Miss Molly's Good Golly Bloggy

Reflections on creating an iMovie

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 02:23:00 +0000

I love using iMovie. Creating visual poems, stories, or montages is so fun and rewarding. There is such a sense of ownership one gets from getting to use images and music that matters to them in their work. The result is something so personal and so much more than just black letters on plain white paper.

Our world is visual. It is so important that students learn how to navigate the visual world as much as the literary one. It isn't fair to have students simply put words on paper and ignore all the senses. It is with our eyes and our ears that we internalize so much of what goes on around us. And when we can create things with our own hands that we can see and hear, there is a deep sense of personal satisfaction. Working with images and music is like playing, and playing is how we learn about the world.

I did a podcast about Rilke's poem, "Entrance," and decided to continue working with it for this project, as well. I will be teaching a unit on poetry in January and I wanted to explore various ways I might have my students engage with poetry. I want them to analyze the poems of others and write their own poetry. Teaching high schoolers how to write poetry is a very difficult task. If the goal is to get students to learn about and appreciate poetry and be lifelong lovers of poetry, it is important that they feel connected to it. It is not enough to just tell students to write a poem. So many would become paralyzed by confusion or fear. Having students write poems as a response to other poems, or have them write poems based on or inspired by other poems is a good way to start. Before I wrote the words to this poem, I searched for images that reminded me of Rilke's poem. I searched picture databases on Google and Flickr in order to find pictures that I could use. Then, I inserted them into the iMovie. After I had the pictures lined up the way I wanted them, added the music, transitions, and played around with the Ken Burns effects, I began to write my poem based on the pictures I had found. As I wrote, I found I needed to go back and find some other pictures or delete pictures I had already inserted. So, it was just as much about getting the pictures to match the poem as it was getting the poem to match the pictures. I was really surprised by how easily this poem came to me. I was so inspired and motivated by the images and from the ideas I had already gotten from Rilke's poem, that it was almost effortless. And I don't feel like I simply reiterated what Rilke said in his poem. I took an idea that his poem planted in my mind, expanded on it, and let it unfold and develop naturally. In the end, I feel like I have a very orginal poem that no one would know came from Rilke.

I definitely plan on using a form of this activity with my students next quarter. These two forms of technology have provided me with new ways that I am going to inspire my students to analyze existing poems and create their own.

Digital Poem using iMovie

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 02:03:00 +0000

We're sorry, you need Javascript enabled to view this video.

Reflections on creating a podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:21:00 +0000

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this process. In another class, I had an opportunity to create a podcast for an assignment, but I decided not to do it. I thought that creating a podcast was just not a big deal and wouldn't provide any additional understanding than writing a paper would. The process of podcasting as a tool for helping students improve their writing was lost on me. I am happy to announce, though, that I am a convert! This process showed me how much this can help students.

I started my podcast by reading a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, one of my favorite poets. I was just in the mood to read some poetry, so that's what I decided my podcast was going to be about. Just in the process of reading the poem a few times into the microphone brought me new levels of understanding in the poem. Of course, poetry is typically meant to be read out loud, but it's often difficult to ensure that students really did read the poems you assign them a few times aloud. This process of having them record their readings in a podcast is a good way to ensure that they do. This goes for any stories or plays. Students may not even realize how reading out loud is enhancing their understanding, so that part of creating a podcast about a piece of literature is important.

Next, I read a page-long statement/analysis about the poem. This is the part of the process that I really became sold on the podcast idea, especially as a way of enhancing writing skills. I consider myself a fairly good writer and don't often read my work out loud before handing it in. I know I should, but I guess I have convinced myself that I don't need to. However, as I read my work into the mic, I was constantly changing things, realizing that how something sounded in my head was completely different from how it sounded out loud. Again, this is a difficult thing to convince students of, but having them engage with the process of recording podcasts could really help them recognize how to edit their writing.

I realize that podcasting can also be done without a script. I think that that would also be very useful, as a way of having students just talk out their ideas and listen back to them as a way of generating ideas for a paper or a project.

I also included music in my podcast. I wasn't planning on doing that, but I heard a classmate's podcast the other day and he had included music. I felt that the whole thing was more engaging to listen to with soft music in the background and it reveals something about the author. I used Sigur Ros's song "Gong" because it is one of my favorites. Being able to include this element made the whole thing seem more personalized and helped me feel more attached to the project.

