Haikus

What is on your mind?

Scrolling while Time passes by,

Friends, but no replies. 

Conversations Matter,

Build relationships today,

Put your phone away.

Ideologies, 

They Manipulate Us All, 

Discover the Truth.

Human Relationships

 I see Turkle and Wesch more as allies than opponents. After reading both texts, I noticed that both authors understand the importance of human interaction. Turkle reminds us that people are becoming "alone" even though they are always on "social" media. People today are choosing to stay plugged into virtual world instead of having authentic, face-to-face conversations with one another. Turkle states, “FACE-TO-FACE conversation unfold slowly. It teaches patience. When we communicate on our digital devices, we learn different habits.” By choosing technology over humans, we start to expect things to happen at rapid paces, and we lose the patience and skills to have real conversations. Humans are social animals and I agree with Turkle that many of us today are becoming too dependent on technology instead of people, which in turn can lead us into feelings of addiction and loneliness.

In Wesch’s writing, “Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance,” Wesch argues that students are struggling to find the relevance within their own schooling. He explains that the students are not at fault because they are often programmed to prepare for testing instead of their own role in helping to shape the future. He wants his students to ask great questions, not about whether or not certain material will be on a test. I do believe that Wesch has some similar beliefs to Turkle because he incorporates collaboration in his teaching and human relationships. Wesch explains that he has had classes with hundreds of students but he still finds ways to have them up and moving and working together. Collaboration increases the learning experience and creates a student-centered approach, which in turn increases the “significance” of the education. Therefore, I can see how these authors would agree that human relationships are an important part of our future.

Creating New Toys

Bianca and I decided to create a children's toy that encompasses stereotypical gender norms for both boys and girls. In other words, we wanted this toy to dismantle stereotypes by making something that appeals to all genders and body types. We started with a pink toy car that was colored bright pink with pink interior and purple wheels. The car was obviously marketed towards girls, but since cars are actually stereotypically linked to maleness, we thought this was be a good place to start. We also selected a child's doll that featured makeup, a thin, able-bodied, and long luscious turquoise colored hair.

For the car's transformation, I pained the front of the pink car green, the back blue, and left the doors pink with unicorn stickers. For the interior, I covered the seats with green and gray clay and stuck baseball decals and a pirate flag on top on the seats to imitate seat covers. The end product showcased a car that was no longer designed specifically just for girls.

To transform the doll, Bianca cut the hair short and glued goggly eyes on the face to cover the makeup. She then removed one arm, covered the able-bodied in a brown thick cloth, and painted acne on the face to represent more realistic beauty standards. She also decided to give the doll a gun since guns are strictly found with dolls that are catered to the male population. At the end, we decided to stick the doll in the car with the gun in its hand.

Easel.Ly Visual Tool

I decided to explore a visualization tool called Easel.ly. This digital tool allows users to create infographics to build visual representations. The site offers a free version or users can upgrade to the “Pro” version for just three dollars per month or 36 dollars a year. On the free version, the site offers different themes and objects that the user can include in their visual creation, and it is up to the user to use the site’s search engine to sort through the many available options.

In my opinion, some positives features the website offers includes providing a variety of templates, design options, and text features that can be easily utilized by users. If you were using Easel.ly in a classroom, students can benefit from having the ability to create poster replicas directly from their device. This will still allow students to work on enhancing their creativity since the user can chose how to outline their visual, along with the ability to add their own graphics from an outer source. It also allows students to have control over their own learning and the emphasis on visuals over text can cater to visual learners.

Another positive feature that Easel.ly offers is that students can easily download their finished visual onto their own computer. This will make it easy for students to submit their creations to the teacher or other classmates. The only issue I noticed was that if you chose to embed a video in your visual, the video will not download with the visual.

