Monday, February 14, 2011

Gullf spill crisis

President Obama seems really concerned in this picture. He almost seems helpless. His body language suggests that he has been defeated. His facial expression would imply that he is deep in thought, and he has no answer or solution to the problem. The camera angle this photograph was taken is to show a close-up of President Obama's face. This communicates uncertainty, and puts panic in the American people. If the President of the United States is worried and has no solution then this must be a serious issue. There are books in the background that shows he is doing his research on the issue. These books were purposely placed there to provide comfort to the viewer of the picture. Even though President Obama may be concerned, he is doing everything in his power to fix the problem.




This picture of President Obama shows confidence. He appears very confident in this picture. His body language suggests that he is in control on the situation. He also appears to be taking action. Unlike the first photo, President Obama is on site, getting his hands dirty. He has many people surrounding him, which makes him look important. The American flag flying in the background is very patriotic and communicates unity among Americans. No matter what political party you may represent, everyone wants this crisis to end. The choice of clothing is very interesting for President Obama. He is not wearing his usual suit. He is wearing a blue collar outfit with his sleeves rolled up. His appearance would imply that he is ready to go to work. Anything that needs to be done he will do it. 

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Teacher of the year!!!

Media Literacy

While more and more students are going online for information our schooling system is still stuck with traditional literacy classes. Many current media literacy classes revolve around recognizing propaganda in the media, while most students still do not know how to distinguish reliable search results in a search engine. Traditional literacy skills would include reading comprehension and writing skills. Many teachers believe that teaching media literacy would eliminate or dull the traditional skills. However media literacy skills due improve reading comprehension because students have to distinguish what is true/untrue, bias and so on. While teaching media literacy, a teacher could assign a blog assignment to work on students writing abilities. Many areas in media literacy could easily be taught in a traditional literacy class. Teachers need to take that next step, before they lose their students completely.

Monday, February 7, 2011

This quote is from Coach John Wooden. He was a legendary basketball coach at UCLA. Coach Wooden won 10 national titles and holds the record for most consecutive wins by a men's basketball team. Coach Wooden was more than a coach. He was an excellent teacher. He believed in kinesthetic learning and learning by doing.