Guiding questions for the week of 10/27-11/3

1. During last class we discussed the first half of Jenkins' report, focusing on why we should teach media literacy and looked at two of the skills, play and simulation. In the second half of the report, he describes the remaining skills and provides examples of how they can be implemented. Comment on some of these skills. Are there other ways you can see them being implemented in the classroom? What might be some of the challenges of implementing them into the classroom?

2. In his article "Why Heather Can Write," Jenkins states:

Teachers sometimes complain that popular culture competes for the attention of
their students, a claim that starts from the assumption that what kids learn from
media is less valuable than what schools teach. Here, however, much of what is
being mastered are things that schools try—and too often fail—to teach their
students. (It has been said that if schools taught sex education the same way they
taught writing, the human race would die out in a generation.)

Do you agree/disagree with this claim? What are some ways that you think the classroom can engage students to the same extent that Heather Lawver was engaged to create The Daily Prophet (note: The publication has not been operational since 2008)?

3. How could a concept like fan fiction be used on a smaller scale to engage students in a writing classroom? What might be some of the advantages/disadvantages of such an approach?