Jrichard5's Blog

Metaphors

jrichard5 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:49:09 +0000

“Questions are open ended answers with infinite possibilities”

- Joey Richard

While reading Neil Postman chapter four, I really started to question what we are taught throughout our academic career. He encourages rethinking concepts that we have learned our whole life. One of the things Postman says that I like is to “free our minds from the tyranny of definitions” (p. 160). I have always been an open minded thinker and he encourages this behavior throughout this piece. He refers to overachievers and underachievers. He switches the common opinion of the two by saying the overachievers are people who are not smart but do smart things and underachievers are smart people who do dumb things. Postman encourages his readers to find the possibilities that would not clearly be seen and that is the inspiration for my quote. I always like to think outside the box when questions are asked, it might take longer to answer but the possibilities are endless.

Video Clip Assignment

jrichard5 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:19:44 +0000

Future Career Project:

Description of Assignment:

As eighth graders you are about to embark on a new chapter in your life, high school. I encourage you think about what school is preparing you for. We have talked in class about possible career ideas and what would be a good option for each individual. I have included a clip from a commercial that shows how life is for many people who have not made the best decision in their career. I would like for all of you to avoid this situation by making goals for a great career. Using the clip as inspiration of what life should not be like in the work force, pick a career that you think would suit you best. Your paper should be 2 to 3 pages in length. It should describe the career you have picked, your reasoning for picking this career, and how you expect to reach the goals that the career requires. You will need to be familiar with this line of work so some research may be needed. Resources can be found on line or through a different source. This is an individual project that embraces your future so think realistically.

Project Timeline:

July 24th – must have a career chosen and turned into me
August 14th – progress report due in class
August 21st – final project due in class

How you will be evaluated:

How much attention you have given to your career goal (is it realistic)
The plan for reaching the career you would like
Any research that can support a path for this career
How you think this job will make you happy and your life better
Spelling, grammar, and length

RUBRIC

	40 to 31 points	30 to 21 points	20 to 11 points	10 to 0 points
How much attention is given to career goal	Excellent explanation of career and how it best suits you. A very realistic goal that suits the interests you have.	Good choice for career but not a clear choice why it would suit you best. The interests are there but not clear.	There is not much effort in picking out your career and have not given a reason for choosing for this career.	No effort choosing the career you would like. No explanation of how this would suit you.
The plan for reaching the career goal	Superior plan of execution for reaching your career goal. You have laid out a plan of action that could easily be achieved.	You have a plan for reaching your goals but it is not very clear how that will be achieved.	Not a very realistic plan for reaching the career path you have chosen. The plan of action does not seem achievable.	No clear plan of execution for reaching your career goal. No plan of action.
Research about the chosen career	The research is fabulous! You understand the line of work you have chosen and know exactly how to get there.	Research was done but does not clearly relate back to the career you have chosen.	Very little research without very clear link to your career path.	No research was done on how to achieve the goals your career requires.
How will this career make you happy and your life better	You know what makes you happy and can picture what life will be like in your career.	You are some what sure about what would make you happy and could picture yourself in this career.	You seem uncertain of the happiness this career will bring you and are not sure how it will make your life better.	Can not determine how this career will make life better or make you happy.
Spelling, grammar, and length	You rock! There are absolutely no spelling or grammar mistakes. You have fulfilled the length requirement.	A couple spelling and grammar mistakes but the length requirement is fulfilled.	Many spelling and grammar mistakes. The full length requirement is not fulfilled.	Does not fulfill the required length and paper is full of spelling and grammar mistakes.

Behind the scenes thinking:

