March 10th, 2008—March 16th, 2008

1. What’s in a Name?
2. Primary Program
3. Academic Banquet

What’s in a name?

My full name is “Amy Lynn Whitney.”

It means “Beloved Cascade of the White Islands.”

Context/Description:

I was having a discussion with one of my friends last Tuesday who told me that he is an Uncle now. He showed me a picture of his nephew on his cellphone and told me that it was named Aires. He also told me they were thinking about calling the boy Poseidon at first.

Analysis:

First of all, it is interesting to me to note the preference of mobile photo albums today over more traditional modes of photo sharing. I still use regular flash cameras but even I use my cell phone more often to take pictures than any other medium. There is definitely a preference among my generation for digital photo taking—and digital sharing.

Secondly, the fact that the little nephew was named Aires fascinated me. I’ve never heard of anyone naming their child after the God of War before. The name does sound neat but I wonder what the child will think of it’s name when it gets older. I think the kid is up for some major teasing, in all honesty, which could lead to the kid either becoming a social reject or being transformed into the school bully and really living up to his name.

What were his parents thinking?

Having this conversation with my friend really got me thinking about how names serve as icons and signifiers—and how every name has a different meaning. Some names even have stereotypes associated with them.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

Names of celebrities and famous characters carry a lot of connotations and iconic power apart from their literal meanings. We hear these kinds of names on television, on the radio, through magazines, books, and the internet. Names (in a sense) are the foundation for our communities—NAMES are the defining feature of all things. Have your students explore the questions of “What does your name mean?” and “What does your name mean to you personally?” Students will be required to complete a community portfolio as the final project of this unit. Within the portfolio they will put such things as a personalized family crest & worksheet and their literal & associative name explanations written up in a 2-3 page response paper. The defining feature of the portfolio is having the students create their own advertising community. In order to do this, students will be asked to use their names to promote a product (essentially translating their names into a logo) and present their logos and product promotions to the class. I think it would be wise to also have students include a cover essay in their portfolios containing research and a mini historical overview of the use of their names in the media world up to the present time. All portions will be combined and placed into the portfolio and evaluated by the teacher with a grading rubric.

Primary program

Context/Description:

I am the FHE “Grandma” of my ward. My Co-Chair (Grandpa) and I were asked to organize a “Primary Program” by request of our Bishop. We have a single students ward and the way we organized our “Primary Program” was by FHE groups. The Ma’s & Pa’s of the FHE groups took the information and assignments back to their groups to prepare their “children” and “families” to participate in this event. The “Primary Program” was held this Sunday during the Sacrament Meeting Block.

Analysis:

The “Primary Program” was a huge success! Each family had people assigned to memorize and recite simple gospel principles (i.e. “I can pray to Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere), people assigned to share two minute testimonies, group songs, other random demonstrations, and a fair bit of acting on some of the participants parts. People also held up pictures when they spoke. We told the Ma’s & Pa’s that they could pretend to whisper in their children’s ears if they forgot their parts and overall just to have fun and bask in the lovely spirit of plain and precious truths. Our Stake Leader’s happened to be there that Sunday (to do their gospel “question and answer” session with our ward) and they enjoyed it as well. In the preparations for this event there was a lot of opposition from different sides, but it turned out wonderful. Our Bishop explained in his concluding remarks that when he received the booklets for the Primary Program from the church, at first he wanted to “rent a Primary” for our ward, but then he thought it would be neat for us to do it. He bore his testimony to us that he knows that “everything we need to know in order to return to our Heavenly Father, we learned in Primary” which has echoes to the famous book Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

What impressed me the most temporally and spiritually was how wonderful it was that everyone in our ward was given the opportunity to have their voices heard in Sacrament Meeting—whether it was in Music or the Spoken Word (as we like to say in our church) everyone was given an opportunity to share their love, talents, and testimonies with each other. This was amazing because for student wards there just isn’t enough time to hear from everyone at the pulpit during Fast & Testimony meetings or with an average of three Talks given per week.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

