WEEK 13 MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY-PART 2

Name: Tracy Naughton

This week, I ask that you shape your thoughts about Media & Information Literacy into a
teaching statement that will appear on your web portfolio. MIL is increasingly becoming
an area of concern both for school administrators and parents, and providing a clear
description of your approach to MIL will inform parents and other educators about your
approach to MIL and how they can foster MIL with students.
Recommendations for writing an effective MIL statement
If at all possible, your statement should enable the reader to imagine you in the
classroom, teaching. You want to include sufficient information for picturing not only you
in the process of teaching, but also your class in the process of learning. Helen G.
Grundman, Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement
Your statement can address any or all of the following:
Your conception of MIL
A reflection of why you teach MIL
The MIL goals you have for yourself and for your students
A description of how your teaching facilitates MIL
Your interests in MIL techniques, activities, and types of learning
The ways in which you will create a MIL learning environment
(Adapted from Center for Teaching Guidelines)

Your MIL statement should include 3 distinguishable paragraphs (minimum 5 lines each)
and an illustration:
1) Your definition of MIL. Why is MIL important, and why should we care? What does
it mean for students to be MI-literate in today's world, both academically and
personally? You can use your reflection from last week's assignment. Remember
that using your own words will bring authenticity to your message.
Media and Information Literacy is the ability to read and analyze information from our
given media. Our society is becoming media focused. All means of communication are
through media. I believe MIL should be practiced in schools today because it is simply a
necessity. Educators should practice media and information literacy for both themselves
but as a model to their students too. It should be seen as a right to education in this
generation, being literate in technology is just as important.
2) Your approach to MIL in your classroom. What is it going to look like in your

classroom? How do you see MIL being implemented within and across subjects in your
class? Specific examples are always welcome. There is no right or wrong answer, just
your personal views on teaching.
MIL will be practiced in my future classroom, however, as of now I need to expand my
own knowledge on it. I will bring in new technologies into my classroom for students to
become familiar with them. I will pose questions to my students to get them thinking
about media and power similar to the five key questions of Media Literacy. Media can be
positive or negative and I will expose them to both kinds. I want my students to be
problem solvers and I want them to question things.

3) Recommendations for parents. Describe how parents can help further MIL for their
children at home. What should they do/not do with their children to help them gain MIL
skills in their personal lives. This part should flow logically from the previous section.
This could be a paragraph, bulleted list, concept map, etc. You can also add possible
links to resources for parents.
-Practice online safety
-Balance media exposure in their homes
-Ask questions to reveal embedded values

An illustration for students. Using popular culture is a great way to make a message
clear with students. To illustrate your MIL statement for students, go to
www.memegenerator.net and create your own MIL meme that will invite students to think
critically about media and information (copy and paste it in this box).

When you post your statement on your portfolio, feel free to structure it in any way youd
like.
Reflection questions
1. How does having access to MIL resources impact your intentions to teach MIL in
your future classroom?
Having access to these resources makes it that much easier to teach in the classroom
because I can use them and learn from them and so can my students.

2. Often, MIL is mistaken to be a set of skills exclusively related to technology. How

could you still work on MIL skills with your students in a classroom that doesn't have
technology or Internet access?
Media comes in the form of print as well such as magazine ads, billboards, and
newspapers. MIL isnt just related to technology, it is how one interprets media of all
types.