Turkle and Wesch, allies or opponents?

Reading the New York Times article written by Turkle, The Flight From Conversation and comparing that to the article written by Michael Wesch, Anti- Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance it was challenging for me because I felt these authors wrote about different ideas. Though, I wouldn't necessarily label these two as opponents, more as allies.

To begin, I really enjoyed the piece by Turkle, her main idea conveyed human communication in the 21st century, and how so many of us are committed with using technology to communicate, rather than having face-to-face interaction. Not only do we desire to have our phones on us at all times, we would rather have that simple, short, conversation over messaging. "As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down our communications, even on the most important matters." I also notice from being in my classroom, that if technology isn't loading as soon as my students press "enter" they become frantic. This article was written in 2012 and still very relatable in 2019. I picked up that it was a few years ago by how she told a story about an businessman notices everyone is busy around on their email, and he doesn't want to interrupt them. Meanwhile, he corrects himself by stating, they may be busy but I'm the one who actually doesn't want to be disturbed, "I'd rather just do things on my Blackberry" he says.

I especially relate to Turkle's article when she explains, "when people are alone, even for a few moments, they fidget and reach for a device. Here connection works like a symptom, not a cure, and our constant, reflexive impulse to connect shapes a new way of being." To be honest, this is how I usually feel 85% of the time when I am with my friends! And I am usually the one who says "Okay let's all put our phones on the center of the table and the first one who touches their phone has to pay the bill" competitive games usually motivate them, and at least I get the chance to have real conversations with them! We are all hanging out, what is the point to stay connected to the people who aren't with us right now...in this moment? It bothers me. (Anyway, that's my rant for the day...)To compare this reading to Wesch's point on "Anti-Teaching" as I previously stated, I found somewhat challenging. I actually, had a great conversation with Nhi and Jamie regarding this! Wesch had the mindset that students were having difficulty putting significance into their education. He quotes, "When students recognize their own importance in helping to shape the future of this increasingly global, interconnected society, the significance problem fades away. But simply telling them this narrative is not enough. The narrative must become pervasive in the learning environment.There are many ways to do this." I feel as though, what Wesch is trying to tell us, that we are all interconnected in a sense, and we have to show them. No matter where you were born, or what your passion is.

Relating this piece to Turkles article, creating that sense of a welcoming community in your classroom to really discover one another, and ourselves for who we really are is powerful. Not only will it bring students closer, but it may drive them to think for themselves, question reality, and question the world. He also made the point that I found relatable that, "Good questions are the driving force of critical and creative thinking and therefore one of the best indicators of significant learning. Good questions are those that force students to challenge their taken-for-granted assumptions and see their own underlying biases. Oftentimes the answer to a good question is irrelevant –the question is an insight in itself. The only answer to the best questions is another good question." Over my first few years of teaching, I was told to ask those higher-level thinking questions, though we don't put the emphasis on the students asking or responding with a thought-provoking question.

In summary, Turkle wants us to take a break from our phones and refocus on that face-to-face interaction, while Wesch, wants us to question. Question how we learn, question our purpose, question how we can change the world and where we can begin. I think we can use technology as a tool to guide those answers to those questions, I just would make sure we remember that collaborating and having that critical discussion piece with one another is also vital.

My Text Overview

Text Overview 2019

Talking Points- Parent/ Teacher Communication Tool

Hey everyone, this is my very first time using the digital resource, Talking Points and it is also my very first time I tried out ScreenCastify!


Talking points is a digital tool that is great for teachers to communicate with parents who speak a different first language, or are not entirely proficient in English. Talking points has over 25 different languages to translate to. I have used applications such as ClassDojo or Remind in the past. These applications are great, but with families whose English is not their first language, translating isn't an option. I work in a district that celebrates diversity, as we have a lot of diverse families, so being able to connect with everyone clearly is very important to me. I believe parent engagement is directly linked to student outcomes, and parent communication is vital to student success. With that being said, language should not be a barrier between the two.


Take a listen

Six, Going on Sixteen

The chapter I chose to read in "Rethinking Popular Culture and Media" was called, Six, Going on Sixteen by Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin. I was intrigued with the title of this chapter because this is exactly how I could describe many students I have taught. I could even relate this to my younger siblings, acting older than they really are. It was an interesting read because teaching fourth grade, I believe that some of my students have lost their "innocence" and that was either due to older siblings, or family structure. McLaughlin told her story of teaching kindergarten and compared that to teaching middle school, just as the way her students were acting and speaking. She said she felt as though she was "unprepared" to deal with this behavior in the younger grades.

