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"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go."

Media Literacy Lesson Plan

        I came across this website that as an assortment of different lesson plans for teachers to use for a variety of different ages and topics. It even covers media literacy. If I was teaching about media literacy to students in my perfered age area I would choose the first lesson plan on this site. Media Literacy is an essential and important aspect to learn because media and technology is becoming more involved in today's modern life. Students need to be taught how to use and evaluate media to better themselves and be more successful.
       
      Standard II: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
       A.  Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

      With this lesson plan, students must use technology and digital tools, like a computer, to evaluate social media and the qualities of the commercial. Students would find a creative commercial to watch amd learn different aspects of media like point of view, values, and purpose while incorporating the use of technology. Within this learning experience students would gather experience and knowledge that they could use to better their lives to come!

Obama Analysis

In this picture, President Obama speaks in Mississippi about the BP oil spill that occurred recently in Gulfport. As the leader of this country, it is important and his duty to meet with officials, like the national incident commander, to quickly solve the issue of the environmental disaster.
What do I see? I see the President Barack Obama and the national incident leader discussing the Mississippi oil spill in Gulfport. Behind the two men are maps displaying the distance and intensity of the oil spill as well as men trying to work on cleaning up the spill. The president at the moment of the picture being taken was speaking to his audience while using his hands as nonverbal gestures while the national incident commander listening beside him, making eye contact. I also see the American flag in the background that shows our patriotism and respect towards our country. Both men are older, one man is white while the president is black.
What does this mean? The point in this picture is to show that the president and officials are attempting to reach a solution and quickly resolve the problem of the environmental disaster before more harm is done. The photo is spontaneous because it was taken while the president was speaking and was not posing for the camera. The president probably knew his picture was taken but he was not posing like he was discussing the issue, he was honestly speaking to the audience. This article brings up the question of what exactly the president's plan is about fixing the problem and how quickly will we see this plan go into action? If a new caption was written it could completely change the meaning of this picture and quite possibly the views about the president.

ThinkAloud Powerpoint

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
 a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.  This ThinkAloud is a great idea to develop a students learning and creativity. For example, the Powerpoint presentation displays a student's creativity and how he/she would go about setting up a Powerpoint. They would express their creativity with different colors, fonts, how the slides enter and exit, etc. ThinkAlouds also allow a student to learn through discovering how a site is valid and reliable by going through steps of researching and finding out information. I would definitely use this tool in my classroom so that my students can experience such a helpful software. ThinkAloud helped me learn and be creative at the same time so I am very anxious to see what it could do in the mind of little kids that I would be teaching!

To be Bias or not to be bias? That is the question.

In the article that I discovered an alternative than allowing teachers to carry weapons on them in the building to help solve gun control, I found evidence of the article being bias. For one thing this article is very opinionated. Its mission is to persuade you to believe in what they are saying. Overall in this article, topics are discussed and stressed in a bias manner.

Examples of bias in this article are of the following: The author states how stun guns are a reasonable punishment and are more safe to be carrying around. With this topic the author's preference is stun guns and is prejudice to guns and the effect guns have. Especially when guns are related to physical and emotional trauma. The article states that trauma is less severe from stun gun action than action made by a firearm.

The author uses key words or phrases in the article that show bias, such as: "would be a far better off alternative surely..." as well as uses words like I, which shows his personal view, and he also discusses the people who oppose. This article definitely is bias.

Guns in school Alternative and Website Analysis

Instead of having guns in our school buildings, how about these devices?

Authority Questions:
Who is the author of the article? Mark Wollacott, an eHow contributor

Is the author reliable and/or reputable? An expert? Mark Wollacott is a reliable source as an eHow contributor who has a bachelor's degree in arts in ancient history as well as archaeology making him a professional writer. Wollacott's work has been used in several magazines and he has worked in popular businesses such as Travelocity.

Who is the sponsor? The sponsor of the article is BuyerZone.com/HomeSecurity who's statement is, "We've Done the Research for You! Compare Top Home Security Providers."

There is a link that takes you directly to the business. BuyerZone.com/HomeSecurity no other links are given.

Accuracy Questions:
Is the information reliable and error free? Yes, the information is reliable and I see no errors in the article.

Is there an editor or someone who verifies or checks the info?  Information is checked.

I have no doubt during or after reading this source. This seems reliable.

Objectivity Questions:
Any Bias?  No bias found

Page designed to sway opinion? The article trys to persuade in some degree.

Is there any advertising in the article? Yes, Dish Network, Healthy Living, and Mardi Gras casino and resort.

Other answers to questions:
The article is not dated.

The page is completed and headings are established before each paragraph on certain topics.

Technical Analysis:
 What type of url does the article have? A basic .com url.

What is the overall context of the article you are viewing? This page is about carrying stun guns instead of real guns and firearms which is written by an eHow contributor/ professional writer.

Does the page have an overall integrity and reliability as a source? From what I have read I believe this is an overall reliable article. It is written by a certified professional writer who seems very determined to solve the issue.

Who owns the domain name? eHow and Google.