Media is something that I have been thinking about in the classroom. I never realized its impact on people until something major happens. Well recently this has come across my mind because of my students and what they do on a daily basis. Social media, internet, t.v., are all so important in our lives and my students. Many of them do not even realize that they are using the media every day. They just think of it as watching t.v. or playing a video game. The impact that these things have on my students is crazy. Don’t get me wrong I adore these things as well and use them daily.
So back to my original thought…media in the classroom. Is it always a good idea to integrate these two things? I would say yes because of how much of an impact it has on our lives. I do not use media as a babysitter in my classroom like most think. We use it to investigate different reading skills, explore new places for science and social studies and examine how math can change. I want to see how we can use the media as a positive thing and how it can help us learn.
This year so far in 4th grade we have been using media to help us with reading and social studies. In our reading class we have used the media to help explore plot and story elements. The students are just as engaged with our media lessons as they are when we have books in our hands. As a class we have been able to discuss and take our skills and apply them to our reading. We have been able to use silent movies to infer story elements/plot. Also we have used e-books to listen to the story while tracking a printed copy to see the difference in listening for elements and finding them in a story. I want to bridge media and literacy to help students the most, by giving them different opportunities to grow and explore.
One adventure that I want to tackle in 4th grade this year with my students is using media to help with their writing. Creating a fake social media layout or even starting a private blog that they can post to can help build confidence in their writing. Writing seems to be growing to typing, snail mail (postal services) is now a novelty and a fun way to contact people. E-mail, social media, etc is how we all write and contact, by exposing students to these experiences now they will be more prepared for what will come. The basics are still not over looked nor is the traditional paper and pencil.
I believe that media is something that has a place in the classroom and can be effective used properly. There are times when the media has been abused as just a way to keep students busy but I hope and plan is to continue to use it as an effective tool that will help benefit my students. So far this year in reading and social studies we are off to great start. I want my students to see how media plays a role in our lives an how it can be positive and negative.