Media Literacy 2021

At the start of the Ted Talk, Mike Wesch points out the flaws in the statement "some students just aren't cut out for school" by replacing it with the phrase "some students just aren't cut out for learning," which he believes is inherently untrue. Wesch points out that all humans are meant for learning, and that we have just created school systems that don't help all students learn. Wesch found out through interviewing his students that the questions that really drive students in the classroom are "Who am I? What am I going to do? How am I going to make it?" He says that these are the big questions that are motivating students to learn, yet most students don't get to engage with them during school. I will admit that I find this to be a massive challenge- Wesch is teaching in the context of a university, but I am teaching middle school students in a science class. How can I help my students address these questions and make what we're lea...

I found Prensky's ideas about young people as "digital natives" to be very interesting, but I believe many of his assumptions to be too broad. I see the value in distinguishing between those who were born into a time where technology was less pervasive in our society than those born more recently, but I think this creates a lot of incorrect assumptions about young people who have been exposed to technology their whole lives. Boyd does an excellent job outlining some of these incorrect assumptions that Prensky makes, as well as highlighting the danger in those assumptions. At one point she notes that by assuming young people are digital natives, we are actually ensuring that they will become "digitally naive." That comment really resonated with me because that has been my experience working with youth using technology in the classroom. Just as Boyd describes in her text, my students often rely heavily on Google to complete classroom research, without critically e...

 Hello! My name is Abby Dias and I am a 7th-grade science teacher at Roger Williams Middle School. This summer I am looking forward to spending time with my family, exploring Rhode Island, reading, relaxing, and traveling to Martha's Vineyard, Florida, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon! The first book of the summer I finished reading was " Leave Only Footprints " by Conor Knighton, and a show I am currently watching is " Loki " on Disney+.