For my final reflection of Course 4, I am revamping the next unit my 8th graders will do. I am nervous about Course 5 and the final project. Maybe that will ease once I see what others have done for the final course. I have worked hard to maintain a blog presence and build up my PLN along with participating in the Coetail community. While I don’t have many followers, I have enough people that I am gaining valuable information while having an audience to share and bounce ideas around. I will continue on those endeavors, but this video part has me quite anxious.
After talking with my friends/colleagues and taking Jeff’s advice, I will continue with my Bias In Media unit.
Last year students only focused on news print and only on analyzing. This year my goal is to have students viewing a variety of media.
- TV/Film
- Advertisment
- Facebook (Misinformation) Thanks Jeff!
- I may add others along the way as well.
I feel that this unit combines so much of what I have learned in Coetail from the first 4 courses. The use of technology, accessing information, validating information sources, visual literacy, and pedagogy.
My concerns are really about making sure that content is age appropriate. Students will be finding their own media sources and analyzing the bias in them. That can get a little tricky, but it’s also why I am doing it with 8th grade and not 7th.
My goal for this unit is that students will be aware of all of the information that marketed towards them (teens) and be able to make better informed decisions using what they will learn about bias.
I am looking forward to how this unit will turn out. I am still not 100% happy with the final, summative assessment. That may change and I will discuss it with my students after they have completed their formative work.
Ms. Marcum's Mission 
Terea,
As I read your post, I shout out, “Hip hip hooray!” for your involving your students in the assessment-development and feedback process. Kiwis support this (https://assessment.tki.org.nz/Using-evidence-for-learning/Gathering-evidence/Topics/Involving-students). Why are many teachers unaware of or unwilling to expose themselves to including students in assessment creation. Is that a “control thing”? But at the point when teachers ask, “Who are the stakeholders?” and answer, “The students.” then they have to bring the kids into the discussion or they’re missing a golden opportunity. It sounds like you’re creating (already created?) a deeply collaborative and trusting learning community in your classroom. I was discussing this very topic with my G9 students only yesterday. Some were incredibly enthusiastic and engaged in the conversation and provided strong insights and opinions while others seemed totally confused that they could be partners who influence how they would be assessed at the end of the current unit. I look forward to hearing more about your media bias project shakes out.
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Thank you! Agreed. I do find it humorous that many of those 9th graders had a lot of choice and voice in my class in the previous two years. Whether they utilized it or not, was also their decision. I am glad the discussion is continuing in your classes as well. Could this possible lead to some continuity? It certainly sounds like it. I am firm believer in having students be a vital voice in their own education. Still quite nervous about how this project will work and your support is certainly appreciated!
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Hey Terea,
I loved your assessment that, “While I don’t have many followers, I have enough people that I am gaining valuable information while having an audience to share and bounce ideas around.” That’s exactly the way that i have started to feel. Isn’t it amazing what just a few other eyes can pick up on. I developed one of the courses that I am teaching by myself three years ago, and this is the first year that I am teaching it with someone else; I just love it. To have the network that you are speaking of is a real gift.
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Phil,
Yes. I have gained an appreciation of utilizing a PLN to grow as a teacher. It is vital to the teaching profession.
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Hi Terea
I think an investigation into bias is the media is more important than ever, now that we have so many new media forms.
The social media that I hear my own children talk about include: Whatsapp, Snapchat, Instagram. It might be worthwhile asking your children what they think about those apps and if it tells them anything about the poster and what do they think about the message.
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Vivian,
I agree! The discussions the students did on these have been phenomenal! They came up with amazing questions that I didn’t even think to ask. It was a great experience to watch.
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So, how about the students creating some sort of marketing campaign to help other young people realize the hidden biases in social media? (website? video? infographic?) Make it a real marketing campaign where they send it out into the real world and expect something to happen because of it.
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I decided that the students will do just that. I gave them a choice of their own for the type of product they create, but they must bring awareness to the bias in media. I can’t wait for their final projects. I also told them they have to share it with the world and gain feedback from it as well.
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This sounds great Terea! You’re well on your way in your Final Project. I look forward to seeing what the students produce and I hope they get feedback in some form that their efforts are making a difference. Keep us updated in the Final Project G+ forum so I will be sure to see them…
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Terea,
This gives me some ideas for my project too. I am asking grade 7 students to research the Palestinian-Israeli conflict(https://www.coetail.com/pjcarp/2014/12/14/plans-for-course5-argument-writing-for-the-21st-century/) An essential part of this research will be developing the students’ ability to detect bias. I’m sure that most of what they read might have bias, but they will need to be able to sift through to separate facts and point of view depending on the source. So looking at who is writing/publishing/creating the information is critical. You might want to add an element where students have to provide a profile of the aims of certain content producers to illustrate why they are biased and how the content reveals the bias. I think I will need to do the same for some materials.
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Paul,
I tried to get them to do that on a minute level. But that is a great option to add for next year when the students will complete the project again. I am constantly changing things and this would be a great addition. I have found that students really struggle with identifying the underlying bias. When it isn’t obvious, they do not know how to explain what the bias is attempting to get them to do, think, feel, or persuade.
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