« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
Looking through the Critical Approaches to Media Text was interesting for me as a Language Arts teacher. I not only thought it was interesting to see these different terms explained as they apply to Media, but to realize how they apply to so many aspects of Literature in a classroom.
For example the Semiotic Analysis could be used in a really interesting way in conjunction with symbolism, and to look at what we know instinctively ( and how that allows symbolism to work in a piece of literature) and what we need to look into for deeper understanding. I also thought how pertinent the Poststructuralist Analysis would be while teaching, for example, The Great Gatsby. How the general categorization of “things, �and our instinctive knowledge of those “things,� brings meaning to the novel. It’s so interesting to see how much of our analysis of literature is based on this already assumed prior knowledge.
As Beech says that it “is important that students learn to critically analyze media texts� through these different critical lenses, I thought how interesting it would be to pair up, or supplement, literature with media interpretation. Perhaps this would be more fitting for a high school classroom than my middle school classroom. However, I think it would really tie in with what I am hoping to do with using media as a way to make traditional curriculum relevant to students’ interests and to incorporate higher-level thinking as well.
Since I was a student in Education classes at St. Olaf, the notion of creating a multi-media classroom was presented as being of the utmost importance. Through my 5 years in the classroom, it has been a process of trial and error to meet this need. There are a couple of issues that I have found to stand in the way of always making this feasible. 1) It often seems impossible to incorporate new and interesting media into an already established, jam-packed curriculum in Language Arts. 2) There are not always the readily accessible media resources available in schools. 3) To make my reason #1 work, outside of class work would seem reasonable, but not all students have equal access or knowledge of media resources.
However, it is continually my goal and I adapt and build my teaching material to bring more and more media types into my lesson plans. I would like to supplement traditional literature with film/television clips to provide another view point for learning Elements of Fiction. I think it is critical to update our teaching of proper research methods continually as technology in that area on the internet continues to advance. I also feel it is beneficial to draw on the knowledge students have of blogs, music culture media tools, digital cameras( etc.) to enhance the mediums for producing critical analysis.
My goal in including diverse media is to connect with students' interests and their own prior knowledge they bring to the classroom. I think it is important to use these tools to teach the traditional content that has remained a crutial part of the Language Arts curriculum. It not only brings this content into a world that is relative for students, but it also allows more traditional literature and writing to be seen in a more modern way---meaning, the ideas that are brought up in Shakespeare are not so ancient that they do not exist in our world, but these modern tools help us to see them in a more current light. We can more easily compare and contrast them to our modern world. Using media in this way, not only makes the classroom more student-centered, but it also allows us to put a educational use to these modern media mediums that will allow students to transition them into a more adult/professional world.