Rilke's "Entrance" PODCAST

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:16:00 +0000

Meet Molly VLOG

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:07:00 +0000

VLOG

Failing Schools VoiceThread

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:41:00 +0000

MN Stories Vlog

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:19:00 +0000

What I like about this vlog is that, even though it is an interview, they splice it up and incorporate video and music into it. The editing is very sophisticated and interesting and fun to watch. Another reason I like this vlog is that it is a kind of advertisement for something that flies a little under the radar in Minneapolis. Sound Unseen is a really interesting festival that gets little attention outside of the core audience, but since music is something Minneapolis is becoming known for, it's something that a lot of people would be interested in if they only knew about it.

The audience for this vlog is certainly people who are familiar with the festival and want to know what is playing there (well, this is from last year, but that was the intention). It is also for people who are not familiar with what it is and gives them a nice sense of what they might expect. Because the vlog has clips from the films that are playing, you can kind of figure out what the festival and each film that is highlighted is all about.

Sites like Blip.tv are great because they expose people to aspects of the community they might not otherwise have access to.

Witnessing Whittier

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Since I wasn't there when the class went out into Dinkytown, I decided to do my ethnographic study in my own neighborhood, Whittier.

My neighborhood is very diverse and can be called a lot of things. It is "eat street," the MIA, MCAD, the International Neighborhood, among other things.

Based on the reading "Using Place-based Writing to Construct Social Worlds as Social and Cultural Spaces," I decided to do an informal observation at a popular location in Whittier. There, I observed three different aspects of the place: who was there, what were they doing, and what are some distinguishing features of the location? From there, I came to some conclusions about my neighborhood and tried to develop a sense of

I chose to do my ethnographic observation at Spyhouse Coffee Shop (pictures coming soon; camera cable has been misplaced...). This is one of the most popular places in Whittier and where a lot of people who live, work, and study in the neighborhood hang out.

Most of the people here are young, "hipster" types. They are almost all on laptops. Others are drawing, writing in journals, a few are reading novels. I suspect that they are students from MCAD, as this is the nearest coffee shop. They are dressed in funky, vintage styles, and are somewhat aloof.
There are a few older men gathered at a big table. They look a little weathered, like they may be recovering from some kind of addiction and this is their new routine. They keep going outside to smoke.
Other than the group of men and a few couples working quietly in the booths, almost nobody is here together, chatting. It's pretty quiet, except for the noise of the coffee machines and people ordering.
Based solely on appearances, there seems to be a lot of racial/cultural diversity among the people here.
The music is pretty loud. It's indie music.
The walls are covered with the artwork of a student from MCAD. They are large paintings depicting scenes from Spyhouse and the surrounding neighborhood.
The building it is housed in is somewhat old, but restored. There are a lot of elaborate architectural details on the outside. The space inside is open, with a high ceiling.
The decor is kitchy and vintage.

"Reflecting on [my] neighborhood as constructed space" leads me to "recognize issues" and realities about it. For example, because of MCAD, the majority of residents of the neighborhood are young and rent. Having majority renters in a space impacts the physical appearance of the area, as well as, say, the number of police cars one might see. Additionally, since many of the residents are young and in school, this may account for loud parties on weekends. If many of the people in the neighborhood are renting, it makes the area relatively cheap, which can be a blessing and a curse.

Focusing on a few key aspects of a place can reveal quite a bit about it. I am intrigued by the idea of having students do ethnographic studies of their neighborhoods in an effort to have them develop a sense of identity connected to that place. I think this is an especially useful exercise if they are asked, then, to compare their neighborhoods to others. Having students write poems or stories using pictures on VoiceThread or iMovie is a wonderful way for students to develop a sense of pride in their home, while also identifying things that may need help. This helps students get a sense of civic duty. I really like the idea of using House on Mango Street for this kind of unit. The other book that came to mind was Out of the Dust, since Billie Jo runs away from the suffocation of her Oklahoma dust bowl town only to discover that even though its hard, it's still her.

Research Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:40:00 +0000

When I am researching a project or paper, I usually start with the U's libraries. I've used the databases there enough at this point to know how best to narrow a search and weed out the publications I don't want/need. I fiddle around with which search words will give me the most comprehensive results and I utilize the AND, OR, NOT features for more advanced searches. I've also become familiar with what kind of publications I can expect to get from each different database. One way I check whether an article is something I might be interested in using is if it shows up in multiple searches on different databases. If it shows up in cross-searches, chances are it is relevant to what I am looking for. Sometimes I further cross-check a source's validity by searching on Google Scholar and trying to find critiques of the article/source, or other articles that have cited the one I am interested in.

