Brainstorming My Media Literacy Autobiography

My earliest memories of different forms of media are from around the time I was three years old. For TV I remember sitting at home and watching Thomas the Tank Engine in our living room. I don’t have a memory of what my first movie was, but for listening to the radio I do remember driving down the road as it was raining, the sun began shinning during the rain, which was the first time I had saw that. During that moment CCR’s song “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” came on. It was a strange moment that I still remember to this day. For advertisements the one that stands out the most in my mind is one from when I was around 10 to 11 years old. I believe it was some kind of gushers commercial that when the people ate the gushers their heads turned into fruit. It was very odd, and I actually never ate gushers because of it. So I guess it had the opposite effect of what was intended.

As for digital media literacy I do consider myself to be digitally literate. Being able to shift through media and recognize that something isn’t what it may seem is something I have always done. I don’t think that there was a specific moment. I’ve always have been very interested in learning. I learned very early on in my life that not everything you read, or that someone says, is true, but I guess it started with reading magazine covers in line at the stores. Their ridiculous headlines gave me that first lesson.

As for the digital media I am consuming in my life now I am obsessed with watching news and informational videos on YouTube. I like political commentaries such as The Young Turks, to channels that make you think about strange and odd things, like Vsause. I also love watching TedTalks videos, as well as channels that explain global issues, such as DNews, and Seeker Daily. All of these videos range from short 2-3 minute videos, to lasting over an hour.

As for teaching and incorporating digital media into the classroom I am more excited now that I have ever been. Now knowing all the resources that are out there and all the things you can do with digital media I am less afraid of going out into the teaching community, and I’m feel much more prepared to go out and teach children music.

My Digital Story

I decided to tell this digital story because it caused me to reevaluate many aspects of my life. I had gone out to enjoy the fireworks on the 4^th of July, and during my time outside I had a very long introspective moment where I examined different aspects of my life. I ended up making decisions to improve my life for the better. I think that my digital story would be good to build self-esteem because it deals with changing your life around for the better. It shows that even though life may not be going the way you would want or hope, you have the ability to make it my life better. I think that listening to different digital stories is a great way for students to learn digital media literacy. It allows the students to see what can be tools can be used in order to tell a more complete digital story, by experiencing what others have done with their own digital story.