Blogs

Have critical thinking skills been pushed aside in favor of the instrumental skills required for using digital media?

Amy Jensen and I proudly announced the Journal of Media Literacy Education this evening at the Leading the Field dinner event at the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit, surrounded by 50 scholars and practitioners from the U.S. and across the world. 

Sherri Hope Culver's morning address to this group included a lovely interaction where she "talked" to her alter ego,  on a video screen, exploring the tension between being "live and face-to-face" and being in cyberspace.

It's hard to believe that, at the end of this week, the Powerful Voices for Kids program will be completed--- at least for the summer.  Every day of the program --- which has run for the entire month of July-- has been a treasure, full of discoveries, challenges and pleasures! 

This week, Laura Deutch, Founder of Messages in Motion, visited with the Gold Team at the Powerful Voices camp to teach about visual storytelling and construct video postcards with the kids.  

Can you tell how much fun I had at the Summer Institute for Teachers last week?  It was a pretty amazing experience, with 23 remarkable teachers.... from the Russell Byers Charter School in Philadelphia, the Roberts Elementary School in Wayne PA, and teachers from the National Writing Project, coming from as far away as Colorado! 

Yesterday, July 6th marked the first day of the Powerful Voices for Kids summer camp and Teachers Institute at Russell Byers Charter School. We welcomed over 80 students and 23 teachers to the camp and played games, exercised their minds and bodies, and learned a little more about one another.

Teachers have always recognized children's tendencies to imitate what they see on the mass media. 

I'm beginning to put out the word about job openings for the Powerful Voices for Kids summer institute.  Check out the job openings here and consider applying --- we're going to have a great time this summer with media literacy!

Thought you might enjoy the chance to see me use the Obamicon to make a Fairey poster of myself.