Week Six: Be Original!

With lesson plans dancing in my head, I decided to take a personal day on Monday- doing absolutely nothing and loving every moment of it. As I curled up on my couch to enjoy another hour of meaningless "Bravo" shows, I was instantly rewarded for my laziness. One of my favorite movies ("Good Will Hunting") was playing. Not intending to think about anything serious, I was hit with an epiphany as I watched one of the opening bar scenes:



Will approaches a group of guys from MIT as they tease his friend, calling him out for his lack of education. One student in particular (we'll call him Blondie), begins a rhetorical analysis of economic situations in the south. Will jumps in, finishing the quote Blondie is reciting. Will remarks, "Are you going to plagiarize the whole book, or are you going to have a thought of your own? You've paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for an education you could have achieved with $1.50 in library late fees!" Blondie becomes upset, trying to cut down Will by stating, "I'll have a degree from all this, and you'll still be serving me and my family at McDonalds!" Will doesn't miss a beat as he claims, "Maybe so, but at least I'll won't be unoriginal!"

This scene got me thinking about this program- Are we being conditioned to merely regurgitate the great educational philosophies and practices of those that have become before us? Better yet, are we being educated to be successful, or are we learning to be original?

For me, these questions are answered best by our articles for this week. In my mind, digital literacies and digital writings are tools that can make our teaching practical, motivated, and original. As an example, many have come before us and taught "A Separate Piece" using the theme of guilt and responsibility. These ideas are not original. In contrast, having students use Gizmoz software to generate a digital personification of guilt is original. Asking students to create a blog and write journal entries as characters from this text also has numerous levels of originality. Finally, encouraging students to generate an iMovie of character reflections done twenty years later would certainly be original.

As future teachers, we feel bogged down by lesson plans, enduring questions, and state standards. But there's more to our occupation than just these concrete foundations. Digital literacies and writing gives us an advantage that those before us did not have- We have a unique opportunity to implement technologies to generate motivated learning, practical knowledge, and applicable education... ORIGINALITY!

Link of the Week: http://www.gizmoz.com/
I sent this out earlier but it affords repeating. Students can create a digital personality of themselves or a character, then use them in multigenre activities, paper proposals, or group discussion. Additionally, teachers can use this software to deliver grading notes, sub instructions, or short lessons.