Call for Nominations: NCTE's Media Literacy Award

[Frank W. Baker]

Call for Nominations: Media Literacy Award
During the 2009 NCTE Annual Convention in Philadelphia, the NCTE Commission on Media will present its fourth annual Media Literacy Award to an individual, team, or department that has implemented and refined exemplary media literacy practices in their school environment. June 15 is the application deadline.

Frank W.Baker, author, media literacy education consultant

[Kevin Smith]

This award sounds like a great way to move our commission forward and honor an outstanding Florida educator or team. In my work, we had a PSA contest for Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! and there were a few great entries. These can be viewed at: http://www.justreadflorida.com/literacyweek.asp. During an event where the winners were honored by Governor Crist, I was able to speak with Beth Wood from Dunnellon Middle School in Marion County, and they appear to be doing some great work in this area.

Thanks for moving forward with this effort!

[Clarissa West-White]

The deadline has been extended to June 30th... If we don't do this this year, we should try for next year as a commission.

Applying for the Award

The Media Literacy Award will be presented to an individual, team, or department that has implemented and refined exemplary media literacy practices in their school environment. The Award Selection Process will be based on a portfolio review by a panel from the Commission on Media.

The portfolio should be submitted electronically, if possible, or via the mail in hard copy, if necessary.

The key elements of the portfolio should demonstrate:

a. analysis, evaluation, and creation of media
b. reflective processes used by instructor(s) and participants
c. growth of media literacy instruction in the course/department

The portfolio must address the following criteria:

Criteria 1: Evidence of sustained implementation of media literacy principles (recognized as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages) over time.

STATEMENT

•How have media literacy principles been reinforced over time during the course of study?
•What assignments, readings, strategies are used to show that media literacy is fundamental to the course?
EVIDENCE
includes, but is not limited to:

•assignments, lessons and/or project descriptors
•curriculum maps or unit plans
•resource lists
•examples of student work
•grading rubrics and assessment standards
Criteria 2: Describe the development of the course or unit and how it fits within the curriculum, providing evidence of innovation and imagination within the program. What is the context within which the work takes place: a course, a unit, a department?

STATEMENT
Questions to consider:

•Is this a lesson? A series of lessons? a unit?
•is media literacy used in a variety of contexts and lessons?
•What issues have arisen while implementing media literacy?
•What obstacles have been overcome?
•How have the units/lessons/projects evolved over time?
EVIDENCE
includes, but is not limited to:

•revisions of units and lessons
•student and teacher reflective instruments
•assignments, lessons and/or project descriptors
•curriculum maps or unit plans
•resource lists
•examples of student work
•grading rubrics and assessment standards
Criteria 3: Evidence of collaboration in the media literacy classroom, within or outside the school.

STATEMENT
questions to consider:

•How does this unit/lesson/project transcend the classroom?
•Do students work collaboratively? Do they reflect on the collaborative process in a formal manner?
•Does collaboration enhance the project/lesson/unit in specific ways that more traditional solo activity might not?
•Do students work with others outside the classroom?
•Do they work across academic disciplines? Across grade levels?
EVIDENCE
may include, but is not limited to:

•revisions of units and lessons
•student and teacher reflective instruments
•assignments, lessons and/or project descriptors
•curriculum maps or unit plans
•resource lists
•examples of student work
•grading rubrics and assessment standards
Criteria 4: Evaluation of a portfolio of exemplary work, including high or low-tech media compositions, syllabi, and course assignments to be submitted electronically, if possible. Hard copy submissions will be accepcted, if necessary.

STATEMENT
Questions to consider:

•What work is most representative of the focus on media literacy in my courses?
•How have assessments and teacher responses helped students create effective media literacy products?
•How has the practice of media literacy evolved over time in my course and what artifacts best represent that?
•What best represents the ways we analyzed, evaluated and created media?
•How has the projects/lessons/units evolved over time?
•What instruments and results show the reflection that goes into the developing of the course?
EVIDENCE
may include, but is not limited to:

•revisions of units and lessons
•student and teacher reflective instruments
•assignments, project descriptors, resource lists, curriculum maps and lesson or unit planning
•student projects, examples of student work in all formats
•grading rubrics and assessment standards
•products of student work
Where do I submit my work?

The portfolio should be submitted electronically.
Hard copy submissions will be accepted via U.S. Mail, if necessary.

Send all electronic copies to Linda Walters at [e-mail].
The subject line should state: Media Literacy Award Submission.

All hard copy materials should be sent to the address listed below.
If submitting by mail, please send six copies of all materials.

Please note that all materials received will not be returned.
Copies of original materials are acceptable.

Linda Walters
Media Literacy Award
NCTE
1111 W Kenyon Road
Urbana IL 61801