You can access my final project on google docs with the following link:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYKRzPeoSpNEZGdwa253M25fMWczM3ZuZGdz&hl=en
Thanks for a great semester!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Film Adaptations
I use film adaptations all of the time in teaching social studies. It takes a lot of time to find the perfect clip, but students really enjoy it and I think that it really reinforces material from their readings. Currently I am adapting the HBO Miniseries John Adams to show parts of in the next couple of days. It is a great miniseries that gives seemingly authentic looks at the time of the Revolutionary War. I am also currently adapting the movie Luther to show to my world history class. Sometimes I show very short clips from youtube from shows such as 300 or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Any type of visual really helps to engage students, as long as it is not too prolonged.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Frontline - Healthcare
I watched a Frontline documentary on healthcare recently that was filmed during the 2008 presidential race. The point was for the commentator to travel to five countries (Great Britain, Taiwan, Japan, Switzerland, and Germany) that are obviously industrialized and "first world" countries, and to see what their healthcare situations were. The audience for this piece would be educated, middle-classed people who have the time and the interest to watch a program on healthcare. Also I suppose you could argue high school students could be a potential audience because my students watched it as well.
Techniques that I thought were effective were his tone of voice and what he said. He kept each segment to around nine/ten minutes and the way he spoke and how the scenes were shot kept a potentially boring subject, interesting. The interviews were well done and were with common people from the different countries as well as doctors and people from their governments.
There were various perspectives given, and the plusses and minusses were discussed, however I got a feeling of bias while watching. In every example the United States was the worst option available. For example, Japan's healthcare system is such and such, tweny zillion times better than the United State's healthcare system. The angle at which information was presented definitely had a pro-universal healthcare slant to it.
Overall the documentary was informative and engaging and I would recommend viewing it.
For a lesson plan, I would do what I have already done. I had my political science class watch the documentary, and while they were watching it they had to take notes on the different froms of healthcare each country had. After the show was over they had to write an essay about what an ideal healthcare system would look like and it could represent one country, or could be a hybrid of a few countries.
Techniques that I thought were effective were his tone of voice and what he said. He kept each segment to around nine/ten minutes and the way he spoke and how the scenes were shot kept a potentially boring subject, interesting. The interviews were well done and were with common people from the different countries as well as doctors and people from their governments.
There were various perspectives given, and the plusses and minusses were discussed, however I got a feeling of bias while watching. In every example the United States was the worst option available. For example, Japan's healthcare system is such and such, tweny zillion times better than the United State's healthcare system. The angle at which information was presented definitely had a pro-universal healthcare slant to it.
Overall the documentary was informative and engaging and I would recommend viewing it.
For a lesson plan, I would do what I have already done. I had my political science class watch the documentary, and while they were watching it they had to take notes on the different froms of healthcare each country had. After the show was over they had to write an essay about what an ideal healthcare system would look like and it could represent one country, or could be a hybrid of a few countries.
Song Analysis
I like a lot of styles of music. Recent concerts that I have been to are: Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Jason Mraz, Bruce Springsteen, and Bon Jovi. I like to attend concerts that are going to have musicians that are singing songs that I know, and also are going to put on a good show. The song that I pick is I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. All of last year I would have my students analyze the lyrics. One of his lines are, "I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror, and bending over backward just to try and see it clearer. But my breath fogged up the glass. So I drew a new face and I laughed." To me this means that he has been trying to figure out who he is and maybe is being someone that he truly isn't, which wasn't clear to him, hence the fog. So he changes from the person that others want him to be into a few face, which he likes. Jason Mraz has a good blog where he writes some pretty insightul stuff.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Kare 11 News Broadcast at 10:00 pm, 11-11-09
News broadcast analysis:
The first segment was on a woman, Monica Say, whose picture was shown and who was arrested after having been caught with her two children, ages two and four, in a car that was swerving. She was dignosed to have twice the legal limit of alcohol and she had marijuana in the car as well. Her children were not buckled in their car seats. They showed her arrest picture as well as they had a clip of the public safety director giving his opinion on the case. This was Kare 11s lead story and it lasted about two minutes. They attempted at making it really shocking to grab viewers attention and to create outrage and interest so that the viewers would keep watching.
The next segment was on two horses that got shot in two separate pastures, but owned by the same person. They used really good photo and video shots and you got a good sense of what happened to the horses, you saw the bullet wounds, and you felt sympathy for the horses. The shooter ended up being a thirteen-year-old autistic neighbor of the man who owned the horses. This segment was around 2 minutes as well.
