language. While I might occasionally help friends who are trying to learn English as a second language, I do not go around with my Standard English radar looking for people I can humiliate with my “superior” understanding of the “right” way to speak.

Christenbury and Chritensen’s pieces resonated with both speech and writing. I had never thought about how I would handle different Englishes in my classroom. Christensen’s idea of “correct and connect” is a great idea to start with (101). Christensen notes that, “Students need to know where to find help, and they need to understand what changes might be necessary, but they need to learn in a context that doesn’t say, ‘The way you said this is wrong’” (101). In creating this environment students can feel more able and comfortable in communicating their thoughts rather than worrying about avoiding errors. I know now that I need to come up with a grading system that will reflect these ideas while still trying to help students become more comfortable with the “power” language they are sure to encounter.

Christensen also emphasizes the need to ground lessons around the lives of our students. By carefully selecting texts and activities that illustrate the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students we can create an environment that is multicultural and empowers students. When students can see that their own lives and experiences are the basis for their education, they can learn how to look at the real world in a different way and work together to try and make it a better place. This leads into the preparation for social critique that comes from reading, discussing, and reinventing issues found within literature. When students are given the tools to do this and asked to work together in their classroom community they will be all the more prepared to take on the world around them. The growth that this type of education creates in students is priceless. Not only does this form of curriculum give them the abilities they need, it gives them the necessary confidence to draw from.

They most troubling section for me was Delpit’s article about power in the classroom. I do not see myself as a strong authoritative figure and I know that I employ the indirect directives mentioned in the article. My eyes were definitely opened to the difficulties that might arise through these characteristics and I am not sure how I can combat them. It will take a great deal of attention and reflection on my part, but I hope this is something that I can keep in mind as I begin my teaching journey. I know one thing though, I mustn't let them see my fear!

CI 5472: Media Assessment

I think you could have students analyze media representations by looking at the types of advertisements in magazines. You could start by taking different ads out of specific magazines and stock-piling the ads from each magazine in a numbered stack. You could put the students in groups and assign each group a stack. The groups would be asked to analyze the different ads and come up with a target audience for their selection of images. Then they could try and guess which from which magazine their images were pulled. As a group they could present their findings to the class--who their audience is-- and what their prediction is for the magazine the images appeared in. I think this would be a great way to illustrate the power of marketing and the differences in marketing strategies.

CI 5472: VoiceThread---Native American Media Images

CI 5441: Course Readings--Wk 6: Oct 13

Well, for last week we read our assigned chapters on critical theory and, lucky us, we were able to see Deb Appleman present information on her research, in person. Then is Rick’s class, we also looked into critical theory in analyzing media representations. One of the things that has really stuck with me is the idea of using critical lenses as a way to provide a safe environment for bringing up difficult issues and encouraging deeper discussions among students. Appleman notes in her text that through the use of the postcolonial lens creates a more “inclusive classroom” that “validates the experiences and perspectives of readers from outside the mainstream” (89). This is achieved by using the lens as a way to recognize, respect, and truly acknowledge the unique histories and cultures from all around the world. By giving students a chance to read literature written by non-Western voices, literature written by the people who have been oppressed, silenced, and neglected, students can feel more comfortable with their identities in and out of the classroom.

Another advantage to using the postcolonial lens, and some of the other lens as well, is that by using this lens teachers can establish a more empathetic classroom dialogue. Using different lenses in order to illustrate different ways of examining a text teaches students not only to question the world around them with a critical eye, it also puts them in someone else’s shoes; shoes that might belong to their fellow classmates. By using the postcolonial text, for example, white students might be able to empathize more with their minority classmates while those who are the minority can partake in discussion knowing that they are for once not the only ones to interpret a text in one specific way. This safe zone, in which students can share a viewpoint that might be drastically different from that of the mainstream population, will connect students in a way that forces them to open their eyes. Such discussions will open up avenues for teachers to really attack the tough issues brought up in a text without fear that some students might feel singled out, attacked, or simply uncomfortable with their reading of the text and class discussions.

