My Media Literacy Autobiography

Brainstorming my Media Literacy Autobiography

1.     What are your earliest recollections of watching television, going to the movies or listening to the radio? Growing up, we did not have cable television until I was about ten years old. We had an extensive movie collection. I think this is why I get funny looks from my husband when I respond to something that happens with a random movie reference that he has never even heard of. I remember we first got cable television when I turned ten, and I also got a television that year for my birthday. I loved watching shows like Wishbone, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, and Doug. As for listening to the radio, I always had to listen to what my parents were listening to. When I was with my mom, it was country music (which I cannot stand, now), and with my dad it was always the oldies station.

2.     What commercials or advertisements do still remember from your childhood? I honestly could not remember any distinct advertisements or commercials, so I asked my husband if he remembered any. Once he started talking about ones he remembered, it started to make me remember them, also. The Tang commercials, the Campbell’s commercial where the little boy is a snowman that melts, the Nesquick commercials, and basically any other 90’s item that is not around or popular anymore.

3.     Do you remember desperately wanting to buy something as a child based on an advertisement? What was it? Why did you want it? I remember growing up that once Thanksgiving came and went that the toy commercials got more and more prevalent. I remember waiting for the commercials to see what toys were going to be out for Christmas.

4.     What are your earliest recollections of using social media? My earliest recollections of social media are Xanga, Myspace, and AOL Instant Messaging. I would spend much of pre-teen and early teenage years typing in Xanga, arranging my Top Friends on Myspace, and messaging my friends on AIM.

5.     Describe a negative experience with social media? The problem with social media is that it is too easy to access people. For example, when my husband and I first got married, he had his phone number on his Facebook (not a good idea). A girl that he knew as an acquaintance started texting him. It ended up causing problems because she was relentless. We eventually had to go get him a new phone number and change the privacy settings on his Facebook.

6.     Describe a positive experience with social media? Instead of focusing in on a personal experience, I wanted to see something positive I just saw on Facebook today. A soldier took a picture of a little stuffed fish that was sent to him in a care package with a note from a little girl that this was her friend that protected her from monsters, and she wanted it to do the same for him. I loved this story and that it was being spread all over the globe by means of social media because it highlighted some good in the world during a dark time.

7.     Describe your current media viewing habits (binge watching Netflix shows on iPad). My husband and I both have certain shows that we watch, and we watch them as an entire family. My favorites are Pretty Little Liars and One Upon a Time. Shows we like to watch all together are Biggest Loser, American Ninja Warrior, and Ink Master.

8.     Do you have a favorite commercial or advertisement? My family (not sports fans) always jokes that the only reason we watch the Super Bowl is for the commercials. My husband, who is a sports fan, never finds this funny. I think my favorite commercials are a tie between the Sonic commercials with the 2 guys in the car (because I find them hilariously ridiculous) and the Mayhem commercials for All State (because I love the sarcastic attitude of the character).

9.     Have you bought something recently because of an advertisement? We went Christmas shopping on Black Friday and we purchased 2 games that my oldest son saw that he really wanted. He saw the commercials on TV and got really excited.

10.  What have you read or heard recently on the radio, TV or Internet that has caused you to have a strong reaction? Describe and explain. I would have to say that everything on the news and social media about what happened in Paris caused me to have a strong reaction of anger and fear. I was angry that someone would hurt others like this, and fear because of the state of the world today.

11.  When do you think you became media literate? Give an example. I would say that when I got into middle school was when I became media literate. I was going online to search for information, whether for pleasure or for school.

12.  Do you consider yourself digitally literate? Explain. I believe that I digitally literate. I know how to find information online, I know how to evaluate information online, and I know how to work my way around many different forms of digital technology.

13.  Find 3-5 quotes from the course reading that cause you to have a strong reaction. Reread your reaction. Do you still find these quotes powerful? Why? Why not?

"As a result, when inappropriate sharing or relational aggression happens on Facebook and Myspace, its impact can reverberate across many aspects of school life" (Hobbs 124).

"There are many things that I claim to 'know' that I know only from mediated experience" (Hobbs 72).

"School leaders can inspire educators by helping teachers make large and small steps toward embracing new ideas and instructional practices" (Hobbs 170)

I still find all of these quotes powerful because all three show a different part of media literacy: the importance of using digital media responsibly, recognizing what one knows, and the importance of working together.

14.  What course reading or video impacted your thinking the most about the importance of developing the digital and critical media in school?

15.  What approach to media literacy to you most closely align:​

As much as my love and devotion to books is, I must say I fall more under the media literacy movement. As a Teacher Librarian, I focus a lot of my units on finding information using digital media and teaching them how to read and valuate the information.

After you answer the questions review your answers and then answer these questions:

1.     What role has media played in your life? Media has always played the role of a luxury in my life. In my childhood, media was not very relevant because there was a lack of it, and when I got older, it became a way of communicating with others or looking up things that interested me.