I believe the voices of the students in our classroom often do not all get adequate chances to shine and be heard because of the time constraints laid down in school schedules. I think it would be lovely for the English departments at my future schools to pull together and organize a “Primary Program” at school with roots in promoting excellent moral principles and which would incorporate the principles of media and textual literacy. The way I would do it is by collaborating with other teachers to organize a school play requiring or providing an opportunity for all within one particular grade level to participate. We could design simulation and translation skits and exercises to be included as well as parodying commercials to fit school themes and the moral principles we want to promote. The ideal time to start such an event would be in conjunction with the start of lessons within your class (my English class) about Shakespearean plays (or other noteworthy plays)—so that they may learn about plays and then have an opportunity to get first hand experience in the process of media production. It might even be a great idea to let students in on the organization process and come up with a way of “modernizing” a Shakespearean play (or another play) to perform on stage. Parents and members of the community could be invited to the show when it is ready to be performed and school funds could be raised from the endeavor. Communities truly come together when it comes to supporting the education of their youth by coming to a play—plus I imagine it would give students something to do and perhaps even help to lower the rate of delinquency in some cases.

Academic banquet

Context/Description:

I received an invitation this week by mail to attend the annual “Academic Banquet” hosted by the Brigham Young University’s Residence Halls Association. These invitations are only given to those students “who receive a Fall Semester GPA of 3.9 or better, as well as student leaders within the organization.” The invitations always have a theme and this year it has to do with TIME and comes from Grandfather’s Gold Watch by Louise Garff Hubbard:

“When you hear it ticking, you must always remember to ask yourself,

What have I done with my name? What have I done with my time?”

Analysis:

The actual invitation is a bit too nostalgic looking for me, but then again that particular look fits the scope of the proposed theme. It’s just that in honoring academic excellence, you don’t necessarily want the first thing that pops into your head to be Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” the moment you see the invitation—even though I dearly love Barber’s Adagio.

I will be attending the Banquet this Thursday evening (so I cannot tell you specifically about that yet) but as far as the invitation is concerned—I really liked the quote used for it, although I’ve never heard of its source before. That’s part of what intrigues me about it; I love to come across things I’ve never seen or heard before that speaks to the heart of truth within our souls.

I’m not sure many people pay attention to the ticking of time in relation to having meaningful reflections much, if at all, anymore—especially when it comes to considering what they have done with their time. Just examine statistics about the average amount of time people spend with media in comparison to reading or writing, and you’ll get a feel for what I mean. I remember that last semester in one of my classes I conducted a survey asking youth about what kinds of things they write. The most common responses were that they prefer to type and that writing notes was the most important for them. Only one person out of all those I surveyed said specifically that they kept a journal. The majority of them didn’t do much writing at all. The power of the pen is being willingly sacrificed at a terrible price: the loss of down time for students. It is good for students to have time to themselves, as I learned in my psychology class last spring, but many students are surrounded by digital and other influences all day long. What does a nation lose when it fails to take the time to reflect? I believe they lose more than time—they lose perspective.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

Time Management is a huge issue for some students and a crucial topic in the evaluation and production of media. There are shows such as “60 minutes” that overtly stress time constraints. There are also the guidelines of commercials that must be twenty to thirty seconds long, movie trailers that typically project an identity of themselves for one to three minutes, and films that can be no longer than three hours for theater audiences. How many of these time constraints are produced for convenience, for mere conformist tradition, or for the purpose of pedagogical interests? How many things that students do in a day are done only for convenience, peer pressure, or academic interests? Teach students a lesson about time management in which you present specific strategies for success such as planners, SMART goals (goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, & Timely), and using digital time management helps (clocks, timers, musical alarms). You can teach about a multiplicity of things—but lead the lesson into a discussion of how the SMART goals can also apply to the creation of media. Have students put into groups that are assigned to script infomercials with the theme of “Time Management” as a promotional tagline for specific community processes (i.e.: driving, waiting in lines, eating healthily, or doing homework J ect). Each group has a time constraint of a minute in which to present their infomercials. Students will act out their infomercials for the class towards the end of the period. Depending on the size of your class and the number of students assigned per group, it is generally recommended that you reserve between ten to fifteen minutes of class time at the end of the period for the groups to present.

March 3rd, 2008—March 9th, 2008

1. William Glasser, M.D.
2. Mike’s Auto Tune & Tire
3. MTV Yearbook Music Video

William glasser, m.d.

Context/Description:

I received an e-mail about three weeks ago from the head of my department, Chris Crowe, informing myself and other English majors of a special lecture coming up. We were highly encouraged to attend. The topic of the presentation was “Every Teacher Can Succeed” and it was from 4:00-5:00 in the HBLL. I had penciled the information onto my calendar and attended the special lecture on Wednesday.