All of this will help students become more critical observers and actors in the world around them. Appleman quotes a teacher who in order to move her students “outside their familiar patterns of thinking,” took it upon herself to ask them to reflect upon how they would handle being indoctrinated—“incapable of thinking collectively in any but the most inhuman ways” (91). Her point was to illustrate to her students the need to think of themselves as “public individuals” rather than brainwashed members of a community. They need to think beyond themselves and react to what they encounter in society from a variety of viewpoints in order to successfully participate in the world around them. As teachers it is our responsibility to give them the strategies and tools that will help them examine and analyze the world around them critically, today, in hope for a better tomorrow.

CI 5472: Critical Lens Commercial Analysis

Little Boy

Okay, so I thought that this commercial fits well into the reader/audience-based/rhetorical lens. Clearly, this commercial is targeting a specific audience with specific goals in mind. The brand of condoms wants to highlight the possible outcomes of having unprotected sex and ending up with a monstrous, ill-behaved child. The commercial draws its audience to assume that a.) children throw tremendous tantrums, b.) they cannot be controlled, and c.) that by using a condom, you can prevent this from happening. While some of these assumptions might be true, there are also alternative views of children and parental control as well as other ways to prevent pregnancies. What is important to note in correlation with using this lens, is that nothing is explicitly stated in any way; the audience is left to make the connections and thus inferences on their own. One of my roommates watched the commercial with me and did not understand the connection between the screaming child and the condom company…it really is up to the viewer to correctly interpret the images presented in the video. My friend was bringing something to her viewing of the video that I was not and therefore she had a different reaction and understanding—or misunderstanding—of the commercial. The commercial is able to use the frightening image of life with children as a means to ensure that people associate their product with safe sex that will prevent pregnancies and lives bogged down by awful children. They also end the commercial by saying, “Zazoo Condoms. Fun. Sexy. Safe.” Again, this equates the condoms with these images in direct opposition of the grocery store tirade—final score fun: 0, hell: 1 (at least).

To correlate with this lens, I also looked at the commercial from a gender lens. I think it is interesting to note that the father is the one in the grocery store with the child. As is often portrayed, he does not appear to know how to deal with the child’s bad behavior as made apparent by his inability to control and end the never-ending tantrum and the disheartened look on his face throughout the commercial. This inability or lack of knowledge on how to care for children is a male stereotype that makes men seem incompetent in areas of child-rearing. I think the commercial can also lend the viewer to assume that the man has been tied down unwillingly by the child and this leads into the dominant perception that men are “trapped” by woman into relationships or marriage. The “ball and chain” metaphor can clearly apply to the man in this situation with his little boy. What’s more, the commercial is for a brand of condoms—condoms offering protection for men and women to engage in sex without “negative consequences” such as an unwanted pregnancy. Because the parent in the clip is a man, this could imply both the use of condoms to avoid children as well as permanent ties to a woman. The commercial places the responsibility for contraception on the male by presenting him as the one dealing with the grocery store situation. In general, I think men do receive much of the responsibility for providing contraceptives one because they are typically stereotyped as being more promiscuous and two, because they are also stereotyped as being driven by their sexual urges—leading to the more promiscuous behavior. It is almost as if the commercial is a warning for men to use a condom in order to further their days of freedom, their ability to “sow their wild oats” before being tied down. Because of these assumptions and the fact that he is the looks at the camera at the end of the commercial in despair and regret, it seems directed more at men than women. I think the commercial would take on an entirely different meaning if the parent in the clip were a female, perhaps suggesting that dangers of similar female stereotypes about having sex; it might turn into an abstinence commercial rather than a contraceptive commercial in our society.