After these two longer segments, the following were a bunch of quickly mentioned news:
* U of M football player accused of assault by a woman who says he hurt her after she spoke to his girlfriend
* Calvin Collum is a teacher who was arrested after having sex with a student at a high school
* Governor Pawlenty and Mike Jungbauer and the governor's race
* Unofficial winners of the election
* President Obama made an unscheduled stop in Arlington Cemetary
* ROTC vets had a vigil for Veteran's Day
* Lou Dobbs of CNN gave his last broadcast. He is quitting to pursue other interests
This next segment was longer, 1-2 minutes:
Minnesotans are watching more television due to the economy. They had clips of people watching tv and people giving their opinions
This segment was also longer, 2-3 minutes:
High school students were learning about money management in what this station calls its "Take Care of Your Money" report. The students were at a clinic where they went around to stations with a new identity and had to figure out how to live on a budget. I liked this segment, it was well shot and had good interviews.
Next is two short segments, about 30 seconds each:
The first was about a sandbag calculator for the Red River Valley to help figure out how many sandbags would be needed for flooding purposes.
The next segment was entitled "Before we go" and was a cutsie segment to end the show with, California skydivers.
Analysis:
I thought it was interesting that they were all young, attractive, and white. They began with a shocking story and the scary news first. Next they ran short political news, and then they ended with local and cutsie stuff.
News that I watch: I do a lot of internet news through yahoo and various other sites. I also watch Meet the Press every week.
One paragraph activity:
I would have my students in political science watch a few different news programs and their goal would be to record the topics and the angle they were presented in. Their goal would be to look for media bias. After they collected this information from various sites we would analyze it as a class, or they would write an essay explaining and analyzing their findings.
The first segment was on a woman, Monica Say, whose picture was shown and who was arrested after having been caught with her two children, ages two and four, in a car that was swerving. She was dignosed to have twice the legal limit of alcohol and she had marijuana in the car as well. Her children were not buckled in their car seats. They showed her arrest picture as well as they had a clip of the public safety director giving his opinion on the case. This was Kare 11s lead story and it lasted about two minutes. They attempted at making it really shocking to grab viewers attention and to create outrage and interest so that the viewers would keep watching.
The next segment was on two horses that got shot in two separate pastures, but owned by the same person. They used really good photo and video shots and you got a good sense of what happened to the horses, you saw the bullet wounds, and you felt sympathy for the horses. The shooter ended up being a thirteen-year-old autistic neighbor of the man who owned the horses. This segment was around 2 minutes as well.
After these two longer segments, the following were a bunch of quickly mentioned news:
* U of M football player accused of assault by a woman who says he hurt her after she spoke to his girlfriend
* Calvin Collum is a teacher who was arrested after having sex with a student at a high school
* Governor Pawlenty and Mike Jungbauer and the governor's race
* Unofficial winners of the election
* President Obama made an unscheduled stop in Arlington Cemetary
* ROTC vets had a vigil for Veteran's Day
* Lou Dobbs of CNN gave his last broadcast. He is quitting to pursue other interests
This next segment was longer, 1-2 minutes:
Minnesotans are watching more television due to the economy. They had clips of people watching tv and people giving their opinions
This segment was also longer, 2-3 minutes:
High school students were learning about money management in what this station calls its "Take Care of Your Money" report. The students were at a clinic where they went around to stations with a new identity and had to figure out how to live on a budget. I liked this segment, it was well shot and had good interviews.
Next is two short segments, about 30 seconds each:
The first was about a sandbag calculator for the Red River Valley to help figure out how many sandbags would be needed for flooding purposes.
The next segment was entitled "Before we go" and was a cutsie segment to end the show with, California skydivers.
Analysis:
I thought it was interesting that they were all young, attractive, and white. They began with a shocking story and the scary news first. Next they ran short political news, and then they ended with local and cutsie stuff.
News that I watch: I do a lot of internet news through yahoo and various other sites. I also watch Meet the Press every week.
One paragraph activity:
I would have my students in political science watch a few different news programs and their goal would be to record the topics and the angle they were presented in. Their goal would be to look for media bias. After they collected this information from various sites we would analyze it as a class, or they would write an essay explaining and analyzing their findings.
Crime Genre Analysis Powerpoint
Hello~
Here is the access to the analysis Jaime and I did on crime genres. We had a lot of fun recalling the similarities that crime genres have.
http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUxg0wZoSxn0ZDVuM3piNl8zMmRmbjhjY2d6&hl=en
Here is the access to the analysis Jaime and I did on crime genres. We had a lot of fun recalling the similarities that crime genres have.
http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AUxg0wZoSxn0ZDVuM3piNl8zMmRmbjhjY2d6&hl=en
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Activity for Advertisement
I think advertisements are a cool way to get students thinking about content as well as using their artistic abilities. One way that I could use this for my class is to have them create advertisements for our psychology memory unit. The students have to create an ad where they attract viewers based on their knowledge about the primacy-recency effect as well as short-term memory restraints. This would be applying some thicker vocab to an activity and hopefully would aide in recall.