For example, students in her classroom were identifying each other as, "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", 5-year-old girls were vying for the attention of the "coolest" boy in the classroom. They would imitate how how rappers and artists dance in music videos, discussing about "being in the club" and "drinking Heineken". Yes, drinking Heineken... I did write that!! P.S. we are still discussing behavior from KINDERGARTENERS. The more I read, I grew more and more concerned as did McLaughlin. Her classroom dynamic really took a shift. The class community was not as strong as it was in previous years, mind you, she had been teaching for 18 years. Not only were these children behaving as young adults, they were getting in fights over the idea of who was wearing the "nicest" brand name sneaker. She spoke with one of her kindergarteners on the first day of school, and she had pointed out to McLaughlin where the "popular" table was. McLaughlin questioned what she meant by that, which the student responded, "Oh, you know, they have nice clothes." Asking where she had learned such a thing, the student responded without hesitation, "The Disney Channel".
Not knowing what steps to take next, but knowing she wanted something to change, she enrolled in a two-day summer media institute at Wheelock College called Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence, and Commercial Culture on Children and Society. Within this course, she learned that big corporations are deliberately targeting vulnerable children (p. 30). Of course, depending on the targeted audience for a specific channel, it makes sense that corporations are targeting children to have their parents buy a certain product, that is a simple marketing strategy. Even television shows on Disney or Nickelodeon, provide children with an unrealistic depiction on how to act and dress. For example, my younger sister who is now, 11, watched Disney channel all the time growing up, where characters who looked like her age on the show, would discuss what relationships they were in, which I thought was way above her age level. McLaughlin also discussed age compression and she quoted Levin an author that stated, "Children become involved in and learn about sexual issues and behavior they do not yet have the intellectual or emotional ability to understand and that can confuse and harm them."
McLaughlin's goal? To bring back childhood. Studying before the start of the new school year, she understood that children had two critical social problems, problem-solving and compassion. Which was a "direct result of current media and popular culture" (p. 32). She wanted her students to learn through play, learn through experience, and solve social issues together. Figuring out strategies to use when a social issue were to occur in the classroom. Through play, they created their own social stories, and were able to solve as the powerful individuals that they are. She also created a school-wide initiative which she called "Tv Turnoff Week" helping students create individualized schedules of what they can accomplish that week, instead of watching TV, or their iPad. I think that is an amazing idea.
I found myself relating to McLaughlin a lot during this reading. I do believe that media has a lasting impact on children. She provided a great example of, "How often have you seen children playing Power Rangers, or Cheetah Girls? The boys have to be violent and the girls have to be sexy. That's what they see so that's what they play" (p. 34). That line really struck out to me because I remember vividly putting on a "show" (if you want to call it that) with my four neighborhood girl friends and we would act out the dances from Cheetah Girls, with my boombox in my front yard! We weren't creating, we were intimidating, we were not in control of the kind of play. I hope more teachers can take a lesson from McLaughlin in their classroom, and incorporate a sense of childhood and play into their classrooms.

Here's more on the sexualization of youth

My Relationship with Disney

Growing up and being immersed in everything Disney, I truly enjoyed watching Disney films. To this day I can tell you that my favorite princesses were in fact Cinderella and Ariel. Though now being able to clearly look back, these movies had a leading impact on my life. The underlying assumptions I created of beauty, relationship dynamics, certain roles gender forms to in society, were often based off of these movies. I agree with Christensen's claims on challenging cartoons, and their central message. If we don't challenge these cartoons, and bring awareness, who will? As a child, I feel as though I was sort-of manipulated to feel a certain way regarding my self image, and my ideal "fantasy" happily ever after. I wanted all of that. Christensen went on to make a point that, "stereotypes and worldview embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge" and I absolutely agree.
I also found the retelling of "Cinderella" created by Mary Carter Smith very fascinating. The other version of Cinderella, called Cindy Ellie, "reads like laughter-bubbly, warm, spilling over with infectious good humor and playful language" (p. 181). "Cindy" was played by a young woman of color, living in East Baltimore. Although, she is of different race than the original tale of Cinderella, the main goal is the exact same- to find her prince charming after she is transformed through new clothes and hairstyles. Also, the way both characters go about finding their partner are the same, they both compete with their "sisters" and other women who are single. Putting women against one another to so-called "win" attention from a man, and become married. Christensen made the excellent point that even though the race of the character is changing, she wants her students to know that injustices may indeed remain.
Interesting enough, I have seen Frozen a few times from an entertainment/ leisurely standpoint. Tonight, I attempted to put on a new lens as I tried to discover underlying assumptions and/ or stereotypes this film created. In the very beginning of the film (the first 15 min...) Princess Ana was singing around her castle in a beautiful ballgown dreaming about finding a man, "at least I have a chance" she said, on finding true love. She has spent most of her time alone, in the castle, with no one to talk to- so I don't entirely blame her. Though with that being said, it was a typical beginning of a Disney movie...young, beautiful, put-together, Princess pleading in desperation (usually told through song) dreaming about finding her soulmate.
On the other hand...her sister, Elsa, is about to turn into a Queen and be around the public for the very first time since her accident. She begins to sing that she has to continue to be the "good girl you have always have to be..." because she is worried she will hurt everyone with her powers. Stating that she has to be the "good girl" everyone knows her to be, demonstrates that she has been deemed as "perfect" and as the future Queen, will have no flaws, but in actuality she is very different from the rest. Which brings to my point on why I enjoyed this movie so much.
The movie ends where Ana has to have a "true loves kiss" to unfreeze her heart. When she realizes her future husband is actually the bad guy, and does not love her at all, she thinks Kristoff will have to kiss her! Which would make sense, he has to love her, right? I mean he brought her all the way back to the castle on a reindeer for crying out loud! (Okay, Disney!) The wonderful ending to this story was actually the true love and bond between her and her sister was strong enough that it unfroze her heart. I was very happy to see a movie end where there wasn't a marriage obligation between a man and a woman, the truest love was the relationship between the two siblings. They weren't plotted against each other, or competing for a "prince", they brought the city back together on their own. Overall, in the beginning I had my doubts, but this movie was able to some-what challenge my view of princess culture.

