Collaborative Media Literacy Group Workshop

What we ultimately decided to do for our project was to analyze things like tone in all different types of media. We want to use topological analysis to help students analyze the stimuli they see everyday. From texts read in class, to videos seen on youtube, advertisements, pieces of art, etc. They all want to convey different emotions or illicit different emotions in you as you view them. We want to show students how these things work, and point out differences and similarities in the forms of media and how they affect you, are more effective and/or less effective.

New Media in the Classroom

Do's and Don'ts for Media in the Classroom

In our Collaborative Media Literacy group we're discussing how to use media to teach a subject, like English or Physics. This, of course, is the hot topic amongst teachers; how do we incorporate new media into the classroom, as so many of our students are so well versed in how to use media. It keeps them engaged and interested in the learning process as it evolves with them. My interest in education is to keep it as real as possible; use it to shed light on the world around students, as it is ever changing and evolving. We have to keep using technology and including it in the classroom, but at the same time we shouldn't just be filling their heads with facts, we should be teaching them how to process the stimuli they're receiving everyday.

Myth Today

I wonder how myth is faring today. We've been discussing myth in class for awhile and all of them just seem like fairytales nowadays. Most I've never even heard of. What about myths people still believe today? Most of us believe that myths are inherently false, but some of us still believe myths today. Catholics, for example, theoretically believe the Holy Bible in its entirety is a completely true account of what has happened in the world. Of course, most probably have doubts as to the validity of the text.
What role do myths play in our world today?
Mythbusters and Video Games seem to be the only places we see myth in contemporary society.

Myth Today

Reading Myths

We've been reading more myths, and they are fascinating. One of the things that I was considering while reading these myths is how they sometimes share characteristics. For example, I posted the video of the opening of the Hogfather, which has a world that lies on the back of a turtle. This reminded me very much of the Iroquis creation myth, where the world is created on the back of a turtle floating in a sea. They are not the same myth, but share the idea of the world on the back of an animal, in this case a turtle. 

We were also assigned to read a myth about Pele and her sisters and I was really excited about that because, of course I'm Hawaiian, and also because Pele is such a popular figure in Hawaiian mythology. She was able to withstand the onslaught of Christian missionaries to the Hawaiian islands, even after the ancestral religion was abolished. Female Divine, indeed.

Myths

We're beginning our descent into World Myths, and I was lucky enough to get my first choice of the Creation Myths. Of course media plays a huge part in all of our lives, so my first thought when I got Creation Myths was: The Hogfather (a TV movie).

Poetry

Ohh Poetry. So our class was asked to write two original poems and post them on their blogs. We read them in class today (some of us) and I am amazed at the creativity of some of my fellow students. In particular, Megan's poem and Cherie's poems stuck in my mind. Megan's was very deep, had symbolism, alliteration, and other poetic conventions. Cherie's poems were different, but full of raw emotion and shared a lot with the class. I thought that was very brave of her to put herself out there. I think poetry is one of the ways a lot can be said or inferred, and it's very powerful. It is a very strong representation of one's self. There are so many new and exciting ways to express yourself, could they all be considered a kind of poetry?

"If you limit language, you limit self."

Poetry

Attack

The sun is shining.

        Everything is clear and bright.

Panic

       Fear

                    You are paralyzed.

Your breath is stopped dead in your lungs.

                        Someone is squeezing your chest.

A fiery, sharp pain blooms where it shouldn’t:

            Your heart.

                        You must take a breath

            but you can’t.

Like drowning—

Seeing the surface

              but not touching it.

You know this is fatal.

            Like falling

only you can’t catch yourself.

       You cannot move.

The electrical wiring in your brain

            has been shocked.

You can’t think anymore

                    but one sentence.

You must take a breath.

But you can’t.

Suffocation

Your heart begins to throb

That slow throb of tired muscles

That can do no more.

Stranger

I remember wondering daily

Why you never came.

I remember getting letters

with nothing but a name.

I remember for my birthday

A stuffed animal best friend—

One thing I can’t remember

is hearing your laughter never end.

I remember that one morning

A postcard came from you.

It said “missing you this day,”

signed by a man I never knew.

I remember never feeling

A father’s loving embrace

Or seeing an endearing smile

On an old, familiar face.

I remember feeling hatred

For a man who never knew me

Because while you expected love

You just could not see:

I never learned to feel for you

From a father’s loving embrace,

So all I have is an unsteady smile

For your unfamiliar face.