A really great resource for teachers relating to Media Literacy is the Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit.org). It has tons of topics and resources relating to Media Literacy, but in relation to the arts, film, advertisements, assessment, even stereotyping. The best part is the resources and lesson plans relating to particular curriculum areas. If you click on your area it gives you a link to lesson plans for all age groups. It gives you PDF links for all of their books relating to media literacy as well as more resources for Professional Development.
I really enjoyed learning about the Tinkering School on the TED video for this assignment. It reminded me of another alternative school I read about and presented on in college. It is called the Edible Schoolyard (ESY) at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkley, California. At this school they have a one acre organic garden that the STUDENTS tend to and grow organic produce for the school kitchens. The school has traditional teachers and teacher's associated with the ESY platform that actually integrates all aspects of the horticulture process into traditional curriculum. Students experience culture, history, language, ecology, and mathematics through the preparation of food. Now while this may not relate to Media Literacy, I think Media Literacy is a relation of 21st century skills that we need to give our students. Some of the skills talked about in FSO were play through experimentation and collective intelligence by working as a group. I know we are supposed to be talking about technology all the time, but I just wanted to take a break for a second and show a school that is doing something that is NOT technology based... something that is fundamentally simple, but can still have many of the benefits of media literacy and 21st century skills. In a garden school, students must be able to problem solve, have critical thinking, experiment, work collaboratively and really put their heart and soul into something. I think it is an amazing new, but old, way to look at schools and untraditional curriculum.
Here is a CBS video clip featuring famous chef, Alice Waters, who helped create the Edible School Yard!!!! (As a foods teacher... I am just so in love with this concept!)
Sources:
Center For Media Literacy (2007). Resources. Retrieved September 10, 2009 from http://www.medialit.org
Chez Pannise Foundation (2009). Edible School Yard. Retrieved September 10, 2009 from http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/
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