One of my new favorite research tools is Diigo. I was not sold on Diigo when I was introduced to it last year. I don't think I really understood how to use it or why it was helpful. But I have explored its uses more and I think it is amazing. When I was doing research in the past, I had handwritten notes scattered around me, and word documents with quotes cut and pasted from different sites and articles. Using a Diigo account, though helps organize and sort information from all over the internet. I can't wait to introduce more people to this resource. I think one of the most important aspects of getting students engaged with these resources is to simply expose them to them. I think we have a tendency to assume that our students are more computer and tech savvy than they are. Because we often note how this generation is the first to have grown up with computers and advanced technology from birth, we forget that many of our students don't have access to these things. And when they do, let's face it, they are usually on Facebook or YouTube, or doing other mindless surfing. We have a responsibility to really show kids how to responsibly and usefully use the resources at hand.

For my final project, I want to incorporate research I am doing for Tim Lensmire's course on Politics of Literacy and Race. I am exploring the use of hip-hop music in the classroom to enhance learning. Additionally, I want to look at controversies and challenges to this in regards to perceptions of language use in this genre. For this course, I would expand on this research and develop innovative lesson plans that incorporate digital tools and hip-hop to enhance student's writing. For this research, I will want to research best practices in helping students improve their writing and techniques that other educators have used to incorporate this genre. I will want to incorporate findings from formal publications I might find using Education Full Text, Academic Search Primer, or ERIC. I will also want to catalogue findings from English Companion Ning and other blogs and Nings. Diigo will be invaluable for collecting information from these sources. I still need to explore Evernote more, but I think it will also be a useful resource.

First Post for CI 5475

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:24:00 +0000

I was skeptical about the use of blogs in the classroom, both as a student and a teacher. I thought they would take too much time, be too difficult to access, create, or follow. I thought students would think they were corny or too difficult to use. I just did not think that these tools would be beneficial to me as a learner or as an educator. I was wrong about that, though.

As a student, using blogs to share information has been not only a useful tool through which to share information and ideas, but also a supplement to my own learning. There is something different about working on an online forum, rather than just writing for an instructor. You have to be more conscious about what you say and who you are saying it for. When typing for a blog or online forum, the audience is different and unknown and this often changes the message the writer intends. The style of writing is also different and offers practice on a variety of writing skills that you don't necessarily get from formal papers that are just read by the instructor.

On an online writing space, the writing tends to feel like you're working out your thoughts as you go. It's more spontaneous. Not as formal. I think this is a good thing. Formal writing for instructors is an important skill, and certainly has a place in the classroom, but it's equally important for people to develop the skill of simply writing. It's not journal/diary writing, because online writing has an audience, but it's related.

I also feel like having a blog gives a student the feeling of creating a kind of identity for themselves that they can project to their teacher and to their peers. I have seen students get very involved with setting up their blogs so they reflect their personalities, with backgrounds, colors, pictures, etc. As a student I do the same thing. It becomes important to make sure your blog somehow reflects who you are and I think this is important for both student and teacher.

As a student teacher, I used a Ning in a Writer's Workshop class. It was a huge success. The students were excited about it, it provided an excellent opportunity for students to share their work with one another, and was also an additional writing space in the actual classroom. If I wanted to help a student with their writing, I had to go to their computer stations, kneel down, and have my back to the rest of the classroom. So, instead of going to the student's stations, I sat at the front of the classroom, with my own computer and when a student needed help with something, they uploaded their work to the Ning and came and sat with me. I could use other students' work as examples, as theirs were also on the Ning. I could work on the Ning on the overhead projector, and the students could follow at their desks. I was able to communicate with them. I could post announcements, examples, assignments, the syllabus, guidelines, etc.

The students also contributed to their personal blogs on the Ning. Reading their posts, I got a sense of them that was missing in their formal work for class. They wrote more freely and honestly, even though they knew that their posts were going to be read by me and their peers. I don't think that blogs or online writing should ever replace formal writing, or face-to-face classroom contact, but I do think it provides students with a space to be more open. Working in online writing spaces also let me assist students with computer skills. Many students in my classroom didn't know how to upload documents to a site. I was able to show them how and by the end of the term they had no trouble with those kinds of website use skills.

