No Zombies Allowed/Paloma

In this chapter, Mr. Michie is beginning his fourth year as a teacher and finally has his own classroom. He is teaching a brand new course at Quincy that derived from an after school program he taught last year. The class is called Media Studies. Since this was a new course at this school, the class did not have a specific structure or any specific guidelines to follow. Mr. Michie explored whatever topic came about that interested the students. Mr. Michie used music videos, songs and TV shows to help the students learn about deconstructing things to see what the producer is trying to convey.
The approach Mr. Michie took teaching the students was inspiring. I was inspired on how he not only taught the students how to use the equipment, but also how he taught them that they can express themselves in different ways. I liked how he taught them to think critically about the things they chose to watch on TV and how he assigned them writing assignments that were true to them.
Mr. Michie learned that on assignments a limited must be set after assigning students to pick any song they want and write out the lyrics. He wanted the students to present to the class what the song meant. One student chose a song that was very offensive to everyone who read the lyrics. Mr. Michie did not want the student to feel bad, so he told him he wanted him to explain the song to him in private to avoid offending his classmates. Mr. Michie never got around to going over that song with that student. He felt bad for a long time because he let time slide by.
I learned that we must let the students express themselves, but in a respectable manner. Students are still children, so there definitely needs to be a limit to some of the things we allow students to say and do. In addition, we must not put things off until the last minute because then the opportunity may slip away.
Paloma seemed to be very head strong, intelligent and knowledgeable about what she wants out of life. After taking the media class, she changed not only what she watches, but also how she perceives what she is watching. She said that her parents are her heros because of all they are and went through to give her what she needs. Paloma said that to her there is no such thing as a bad child. Children only portray what they learn or are subjected to.
I agree with Paloma about my parents being my heros, because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have half of the things I have. She mentioned that many people say their heros are movie stars and basketball players, but we can’t truly relate to those people. I agree that children have a voice and when they act out they are only expressing themselves.