I think that both of these lenses could be applied to other commercials that indirectly target their specific audiences with messages they can infer. Students could look at print media in various magazines and perhaps determine what those messages suggest about who the magazines audience is and what things have meaning to them; this could also be used with television commercials on various channels—how do the commercial on Lifetime differ from those on ESPN? This would be an interesting study to do and I think students would be amazed at how much they are targeted by the media and companies. Students could be assigned—or chose different channels/magazines/newspapers or even websites and asked to analyze the commercials or advertisements used within them. After this has been accomplished they could come back to the class and in small groups present their findings and compare their analyses. Then the entire class could discuss what each group came up with and how the media and producers use these lenses to shape how members of our society think. This could be a reflective practice as well in which students question their susceptibility to these advertisements. Overall, I think this would be a neat way to not only teach students how to use these lenses but also to force them to analyze what is presented to them in the media.

CI 5472: Movie

Here is the movie I made on Windows Movie Maker, it is almost identical to the one I made on iMovie but it has some sound with it.

CI 5472: Film Activity

When it comes to designing a lesson that would incorporate film study, I think you could use film to bring pieces of literature into the classroom in a new way. While doing a lesson on Shakespeare, I think it would be neat to have students watch different versions of a Shakespeare play, say, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Taming of the Shrew or She’s the Man and Twelfth Night. After having read the plays, they could then analyze the ways in which Shakespeare's plays have been adapted on the screen. They could spend time comparing the two films to not only the original, but also to each other in order to see how modern filmmakers have updated the classic comedies. After this you could have them watch another close to the text movie version of a Shakespeare play, maybe Much Ado About Nothing, and create their own modern day interpretation through a script, story-board, class presentation, or mini-film. I think this lesson would provide both textual and film analysis in an enjoyable and creative way.

CI 5441: Course Readings-- Wk 4: Sept 27

The readings for this week definitely provided a lot of useful information and different ways of thinking about how to both approach and use texts in the classroom. What surprised me in the readings was the material presented in the first section of Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents by Deborah Appleman. Not only did Appleman present a teaching philosophy that is very similar to my own, but she also brought up the importance of using literary theory as a prime means in which to provide students with, “critical lenses” that “provide students with a way of reading their world” (4).

It was startling to read that so many teachers have balked at using literary theory in the classroom. I don’t understand why teachers wouldn’t be able to see the benefits of using these different perspectives in interpreting texts. Appleman lists some common defenses against literary theory as being the difficulty of keeping up with the latest developments, the struggle to “to juggle curricular concerns as well as the varied literary skills and needs of their increasingly diverse student body,” or the difficulty of seeing the relevance of such “abstract” analysis. Nevertheless, I agree with Appleman that these statements are absurd. If anything, the use of literary theory in the classroom should help increase diversity of thinking in the nation’s increasingly diverse student population by allowing them think in ways that “sharpen one’s vision and provide alternative ways of seeing” (Appleman 4).

After reading this chapter, I feel fortunate in my own educational background. While it might not have been exceedingly multicultural, it definitely centered on the different perspectives associate with literary theory. I would say that starting in my sophomore year of high school I was exposed to literary theory in my English classrooms. We did a lot of our own research or analysis in searching for meaning and purpose within a text as well as discovering the analysis and research of others. My junior year we did a project of short stories and dug around for criticism that would help us explore the text. Then we were able to compare and contrast our own perspective against the articles we had found. We performed a more sophisticated version of this assignment my senior year and with every assignment I grew to appreciate the different perspectives of the theory.

I would say that the these assignments and the presence of literary theory in my classrooms prepared me for many of the college courses that required me to examine other cultures or think outside of my own limited experiences. In general, I also believe that without those opportunities to look at a text through a specific view, I learned skills that allow me to try and rationalize or sympathize with the actions of others in my day-to-day life.

