Editorial Cartoon Analysis

1. I chose a political cartoon about voting because we are going to be voting this fall for a new president.

2.  There are not people in this cartoon; however, there is a giant eagle portraying the voters and a small elephant portraying the GOP.

3.

• Symbolism- The eagle is our national bird and the cartoonist is using the eagle to represent ALL voters.
• analogy-there is a huge body of people watching a small body of people.
• exaggeration-the size of the eagle(voters) compared to the elephant (government), there is more of us than there is of you.
• labeling-the cartoonist labeled the eagle voters, and the tiny elephant the GOP
• irony-we are a huge body of people with the right to vote and have our opinions count and we can keep an eye on things and change them if and when necessary.

Double Journal Entry 12

Dust Bowl Image Elkhart Kansas, May 1937

Observation:  In this photo the first thing I noticed was the huge dark cloud devouring a small town, not much different from the towns around here, like Bridgeport, Grafton, Fairmont and Morgantown. In the foreground of the shot you can see a man walking, the picture isn't blurred enough to indicate the man is running,his face is covered by a piece of cloth and the only other person visible is the man standing near the DRUG sign in the background.  There are several cars parked on the streets indicating business were open at the time the picture was taken. The streets and sidewalks are paved and the cars are in good condition.  It looks as if there is a stop light in the background at the intersection.  I am not aware of any debris blowing down the street it seems as though most of the action is the huge dust cloud.

Reflection: This image could have been taken by a newspaper employee or a store owner and it was taken to record the day's event of the dust cloud. It looks to be a standard black and white photo from the time period.  I know when and where the photo was taken, because it was listed on the Library of Congress' site.  The things that are missing are trees or plants along the street and more people. 

If this picture was taken today, it would be in color or even in video format.  the store fonts would be up dated, possibly more street light, telephone poles a possible cell tower in the background.  I think we would see trees, plants, grass, imported and American made cars, trucks, SUV's, police cars and maybe a motorcycle or two.

Wonder: Did they survive? How hard it must have been to breath. Dirt would have been everywhere, possibly embedded in everything.  How long did this storm last and how did they clean everything up? I wonder how many storms like this went though this town and if this was the worse one.

Second Scratch Project Art

I loved this Scratch project!

Double Journal Entry 11

Thinking Creatively: Teachers as designers of Content, Technology

Three Things I Learned:

1. I would rather watch a presentation with bits of humor added in to keep my attention than to be bored with someone reading from slides.
2. I feel much better knowing I do not have to know every form of technology available, but I should be aware of what interest my students and engage that form of technology in my class room.  I liked the quote used from Victor Hugo, "the dominant idea of each generation would, in future, be embodied in a new material." It doesn't mean digital technology is the anti-Christ, it just means our society is changing they way we currently work.We never really know, as educators, if what we are reaching every student in the class.  So, as a teacher I better be prepared to overlap Pedagogy, Content, and Technology in creative, exciting ways in order to reach as many students as possible, and to take it one step further, I should use the resources in my classroom, (i.e. my students), to help me come up with creative ways to reach the kids that fall through the cracks.  This old dog must learn new tricks if I am responsible for educating young minds.

Double Journal Entry 10

Quote:To succeed in today’s Creative Society, students must learn to think creatively, plan systematically, analyze critically, work collaboratively, communicate clearly, design iteratively, and learn continuously.

Refection:  So often in the work place I have heard the statement, "Didn't they learn how to think in school?" I find this somewhat amusing,disturbing and quite sad; my boss however; finds this statement frustrating as hell.  We have raised a generation or two of students who can memorize information until the next test but we have not taught them how to solve problems. We have quit teaching our students how to think, analyze and take charge of the situation or quite simply to be self starters. Most employees do exactly what they are told, do it half-assed and want to be paid top dollar for their performance. Most employers face the fact that one or two persons carry the load for the entire division. This is not fair nor is it productive.

If allowing our students the opportunity to learn in new way which will incorporate gaming into their studies, I say, Why NOT!.  We have to get these kids on the right tract to be productive adults and we have to do it now.  If our teenagers are spending approximately seventeen hours a week engaging in online video games
(2007,Steinkuehler)  


Quote: But Julia wasn’t interested in buying shoes with pre-programmed lighting patterns; she wanted to create her own patterns. So she connected a Cricket and a series of lights to her boots, then installed a sensor near the bottom of the boot, where it could detect the up-and-down motion of her foot 
What a Creative Thinker Julia is, not settleing for what she saw, but to put her own personaliality into the design of a shoe by attaching a Cricket.  What if students were given the opportunity to invent new ways to teach the same old subjects?  I wonder what insiteful, creative, and thoughtful ideas our students would invent, if given the opportunity.





References: Resnick, M. (2007, Dec-Jan). Retrieved from http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf


http://www.youtube.com/embed/6cgmC0IoaIw

Double Journal Entry 10

Quote: 

At one Hong Kong workshop, an 11-year-old girl named Julia was inspired by a pair of shoes that she had(Resnick, 2007).

On the other hand, new technologies have the potential, if properly designed and used, to help people develop as creative thinkers, so that they are better prepared for life in the Creative Society (Resnick, 2007). A perfect example of this is also from article cited above:

seen that contained embedded lights that flashed as the shoes moved. But Julia wasn’t interested in buying shoes with pre-programmed lighting patterns; she wanted to create her own patterns. So she connected a Cricket and a series of lights to her boots, then installed a sensor near the bottom of the boot, where it could detect the up-and-down motion of her foot

What a Creative Thinker Julia is, not settleing for what she saw, but to put her own personaliality into the design of a shoe by attaching a Cricket.  What if students were given the opportunity to invent new ways to teach the same old subjects?  I wonder what insiteful, creative, and thoughtful ideas our students would invent, if given the opportunity.

References:

Resnick, M. (2007, Dec-Jan). Retrieved from http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf

Scratch project About Me

About Me