Victoria Secret Advertisement
Victoria Secret Ads always make me laugh...a little. They are usually about a very basic product...underwear and bras. They have funny, yet appealing logos - for example this one is for "Secret Embrace". The women are always gorgeous with long flowing hair that is blowing in the wind. They are always very thin and the vision of perfection. You always think you will look like them. Until you get home. And you try the bra on. And reality hits.
http://www.spike.com/ifilmdetail/2870039/share
http://www.spike.com/ifilmdetail/2870039/share
Voice Thread
Hello~
I did my voice thread on graffiti art. What I used to see as completely a violent disrespect for space, I now see as (not always, but sometimes) creating space and voice to areas where people are not allowed to define their space. If only the rich can afford to purchase space to decorate, where does that leave the rest of us? Why should our world be defined by capitalism and the selling and purchasing of space? Graffiti art attempts to take back that assumption and redefines art, space, and the artist.
http://voicethread.com/share/717173/
I did my voice thread on graffiti art. What I used to see as completely a violent disrespect for space, I now see as (not always, but sometimes) creating space and voice to areas where people are not allowed to define their space. If only the rich can afford to purchase space to decorate, where does that leave the rest of us? Why should our world be defined by capitalism and the selling and purchasing of space? Graffiti art attempts to take back that assumption and redefines art, space, and the artist.
http://voicethread.com/share/717173/
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Critical Analysis of Media/Film - GREED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7upG01-XWbY
Above is the youtube clip from the movie Greed. It is a very short clip in which Martin Sheen defines the term greed, a small but symbolic representative sample of the movie at large. Using a Marxist view, capitalism and greed is represented in an ideal setting. If you work hard, smart, and are willing to do whatever it takes, you will gain happiness, riches, and success. The main character is of course a white male, with his hair slicked back and in an expensive suit. He is representative of our societies concept of success. There is a definite focus on achievement and also the fact that few make it as far as he has, money is everything, and you need to do whatever it takes to get to the top or your life isn't worth anything (very western capitalist, free market system, Republican).
A feminist perspective might criticize the need for male economic strength and power as a postive force in society. He is representative of being at the top of your game in life, but is it truly representative? He is almost speaking with a single voice, a single perspective that he is saying represents not only society, but the United States at large. Everyone else are the "other" and at the mercy of his economic manipulations.
Above is the youtube clip from the movie Greed. It is a very short clip in which Martin Sheen defines the term greed, a small but symbolic representative sample of the movie at large. Using a Marxist view, capitalism and greed is represented in an ideal setting. If you work hard, smart, and are willing to do whatever it takes, you will gain happiness, riches, and success. The main character is of course a white male, with his hair slicked back and in an expensive suit. He is representative of our societies concept of success. There is a definite focus on achievement and also the fact that few make it as far as he has, money is everything, and you need to do whatever it takes to get to the top or your life isn't worth anything (very western capitalist, free market system, Republican).
A feminist perspective might criticize the need for male economic strength and power as a postive force in society. He is representative of being at the top of your game in life, but is it truly representative? He is almost speaking with a single voice, a single perspective that he is saying represents not only society, but the United States at large. Everyone else are the "other" and at the mercy of his economic manipulations.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Media Ethography - Taylor Swift Concert
Last week my three children and I went to see Taylor Swift in concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis. We got there about forty-five minutes early so that we could find our seats, get some snacks, purchase a t-shirt, and run to the bathroom before the concert began. The only way we were able to get tickets to the Taylor Swift concert was to purchase individual tickets, so unfortunately my three kids and I were sitting separately.
The first observation I made (and was aware of throughout the show) was the chaos of the t-shirt lines. The concert had many different t-shirt stands that sold t-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, etc. and the lines were crazily solid with people. I got my kids settled in their seats with their snacks and thought I would jump into a line because I had a few minutes before the opening act began. I waited in this packed line for twenty minutes and did not move an inch! People were spending more on t-shirts then they did on the actual ticket to come. They could buy similar t-shirts at the mall, but there is some type of stigma attached to "the" concert t-shirt. The most interesting part is that people waited for the t-shirts even during the opening act and even during the actual Taylor Swift concert! Now that is the confusing part - you come to the Taylor Swift concert not to see her, but to get the t-shirt so that you can proclaim to all that you have seen her. Luckily I found an empty line and purchased my overpriced t-shirts quickly and got back to the concert!