Analysis:

The only thing I knew about William Glasser before going to this lecture was that he is one of the top “classroom management” authorities within the United States. At the lecture everyone in attendance was given a pamphlet in electrifying colors (bright blue, bright yellow, and white). The title of the pamphlet is “Defining Mental Health as a Public Health Issue.” I confess that I have yet to read the whole pamphlet but I fully intend to when I get some extra free time. What I liked about this lecture was the emphasis on the definition of mental health and a practice called choice theory.

Mental Health was defined by Glasser as the ability to get along well with anyone you want to get along with or need to get along with (as well as the ability to use the knowledge that we have to do so). The focus of what we should teach in the classroom is how to apply the knowledge that is being taught.

When Glasser explained his profound “Choice Theory” I just burst into a bright grin. From my LDS perspective I knew that what he was talking about was allowing agency in the classroom. Choice theory has four parts which it addresses: 1) Basic Needs, 2) A Quality World, 3) Total Behaviors, and 4) Creativity. The more creative you are the more effective you’ll be.

There were many wonderful principles I learned, but those two things seemed most prevalent to me at the time. The overarching theme of the lecture was that we can teach successfully by never giving a low grade. We should move beyond grades and homework in the traditional system. If students do their work and are able to demonstrate that they know how to apply it, then that should entail the substance of a good grade.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

The generations of students we will teach are very different from your generation or mine. They are not as prone to comply with the traditional modes of the educational system that we know of, but they are increasingly more brilliant and innovative than ever before. In teaching students, it is important to consider their cognitive, linguistic, and social needs. Technology makes it easier for students to be isolated from one another and even “playing outside” is something rare. I believe that a nonchalant lesson for students about Media and their Mental Health would be beneficial. The lesson I would teach has a root in the lecture I attended (with the choice theory principle of Total Behaviors and cars). First I would show students different car commercials and ask them about the feelings that they associate with the images. Gradually I would move the lesson into an analogy about total behaviors. On a car there are the front wheels which determine the steering and direction of the car, and the back wheels follow wherever the front wheels direct them. Comparing it to ourselves, our feelings and physiology are like the back wheels and the front wheels are comprised of the ways we think and act. People tend to focus on the back wheels—but that is the WRONG FOCUS—because if we change our acting and thinking than we can feel better about ourselves and literally move in new directions. I would expand this more in the future, but basically I believe that it is possible and well worth the effort to incorporate self esteem lessons into my curriculum for students because their self esteem is directly linked to their social success inside and outside of the classroom setting.

Mike’s auto tune & tire

Context/Description:

I have gotten a Utah License now and needed to get a safety & emissions done on my car. I searched the internet for places near me that I could go to and decided on Mike’s Auto Tune and Tire.

In short--NEVER AGAIN!!!! They do it all alright... all dishonestly.

Analysis:

When I arrived for my appointment, they asked me how I found out about them since I had never done business with them before. It was one of those survey kinds of questions. And when I said “through the internet” the man looked puzzled for a moment and said “Hmmm… that’s not one of the options here, but I’ll type it in.” He was very intrigued.

First of all, I thought it was interesting that a business can be promoted on the internet without the business having an initial knowledge of it (through Google maps and such). Secondly, however (and on a slightly different note) I could not believe how dishonest they were with me after the inspection. I know a few things about cars because my Uncle has his own family business and my brother apprenticed with him for a couple years. So when after my inspection they failed me on three counts and produced a bill of over $700.00 in repair costs, I wasn’t duped because I asked to be shown the problems on my car and I knew that my car was running fine—it had just had inspections from California in the summer before I came up to college this last Fall. Anyways, long story short equals to the fact that my car should only have been failed on one account (the muffler, which I am getting replaced at another place which is honest with me) and it was a job that should not have been over $300.00 as they proposed, but between $90-$130.

What's hilarious is that later this week after I went to the hypocritical Mike's, they sent me a personalized letter with a coupon in it: $10.00 off your next car service. Yeah... like they think $10.00 is REALLY going to change my mind and get me running back to their company. My initial experience with them made me a bit furious, but after receiving that letter I just burst out laughing.