The grade level I would like to teach is eighth grade. I made this assignment relatable to students this age. At this grade level students like to think they are moving up and are starting to think more clearly about their future. I thought this project would encourage them to think about where their future is heading and how to get there. It also uses research and writing from first person point of view. I chose this video clip because it is an attention getter that has humor in it. I think it is very important for students this age to laugh and know that it is not serious all the time. I also think it is very important to look to the future and set realistic goals about what the future has to hold. I could also relate this project topic back to my career or even their parents’ career and we could discuss and answer questions about how we decided on our chosen career. What did I or their parents have to do to get where we are in our chosen path. I could also talk about continuing to learn more and make myself happy with the career I have chosen. I would also bring up why it is so important to like what you do and relate that back to the video clip I picked out. I would want to know the career’s that the students have chosen before they begin to work on their project because some ideas could be inappropriate and some students might not have any idea what a good career would be for them. I would probably schedule at least one class period to devote as an in class work day so I can answer any questions or help with any problems they are running into. The standards I have found to support this assignment are: “ELA8LSV2 The student listens and views various forms of text and media to gather and share information, persuade others, and express and understand ideas”; “ELA8LSV1 The student participates in student-to-teacher verbal interactions”; “ELA8W2 The student demonstrates confidence in a variety of genres”.

Visual Media Literacy Project

jrichard5 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:27:14 +0000

The phenomenon known as LOST started on ABC in the Fall of 2004. Since the day it aired the audience has been hooked, some might even say obsessed, but why? The appeal to the extremely successful show is the mystery and the reality of the situation the survivors have been thrown into. Anyone who flies on a plane is risking the unfortunate accident of crashing. Whose to say a plane crash would not lead to a mysterious island? Okay, maybe a little far fetched but that is what makes good television and an audience that can not get enough. Here is a little clip that introduces the audience to the first season of LOST.

The music and the personal danger really draw the audience in for a whirlwind experience. It was not always that simple. The idea of a television show about plane crash survivors had been thrown around at ABC for a few months. No one seemed to get the idea right. Thom Sherman, head of drama division for the president of entertainment at ABC, had made a couple of rough scripts for a show that resembled “castaway the series” (Lost season 1 disk 7). He was not pleased with any of these but knew the idea would be great if in the right hands. The first person that came to mind was JJ Abrams. At the time Abrams was working on Alias and did not have much time but read over the idea to see if he liked it. Not only did he like it, he could not say no to such a great idea. He expanded the idea to be more than just about the plane crash survivors; he wanted the island to be a character in itself. Abrams could not do this alone and ABC recruited some of their most creative minds to be put to work. In a short period of time they had a rough draft of an outline for LOST that ABC could not resist. The show was appealing to all audiences because of the mystery and exploration story line. It also included the bond of friendships forming and the evident romance that could not be avoided. Even from the very first episode, the show felt like a film.

Throughout the seasons most of the survivors have discovered they are related in some way. The audience gets visions of the survivors past through flashbacks of what life was like before crashing on the island. Some of these flashbacks include how many of the survivors bumped into each other or have done favors for another survivor without knowing it. The producers put in the flashbacks so the audience is not in the dark about the survivors past. Without this element the audience is not very invested in the well being of the survivors. This way the audience gets to see what kind of person each character was before crashing on the island. In the present, on the island, each of them are starting a new life and erasing their past. In the past couple of seasons LOST has moved past the flashbacks and started using flash forwards to show what life is like for the survivors after they return to their normal life. With all of the time shifting it becomes obvious that the island can make different time periods come to life. With this, the target audience is narrowed to science fiction and mystery. Though there is still romance, it is now on the back burner. The unusualness of the island and the situation that the survivors are in becomes very apparent with the growing images of disturbing instances on the island. Many times people see or hear people or things that were thought to have died or that are completely unbelievable. For instance, a polar bear is seen in the middle of the jungle, Jack’s dead father is walking around giving Jack advice, there is even a character that does not age. All these ideas come together through the island. The time travel aspect of the island really gets out of hand when the people left on the island are being forced to jump through time because that is what the island is doing.

At the beginning of every Lost episode the producers do their best to recap what has happened in past episodes. Without the noise at the beginning of each flash, the audience would be puzzled as to what is happening. Because of great sound effects along with the visual images, the audience is keyed in to what the people on the island are really going through.

Without the visual images of flashbacks, flash forwards, and the reality of present time, the audience would not be emotionally attached to any of the characters in LOST. As noticed in the clips above, the plot is thicken by the audio orchestrated in each episode. The tenseness of the story line would be obsolete without the great mixture of visual images and interjecting audio.

MLA citations:

“Lost – 5×05 ‘This Place is Death’ – What Happened”. March 2009. YouTube.com. Video. 9 July 2009. .

