ENGLISH 307

Censorship

Page history last edited by Stacia Derdzinski 1 yr ago

Group Project - Censorship (iMovie)

Group members

Stacia Derdzinski (spadaysha@aol.com)
Kaitlyn Tainter (tainte97@cortland.edu)
Jackie Westphal (westphal94@cortland.edu)

Project Proposal:

We have produced an iMovie that features students' opinions, experience, and knowledge in regrards to reading and writing.The students we chose to interview are from the Cortland Jr./Sr. Highschool as well as Cortland Alternative High School who are in a writing group, The R&B Ink Peppers. After working closely with these students all semster, we know that the freedom to read and write what they please is a topic they feel passionate about. Since they have the right to choice in the writing club and the classroom of their teacher and group leader, Amanda Triplett, they will serve as a prime example of the success of student choice.We include Amanda Triplett in this video also in order to show the teacher's perspective and prove that this liberation can not only occur, but be very successful too. We are using a few images, different video clips from the interviews as well as quotes from Chris Crutcher who visited SUNY Cortland and Cortland High School for "The Big Read 2008." We plan to document and analyze censorship and why it hurts the knowledge and helpfulness that novels can provide for people, specifically adolescents, to relate to and use as an outlet. We also strive to show how adolescent writers value their work and are hurt when forced to change that work.

Planning Process: The Project Proposal

This assignment extends the analytic and interpretive skills of the Five Principles to a creative element. As implied in the discussion of participatory media (above), "production" necessarily involves the following steps:

1) Finding something you "really care about" and identifying exactly how you feel about it.

Content: Some "controversial" topics are the ones that truly inspire adolescents to read and write. We want teacher to begin changing the classroom to promote student voice and choice.

2) Figuring out what you want done about it.

Purpose: We want to educate both pre-service and in-service teacher so that they will allow students to explore the topics that interest them even if they are somewhat controversial. Teachers need to stand up for their students in regards to this issue.

3) Determining which audience is the best to communicate with in order to achieve your goal

OR (there may be several) Which -- of these possible audiences -- do you most want to communicate with?

Audience: We mostly want to educate pre-service and in-service teachers, however, librarians, administrators, and possibly even parents could also benefit.

4) Deciding which medium will best help you achieve your goal? This is where you select the medium.

Format: A powerful and engaging iMovie with a blog attached to promote conversation.

5) Deciding upon how you will construct your message. Production

Using the tools available to you in this medium, how will you use it to help achieve your goal?

Context: We need to know what others are saying about the topic, therefore, we are going to cite Chris Crutcher and the Ink Peppers. Amanda Triplett will also provide alot of information about her own classroom (what works and what doesn't).
Contribution: Our contribution is different than many others out there because we are the generation of pre-service teachers learning about the newest ways to effectively teach students. It may just be the SUNY Cortland program that is so passionate about changing the classroom which is why it is so important for us to spread the word on the newest techniques so that every student can have a meaningful and engaging education.
Conversation and Connectivity: We plan to get our iMovie out there in many ways. First, we would like to post it on Youtube with a blog attached to allow discussion. We will also do the same on facebook and invite all of the people we know that will be future teachers. We would also like to get it linked somewhere on the Cortland page so that other professors can show it to there classes. We would also like to put it on a website that many in-service teachers visit often (possibly NCTE?).
Content: Our message is that by allowing students freedom of choice, they will be more enthusiastic and engaged in their reading writing because they are able to confront the issues that they are most interested in. The Ink Peppers are an example of thie method's success. Reading can educate students about the real-world, especially students who have the same struggles as the main character. Writing can be theraputic and also creative when students can write about not just something that they are interested in, but something that shatters or upsets them (ie. suicide, rape, drug/alcohol use). These kinds of issues will inspire students to write and even encourage them to bring about change. If we ignore these issues in the classroom then we are ignoring the fact that our students are real people with real problems and that we care.
Complexity: Since we have decided to use iMovie, we will be using sound (music and voice), images, video, as well as many of the editing techniques found in iMovie software. We will also have a blog which will require our regualation and participation in an on-going conversation about choice.

6) Deciding upon where you will broadcast your message and how will you make sure that people concerned with the issue learn about it?

Publication and Publicity: We would like to post our iMovie on Youtube with a blog attached in order to have a conversation about student choice. We would also like to put it on facebook and invite everyone that we know is going to be a teacher. We would also like to get our movie to Cortland professors by putting it on the SUNY Cortland page. That way it could get to pre-service teachers in those professors' classes. We also need to allow in-service teachers to see it. We could do this by putting it on a website that they most likely visit often (NCTE?).

Production Schedule

1. Internet sources that discuss the production of iMovie:

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/graphics/imovie/1create.html

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/03/10/imovie.tips.idg/

2. How to get an "A" on the Project:

Follow Rubric: Sarver-iMovie Rubric.doc

Group members follow deadlines and obligations

Music connects the viewers to the issue in an emotional way

Images are powerful and promote reflection

Statistics are convincing and persuasive

Interviews are clear and informational

Published draft can be easily found and accessed by people who are interested in the topic

3. Draft: by the midway point on April 21st, we will be finished with recording and just have editing and post-production left to complete.

4. During the week of April 21st, meet with technology trainer to follow up, anticipate the next steps, and revise plans if necessary.