One thing I'd like to learn through this course would just be more ideas about how to incorporate technology into the development of writing skills in the classroom. I would also like to become more comfortable with the gizmos and gadgets of blogs, like RSS feeds, etc. I am VERY excited to look into online role-playing. My Teaching Writing instructor (Heidi) used this in a class last spring and I was blown away by the potential in that kind of thing. I also still need to be sold of podcasting, so I am excited to get some ideas for how to use them in the classroom.

Adaptiations

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:17:00 +0000

I think all of the adaptations of Jane Austen novels could be used to study adaptation. Her narrators are often strongly omniscient and so translating her work into film is difficult and it is interesting to consider what kinds of choices filmmakers make in order to get the story across in a manner that honors the book, but is also good filmmaking. I also happen to love Jane Austen and most of the adaptations of her work are quite good.

I also think that watching adaptations of Shakespeare is helpful to students because his plays are often difficult for students, especially struggling students to follow. Additionally, a lot of the adaptations put the plays into contemporary times, so they become more relevant to contemporary students.

I also think that if an adaptation is well made and is true to the original, or at least respectful and doesn't cheapen it, it is valuable for students who struggle with reading, learn better visually, or are just an ordinary student in the 21st century who has been exposed, most likely, to far more movies than books.

In order to get students thinking about adaptations, I would use programs like VideoAnt (the way Jane and I did for our final project, for example), VoiceThread, iMovie, etc. First, I would have students reflect on the adaptations using VideoAnt and then have them construct their own adaptations using iMovie. In our Crosswinds unit, we had students work with script writing, storyboarding, and filming as a way to lead up to the final production. I thought this was a good progression because the students were able to consider all the little things that go into transforming words into pictures and vice versa.

My Music...

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:14:00 +0000

My favorite genre of music is rock and socially responsible hip hop. I am very partial to local music that was made in Minneapolis or the midwest in general. I really got interested in this style of music when I moved away from here. I developed a strong sense of hometown pride when I lived in New York. Listening to local music helped me feel connected to home. From there, I've generally gotten interested in indie, small label music. This is mainly from listening to the Current, which is another way that I've gotten interested in local, midwestern music. I like music. I think my preference for local and indie music reflects some of my core values that influence a variety of areas of my life.

Some of my favorite artists are:

Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Halloween, Alaska, Bon Iver, Bat for Lashes, The Shins, Sun Kil Moon, Kings of Leon, Mason Jennings, Mystery Palace, Ulrich Schnauss, and many more.

I genuinely cannot think of one song that illustrates all of my preferences, because I have many. Also, my "favorites" change as often as my mood does. I suppose if I HAD to pick one artists' body of work I'd bring with me to a desert island, I would pick Ani Difranco. I have a strong autobiographical connection to her music. Her music was hugely inspirational and eye-opening for me when I was in college in New York. Also, her style changes so much, you could find an album of hers to listen to that would go with almost any mood.

The Documentary "King Corn"

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:06:00 +0000

I watched the movie King Corn for this project. It is a low budget documentary about two recent college graduates who move to Iowa in order to grow one acre of corn and then follow it into the food market. This film was impressive in many ways. Since the film was pretty low budget, they had to improvise their animations and some of their research. For example, when they are explaining the history of the corn farm and the impact government subsidies have had on the corn industry, they use children's toys in stop-action animation. Also, they were not given access to the corn syrup manufacturing plants and, so, figured out how to make high fructose corn syrup in their kitchen from the internet, which was a particularly hilarious and impressive segment. They are also very consistent in their endeavor. It is their desire to be hands-on about every aspect of growing their acre of corn and their inability to do that in some cases is highlighted and reflected on. They are also very committed to their project. There is something refreshing about watching a documentary made on a low budget and with the very transparent imprint of the filmmakers on it. Because of the low budget quality and the relationships and connection the filmmakers make and the obvious commitment they have, the documentary has an authentic feel to it and gets the message across. There are fewer moments of bias in this film because you really sense that they are learning things as they go along, right along with the viewer. They present information rather than make commentary. It doesn't really have a "position" other than "there is stuff in your food that you don't know about and you are often eating something without realizing it" and, yes, it convinced me hugely.