The section that we were sitting in was a "sit-down" section. Some times you get in the sections that stand during the entire concert. It seems as though it is either one or the other - either everybody sits or everybody stands. The sit-down section is a little more laid back, almost more like observers of the event. The stander-upper sections seem more like they are a part of the act - they are more engaged in the concert and it is almost like a two-way conversation. The sit-downers are enjoying themselves, but the conversation seems to be one-way.
Another interesting point in the concert was when she miraculously appears in another part of the arena. People went crazy and ran in the direction of where she was, hoping to touch her or be seen by her. It is almost as if in touching her they would receive a blessing, or musical talents, or something special. Taylor Swift was a big hugger - she would hug as she walked along and would want interactment. Proximity to the talent seemed to motivate interest and engagement in what was happening.
The concert was pretty long. Lots of people had their kids there. People were willing to be at a concert on a Sunday night until around 10:30ish pm, take the long ride home (we didn't get home until 12:15 am), and then have to get up for school and work the next morning. It is amazing what people (me included) are willing to do to experience a good show, an entertainment experience that breaks them out of their every day existence.
My kids loved the concert as well. One daughter was in the "standing" section so she was pretty pooped by the end of the night. My other daughter loved the costumes and the funny things that they would do. My son enjoyed the music, and although he knew some of it, he wished he had listened to more of her music before going. He ranked her concert quite highly. Overall the concert goers seemed to be pretty pleased with their time and money investment. Proud participants, proudly wearing their well-fought for t-shirts, sleepily walked to their cars after the concert, sated for now, but willing to brave the chaos again for another grand escape.
The first observation I made (and was aware of throughout the show) was the chaos of the t-shirt lines. The concert had many different t-shirt stands that sold t-shirts, sweatshirts, posters, etc. and the lines were crazily solid with people. I got my kids settled in their seats with their snacks and thought I would jump into a line because I had a few minutes before the opening act began. I waited in this packed line for twenty minutes and did not move an inch! People were spending more on t-shirts then they did on the actual ticket to come. They could buy similar t-shirts at the mall, but there is some type of stigma attached to "the" concert t-shirt. The most interesting part is that people waited for the t-shirts even during the opening act and even during the actual Taylor Swift concert! Now that is the confusing part - you come to the Taylor Swift concert not to see her, but to get the t-shirt so that you can proclaim to all that you have seen her. Luckily I found an empty line and purchased my overpriced t-shirts quickly and got back to the concert!
The section that we were sitting in was a "sit-down" section. Some times you get in the sections that stand during the entire concert. It seems as though it is either one or the other - either everybody sits or everybody stands. The sit-down section is a little more laid back, almost more like observers of the event. The stander-upper sections seem more like they are a part of the act - they are more engaged in the concert and it is almost like a two-way conversation. The sit-downers are enjoying themselves, but the conversation seems to be one-way.
Another interesting point in the concert was when she miraculously appears in another part of the arena. People went crazy and ran in the direction of where she was, hoping to touch her or be seen by her. It is almost as if in touching her they would receive a blessing, or musical talents, or something special. Taylor Swift was a big hugger - she would hug as she walked along and would want interactment. Proximity to the talent seemed to motivate interest and engagement in what was happening.
The concert was pretty long. Lots of people had their kids there. People were willing to be at a concert on a Sunday night until around 10:30ish pm, take the long ride home (we didn't get home until 12:15 am), and then have to get up for school and work the next morning. It is amazing what people (me included) are willing to do to experience a good show, an entertainment experience that breaks them out of their every day existence.
My kids loved the concert as well. One daughter was in the "standing" section so she was pretty pooped by the end of the night. My other daughter loved the costumes and the funny things that they would do. My son enjoyed the music, and although he knew some of it, he wished he had listened to more of her music before going. He ranked her concert quite highly. Overall the concert goers seemed to be pretty pleased with their time and money investment. Proud participants, proudly wearing their well-fought for t-shirts, sleepily walked to their cars after the concert, sated for now, but willing to brave the chaos again for another grand escape.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
VideoAnt Analysis
Wow, I really liked this site! Very cool - I used it for a Pavlov experiment clip that I use in psychology. Here is the link:
http://ant.umn.edu/embed.php?projID=1253766507
Have a great week!
http://ant.umn.edu/embed.php?projID=1253766507
Have a great week!
History of the Land Vlog Analysis
I went to http://minnesota_stories.blip.tv/posts?view=archive&nsfw=dc and found a little clip about a man's excursions in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota. The clip was entitled, History of the Land. I really enjoyed watching a few of these clips that were about regular Minnesotans.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
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