I was also struck by Appleman’s reflection on the political side of teaching. She quotes Shirley Staton who claims that, “there is no such thing as an innocent, value-free reading. Instead, each of us has a viewpoint invested with presuppositions about ‘reality’ and about ourselves, whether we are conscious or not” (Appleman 8). This is so true! Everyone brings with them their preconceived notions, previous experience, values, and prior knowledge into whatever they read. As teachers it is important that we are able to guide students in such a way that they are able to use that knowledge to better understand and interpret texts. If students can understand that, just like them, the creators of any given object relied on their own personal backgrounds during the creation process, they will learn to question the purpose or drive behind an action and interpret it accordingly.

What startled me was the apparent distaste for such methods expressed to some degree, by Rosenblatt’s article. It seems to me that it will be difficult to create a classroom that can both scaffold students with ways to perceive a text through the use of literary theory while preserving aesthetic reading within them. I hope that I can create a classroom environment that is safe for the expression of thought and experience when reading a text but also drives students to look at readings through different lenses.

VideoANT Assignment

Here is my annotated video. It is a clip from the movie Amelie, which is one of my top ten favorite movies, it is such an amazing film! I couldn't figure out how to trim the clip down, so you can either watch the entire thing or just jump to the first annotated segment. I love the last part of this clip though, so I recommend watching all of it. Enjoy!

CI 5441: Course Readings-- Week 3: Sept. 22

This week’s readings provided a look into culturally relevant pedagogy that seemed to mirror some aspects of my own teaching philosophy. I thought that Gloria Ladson-Billings article “But That’s Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy” was a particularly enlightening illustration of the ways in which teachers can create a productive and culturally diverse classroom and curriculum in order to empower students as important actors in American democracy. Ladson-Billings mirrors a principle that helped create my own teaching philosophy connecting English—and other forms of—education with the formation of knowledgeable and proactive citizens.


Ladson-Billings defines culturally relevant pedagogy as relying on three characteristics: academic success, maintained cultural competence, and a developed critical consciousness. She frames these on the belief that in order to be productive and active citizens in our democracy, students must be given the necessary tools. She highlights a teacher who focused on providing African American boys in her classroom with a challenge to succeed. Ladson-Billings writes that, “Instead of entering into an antagonistic relationship with the boys, Lewis found ways to value their skills and abilities and channel them in academically important ways” (160). Instead of giving into the common “we—they” approach—as illustrated in chapter 2 of Teaching Literature to Adolescents (Beach et al. 25)—this teacher found a connection with her students by challenging them to prove their educational prowess. She is giving them the chance to see their own power in order to fulfill their duties as democratic citizens.


The next criterion illustrates the need for teacher to connect a student’s home culture with the broader culture of school and society. This is done by teachers who can “utilize students’ culture as a vehicle for learning” (Ladson-Billings 161). Here teachers must find a way to make meaningful and relevant connections between their students and the curriculum they are bringing to the table. Similar to the example in the article, I had a teacher who built a bridge between what was relevant to us and the various pieces that make up figurative writing by allowing us to present a song of our choice to the class and analyze it for different elements of figurative language. Thus students could connect their “cultures”—age, ethnicity, gender, etc.—with an informative classroom assignment. This is something that instills both excitement and trepidation within me, but I know that it will be something I will need to constantly work and reflect upon in order to accomplish.


The last criterion for culturally relevant teaching is based on the belief that students should “develop a broader sociopolitical consciousness that allows them to critique the cultural norms, values, mores, and institutions that produce and maintain social inequalities” (Ladson-Billings 162). As English teachers I think it is important that in our discussions of literature in the classroom we develop in our students the ability to examine, identify, analyze, critique, and reflect. In doing this we can provide them with the tools that are necessary to look at the world around them with an open and critical eye through which they can observe society and act in support of a better nation, a better world. Ladson-Billings outlines a path for teachers that can help them create the type of education that can best serve the needs of the people and, this might sound very idealistic, but if education is not based on the idea of creating more intelligent and proactive citizens who can work to make the future brighter for themselves and all those around them, then what is the point?

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. “But That’s Just Good Teaching! The Case for Culturally Relevant
Pedagogy.” Theory into Practice. 34.3 (1995):159-165. 02 Sep. 2009