The primary point of this documentary was to educate the viewer about what is in their food. Further, though, they wanted the viewer to also become aware of how what they eat is not just, literally, who and what you are, but also reflects your position on how the government treats farmers and the food industry, whether we are aware of it or not. Overall, I think that a documentary like this helps people understand that there really is more to the ordinary things in our daily lives than we think.

In order to help students think about ways to create their own documentaries or be able to critique the ones around them, I would probably show some docs side-by-side. For example, I would show this one along with Food, Inc, because that one was clearly higher budget and had more of an agenda. I would ask students to try and identify those things on their own and point out instances of bias in one and not in the other, etc. I would do the same thing with a Michael Moore doc, for example, alongside other, lower-budget productions about the same issues. I would eventually ask students to create their own doc about something relevant and important to them.

Who Owns My Media??

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:33:00 +0000

WCCO morning news broadcast:

The first story was about a man who was saved from a burning car by passersby. The story included two brief interviews and lasted about a minute.

The second story was a 30 second glimpse into a shooting that occurred in Lakeland Shores. It turns out it wasn't random.

Next was a 3-4 minute exclusive look at the private life of the man responsible for the Fort Hood shooting. Clips were played of the inside of his home and special attention was paid to his Muslim faith and there was an extended clip of some emails between him and a well-known imam.

Amy Klobuschar is working to help unemployed vets (30 seconds)

The search for St. Paul's new superintendent continues and the candidates are all local except for one (1-2 minutes)

Republican Jungbauer drops out the governor's race because of troubles raising funds in this difficult economy (2 minutes)

High-tech maps will be helping people in the river valley combat floods this season, thanks to a federal grant (2 minutes)

There is a poaching controversy in Cannon Falls. It seems a world-record sized buck was shot illegally, which brings up safety issues (2-3 minutes)

News was made up mostly of local stories that dealt with economy, crime, and public figures. The weather was glossed over fairly quickly and was exclusively local.

Sports news was very quick and dealt mainly with the nuts and bolts of sports, like the new Target field.

The ads featured were for Discover credit cards, flu vaccinations at Children's Hospital, a realty company, and Sony gadgets.

The most obvious thing about watching this news is the tone of the reporter or anchor's voice. Their tone reflects the attitude they expect you to take on the issues you're watching. Additionally, some of the stories included pictures and interviews, others were glossed over, despite the impression that they were relatively important. For example, the story about Senator Klobachar was a talking point, but the story about Jungbauer included a picture, quotes, and facts about him, even though the story was about him dropping out of the governor's race.

In a typical week, I get most of my news from NPR, which is community funded news. I also watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which is owned by Viacom. CNN, which is Time Warner. My internet access is via Comcast. I think the majority of the time I spend on the internet is on sites owned by Time Warner. I read mostly Harper's Magazine, which I believe is independently owned.

I don't think it's possible for a news organization to be truly unbiased. Who owns the station definitely effects the content of the station. An owner's political interests will be respected in the stories that are broadcast.

As an activity for students to critically analyze the news, I might have students create broadcasts about a book that we are reading. For example, a new broadcast about Romeo and Juliet, one from the side of the Capulets and the other from the side of the Montigues. From there, we could explore bias in the news, what it means for someone to "own" the news, how to tell if something is biased, and ways to fill in the gaps.

Ad Analysis

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:16:00 +0000

In the spirit of full disclosure, I hate this ad and that is why I chose it for this project. The target audience for this ad appears to be middle- to upper-middle class women who don't work and who are the sole housekeepers. The women are portrayed as silly and giggly. The ad implies that having cheap things is bad, but that this product, despite being cheap COSTING, could pass for something that is acceptable to have in the home. People who couldn't afford to go to France can buy this candle and might be able to convince people that they can afford things that are, in fact, out of their reach.

The ad is trying to sell their product, which is often identified as being cheap, maybe even tacky. However, they are trying to position their product as something that could pass for something else. The ad implies that faking having something - whether it be a lifestyle or a particular material object - is better than not having it at all.

Additionally, this ad implies that women are the ones who keep the home and talk of virtually nothing else. They also seem to have nothing to do during the day except socialize, bake pies, and make their home smell like a french one.