Boyd Vs. Prensky

Today in class as we were learning about Prensky and whether we fell in the category, Digital Native or Digital Immigrant. I was almost certain I could be considered a "Native". Let's face it, there are days I become so trapped in what I am doing online I jump from one tab to another, to another, and half the time it's because there are ads related to what I was just online shopping for! (Still unsure if our phones are listening to our conversations but that is TBD..) Though reading the article written by Boyd this afternoon my attitude towards being a Digital Native has altered.


It does indeed make sense for children growing up in this technology advanced world, they would be deemed more "fluent". Although, I find it hard to believe many people are actually fluent when it comes to using technology- especially for our personal use. Many use social media applications at a surface level and are simply consuming the information in front of them. Majority do not understand how or why these websites actually work. Boyd quotes, "Most formal educational settings do not prioritize digital competency, in part because of the assumption that teens natively understand anything connected to technology and in part because existing educational assessments do not require this prioritization" (p. 180). Teachers often make the assumption that students natively understand anything connected to technology - therefore we put our students at an disadvantage to develop the necessary skills they need to become the producers and understand how the websites they use everyday work. Teachers who might view themselves as a "Digital Immigrant" might try and back away from increasing the technology in the classroom, because they are set in their ways. Creating PD that creates awareness of the importance of digital competency in the classroom, and ways we can implement this to help support our students can not only be beneficial to our students, but also to the educators, where the so-called, "digital immigrants" can learn from the "digital natives". 

I also found the conversation regarding Google and Wikipedia extremely interesting. Growing up, I also had imbedded in my head that Wikipedia was never acceptable to cite when writing a research paper, and we need to fact check the websites we use. With that being said, being able to search on Google, we cannot assume every link we click on is indeed fact. Many cites that pop up on Google are personalized to what we have searched prior, or what we have purchased online. So searching a topic on Google from one computer or phone might differ from someone else's. 





In my classroom, I had 25 students and only 9 chrome books. The 9 computers were helpful when we were working through station rotation, otherwise it was challenging to incorporate a time where we were all able to use the computers without switching throughout the day. With that being said, with little access to computers during the school day, I never relied on students being able to access the internet to finish assignments at home. And that is where digital inequality comes into play. Though many of my students talked about playing video games on their tablets or using popular social media networks, accessing important educational websites might be time-consuming, slow, and frustrating on their internet server. Therefore, being able to access a computer at school- has been the best option for my demographic of students. 


Some resources to use in the classroom - 
https://www.thetechedvocate.org/consider-six-digital-resources-classroom/

Digital Native or Immigrant?

If I had to define myself as either a Digital Native or a Digital Immigrant, I believe I relate more to the column of what defines a Digital Native. I was born in an era where my parents used pagers, we had dial-up internet, we had a house phone....(we still do), I was surrounded by the growth of the digital age. Learn more on the differences between a Digital Native and a Digital Immigrant here! I also cherish the generation I was born into because growing up, I feel as though I watched the world take such a dynamic switch from the computers we use, the cellphones we have, and even the smart watches we own. The last 20 years there was a complete switch in the way we use technology and how we access our media. I am grateful because the generation I grew up with we were able to easily adapt with the growing of technology because we didn't know of anything else. With that being said, watching my younger siblings now who are both 7 and 11 years old- they can hop around an i-pad waaay faster than I can, because it is all they are used to. To learn more, here is an interesting article on how screen time is affects a child's development... article here


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A little about me...

Hi! My name is Briana Stegall, so far my summer is going pretty well. Besides the fact that my first "official" day of summer vacation was spent studying and taking the ESL praxis, then it rained literally every single day last week...but besides that, yeah great start! When I am not in class, I enjoy relaxing at home with my family, I have two siblings that are 11 and 7 years old who keep me very entertained. Also, I love now that I somewhat have free time...catching up with my friends that I haven't seen in a while since the last month at school was so insanely hectic. Hoping for sunshine and warm beach days in our future!!