5. Tasks (to be completed by April 21st):

Find facts, quotes, and ideas about censorship and book banning, particularly in schools - Atwell and Bomer (Stacia) DONE

Find images that relate to censorship and book banning or burning (Kaitlyn) DONE

Find emotional, convincing background music to use in the video (Kaitlyn) DONE

Make appointment for the group to meet with Tera Doty-Blance for follow-up (Kaitlin) DONE

Research author Chris Crutcher and controversial views on censorship (Jackie) DONE

Bring Crutcher DVD to class with ideas of some clips we can use (Jackie) DONE

Talk to Amanda Triplett and make plans to distibute permission slips to Peppers (Jackie) DONE

Tasks (to be completed by April 28th)

Reserve Camera and Tri-pod for Thursday April 24th (Stacia) DONE

Purchase Mini DV Tape at Staples or Walmart (Kaitlyn) DONE

Pick up Camera and Tri-pod to bring to Pepper meeting on April 24th (Jackie) DONE

Collect Permission slips from Peppers (Jackie) DONE (discussed w/ Amanda)

Interview the Cortland R+B Ink Peppers (Stacia, Jackie, and Kaitlyn) - on 4/24 DONE

Interview Amanda Triplett (Stacia, Jackie, and Kaitlyn) - on 4/24 DONE

Return Camera to Library (Jackie) DONE

Work on list of Credits for the end of the movie (Stacia) DONE

Tasks (to be completed by May 5th)

Edit interview clips from Peppers (Stacia) DONE

Add images and statistics (Kaitlyn) DONE

Add music and other sound to the visuals (Kaitlyn) DONE

Add Chris Crutcher quotes from DVD (Jackie) DONE

Publish piece for the web community to view (Stacia) by 5/12

Put together the end credits (Stacia) DONE

Polish the final product (Stacia, Jackie, and Kaitlyn) DONE

Enter our iMovie into the contest (Jackie) by 5/12

Thank you to Tera Doty-Blanc (Jackie) by 5/12

Production Deadlines

M March 31 (PREPRODUCTION)

To do: Schedule group a) training and b) a "midterm"/follow-up meeting with Tera Doty-Blance

Person responsible: Training - Wed. April 16th 1:30-3 Stacia Derdzinski

Follow-up Meeting - TBA: Kaitlyn Tainter

M April 7 (PREPRODUCTION/PRODUCTION)

Deadline: Project Proposal, Rubric, Production Schedule, and pre-filled Peer Evaluation forms

M April 14 (PRODUCTION)

Deadline: Have met with trainer - 4/16

M April 21 (PRODUCTION/POSTPRODUCTION)

Deadline: Draft of Project due

M April 28 (POSTPRODUCTION)

M May 5 (PUBLISH)

Deadline: Final draft due, submit to contest

Weekly peer reflection

Completing "Confidential Peer Evaluation" forms

Each week, each group member will download one copy of that week's form from the group's wiki, evaluate each group member's performance BEFORE class begins, and submit the confidential form to me at the beginning of class. Forms not completed by the beginning of class, will not be accepted and the indivdiual will receive "0" points for the assessment.

If individual tasks have been changed since the form was first completed, these changes must be noted on the wiki by each respective individual no later than Monday at 8am.

Evaluation Forms

M April 14 (PRODUCTION)

Deadline: Have met with trainer

ENG 307 - April 14 eval.doc

M April 21 (PRODUCTION/POSTPRODUCTION)

Deadline: Draft of Project due

ENG 307 - April 21 eval.doc

M April 28 (POSTPRODUCTION)

ENG 307 - April 28 eval.doc

M May 5 (PUBLISH)

Deadline: Final draft due

ENG 307 - May 5 eval.doc

Quotes, Statistics, and Ideas to Use:

The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen. ~Tommy Smothers

Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings. ~Heinrich Heine, Almansor, 1823

Every burned book enlightens the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The paper burns, but the words fly away. ~Akiba ben Joseph

< http://www.quotegarden.com/censorship.html >

"While I believe teachers of secondary literature who have contemporary practices are well-suited to foster and teach choice, I am not sure we have recognized the importance of students learning to choose as a foundational component of mature reading processes."

< http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4063/is_200310/ai_n9253866 >

"A classroom library invites students to browse, chat, make recommendations to eachother, select, reject, and generally feel at home with literature" (Atwell "In the Middle" Pg. 37).

"Allowing students to select their own books has a major impact on students' fluency, reading rate, and comprehension" (Atwell "In the Middle Pg. 37).

"...I read or skim a lot of books and consider their merits and my own criteria, as a teacher of literature and of adolescents. For example, Go Ask Alice, which appears on banned-book lists, is a book worth me risking my job. As Janet Allen has observed, the anonymous diary gives kids the vicarious experience of experimenting with drugs, carried to its ultimate, deadly conclusion (1995). I can't think of a better cautionary tale- afterbeing inside Alice's head, kids have already lived the consequences of drugs. They may never need to do so in real life" (Atwell "In the Middle" Pg. 38-9).

Images to Use:

http://wecareaz.org/site/moodledata/1/AboutUs/students_teacher_classroom.jpg

http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ap_book_burning_070528_ms.jpg

http://www.international.mq.edu.au/globe/admin/images/Edition%2023.07/Book%20censorship.gif (possibly background for title)

Resources for iMovie