Jaws Trailer

Strangers on a Train Trailer

Faithful Elephants

Visual Essay on Literacy

This collection of images depicts mediums, other than personal communication, by which information seeps into my life and therefore require literacy to decode and translate into something meaningful. The visual impact that I hope to achieve is a connection to the reader/viewer by virtue of shared experience with these mediums. An attempt at visual coherence is through colors of the images and also vintage of the mediums. I specifically chose older versions (except for the computer because an old computer didn't have internet capabilities) because I wanted to make the point that these mediums have been around for awhile, even if they have not been studied in secondary classrooms focused on literacy before (as Selfe points out). No image has prominence over the others because the messages of the mediums they depict are all influential in my life and I don't know how to rank their importance without untangling that collective knowledge web. The order of images is roughly the order in my life in which the mediums became influential: I learned to read first, then discovered television, music, magazines, radio, and finally the internet. One note/question on citation: Selfe's directions on documenting images was completely new to me, and I've been using images from the internet for awhile without documenting them. Is Selfe's method common practice that should be emphasized and enforced with students? I've avoided the issue in this post by linking each image to the Flickr page where I found it. Is that sufficient?

Skinning, Modding, and Mashing Potatoes

Beach's statement about not pretending that we are technology experts in the classroom was comforting as I read the Jenkins piece and did not understand all of the technology terms. I decided to turn to an old reliable (the original wiki-- I think), Wikipedia, to discover the meanings of skinning, modding, and mashup. It turns out that skinning can mean changing the appearance (or "skin") of a computer program -- or drawing a character in a computer program. It can also be a new activity combining skipping and running -- or a controversial wrestling move involving "the placement of pressure on an opponent's rectum," also known as the "butt drag." Modding is a slang term for "modify," usually in reference to hardware or software. Mashup has subcategories, as in digital mashup (text, graphics, audio, video, animation), music mashup, video mashup, and web application hybrid mashup -- all related to combining (or mashing together) pieces of different things to create a new thing. I believe that Steve talked about mashups for a music presentation in Beach's class.

All of these terms are listed under the "expression" category that Jenkins describes as a form of participatory culture. These are ways of expressing new things by using parts of things that are already in existence. Jenkins writes, while on the subject of appropriation, that "all artists work within traditions; they all also violate conventions" (32). This statement and Jenkins' methods of expression listed above mean that creativity is accessible. Especially if the new model of knowledge is as a collective intelligence, a good artist, through a dialogic process, will take the knowledge that we have and show it to us in a different way in order to expand that knowledge.

The Standard of Standardized Tests

As a possible aid in dissecting dialects, I like the Urban Dictionary. There's quite a debate going on there about the term "Ebonics."

Smells Like Your Voice

Twice now "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has crept into our cohort's discussion of educational methodology. The first was during Maggie and Meaghan's music presentation (in December?) on cover songs for Rick Beach's class. The second was on Tuesday when Ms. Haug enlightened us on using the famous Nirvana song to teach tone and style. I think Ruth Culham would agree that Kurt and crew mastered this trait and knew how to draw the listener in and create a bond between the listener and the writer (103) -- so ripe was the song for personal connection that others took it and ran, with the result being one song performed in many different voices. Below are some of those voices, courtesy of a great (albeit not very original) resource for video in the classroom, YouTube.com.

If you like one in particular, please vote for it in the poll to the right...

Who Knew the FPT Had an Acronym Too

In anticipation of the debate in class about the five paragraph essay, my position is that I am against teaching it as a required format. It stifles ideas, limits creativity, and emphasizes format over content.

In her article "The Ill Effects of the Five Paragraph Theme," Kimberly Wesley writes, "The result of my analysis of this [student's five paragraph] essay suggests to me that the thesis requirement of three separate but equal points hinders my student's thought process as she writes.... Other student writing samples carry seeds of critical thought that are never allowed to grow" (58). Although some students may find these limiting boundaries comforting when writing otherwise seems like a daunting and overwhelming task, as they progress as writers and thinkers the confines of the five paragraph essay do not allow enough room for a good idea to take root and flourish. In this way, the five paragraph essay is like a fence that keeps kids safe in the backyard. When they are young, this is okay and prevents them from getting injured or lost. As they grow older, though, the fence becomes limiting if it keeps them from seeing other parts of the world.

Ruth Culham tells us that "our job as writing teachers is to give our students many opportunities to try out different kinds of structures so they'll have lots to choose from when they write" (73). Joanne Gillespie describes her experience using a multigenre writing approach with seventh graders: "By giving students an opportunity to respond to A Single Shard through various genres, I hoped they would engage with the text and think deeply about the novel. And that is just what happened" (878). If our job as writing teachers is to give our students the tools to express themselves creatively, then we have to teach our students to be comfortable with many different formats. Creativity is unique and original, and often this necessitates just the right format. Sometimes that format may be the five paragraph essay, but often it is not.

Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson write that "the one, two, three format is so stultifying that writers become more focussed on the form as they write than the content, also removing any reason for caring about or assuming responsibility for the message" (132). This should be the ultimate reason for avoiding the five paragraph essay. If the paper doesn't actually say anything, then really, what is the point of writing?

