Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Response to "No Zombies"


4 Direct Quotes

“For most, TV was where they got the bulk of their information about the world outside their neighborhood.” (91)
I agree with this quote because especially now, children are watching more TV than ever, and they believe that what they see and hear to be true.  I selected this quote because I think it is important to break down the media that these students are watching every day, and get down to the other meanings the show is portraying.  
“I had to find ways to engage them. I had to find things for them to do-things that were relevant, things that would interest them, things that could not be accomplished without the one element that sometimes seems most foreign to school classrooms: real, live, unadulterated thinking.” (92)
This quote is extremely relevant to me because when I was in school it was so much easier to remember the information that my teacher would relate to real life situations, or situations that I had been in before.   It would allow me to be more engaged and able to participate in the conversation.  Teachers that approached teaching like this made me feel that they actually cared about me and wanted to know how the lesson applied to my life.
“Better to teach them to become more discriminating themselves, to be able to see through the glitz and pseudo-style of a program to what lies underneath” (95)
I agree with this quote, because as it was stated in the text, TV shows sugar coat real life situations and make it seem like there are never any problems.  But everyone knows that is not relatable.  People have to deal with different situations every day, and by opening up and discussing this in the classroom, students will know that there are many other people in their position as well.
“But in many ways, the "texts" of which these characters are a part are richer and more multilayered than the textbooks and basal readers that clutter classroom shelves.”  (95)
I completely agree with this quote.  If we just teach students out of books or power points, they will get extremely bored and uninterested.  By switching up the lessons and teaching students through a different light, they will appreciate their education more and actually enjoy coming to school. 

2 thought provoking questions:

If we had more of these programs in schools, would it strengthen their understanding of writing and reading because they would be writing scripts and acting them out?
By having one of these classes a day, would it encourage students to come to school every day and give them something to look forward to in school?

2 Related examples:

After reading this article, it really made me appreciate this class.  By learning the different ways to incorporate technology into the classroom, it would help make my students a lot more engaged and wanting to learn.  It would allow them to become more well- rounded students.
When I was in middle school we watched a movie and read a book and compared the two.  We had to note the differences between the two, and how the movie was portrayed in a different way.  This was a way to analyze digital media and literature.