Kendra's Photovoice 1: Math and Carpentry

Over January, I helped my mom decorate her new home in Savannah, Georgia. The most difficult and time-consuming task was hanging her large, ornately framed pieces of artwork strategically throughout the house. One of the most difficult aspects of filling a large wall with multiple pieces of art is determining exactly where the piece should be centered in terms of the other pieces on the wall and in terms of wall height and length. As we worked together, I realized that my mathematically precise and detail-oriented eye gave me an advantage over my mom’s artistic eye, which tended to tune out small detail for the larger visualization of the wall as a whole.

Literacy in mathematical thought combined with a base knowledge of carpentry enabled my mom and I to hang pieces of art that weighed as much as seventy-five pounds. The best way to hang heavy objects is to ensure that the hanging object is embedded into a vertical wall stud. In order to find the stud, a stud finder could be utilized. However, most carpenters, and some keen homeowners, are able to determine the exact position of wall studs using math. A stud is a 2X4 piece of lumber that creates a sturdy frame for the structure. Depending on the age of the structure, a stud typically exists at each wall corner, on both sides of every door and window frame, and every 16 inches on center throughout the wall. Therefore, with a tape measurer and a pencil, anyone with math literacy should be able to find a stud.

This photograph illustrates the process of finding a stud in a wall. By measuring sixteen inches from the wall corner, and verifying the measurement with a series of knocking to determine where hollow areas and solid areas exist, the location of the wall stud can be determined. The photo also demonstrates the importance of math literacy in real-world tasks.

In this example, math literacy is an ability to visualize geometric structures that hold together houses combined with the appropriate and precise application of conceptual understanding with procedural fluency of basic math operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. While these ideas are used for the simple task of hanging pictures, more intricate applications of the same principle are used in every phase of home building and repair. Just as incorrect or inappropriate uses of math in the task of hanging a picture can result in the picture falling and breaking, incorrect math in the design of a home can lead to structural failure.

Allie's Photovoice 1

I have chosen a picture of my little puppy, Kirby. You may be wondering what Kirby has to do with literacy. Some may scoff and say I'm just trying to find a way to show everyone how cute little Puck is. You would be right, but only partially. This is Kirby after he has learned that this is the only shoe he is allowed to chew on. Being only four months old, Kirby has a lot to learn about his new environment and how he fits in. He is using reading, speaking, listening, and viewing skills all the time in order to adapt to his new life in the Heasley household. Kirby watches and reads each of us to know when he is doing something right or wrong and when he can push his boundaries. This picture, I think, perfectly captures Kirby in an attempt to cautiously read the situation. I have the shoelace in my mouth, but is it ok for me to be chewing on this shoe? It seems like they don't mind, but maybe I should move a respective distance away, just in case. Kirby has also learned to listen to us to know what sounds mean that he's being good and which are bad. When can he get away with what he is doing based on the tone of our voices? He even speaks when he feels the urge. The noises he makes bring my family great joy, but they are also a way that we know something is up with Kirby and we need to find out what it is.

Well that's all well and good, but what does it have to do with English and language arts. Everything! In looking through the standards for English, almost all of them cover some form of literacy from reading and writing to listening, speaking, and viewing. In a lot of ways, the standards that have to be met in English seem like a basis for literacy in content areas. The knowledge gained about how to comprehend what we are reading in English class can be used to get through a text book in another class. Honing essay writing skills in a language arts classroom will benefit you when writing a history paper. Learning how to listen and communicate effectively are skills that are used in all classrooms. One of the national standards discusses the use of a student's knowledge of their native language as a way to help them develop competency in other areas. In English classrooms, kids learn the basic skills they need in order to be literate in other content areas and in life, just as Kirby is learning the basic skills he needs to find his own place in our family.

nicky's pics 550.jpg

I will admit, to begin, that this photo was staged. Do you see the fake terror in my eyes? Do you notice that my acting skills are far superior to my boyfriend's?

This photo was taken from aboard a trajinera in the Xochimilco neighborhood of Mexico City, MX. A trajinera is a small boat simliar to a gondola, which operators paddle through the ancient canals of southern Mexico City. The Xochimilco canals are difficult to get to. If staying in the center of the city, one must ride the subway to a train and then take a bus or taxi the remainder of the way.

Dylan and I thought we had almost arrived when the train we were riding broke down. We were shuffled off the train and immediately approached by half a dozen cab drivers who were shouting at us in a language we didn't understand. We were in a residential neighborhood with no signs, no phone booths, no friendly looking police officers. Following the crowd to a small bus I asked the driver, in my limited Spanish, if he was going to Xochimilco. He said yes so we paid the fare and got on.