So while I have made my case against the five paragraph essay, I also see Tracy Novick's point that it can still be done with imagination and skill. If the focus remains on the idea creatively expressed in a manner that is relevant to the audience, then that is my main goal in the end.


As for a resource, I found this little blurb called "Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay" that lists common issues that come up in writing essays and suggestions for assignments other than the "FPT."

hippopotamus hippopotamus hippopotamus

In the spirit of Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson's descriptions of their own personal writing process -- and also our discussion on Tuesday of images as text -- this is a 20-second photographic reflection on my own writing process, composed in an expressive (not poetic or transactional) style.



As a freewriting resource, I like the CreativeWritingPrompts.com website. Move your mouse over any number from 1 to 302 for a different prompt that may propel you from writing "hippopotamus" over and over again to something meaningful and inspiring.

Student Criteria

Our final project is about the effect of male media representation on boys. If I had students working on this same topic, I would have them collect examples of media representations of men, discuss the examples in class, perform research on their own, and then write their own analysis. Their writing would be evaluated on being able to draw specific connections between their example piece of media, class discussions, and their research. It should contain an example or quotation from each of the three. It should also contain a unified theme or opinion, backed up by evidence, that the student wants to convey to their audience. Finally, the writing should be well-organized, well-written, and free from errors.

Media in the Lifestyle

In a typical week, I read the Start Tribune most days. According to the Washington Post, it was a local, family-owned newspaper until 1998 when it was sold to McClatchy Co. Then a year ago, McClatchy sold the paper to Avista Capital Partners, "a firm specializing in private equity investments primarily in growth oriented energy, healthcare, and media companies." My parents have been reading the Star Tribune for a long time. My dad jokes that a conservative friend of his used to refer to it years ago as the "Red Star" paper because of its liberal bent. Now his comment is that the paper has been getting smaller and smaller these days with less content.

Another media source that I rely on is Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). I listen to their news, classical music, and "Current" music stations on the radio throughout the day and subscribe to a few of their podcasts. As far as I know, MPR is a private, non-profit orgnization that gets funding from foundations, businesses, and "listeners like me." I find MPR's news coverage to be thorough and unbiased, and from their music stations I get music that I can't get anywhere else on my radio dial.

Since I rely so heavily on those two sources of news, I recently decided to branch out and subscribe to the New York Times daily headlines and news alerts by email to get a broader perspective in addition to the Minnesota perspective.

Not Just Another Folk Ditty

My favorite band or type of music changes often and just as there is a time for every season, there is a time for every type of music. Growing up my mom listened to classical music while my dad listened to classic rock and classic jazz. I like classical music because it adds a nice texture to the background of almost any activity. I often turn it on when I am studying or reading or doing something that requires concentration. Classic rock complements yard work, cleaning, or any other physical labor well, while classic jazz adds spice to the atmosphere of an evening gathering. Left to my own devices, however, I would choose folk with a twist where instruments and vocals are used to weave a musical story that goes beyond the cliched predictability of pop music. Perhaps as a result of some time spent in Chicago, one of my favorite bands right now is Wilco. In my opinion, they get to the core of their musical message and deliver it in a way provides an emotional thrill-ride for the listener. The clip below from their film I am Trying to Break Your Heart highlights their song "Poor Places" and their style of musical experimentation that pays off in great music...

Media in the Classroom

Students live in a world that is immersed in media, and they haven't been alive long enough to know that it hasn't always been like it is now. One of the challenges in my teaching career will be to keep up with the new technologies and incorporate them successfully into the classroom. One type of media that I think fits nicely into a classroom is a blog. The blog tool gives students the opportunity to write for an audience larger than just one teacher, perhaps even large enough to include their peers. It also gives them an opportunity to post images and links to websites that relate to their topic.

A resource for teachers that I really like is the New York Times Learning Network. Each weekday they publish a lesson plan related to a current news story. Friday is Language Arts/Fine Arts day. The lesson plans are creative and well-written, and I see them as a great way to give students an opportunity not only to learn about something that is happening now in the world but also to take some action on it. Today's lesson is related to the Notable Children's Books of 2007.

Here's a video from YouTube that promotes using popular culture in the classroom:

Generational Leadership Qualities

Since we are fast approaching the Iowa caucuses and there are big issues to deal with like climate change and the war in Iraq, I would write a documentary about the leadership qualities of different generations. Recently, a friend forwarded me a copy of an article called "Goodbye to All That" from the Atlantic Monthly that spawned this idea. How have the Baby Boomers done as leaders of the country? What kind of leadership styles have they used? What big issues have they handled? How does their leadership style compare to the leadership style of the "Greatest Generation?" What can we expect from the Gen-Y leaders of the future? The intention of the documentary would be to reflect on leadership and how our generational peers affect our leadership style. I would interview national and local leaders from the Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, and also young leaders from Gen-Y. The difficulty that I would anticipate is creating an authentic representation without letting my biases creep in since this documentary would be largely based on making generalizations about groups of people. I would have to be intentional about letting go of some of my preconceived notions about the different generations to be open to hearing authentic representations of their leadership qualities.