I'm grateful that I have a good knowledge base about cars so that I wasn't deceived and taken advantage of---but so many other girls in the world get wheeled into the repair price deceptions because they don't know any better.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

Knowledge is important for encountering such situations as this head on if you do not want to be deceived. This week I’ve been thinking a lot about cars… but my experience made me think of all the car commercials and advertisements that suggest integrity and honesty for their services and what ratio of them actually upholds to what they proclaim. I believe it would be worthwhile to shake things up a bit and have the girls in your classroom do group research projects on cars, their parts, services, and prices—and to have the boys in your class do group research projects on something that they might get duped on in the future (jewelry perhaps?). If nothing else, have all the students in your classroom arranged in groups that have about an equal amount of boys and girls in each group. Students will collaborate together in their groups to provide a research paper presenting the financial costs of repairing the car they have been assigned and be asked to analyze how the reality compares to the promises and portrayals of an accompanying car commercial for a company they will also be asked to research.

Mtv yearbook music video

Context/Description:

This will be an analysis/discussion of bodies in different settings. This analysis is drawn from the viewing of the music video “Lip Gloss (No Music)” by Lil Mama. The music video may be found on the MTV website 2007 music video yearbook or by clicking on the link below.

http://www.mtv.com/music/yearbook/

Analysis:

First of all, I have to say that for all the product placements that occur in films and other media genres—I was really surprised that this music video did not promote a specific type of lip gloss (unless KLS stands for a brand I am unfamiliar with). That is highly ironic when you consider that the message of “whacha know bout me. My lipgloss is poppin’. My lip gloss is cool” is repeated in such a brainwashing yet catchy fashion. The video combines a teenager’s desire for popularity, with the world of the “Stomp” culture (the group who creates ambient music from objects that are not technically termed as traditional instruments).

The bodies in this music video are presented as robotic and mechanical—as machines that can only be distinguished by one feature that sets them apart (as is emphasized in the music video)—the lips and their lipglossyness. The tempo to which the bodies keep rhythm seems to accentuate the social drama of the school game—the need and desire for students to “gloss” their way to the top of the social hierarchy. There is nothing particularly sexy about the bodies apart from the colors of the lips in the video. Every image of a body (especially Lil Mama’s) displays modern fashion but the fashions are minimized in matters of visual importance when compared to the images of the faces and the initial angle’s of the camera shots. Having your body stand out among the crowd requires no real great concerns but TWO from an interpretation of this music video: the issues of luscious lips and an average doll shaped body figure. Body shapes including facial features and the products for their enhancement take precedence over body coverings (clothes) and daily functions. The concept of teen body acceptance is a big issue, but it is interesting that lip gloss is provided as the simple solution. I noticed there wasn’t anyone particularly fat in the video though…

Body determines recognition and power.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

Frankly, I believe it is important to be aware of the physical development of the body in general and as it correlates to the students you teach (so that you can better understand their issues and concerns about their development, and respond to those issues and concerns within appropriate bounds)—and in fact, I took a whole class about keeping such knowledge in the forefront of my mind when teaching (concepts learned from SCED 350). It is also well known that the Greeks and other cultures have always been fascinated with the human form. However, teaching specifically about “bodies” in the classroom is a sketchy issue. I would have no problems teaching a lesson about “body” to a class but in order to create that lesson I would have to take into consideration the maturity level of my students and the legislation that drives the boundaries of such discussions. In short, I would need to assess the specific needs and realities of my students in the classroom before designing a lesson on “body image” that allows contact with media content and some of the goals of media literacy in general.

February 25th, 2008—March 2nd, 2008

1. Mattel Barbie’s
2. King Arthur: The Icon
3. English Language Learner’s

Mattel Barbie’s

Context/Description:

I’ve been thinking a lot about Barbie’s lately… especially this last week… and for the last couple of weeks I have been starting to organize my intents for doing a collection of Barbie Narratives by request of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections section of the HBLL. It made me think of this e-mail I received a while ago. I found it in my archives of saved e-mails and looked at this forwarded message again this past week. Below you may see and read it. Then I will proceed with the analysis and so forth.

Mattel recently announced the creation of a limited line of custom-made Barbie dolls specifically made for the SALT LAKE CITY market:

"Park City Barbie" She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey, and a four million dollar home. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic, ex-model Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version of Barbie. "Draper Barbie" The modern day home-maker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan and matching Juicy Couture gym outfit. She gets lost easily, has no full-time occupation, and her favorite hobby is taking crafting classes at the Quilted Bear. Traffic jamming cell phone/Blackberry sold separately. "Kearns Barbie" This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, an OJ Simpson knife, a 1995 Chevy Silverado with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about. "Cottonwood Heights Barbie" This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of a black BMW convertible or black Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, platinum credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them. " West Valley Barbie" This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and Tweety Bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud Light and a Toby Keith CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately, and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely FREE! "Emigration Canyon Barbie" This collagen injected, practically plastic Barbie wears leopard print leggings and your choice of tops from Bebe at the Gateway. She drinks cosmopolitans and serves hot hors d'ourves while entertaining her attorney friends. Percocet prescription available, as well as newly built high-rise condo. Charcoal gray Range Rover sold separately. "Magna Barbie" This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Rose Park Barbie's house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, Lee Press-On nails and a see-through halter top. Also available with a mobile home, furnished entirely by Furniture Warehouse on Road Redwood. " The Avenues Barbie" This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup, granny glasses and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow. She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Avenues Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free. "Rose Park Barbie" This Barbie now comes with a stroller and 2 infant dolls. Optional accessories include an oversized NFL Team shirt, GED and a UTA bus pass. White boy Gangsta Ken and his 1979 low-rider Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant. "Provo Barbie" This celestially beautiful Barbie comes complete with skirt and sweater set from Talbots, modest heels and a Sandra Dee hair-do.Optional accessories include GMC Suburban with seating for twelve, Amway Double-Diamond Dealer benefits card, and a laminated temple recommend. Elder's Quorum President Ken sold separately, along with children Ken Jr. and Skipper (children sold only in bulk packs of 8 or 10).

*********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE ***********

Analysis:

Honestly, I’m laughing too hard to make an analysis of this thing!!! It uses sarcasm and stereotyping for one thing, but what intrigues me the most is the variety of ways it has projected Barbie’s gender—even to the extent of lesbian Barbie’s; and although it doesn’t explicitly say so, the innuendo is definitely there. Each Barbie depicted satirically here seems to be commenting on the fact that Barbie does not extend to many facets of real life for women. I do have to say though, that as sad as it may sound, I think Mattel would make billions more than they are making now if they marketed the “Kearn’s Barbie” just because there are a lot of communities like that and it’s a product I see as being interesting to both boys and girls who are starting to border the age of forsaking the doll culture for the teen culture. Mattel could extend their age reach with that product—partly perhaps because Barbie for the first time has a gun. However, I don’t think parents would fly for that idea…

And for one last analytical comment on it, I think whoever put this forward together did an excellent job at stereotyping the typical Provo Molly Mormon, dressed in white and ready to go holy, holy, holy. I’m not saying what they’ve done is right—I actually have a high pet peeve for stereotypes—but they’ve done a wonderful job of tapping into the dominant culture of the areas mentioned in the Barbie captions from what I know of those areas in Utah. The Barbie depictions are ironic, but entertaining nonetheless.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

I put together and taught a lesson about stereotypes last semester for teaching the book The Outsiders to eighth graders. I could definitely create a lesson plan with this Barbie E-mail document to teach about stereotypes, but I think that in a greater light I would use it to teach the concept of community to my students. Although the images do stereotype heavily, they also capture an essence of the community they stand for. I think it would be fun and interesting to split up students into groups to research about the towns closest to them (with one getting the town where the school is located), and then to have students use the information they find to create artistic representations of the type of Barbie and Ken doll that would best represent the majority of the demographics they have discovered from their research. How will they market their ideas and finished products to their employer (the teacher)? How would your Barbie or Ken doll change if you wanted it to sell to the people inside that community as opposed to those who are outside of the community? Students could also make “community” floats in their groups to pull in a school community sponsored parade (in fifth grade I remember my school put on a class parade for different countries we researched and it was fun and informative—the concept of science fair on wheels, but with emphasis to communities here in my teaching application). You could also have students put their Barbie and Ken ideas on display in the school library. This idea can do in multiple directions and that’s partly why I like it so much.

King Arthur: The Icon

Context/Description:

I had to participate in a group presentation on King Arthur for one of my other classes. We each took on a different cultural perspective including Celtic, French, Product Media, Film media, and Popular Culture. I chose the latter point (we each came up with our own emphasis we wanted to explore) and I taught a mini lesson Wednesday on King Arthur as a Promotional icon and incorporated many principles that I have learned from this class.

