Response to Media Readings

For my fourth article, I chose to read "Sanctify Yourselves," by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. He talked about how we need to keep ourselves clean and pure so that we can be instruments in the Lord's hands at any moment and in any circumstance. The following quote was one of my favorites: "...the day may come—indeed, I am certain will come—when in an unexpected circumstance or a time of critical need, lightning will strike, so to speak, and the future will be in your hands. Be ready when that day comes. Be strong. Always be clean...I testify that the call in every age—and especially our age—is Joshua’s call: 'Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'"

I learned a lot from the article by Charles and Dawn Graham. The ideas presented under the heading, "Learn to Provide," were very valuable, in my opinion. I've been taught a lot of ways to protect families from negative media. But I haven't heard about very many ways to use the media for good in our families. These were my two favorite ideas: 1) create a video movie of a family vacation or a family history documentary and 2) have a family blog. All in all, the readings reminded me of how dangerous the media can be and how important it is that I protect others from its deceitfulness and destructiveness.

When I am a teacher and/or parent, I will never let myself be carefree when dealing with the media. I don't think a parent or teacher can ever be too careful. I'm guessing that my students/children will resent me once in a while for being so protective, but I hate the idea of allowing Satan to have access to their innocent hearts. I will be sure to take appropriate precautions to prevent negative media to be viewed in my home/classroom.

Like Elder M. Russell Ballard urged, I want to let my voice be heard. When I see something inappropriate, I should let others know that it bothered me and that I do not agree with it. When in a group, I can walk away from whatever it is that is harmful or degrading. I can also use the media for wholesome activities such as those I mentioned above.

Technology Lesson

Part of the 3rd grade core curriculum includes writing. In particular, it expects that students produce traditional and imaginative stories, narrative and formula poetry. After producing pieces of writing such as these, students should "share writing with others using illustrations, graphs, and/or charts to add meaning."

As the teacher, I would first demonstrate and model the writing process for my students. I would then show them how to create a final draft; this would involve explaining the importance of making your work look presentable and appealing. I would create my own story on PowerPoint, giving them an example of how to share one's personal writing.

After the students have gone through the process of drafting and editing their writing, I think it would be awesome for them to share their final drafts using PowerPoint. Each slide could have a sentence or two written on it along with pictures and illustrations. The final PowerPoint presentation would be like a published story. Then the students could share their story with the rest of the class without having to worry about making sure all the students could see their pictures.

Another benefit for including technology like this is that when all the stories had been created, it would be easy to post the stories on a class blog so that parents and others could read the stories. Also, a cd could easily be created which contained each of the students' finished stories. At the end of the year, each student could get a copy of the cd as a kind of momentum from their 3rd grade school year.