Glade Commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Ad Project

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:12:00 +0000

I made this "ad" as a way of critiquing modern solutions to obesity and general overweight-ness. Pills as answer to everything is becoming increasingly more prevalent and I believe it is a dangerous trend. When people think that there is a pill out there to solve any problem they might face, they fail to take personal responsibility for their choices. For example, a pill that helps you lose weight, but may, in fact, be unhealthy for you in a variety of ways, neglects the notion that losing weight is a means of getting healthy, not just skinny. The package may encourage users to eat right, exercise, and consult a doctor, etc, but again, the mere notion that a pill can cure all, and that one's weight and general appearance is more important that overall health is a dangerous one.

I think that having students create an ad or a parody of an ad and present them to their classmates is a great activity. Or students could be given ads along with supplemental readings and asked to re-write the the words, disclosures, or general messages that are in the ads. For example, students might be given a "Got Milk" ad that shows a half-naked woman with the milk mustache, along with a short article about treatment of dairy cows, antibiotics and other additives in milk. The student would then, using iMovie or ComicLife create thought bubbles for the ad, with the woman thinking "this is a milk ad? I thought I was doing a sports illustrated swim suit shoot. And, geez. My stomach hurts...," etc.

Film Noir Activity

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:17:00 +0000

Film Noir Activity:

In order to have students consider the elements and conventions of film noir, as well as engage with the stereotypes and limitations of it, groups of 3 or 4 students would receive a slip of paper with the title of a fairy tale or cartoon on it. The students would then adapt the story and present it as a film noir. Audience members would try and guess the story and take notes on the specific elements the other students used. Alternately, students could take scenes from film noir and translate them into other genres. These activities would help students become more aware of the elements that make up different types of film.

Film Noir PP by Molly and Laura

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Film Noir Pp 1

Media Ethnography - Fantasy Sports Teams

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:47:00 +0000

I chose to focus my media ethnography on fantasy football leagues, because I know many people who are involved with them, including family members, but I know very little about them. Before I began observing people involved in these leagues, I made a few notes about the preconceived notions I had about them. I had noticed that the members were generally very enthusiastic about their leagues and their individual teams. I also noted that for many of the people I knew, they appeared to be more of a social institution than an athletic one.

One thing I really did NOT know about the leagues was the time, effort, and money people invest in keeping up with them. There seem to be about 3 different "types" of participants: the people who are in it to have fun, the ones who are in it

It turns out that many of my previous observations were supported by my ethnographic observations. I observed participants in two main environments. First, I interviewed people I knew who were involved with fantasy football leagues (even though I began this assignment interested in fantasy teams in general, I ended up only observing football participants) and then I "lurked" in on a few fantasy chat rooms.

The people I spoke to noted that their participation was generally for social reasons. They spoke of the parties and events that surround participation in the leagues. However, people in the chat rooms were involved more for the challenge maintaining their team presents. They were much more interested in talking about statistics, current news about players, and they appeared to take on a more challenging/aggressive tone with others.

It is important to note that the vast majority of people I observed and interviewed were men. The men commented on women that were in their leagues and often spoke of "luck" when women were brought up. So, generally, I interpret one main reason for why people to get involved with fantasy teams is to establish a manly/macho stance. Women typically get involved in order to be seen as "one of the guys." This is not something that they say, but comes from the From what I can tell, women who are involved for reasons other than that keep to themselves and have all women leagues and don't get as caught up in the competition online.

Another reason people seem to get involved is the reward they get out of it - money. I would contend that the "risk" this poses entices many participants. Socially acceptable gambling that can be turned into a social event seems to be attractive to men who otherwise struggle to find social opportunities to get together.

Buying Happiness??

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Critical Lenses

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:44:00 +0000

Gender/Rhetorical Lens:

This is a smart and probably pretty successful commercial. In addition, it is an important message. Before one gets too immersed in critical lenses and begins to critique everything through them, it's worth remembering that sometimes, the message in a text or in media are important ones that have to be said.

Scrutinizing this ad through the critical lenses of gender and viewer response, gives it a different hue. The commercial appears to work because the subject is male. It's funny to watch a man be frustrated by his son, and even possibly regret having him. You get the sense that the child is behaving badly simply because he's a child, not because of parenting. I would argue that a woman in the same situation would not be as amusing to watch, because of the roles men and women are supposed to play in regards to their children.

It's implied that the parents aren't married and that if he had just used a condom, he would have been able to have responsibility-free sex, but the woman's decision to have the kid got in the way. Whether the subject were the mother or father, the implication is also that it's the woman's "fault." Men need to use condoms, not because it's a safe choice, but because it would free him from the "ball and chain."

