Ticket Out the Door

I learned several valuable things during class yesterday, especially that it's important to look at the power structures behind reading and writing, and especially with multiple literacies. During our pinwheel discussion, one of my fellow students asked, "Who owns facebook and Twitter?" Her question made me realize that I myself take many different literacies at face value, instead of thinking about the power structures that lie especially behind social media and websites. What kind of agenda do companies such as facebook and Twitter have, and what kind of message are they trying to impart?Students need to be educated to not take everything at face value, but to analyze, question, be critical of, and scrutinize literacy, not just in books but in the web and media. 

I also found the pinwheel discussion very helpful and a great way to get all students involved. Listening to everyone speak from the viewpoint of the author allowed me to understand the readings on an even deeper level. Through articulating questions as a provocateur, I was able to process what I thought were the most important themes in the readings, namely critical literacy, and multi-modal literacy. Two things I want to know more about are project-based, student-based learning (as opposed to teaching to the test), and other activities that are helpful in students becoming critical readers and writers.  One thing that interested me the most was the idea one of my classmates brought up about students as interpretive communities, having a fluid literacy identity and literacy history. I want to help students delve more into their personal literacy histories and bring their thoughts out onto paper.