The theme of my blog is to take note in the ways that social aspects relate to the history or social studies classroom. My text set was centered around the Holocaust and the social aspects present in the ways the students interact with the information as well as the way that the people in pictures are interacting with one another. Lately, I keep thinking about social media and the ways that we use it. As students need obtain a proficiency in technology and media literacy, it reminded me about n infographic labeled “safebook” describing the basics of being on facebook. Students would be able to use this to analyze posts and messages but to critically examine their own posts and messages as well. This is the example that I worked with in order to create my own.
While I was brainstorming an idea and after I had found this image, I wondered what other modes of representation are out there and how I might give students the ability to really dive into social literacy. I wanted to give students something that felt like a conversation through the use of a storyboard was able to create that atmosphere.
Here is the site that I used to create the storyboard: https://www.pixton.com/create/storyboard/a2md7b6v
Media Literacy:
Since the students will be able to chose the platform for their gallery walk they will be able to learn new formats as well as learning the material in a fun and exciting way. As students navigate through their platform they will interact in a social matter, discussing the topic as well as how the information should be laid out. While a disagreement might occur due to difference in judgment over what social aspects are present in the picture, information will be introduced in a social way therefore allowing students to brainstorm alternatives.
Selecting the Images:
While I was searching the internet for relevant pictures of the Holocaust that obtained social aspects I wanted to show several historical dimensions as well. It seems that while there is several pictures on a lot of the Holocaust a lot of interpretation on the social aspects as well as knowing the time of history are necessary in completing the project.
Deepening Understanding:
Seeing real images for me allows me to see the faces of the people I am studying and gives me a sense of who I am learning about. In students minds, they would be able to study the social aspects to learn and further their understanding of the time period and the relevant information on the subject. Not only will the students learn more about the topic but they will also be using varied methods of visual representations. Vocabulary from the topic can be used in the visual representation and can be used to generate images.
Using Visuals to Present and Further Information:
As I was completing this assignment, it took me a while to think of a relevant source. While in the process, I realized that a PowerPoint is a simple yet effective way to analyze and organize social aspects. In my future classroom, I would allow them to use other more interactive ways and potentially allow them to incorporate more of the student body in their analysis. Since there would be a rubric present and a team responsibility form to hold students accountable, it would allow them to interact with history in a way that they might not get in a standard classroom. Also while they are examining a visual representation of a historical period, they are also creating a visual based on that interpretation. Students will have a holistic gain from a project like this may also be useful for an interdisciplinary lesson.
historysmiles 
Jena, I am glad that you expanded on the idea of the gallery walk. I really liked that idea. I am a little confused by the PowerPoint aspect. Will you make one to show your students? Will your students have to make their own? Did you make a presentation?
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I made the PowerPoint to demonstrate more what they would be including. The last slide gives some detail about the modes that a student can use to create their gallery walk such as video and other material. Students may work in partners to create the project thus they will create their own. However, this can also be done as an individual project. More to the point, the students will be learning about the social aspects in history and therefore be required to use their own social literacies to create the project.
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Jena, I like the idea of a gallery walk, and I think that is a great way to help the students engage with the material. I did see your powerpoint, but I am wondering how you will present this. Would you print out the slides and have them posted around the room? Or would you go through the powerpoint on the screen slide by slide? What would the students be doing with the information from this gallery walk?
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Mainly the idea is that the students will create something that showcases their interpretations of the social aspects relative to a period we are looking at during the unit. As they will be looking at several images and using those images to create the project. they will also be interpreting what they are seeing with what they know about social aspects. As this is merely an example, I would show this to them slide by slide. They will be creating their own in whatever medium they choose. As for them presenting the project, it would be done in a more showcase way so that each student will be able to look at all of the projects.
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Jena, I like your gallery walk as well. I am wondering how you present this to your students and will students create the gallery walk as well?
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Students will be looking at mine as an example and creating their own. In terms of social literacy, students will be using their own social aspects to examine and interpret what they are seeing in images from that time. The goal is that they will be working in groups to identify social aspects in their life, or in their groups, examining the social aspects of the image and using those images in a medium that they would like, for example Prezi, to create a visual representation of what they learned.
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While I appreciate you choosing an output that your students might already feel comfortable with (Ppt), I’d like to challenge you to think about the opportunity you have to explore a new digital literacy by trying a new format for a visualization that may be more engaging for your young adult learners. This question, “In what ways did creating the visualization deepen your understanding of the topic in ways that reading alone might not have?” is key in your learning as well as your students’ learning…but it requires breaking out of traditional text formats. I want to be clear Ppt can be used very creatively and provocatively, but when we use it as outlines of information with some pictures, we are restricting it’s potential and our own potential for learning through creating.
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