1. Media Literacy Education Program Professional Development Plan
Candace Brown
TED 690
National University

2. Professional Development Goal
Based on my past teaching experiences, including two years of interning at King Chavez Preparatory Academy, my goal addresses the need for ongoing professional development in the area of media literacy. In order to improve teaching and learning in this area, I have devised a plan for developing and implementing a Media Literacy Education Program at the middle school level. My plan aligns with the Core Principles of media literacy education, as defined by the National Association of Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), and meets the TPE competencies within Domain A: Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students .
My plan incorporates the following pedagogical models :
Standards-based Instruction
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Inquiry-based Learning
Project-based Learning

3. Standards-based Instruction: My program is designed to be implemented across content areas; my plan provides an example of how I have integrated media literacy education into ELA instruction.
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Intercultural educators use culturally responsive teaching practices to promote the academic success of diverse student populations such as students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (Diaz-Rico & Weed, 2010). One such way to promote academic success is by designing curricula, like media literacy education, that enhances students’ abilities to think critically.
Inquiry-based Learning: As students take in the various messages communicated through media, both good and bad, it would benefit them to have a skill set that includes being able to distinguish between facts and claims, to determine the credibility of sources, and to detect instances of bias and stereotyping (Slavin, 2003). My plan meets this need.
Project-based Learning: My plan considers that some students learn best when they are given opportunities to create projects by synthesizing concepts and when they are able to make real-world connections.

4. Rationale
My plan for developing and implementing a Media Literacy Education Program at the middle school level supports my PDQP goal of designing culturally relevant, authentic, and comprehensive product assignments that stretch students in application of understanding and skill (Tomlinson, 2001).
In addition, my plan addresses specific competencies within Domain D of the TPEs; namely, teacher candidates understand how to “focus on analytical critique of text and a variety of media” and “incorporate technology into the language arts as a tool for conducting research or creating manuscripts and multimedia presentations.”
Technology has catalyzed an increase in media usage among young people. According to a 2009 study of 8 to 18-year-olds by the Kaiser Family Foundation, young people spend as much time consuming media every day - approximately 7.5 hours - as their parents spend working. The same study reported a significant change from in the amount of time 8 to 18-year-olds are spending consuming various forms of media. For example, young people’s music/audio usage and television usage increased by 47 minutes and 37 minutes, respectively.

5. Through media, middle school students are bombarded with messages
Through media, middle school students are bombarded with messages. They need strategies that facilitate critical thinking; they need media literacy skills to help them analyze messages, formulate opinions based on their own experiences, values, and beliefs, and assess the credibility of what they see and hear.

6. The NAMLE states that the purpose of media literacy education is:
To help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression that they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators and active citizens in today's world.

7. Sharing Strategies and Timeline
End of Previous School Year (June)
August
I will meet with the school administrator(s) and explain the benefits that media literacy education provides to students. I will submit a proposal for review and a sample lesson plan showing how I effectively integrated media literacy education into ELA instruction.
During our summer staff meetings, I will collaborate with the school site’s professional development team/peer coaches, grade-level lead teachers, and department heads in order to generate a preliminary list of “best practices” or strategies for implementing media literacy education across subject areas and grade levels. I will upload the document to Google Docs and share it so that we can all access it and continue to add strategies to the list.
If the program is approved, I will submit a proposal to the administrator(s) and PTO/School Site Council asking that a percentage of the site discretionary funds or categorical funds be allocated for professional development, instructional materials, media literacy fairs, etc. I will reach out to various organizations and business professionals in the community in search of materials that can be used as realia to enhance instruction.
With the administrator’s approval and feedback, I will contact the school district’s Instructional Support Services Department to request ongoing professional development, specifically aimed at supporting teachers in integrating media literacy into their subject-specific curriculum, and to request instructional resources and materials for teachers. To ensure that students are able to access and create media in every classroom, I will also confer with the school’s technology coordinator.

8. September October - June
I will create a PowerPoint presentation and present the Media Literacy Education Program to the rest of my colleagues at our first staff meeting (or professional development session) of the year. Emphasizing the importance of ongoing collaboration, I will stress that the effectiveness of the program is contingent upon our ability to support each other’s growth and learning. Secondly, I will inform teachers that media literacy education is not simply using media in the classroom nor is it intended to be one lesson, one special project, an isolated course, or one unit of study. I will explain that the Media Literacy Education Program equips teachers with “tools” for providing students with numerous opportunities to practice and develop their critical thinking skills throughout the school year. Finally, using the NAMLE’s Core Principles and the list of best practices as a starting point, I will propose that we collaborate each month so as to create a uniform set of guidelines for instruction. For example, we could decide that teachers will begin with pre-teaching lessons in order to build background knowledge on media literacy, and gradually progress into subject-specific lessons.
I will encourage the school site’s professional development team and the teaching staff to continue adding to the list of “best practices.” (I will share the document in Google Docs with the entire teaching staff.)
I will share my sample ELA lesson plans and student work samples in Google Docs and encourage my colleagues to share lesson plans from their specific content areas.
To increase student participation and buy-in, I will send correspondence to my students’ parents/guardians, inviting them to sit in on lessons, and offering them examples of ways in which they can creatively engage their children’s critical thinking skills at home.
At the end of the year, I will coordinate a Media Literacy Education Fair, giving students an opportunity to display an authentic product assignment that reflects higher-order thinking and integrates the principles of media literacy education.

9. Artifacts – ELA Lesson Plans & Student Work
Click the links:
Introduction to Media Literacy Education
Samples of Student Work
Reading for Life
Pitch the Product: Business Plan Project
Sample Sample Sample 3

10. Artifact – Literature Review
Click the link to access my review of “Media Literacy in Middle School: An Important Curriculum Component”