An hour later, we were the last people on the bus, in the middle of a desolate shanty town. I tried to explain to the driver that we were lost, but we couldn't communicate. He wanted me off his bus. It was the end of his route. He pointed down a gravel street and muttered something I could not understand. There were people everywhere but we felt completely alone. We stuck out like a sore thumb in this neighborhood and all the horror stories we had heard of kidnapped tourist were resonating in our heads. Luckily, two blocks down the road, we found the entrance to the Xochimilco canals. Once safely aboard we realized how silly our fear had been and decided to capture it in a picture.

In order to function in our environments, we must be literate in the language of its people. Our lack of an ability to communicate made us feel confused and afraid. A person who cannot read or write may go through life feeling just as disconnected as someone stranded in a foreign land. It is for this reason that literacy is necessary.

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Weinhagen Photovoice #1

I was at my 7th grade girls basketball practice this morning and we were working on our full court press and it made me think how in any type of physical activity, specifically sports, people need to understand the strategy of the game and why teams do what they do.

In this picture, I have a diagram of how I want my girls to set up their defense and how the other team might set up their offense. For some of you, this may seem very confusing. It takes demonstration, explanation, and a drawing for most people to understand. All of those components are where we can see literacy in physical education. In this specific diagram, one would have to understand that the "X's" are defense and the "O's" are offense. This is something that is taught at the beginning of any season or unit for that matter. There are plenty of strategies in all sports that coaches write out for their players. While these diagrams aren't words, they have meaning and if you want to have success in your game, you have to learn to read what the coach/teacher is showing you. My girls had to take the drawing board from me and work together to place themselves on the court. I could have placed them myself, but if they were able to figure out from the drawing where they should be, that was a good indicator they understood. Literacy is more than just reading words, it is communicating and working together.

If anyone has been watching the Olympics, we see a lot of times during breaks, diagrams of figure skating routines, curling tactics, or strategies for the luge or skeleton. For me, I don't understand all of it because I am not familiar with all of those sports. These diagrams on the screen along with the speaking create a sense of understanding. Literacy is going to be seen in physical education very differently than most disciplines. It is going to be through observations and physical doing along with helpful tools for students to understand games and how they can have the most success while playing.

Amy's Photovoice #1

So in this picture we see my aunt, my sister, and me on busy intersection in the Quartier Latin in Paris. Learning a different language can be a method of survival in another country or culture that is not your own. When looking at this picture, you may not be able to discern what this could possibly have to do with literacy. The answer: plenty.

In this photo, you can see many different signs that are in French or just have symbols. Understanding these signs will help you get to where you want to go in the city. For example, by looking at this picture, French speakers would know that the sign which says "METRO" means that it is the entrance to the subway. There is also a sign that says "Quai Andre Citroen" with an arrow. A person needs to know that the word quai means riverbank in order to understand which way the Seine is. Also in the background you can see a green lit-up sign that says what looks like "HARMA". This stands for Pharmacy. I know this because it is in green and I can see the makings of a green cross, which is the symbol for pharmacies all over France. You also have to know that the red circle with a white line in it means "Do not enter" and that the little red man on a stoplight means "Don't walk" or else you could get run over.

These are all forms of literacy and being able to read these signs and symbols is part of being able to get around a foreign country. In learning French, you can also learn what these signs mean and be able to use them to successfully navigate the city. So you see, literacy is a part of everyday life...even in foreign countries.

Jenna Schaude--Photovoice Posting #1

This is my 35-mm Minolta camera. It is a film camera. Do you remember film cameras? Since I have very little time for photography at the moment, it sits in a very old, hardly-still-intact camera bag. I still remember the first time I took this camera out of its case. It felt quite overwhelming. It actually isn't my camera. My older brother and I traded cameras for the semester because I needed a film camera for class. He got to use my amateur, point-and-click digital camera, which he somehow got quick-dry cement all over...so perhaps this is my camera now.
There was no manual to go along with the Minolta. My ability to learn new skills through reading was difficult to exercise without a manual, but I did find one online. The manual, however, did not prevent me from accidentally ruining the unwound film that sat in the camera from when my brother used it. I felt so guilty for erasing those captured memories that I put the camera down, and would not touch it until my teacher explained to me step-by-step how to get film out in the future. Even after he showed me, I still made him watch me do it when I had my own film in the camera for fear that I would ruin another roll of film.
In every medium of art, a different type of literacy is needed. In some mediums, things can cross over. Photography just happens to be very mechanically-oriented. All I know is that there is a very specific language that one has to learn in order to properly use their old Minolta film camera...not to mention all the machinery that one faces in the darkroom.

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In this space, we record photographic images of our evolving definition of literacy, along with written "musings" about our posted photos. At the end of the course, we will have a record of how our thinking about Literacy has been influenced by course readings, discussions, projects and field experiences.