One of the most enjoyable assignments we use at Appalachian requires students to reflect upon the presence and purpose of media in their lives, both in childhood and in adolescence.Since these young teachers will be working with children and teens who have a steady dose of media daily, we want them to reflect upon differences and similarities in terms of what they were exposed to as young people and what today's students encounter in their electronic environment.
In the process they become more aware of media
audiences, and concepts of media uses and gratifications. Rather than
simply writing these journals, the students are encouraged to
interview their parents and sibblings regarding the role media played
in their family. They are encouraged to create photo albums and scrap
books with include items from childhood and adolescence. Frequently
they utilize photographs from Christmas, birthdays and Halloween.
Typically they are seen as reflections of the consumer culture,
receiving mass media merchandise or dressed as favorite media
characters.In addition students include artifacts from the past such
as concert or movie tickets, celebrity autographs, photographs of
their decorated bedroom walls etc.
Typically, the assignment also asks them to compare and contrast
their experiences with media and technology in their living room or
bedroom, with the way their teachers utilized media and technology in
the classroom.
In these pages ,we have included samples and
selections from these journals. Student permission is always
requested prior to publishing any of their work. Since privacy is a
factor, we will not publish photographs that students submit with
their work.
KELLY
COMMENTS:
"I grew up in front of a
television. In a way I guess you could say I was raised by
television. Every day and every night I sat in front of the boob tube
with my brothers watching sitcoms. Sitcoms were our escape from the
realities of life. During my elementary school years my parents were
going through a horrible stage in their marriage. They fought all of
the time. I can remember them screaming at each other in the kitchen
as I laughed at the antics of Vinnie Barbarino on
Welcome Back
Kotter. I learned to recite
the catch phrases of Mr T on the
A
Team. I used to fantasize
about running away to join the
Cosby
Show family. The Huxtables had
such a perfect life. I longed to be part of their world..and I was.
For the 30 minutes that particular show ran, I could absorb myself in
the sights and sounds of other people's imaginary lives; lives that
appeared so much better than my own.
Movies had me from the beginning too. The
Star Wars
Trilogy for my brothers and I
was just about the best thing that could ever have been created. My
oldest brother was Luke Skywalker, my other brother was Hans Solo and
I of course was Princess Leia. I can remember fighting with my mother
because she would not let me wear my hair in the trademark side bun.
I wanted to be Princess Leia and for all intents and purposes,I
was".