Allison+Clarke

REFLECTIONS   > > media type="custom" key="12603050" > > > > What do you notice about the way that the teacher interacts with students in your video? > In this video, we see Dave, the instructor implementing a lesson about nutrition after the students are sent into a local WaWa store to purchase snacks. Dave interacts with the students by asking them specific questions about their different food items that hold specific answers. He asked the students what ingredients were included in the snacks that they chose, and if they were unsure as to what an ingredient was he gave the student specific instructions to research it and bring this information back to him after the weekend. By questioning the students he made them aware of the ingredients in the different things they were eating, as well as pushed to inform them about the things they had no clue abbout.
 * Dave Talks To Students At A Convenience Store

> What do you notice about the responses and talk from students? > The students seem very engaged in the nutrition activity, and are enthusiastic about finding out their nutritional facts and reporting the information. I noticed that some of the students answers pulled information that they may not have known without some teaching, which lead me to believe that Dave they had an initial lesson about nutrition before they were sent home to complete their homework, and brought out for a hands-on experience with this activity. The students grasped the information they were taught and were able to apply their lessons to the different foods they chose at the WaWa. In their responses, as Dave probed deeper, the students gave more information. For example, at the beginning before the students enter the store they have a mini pep-talk about energy drinks such as Red Bull and from that product they now know and discuss collectively what ingredients they must stay away from in the store. The main ingredient is sugar, which surprisingly they actually do not stay away from as the students come back with M&M's, Jolly Ranchers and Cheetos to name a few. > > How do you think the lesson engages, or fails to engage, with concepts from our readings so far this semester? > > I think the lesson was very engaging on the instructors part, as he easily kept the students interested, enthused and involved in such a complex activity as nutrition. This worked best because the lesson was combined with something kids love, food. Although the students had strict guidelines to follow, they had no trouble in doing so because they were passionate about the snacks they chose. The students were also granted access to several things. They were given access to the WaWa by their instructor, helping to create a more realistic picture and understanding of the lessons they were taught. Access also played a huge role in the lesson in relation to research. Whenever students did not know what an ingredient was or the teacher deemed them unsure, he asked them to do some research. In order to find out this information, essentially students needed access to the internet to complete the lesson and fully understand the task at hand. The most important digital media aspect in this lesson in my opinion was analyze. The students, having homework on the topic before hand were given some exposure and experience with the exercise before being able to implement what they had learned. Technically, they were able to analyze efficiently what snacks they were going to purchase, although most of the students chose unhealthy snacks in a lesson about nutrition. The students were also prompted to analyze their purchases by going through the ingredients and weighing whether or not they were good or bad for them as well as what they were consuming. By making the students aware of what they were eating, Dave also succeeded in engaging their ideas while helping them understand the lesson. Even in one instance when a student purchased a hot dog lacking a nutrition label, Dave helped the student analyze their snack by noting an equivalent that the student could easily research. > > > What questions do you have about the lesson? > > I think this was a great lesson, as the students seemed to do most of the work and had huge responsibilities in the lesson. They were required to go to WaWa, choose a product, analyze their ingredients, do research to find out more information and then report their findings. I also like that the students were given direct access to the convenience store, as opposed to having Dave bring in different items to the classroom. I do not have any questions about the lesson, but I am intrigued at the different ways in which Dave utilizes different components of media literacy to the classrooms advantage. > >