Week+-+8+-+March+8,+2010+-+Absent

Unfortunately I was absent for this class. What is media Literacy? Media literacy is the ability to read and interpret the media around us including internet, billboards, posters, newspapers, television, radio, etc. Every median has a message that they are bombarding us with. We need to understand who the message is from, who it is directed to, what is the message and is the message valid ? These are all important questions to think about when exposed (every minute of every day) to the media. This ability to interpret media is media literacy. Assistive Technologies: I think that any student would benefit from either Write Out Loud or Co-writer. One does not need to be a Spec Ed teacher to use these in the classroom. Today's classrooms are also more inclusive and students with dysgraphia, autism, etc are in regular classrooms. These assistive technologies would be useful for these students. These technologies would also be useful in an English classroom if you were teaching proof-reading and editing.
 * General:

Software I understand that Barbara talked to us about ComicLife and Bitstrips. I have not used these extensively myself but I def **initely see a use for them in the classroom. In my English class we have often discussed the popularity of **graphic novels.** What better way to incorporate graphic novels in the classroom then to have the student create their own using either Bitstrips or ComicLife. I am currently planning an "Of mice and Men" novel study for my grade 11/12 workplace preparation course and I have been toiling with the idea of having them create a graphic novel of this novel. They could each choose a key scene and create a comic strip for that scene. Below is a Bitstrip of myself which I created.