Analysis:

The lesson progressed very well, and I especially liked how the historical frames of reference built upon each other from ancient to modern. My emphasis was on King Arthur as an economic icon and marketing tool. In my research and preparation I put together a PowerPoint which was added to the overall group PowerPoint. I walked my audience through the connection between what a media icon is and what it does (as opposed to a literary symbol) and then walked them through looking at and analyzing some of the logos that have been created with King Arthur or the Arthurian Legend as it’s backbone. The class really got into it. My only lament was that the time constraint did not allow for anyone in my group to give the full depth to our topic.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

Really I have a lesson plan already in blueprint form. What I would do is expand upon it and create an actual 45 minute lesson plan because the Arthurian Legend themes pop up constantly among other cultures and literary works. I would conduct more think alouds and critical analysis of the images I assembled on the screens of my portion of the PowerPoint presentation. I would expand my bibliography of references and construct the full blown lesson plan in its entirety for future use. We made a handout from our original presentation which I would make copies of for my students because it summarizes the main points from my team members discussions. My original submitted portion of the handout gave a wonderful caption (everyone’s captions were condensed to fit the scope of the 8’1/2 by 11 handout dimensions) but this is what my original caption read which is still saved on my computer to give you an idea of what I’ve done already with this idea (all references were posted on the handout regardless):

McQuade, Donald & Christine. Seeing & Writing 3. “Logos, Flags, and Escutcheons.” New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006.

Sklar, Elizabeth S. King Arthur in Popular Culture. “Marketing Arthur: The Commodification of Arthurian Legend.” North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2002.

Lull, James. Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach. “Popular Reception.” New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.

“Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there has been an increased popular reception of King Arthur and the Arthurian Legend into contemporary society. King Arthur has transcended literary text and been transformed into a collective icon—an icon that is easily recognizable but an icon which does not degrade the meaning of the original text. Rather, King Arthur’s iconic adoption has enhanced the meaning of the original text and helped to sustain the legend throughout the decades. As we explore this icon, please keep in mind the following tenets of an icon as set forth in the essay “Logos, Flags, and Escutcheons” (FYI…an Escutcheon is “a term used in heraldry for the shield displayed in a coat of arms;” Wikipedia.com). An Icon…

1. …is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon
2. …doesn’t sell (directly), it identifies
3. …is rarely a description of a business
4. …derives it’s meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around
5. …is less important than the product it signifies; what it means is more important than what it looks like

An icon helps create communities, an icon keeps the audience’s appeal in constant motion, and an icon is used for expression, influence, stableness, and the construction of identities. King Arthur has been successfully utilized as an icon for these and other pertinent purposes but with the primary motivation being the increase of capital wealth overall.”

English language learner’s

Context/Description:

I was reading an article for my Secondary Education ESL Endorsement course. The article is titled “The World Outside and Inside Schools: Language and Immigrant Children” by GuadalupeValdés. I came across this paragraph that made a profound and interesting statement:

“During the segment of the beginning ESL core dedicated to social studies, an attempt was made by the teacher to cover some of the content covered by the regular sixth grade. In order to cover the topic of communities, for example, the teachers had students draw maps of their communities and neighborhoods. Because the very complex explanations for drawing maps were given in English, the newly arrived students were seriously confused (Valdés; BEEDE booklet, Appendix D: 7).”

Analysis:

I thought it was interesting that in order to teach the concept of communities to English Language Learner’s, the teacher in this situation had the students “draw maps of their communities and neighborhoods.” Using visuals is a great concept to apply for teaching ESL students (because many of them are visual learners) but visuals are not helpful in teaching the concept of communities if they are used out of context, or in this case, not accessible concepts to your audience. In the example above the teacher realized the visual strength of the activity but underestimated the complexity of the task she had appointed her ESL students. The nature and purpose of the activity was noteworthy, but of a fickle foundation.

Lesson Plan Ideas:

In thinking about teaching the concept of communities to my own class of ESL students someday (whether as a core class, pullout, or mainstreamed based program at my school and so forth)—I would use the Guided Practice approach: I do, they watch; I do, they help; they do, I help; and they do, I watch (I created a graphic organizer once for this concept but it won't let me upload it to this--sorry). I believe that if I started by showing the ESL students maps of communities and redrew one, then showed them another map and had them help draw, then another community map for them to draw themselves while I help them—that then I could present them with the idea of creating an artistic map of their own communities and neighborhoods on their own, and that it would be less confusing than the approach that the teacher in the quote above tried to apply to the situation. But I also acknowledge that having ESL students bring in cultural artifacts to talk about in class would probably be more effective than drawing maps in the first place primarily because coloring doesn’t reinforce communication—talking about artifacts and communities does. In my ESL endorsement class we have often had to bring in artifacts to discuss—and we have talked a lot about the difference between written and social English when it comes to teaching ESL students.