Critical Literacy T&I _ 2 _ Course Assignments
This audio describes and details your course assignments for the semester. Click the link below for a transcript of this episode.
Critical Literacy T&I _ Episode 2 _ Course Assignments
You are listening to epidsode #2 of Critial Litearcy Trends and Issues a podcast to support a graduate course of the same name. I am Vivian Vasquez course professor and host of the accompanying podcast site.
Critical Literacy Trends and Issues combines interactive class meetings with on-line discussions, independent work, and podcasting, to explore current trends in critical literacy teaching, learning, and research. Throughout the course you will have opportunities to hear directly from a globally diverse group of leaders in the field while developing a critical literacy perspective.
A blog and podcast of the course is located at www.bazmakaz.com/criticalliteracy
Make sure to refer to the site regularly for course information, updates, and resources on critical literacy.
Musical Bumper
Assignments 1 : Participating in CLIP
Assignment 1 is worth 20 points out of a total possible 100 points, and requires you to contribute to the CLIP the Critical Literacy in Practice podcast.
Begin by subscribing for FREE to the CLIP Podcast. To do this go to
http://www.clippodcast.com and click on the “How to subscribe in iTunes link in the left hand column.
After you have had a chance to listen to a number of episodes, post comments for Five different CLIP shows or episodes of your choice that catches your attention. Each comment should be between 100-150 words and should be respectful and thoughtful.
Your comments could include such content as connections to your own experience or questions that come to mind as a result of listening to a particular show.
Assignment 2 : Focused Issue Podcast
Assignment Two requires you to create and record a focused Issue podcast.
This assignment is worth 20 points
What I want you to do is create a three to four minute podcast on a focused issue of your choice that is framed from a critical literacy perspective. For examples of focused issue podcasts, I would recommend listening to CLIP23, CLIP19, and CLIP17. There are also many others on the CLIP site that you could refer to as examples. The fact that you are producing a very short piece of audio implies that you will need to be very succinct and to the point in getting your message across. You will also however need to find ways to draw in your listening audience and sustain their listening. If at some point you decide to continue podcasting your own show the choice will be yours whether to script your text or not. For now, I’d like to see your crafted script or text as we will include these as transcripts to include as part of your podcast.
Begin by crafting your text. Start by saying your name and where you are from. The rest is up to your creativity. As a guide, listen to Acts Of Kindness And Social Action_CLIP 23 (http://www.bazmakaz.com/clip/?p=82). This show contains a 3.5 minute episode by Andrea Ross. The transcript of her audio is available at the CLIP site. Her 3.5 minute audio translates to approx. 550 words. How long your text needs to be will be determined by how quickly/slowly you read and so forth.
Once you have created your text, rehearse reading it out loud and time yourself to see if you need to do any edits then call 206-339-CLIP(2547) to record your text.
Following this, send me an e-mail at vvasque@american.edu to let me know that you have submitted your audio and then wait to hear from me to confirm receipt or if there were any problems with your recording.
Once you e-mail me, if you don’t get a response after two days, make sure to re-send your e-mail.
Assignment 3 :What Critical Literacy Means to Me
Assignment 3 is also worth 20 points. For this assignment you are to create a three to four minute podcast that thoughtfully represents what critical literacy means to you. In order to gain as much insight into issues regarding critical literacy I highly recommend making sure that you have thoroughly explored the assigned readings and multi-modal texts up until the time that you do this assignment. In this way, within your audio you will be able to make connections to these readings to theoretically ground your definition. Refer to Assignment #2 for Assignment Pointers and Suggestions, for creating your podcast, as those also apply to this assignment.
Assignment 4 : Creating a Blogsite
Also worth 20 points assignment 4 focuses on creating at least 8 thoughtful posts on your own blogsite. These should take the form of focused comments & questions, connections, or issues, that come to mind from engaging with the multi-modal readings. For an example of a thoughtful blog go to,
Critical Literacy Blog
http://critical-literacies.blogspot.com/
All your blog posts should be completed by the date posted in the course calendar. Two points will be deducted for each missing blog entry.
Getting Started:
Begin by reading “What’s a blog?” at http://www2.blogger.com/tour_start.g
Then go to http://www.blogger.com/start to create your site.
Post your first entry and send me your site address
I will collate the site addresses and send them off to everyone in the group.
If you have problems setting up your site , for help, simply send me an e-mail.
Assignment 5 : Blogsite Comments
Assignment 5, worth 10 points requires that you comment at least once on each of your colleagues’ blogsites. All posts should be completed by the date specified in the course calendar. One point will be deducted for each blogsite for which you do not post a comment.
Professionalism
Your professionalism grade, worth 10 points will be based on your ongoing thoughtful and respectful participation in the class both during our face-to-face meetings and on-line as indicated by; Respecting the due dates noted in the course calendar, Attendance and participation during face to face meetings, Respectful and thoughtful participation on-line .
For grading policies and the philosophy of the school of education teaching and health as well as general information regarding the school , refer to a print version of the course syllabus.
Also refer to the print syllabus for my office hours and other contact information.
Aside from the course assignments you will be expected to do approximately 7.5 hours of field work in the form of mini research studies. This research would involve observing what it means to be literate in different settings. These settings include, libraries, bookstores, museums, gas stations, laundrymats, and so forth. Choose a location or a series of locations that would most inform your particular interests. While at your chosen location or locations keep a close eye on what people are doing in order to ‘read’ or make sense of the texts and images around them. For whom are the texts and images accessible? What are the dominant ideologies or discourses unfolding before you? Who is marginalized or disadvantaged by the particular literacy practices at the setting or settings you choose? The intent of this research is to help you to build a contextualized understanding of the different literacies involved in everyday life. This is for your personal growth and will not be graded. You should however make connections to your insights while posting a blog comment or message or at some other point during the course. As such I would recommend carrying out your research within the first four weeks of class.
You will also be expected to attend a literacy conference to be held on a Saturday from 8:30-4:00. This additional time has been factored into the total number of classes and class hours that we meet .
Traditionally, every course requires the use of a set of readings. For this course you are assigned a series of multi-modal texts including Negotiating Critical Literacies a book that outlines a year-long attempt at negotiating theorized critical literacies in a primary school setting. Refer to the Multi-modal Texts page on the homepage to access the required texts or for information regarding locating these. In this course you will be listening to podcasts, viewing and reading blogsites and engaging with articles and other resources to help build a theoretical understanding of critical literacy.
Course Details, Podcasts