I will admit, the site was a little challenging to use on my first attempt, therefore, I recommend giving students a tutorial before asking students to create visuals independently. However, a con of using Easel.ly in the classroom is that the free version provides much fewer options for layouts, themes, and images. I saw many great options but was not able to select them without paying for a membership. If you are serious about providing students a place to create visuals on the computer, it may be worth subscribing for the low cost of three dollars monthly.

                                             (My sample creation with the free version)

"Looking for Girls"

In the essay, “Looking for the Girls,” Brown-Thirston explains how she discovers some disturbing images when she spends the day viewing R&B and hip-hop music videos. It is important to note that young adults, especially people of color, predominantly view these videos. While viewing these videos, Brown-Thirston critiques the videos to analyze the role of women of color and the negative messages within the videos.

After watching videos from popular artists such as DMX, Lil’ Kim, and Sisqo, Brown-Thirston is disappointed to say, “Young Black women are presented more as ornaments and objects rather than human beings. They are often in the background and virtually never have anything to contribute besides big breasts and butts” (188). She goes on to explain that the young women watching these videos can start to internalize that they should strive to become beautiful women who are sex objects to men.  

                                                          (Lil' Kim censored album cover)

Additionally, the young men watching these videos can receive many negative messages as well. For example, since these videos contain many examples of expensive products, such as cars and clothing, viewers can start to internalize that this is the “good life” they should strive for. It also can teach young men that women will flock to you as long as you have money, therefore, you can take your pick at the many women you desire. Brown-Thirston notes that this is a dangerous message, especially since these could encourage teens to find illegal methods to gain these unrealistic lifestyles since the “American Dream” was never intended for African-Americans.

DMX Music Video Clip 

Brown-Thirston offers some advice for educators and parents. For one, we need to start teaching our children to be critical consumers of the media. Second, we need to realize how influential the images in the media are to the life of our children. Third, we need to teach students that confidence comes from whom they are, despite the unrealistic portrays of the life in the media that value consumption.

Disney Movies

Growing up, my family owned a collection of Disney VHS tapes. I remember my favorites were Bambi, The Lion King, and Oliver & Company. I also owned most of the classic princess and prince movies too. Reflecting on my childhood as an adult, I do feel that Disney played a major role in my life when I was a young. My favorite toys were my Woody and Buzz action figures. I remember starting school with my Hunchback of Notre Dame lunchbox with my Barbie backpack. I recall going to the YMCA as a kid weekly in my 101 Dalmatians swimsuit. I even remember dressing as Snow White and Peter Pan for a couple of my first Halloweens. It is fair to say that Disney and animated movies were a major part of my childhood as well most children who were born in the early 1990s.

While reading, “Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us,” I found myself agreeing with Christensen’s view on animated films and cartoons. I thought it was wonderful that she used films as a way to teach students critical consciousness, which leads to action. As an adult, I understood her critique of childhood media. However, when I was consuming this media as a child, I did not approach these films with a critical lens, nor do any young children for that matter. Christensen explains that young children already have a set of stereotypes and norms in place because of media influences, “As Tatum’s research suggests, the stereotypes and worldview embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge” (176). While reading this paragraph, I started reminiscing on how stereotypes in the media influenced me as a young girl. When I was only five, I told my mom I was only going to wear dresses or skirts. Specifically, I said that pants were for boys and I was not going to wear them. My mom found it very cute and followed my request. This attitude of mine prevailed for several years. Looking back, this was never modeled from my mom’s wardrobe; therefore I must have been influenced by an outside source. I now believe that this is a result of watching so many princess animated films.

Obviously, I was an adult when the movie Frozen was released. Therefore, it is hard for me to say how this may have affected me personally as a child. However, through a critical lens, I notice in the movie that empowers women compared to traditional princess movies. For example, Ana and Elsa are physically and mentally strong. I also liked how the “true love” in the film involved Ana sacrificing herself for her sister, rather than being kissed by a man. However, I did notice that extreme beauty standards were still present for male and female characters. Also, Ana does seem that she needs a man to be happy in her life, like traditional films.