Beach - Chapter 3 & 4 - A look at what I learned...

There is a lot of interesting information in these chapters and related internet sites. One issue that stands out in my mind is that of time. I agree that teaching film in a secondary English class is appropriate and crucial to providing my students with the best education possible. Unfortunately, I will have a very limited amount of time to experience topics with my students. Being that most feature films would take 2 full class periods to view, I think that for most film analysis I will do, will be viewing clips and single frames. This will require teaching background information, however with the limited time we have together, this is the strategy I will employ. However, for films of great importance, in whick I wat to study in greater depth, we will view the entire film.

When selecting films to use, I have found that the Internet Movie Database is a valuable resource. In addition, I will also use Rottentomatoes.com and MovieLens. These interent sites also have oppurtunities for students to both read reviews as well as create their own. When discussing films, it is important to remember that students will usually be viewing the films for the first time. Therefore, in order to create an authentic discussion experience, it is imporatant for instructors to allow students to voice theri opinions ans interpretations, even when they may be inaccurate of in contrast of your personal insight.

In regards to critically approaching media teaxts, it is important to view these type of tect through a educated lens. If we give our students the ability to view these textx, especially advertisemts, through the lens of an advertiser, they will be set free from the need to conform to the image that advertisers are banking them to be. If we are successful in teaching students to critically engage in the media, students will begin to challenge the ideological and political assumptions operating in media texts, leading them to examine their own beliefs and attitudes about themselves and the world.