Wonderful World of Podcasts

This weekend at my nonfiction book club meeting, the conversation strayed to music and iPods. One member complained that she loved her iPod when she bought it, but now that some time has passed she has gotten bored with her music selection, and the novelty of the iPod has worn off. Then someone else mentioned the wonderful world of podcasts, a tool that adds spice and new utility to the iPod. I decided to check it out. First I googled "Minnesota podcasts." The list of results was long and I wasn't sure all of it would be worth my time, so I turned to a reliable and commonly mentioned source: Minnesota Public Radio. One of my favorite shows on MPR is Kerri Miller's Midmorning program, which is available as a "regular" podcast or as a "Speedcast." The Speedcast is convenient because it takes less time to listen, but I can't decide whether the time saved is more valuable than getting the nuances of the pauses, intonations, and timing of the conversation. Plus it takes a few minutes to get acclimated to the speed of the conversation. Another podcast that I like, especially as a potential English teacher, is the Grammer Grater program. I can always use a brush-up on my grammar skills, and now I can get it while I walk the dog or wait for the bus...

New News

A morning ritual that I enjoy is waking up to the radio feeding me small breakfast-in-bed nibbles of the happenings of the world outside my warm covers and pulled shades. After I roll out of bed and into my fuzzy slippers, I make my way down the stairs and brace myself for the five-second blast of cold, outside air needed to reach the newspaper laying neatly folded on the front step. I snatch it up and close the door and then bring it in to the warm nexus of the kitchen where I gather a plate or two with the paper to indulge in a breakfast to feed my stomach and socially responsible conscience. It's a comfortable way to wake up to the world in a private way, without having to really deal with the world yet. ...So the concept of blogs and a news source like MinnPost.com shakes my comfortable world a little bit. No hard copy delivered to my door? Oh, there are hard copies but I would actually have to go outside to a local business to obtain one. I could turn on my computer in the morning and replace the physical newspaper with that, but I worry that some blackberry seeds from the jam on my toast will get stuck in the keys. Then there's the business of comments added to stories. No longer is a story full and complete and ready to be put away after I finish the last sentence - now there are little blurbs from other readers in addition to the main story. My privacy is completely invaded. I wanted to think for myself, thank you! ...Another thing that I am comfortably and slowly waking up to is that I am a creature of habit, and change is not always bad - even if the initial shock is as bad as that five-second blast of cold, outside air...


...what I try to avoid when I first wake up in the morning...

Attention All Consumers

Low-Budget Halloween

It's Halloween and there's a costume party to attend and you want a great costume but you're a student and don't want to spend a lot of money on it... Good thing Ragstock put together a low-budget advertisement to tell you that they have a lot of options for you. They show you many images of young people, like yourself, dressed in costumes from decades past. Flashing, popping words and swirling background designs compliment the announcer's speedy delivery of the information - but you already know about Ragstock, being a cheap student and all, so really you don't need a big, expensive commercial like younger kids or older adults might need to be convinced. All you need is something to get your attention and remind you that Ragstock is the place to go for that perfect (and cheap) Halloween costume.

...and they lived happily ever after

There is a basic formula behind romantic comedy films. The lead female is young, thin, beautiful, sweet, and very feminine while the lead male is bumbling and awkward, inept, and NOT young, attractive, or sweet. Often the setting occurs in an idyllic daily life situation such as a beautiful beach, a pleasant outdoor park, a large upper-middle class home, or just in a generally clean and open space. The storyline includes a chase scene, a rescue scene, and a fight scene before they live happily ever after. A common theme is that love conquers all, and heterosexual marriage is the norm. The basic formula is narrow, yet films that follow it continue to do well at the box office. Is it part of our dream of idyllic American life? Do we feel comforted by the predictable storyline and characters? Is this comfort driven by our fear of the unknown? Or what else?

...Just for fun, here's a twist on the classic romantic comedy, When Harry Met Sally...

Interview with Grandma

When I asked Grandma what she likes about watching her favorite show, a soap opera called The Young and the Restless, she told me, "It has a lot of problems but it makes me feel thankful that I don't have them." I remember hearing the theme song and seeing the familiar characters on her small soup-pot-sized, barely-colored, way-before-HDTV television set that sat rooted on the edge of her kitchen countertop as she scooted around accomplishing her daily tasks in her Ohio home. That was the beginning of her time as a Y&R fan. Now things have changed. Now Grandma can record her favorite show and watch it when it is convenient (I caught her watching it on a Saturday when the show is not broadcast on TV). Now Grandma can watch her favorite show on a flat-screen, HDTV big enough to rival the size of a baby elephant. Now Grandma can pause her favorite show if the phone rings or the dog needs to be let out. Now Grandma resides in Minnesota. But a few things have not changed, like the time and channel that the show comes on, the characters who make up the backbone of the show, the amount of problems that the characters encounter, and Grandma's devotion to the show. And also Grandma's gratitude - not just that she doesn't have the problems but for all the sweetnesses and comforts of life and family.