2.     Has your relationship with media changed over time? Now, with my job, media is more of a necessity. I use media to look up information for lessons, and I teach digital technology skills. I still use it as a luxury for communication, but it does hold a more prevalent place.

3.    Has your understanding of what it means to be literate in the 21st century changed or evolved because of this course? How? My understanding of being 21^st century literate has changed from just being able to find information to being able to use the information, evaluate the information, and deconstruct the information.

4.     What, if anything, do you notice about your own experiences with media that can help inform your future teaching practices? I think that I could use my experiences in order to show my students the positive and negatives of media so that they can use their better judgment when using media.

5.     Why is it important to incorporate media literacy into your current or future teaching practices? I think it is important to incorporate media literacy into my teaching practices because it will better prepare my students for the future. Media literacy is becoming more and more of a necessity in this 21^st century world.

6.     How will you incorporate media literacy into your future teaching practices? I love the idea the one video gave of teaching students how to find stories in the world and how to tell these stories.

 

If you are the protagonist of the story you have just told. What kind of story is it?

A member of a band of bold adventurers! I see life as an adventure, and I love to experience it with those around me (although I have a little reading grasshopper in me, too.)

My Digital Story

My digital story is all about me finding out I was going to be a mother for the first time. I did not have a stereotypical response; I didn't jump up and down with joy. No, I cried and was terrified. But with the love and support of my husband, we fixed our situation to prepare to be parents. My story ends with me showing that adding children to your lives does not mean that your life is over. Adding a child to our lives meant that our lives had just begun.

At first, I thought my story was just that, a story. I didn't think it could be used to do any of things mentioned. But I began to think about my audience, young mothers. My story could provide support young girls who became pregnant and were scared or nervous. Too often, women are expected to be overjoyed at becoming pregnant, but that puts lot of pressure on them. Sometimes, young girls need to know that it is okay to be afraid of becoming a mother. I think my video shows that it is okay to be afraid, but with love and support, everything will turn out good in the end.

Infusing Digital and Media Literacy Across the Curriculum

Chapter 9

"School leaders can inspire educators by helping teachers make large and small steps toward embracing new ideas and instructional practices" (Hobbs 170)

There is really a chain reaction that needs to occur. State board needs to inspire school administrators, schools administrators should be trying to inspire their teachers to push the boundaries, and teachers should be inspiring their students to embrace new ideas and to push themselves.

"When integrating digital and media literacy into the subject areas, it's possible that superficial uses of digital media and technology may trivialize the practice of accessing, analyzing, composing, reflecting, and taking action" (Hobbs 171-172)

I have seen it often that teachers will say they incorporate technology into their classrooms every day, when in reality they use a PowerPoint program to accompany their lecture. We are doing our students any justice if we are not showing them how to truly incorporate technology into their lives.

"A deep commitment to student voice is at the heart of digital and media literacy" (Hobbs 175).

We must not take the voice of our students' away. They have to have the chance to speak their own stories, otherwise digital and media literacy is just another school project.

Tha Danger of a Single Story

Three things I learned about storytelling are that there are examples of every culture somewhere in literature (even if it is sometimes hard to find), there is always more to the story, and there is an awful stereotype of African culture portrayed in most literature.

The most important thing I learned is we must not close our eyes and minds to a single story because each story has so much more, below the surface.

Chapter 6

"Researchers have shown that students who write about topics they choose freely write lengthier essays and their work is more detailed and clearly organized." (Hobbs 109).

As an English major who has student taught in several English classrooms, I would have to most definitely agree with this statement. It goes along with the fact that students will read (even if they are reluctant readers) something that they have interest in. That is why, as a teacher, it is so important to know your students. I do a Reading Interest Inventory every year so that I can better suggest books to my students.

"Readers, viewers, and listeners pay attention to stereotypes because they are familiar" (Hobbs 114).

I think this goes along with what the speaker in the TED Talk was saying about the gentleman reading her book. He was paying attention to African stereotypes, and he noticed that her characters did not follow these stereotypes, so in his mind they were wrong.

"When teachers choose to deconstruct media messages that students consider to be pleasurable, there can be an emotional fallout" (Hobbs 119).

Students just want to be accepted for who they are, with their peers and their teachers. Students cannot wait to tell their teachers about something that happened to them. They always want to ask if the teacher saw this or heard that. When a teacher makes them feel ashamed for something they found pleasure in, whether the teacher does this purposely or not, causes a disconnect and it hurts the students.

Eveyone Around You Has a Story to Tell

I definitely understand and agree with him stressing the importance of hearing a loved one’s story. In my undergraduate, I took a class that required an interview a family member to get an oral family history. I interviewed my dad, and he told me this amazing story about how my grandmother and grandfather met. Without going into too much detail, him riding to a sale on a cow was how the story began. Like the speaker, I had the privilege of getting to know more. I got to learn more about where I truly came from, and that was amazing.