Three friends set loose upon the wide, wide world...(imovie post)

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:41:00 +0000

In the summer of 2005, three friends set out to see the eastern side of the western side of the wide, wide world. These are their relics...

I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to use this program. I've always been daunted by imovie, thinking it was far too advanced and complicated for me to learn, especially as someone who wasn't going to be making professional films for anyone beyond my friends, family, and students. However, learning this program has made me so much more confident in embracing other programs that may seem inaccessible to me. I am also much more confident that I can facilitate the use of this program in classroom in a meaningful and relevant way.

I can think of a variety of things students could do with this software. For example, I am really interested in young people's relationship with music and how it shapes their identity and the strong presence it plays in their lives. This program provides an opportunity for students to pair their visual thoughts about a text or theme with music they find important or meaningful. Whether students are aware of it or not, engaging with music is engaging with language and literacy - even if the music is purely instrumental. By stressing the way certain music can enhance and limit interpretation of the image it's paired with, I would hope to encourage students to think about how different mediums interact with and inform each other. Students can also benefit from a discussion about silence and how what isn't said can be as important as what is.

Additionally, this software provides opportunities for students to explore the mood elements of literature by adapting things we read into images for a movie. By adapting a dialogue-less scene into a movie, students are being asked to consider how a scene in a book is "seen" on camera. An exploration of this kind would also help students navigate other forms of media by being knowledgeable about what certain kinds of lighting "say" and the tightness of a camera angle can "reveal".

Overall, this technology is a wonderful way to invite students who struggle with traditional forms of assessment or who are interested in a variety of media to enter a dialogue about meaning and literacy and express themselves on their own turf. Imovie brings the visual elements of literature and the literary elements of music into the English classroom.

Using film/video in the classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:12:00 +0000

How to creatively and meaningfully integrate film criticism into a Language Arts classroom:

When I was in school, movie day meant having a day off. Watching a movie in class was something we did when there was a substitute, or in between units to give us a "break". Watching movies was rarely used for direct instruction. We watched movies in Spanish in Spanish class, with the subtitles, presumably to give us practice listening to Spanish and to teach us about Spanish/Hispanic culture. We were always suspicious, though, that movies were used when the teacher simply did not want to come up with a lesson for the day. And this was probably true. The point, though, is that for me, thinking about movies as a mode of instruction is a little foreign. The more I consider it, though, the more I appreciate the opportunities using film in the classroom affords. Movies are a pervasive in our lives and it would be naive not to consider how bringing film into a classroom can effectively peak student's interest and get their attention. It is also archaic and elitist to assume that being a literate member of society is confined to being able to read and analyze books. Being able to read and analyze a movie requires skills similar to those needed to analyze literature. Next, I outline some ideas I have about how to integrate film criticism into a Language Arts classroom in a way that celebrates the traditional aspects of what such a classroom is meant to teach and also acknowledges and provides credibility to newer forms of "literature".

1.) (This activity would be used in a unit on script writing, "showing-not-telling" etc). Give each student a slip of paper with stage directions on it. For example, "it is night," "actor moves stage left and collapses," or "actors appear in a cramped, cold apartment". To begin, either in small groups or as a class, play a form of charades where the other students have to guess what the stage direction was. Then, ask students, in small groups, to write a literary scene in which this stage direction is employed, but not explicitly - they have to show the direction in their writing, not tell. Finally, show a scene in a movie and have students record what the stage directions might have looked like in the script. Then, in small groups, have students choose 3-4 directions they picked out and write a short story that the scene from the movie might have adapted. Discuss the elements of literature that filmmakers attend to in order to give life, or "seen" to the "scenes". From here, you could read passages from famous literature that has been adapted to a movie and talk about how this is done.

2.) Looking at film through critical lenses might be a good way to introduce those lenses to students. It's possible that students are more familiar with the medium of film and be more comfortable critiquing it than literature.

Annotation Nation!

noreply@blogger.com (Molly S) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:12:00 +0000

CLICK HERE to see annotations on the wedding scene in Natural Born Killers.

I chose this scene to annotate because I particularly like this movie. People often think I'm a little crazy and sadistic when I reveal it as one of my favorite movies, but I enjoy it because there is SO much going on. This movie makes a heap of commentary on the media and it's tendency to sensationalize and superficially celebrate the macabre aspects of society and human nature. At the same time, it does not apologize for human nature and even suggests that what is unnatural and dangerous is to try and subdue it.