“Lost: Series Trailer”. July 2008. YouTube.com. Video. 9 July 2009. .

“Lost Trailer Season 1″. September 2008. YouTube.com. Video. 9 July 2009. .

“LOST: The Complete First Season (Disk Seven)”. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc and Touchstone Television. 2005 DVD release.

“ABC.com”. 2009. ABC Lost website. 7 July 2009. .

The Social Web

jrichard5 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:54:08 +0000

In class today we have been exploring the social web. One site that I think could be especially helpful in the classroom would be Good Reads. This website is dedicated to reviews of books and what would interest different readers. If I were teaching a class and we had books to read, I would utilize this website for the students to post part or all of their book review. This way they could be proud of their work and hopefully work harder on their project because their audience is bigger. A good organization tool for teachers would be blog lines. This site bookmarks websites that could be helpful in the classroom or outside. Teachers could get lesson ideas from different sources without having to go to different websites everyday. This site gives updates whenever the site you are interested in changes. It is also convenient to have access to your bookmarks on any computer.

Social Networking Sites

jrichard5 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:43:37 +0000

Before today’s class I really didn’t see a need for social networking sites but with a little research I can now see that it can be very valuable. If I were to use one in the classroom, I think the most likely would be Twitter. This networking site can allow you to post classroom ideas or future projects and get feedback from your students. Changes in policy or just being engaged with your students are good options for the classroom with Twitter. Other social networking sites have positive effects in a classroom setting but I would not want to overstep my boundaries or invade personal space as a middle or high school teacher. This is a good article stating how schools are struggling with the new technology and what would be appropriate teaching standards. On the other hand, there are many negative articles relating to the opposing standpoint on social networking sites in the classroom. Some educators feel social networking sites are just a distraction from the material they are required to teach. The standard in teaching needs to move along with the times and make all the new technology part of teaching tools, even if it is social networking sites. There are ways to integrate them into the classroom as part of a learning environment that can make the students feel more comfortable because they use these things outside the classroom as well.

Things I like

jrichard5 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:52:17 +0000

I am playing around with new things that I can do with a blog… check it out

This is not my actual dog but it looks a lot like her. She is the sweetest dog and I don’t think I will ever have another dog like her.

I also love the beach and my husband and I went here for our honeymoon… It really looks like this while you are there

Web-based Materials

jrichard5 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:48:18 +0000

Since I have been in my English 3241 class, I have had to expore a lot more on the internet. There is an abundance of great resources on the web but there is also a great deal of information that is irrelevant. We have learned how to navagate through material and pick out sites that would be good sources but some are deceiving. Wikipedia can be a good starting point for information as long as there is other sources that provide back up for this information. Using technology in the classroom is vital for this generation and generations to come. Most sites that end in .org or .edu are reliable sources for reseach, however, one must check there reliability. This could could checked by noticing the author, how often the page is updated, and making sure the links on the page work and take you to the right place. With this information students will be on the right track for creating a good project or report.

Web 2.0

jrichard5 — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:39:50 +0000

Web 2.0 makes the internet very personal. It is not just about the big picture any more, it is about making everyone’s opinion matter. I can’t help but think about the movie Click when I think about web 2.0. It seems like we are letting the internet take over our thoughts and our lives. Instead of looking for things we like we can just sit back and wait for the internet to tell us what we might be interested in. It seems to me like our minds and thoughts have to be bombarded every second of everyday. I am not saying that the new web 2.0 is bad, it has a lot of great qualities for teaching and learning thing we might not have known in the first place. Teachers can use the web 2.0 for updating students, parents, and other teachers on events that, otherwise, might be difficult to communicate. It will improve the classroom and make learning more enjoyable and easier. On the same hand I would not want for anyone to completely depend on this for everyday life.

Hello world!

jrichard5 — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:02:31 +0000

Well, I am new to this whole blogging thing so I will just say a little about myself. I am a transfer student at Kennesaw State University. I was going to Georgia State University but just started at Kennesaw this summer. You may be asking yourself, why did you change schools? Well, my husband and I just bought our first house in Kennesaw and it is quite a drive to downtown from my house so it was in my best interest to switch schools. I am pretty pleased with my decision and I am looking forward to all the new knowledge that will be put into my brain.