Final Project
For my practicum I was part of the Media Literacy Outreach team along with four other Media Scholars. Our goal was to connect with the local community around College Park and spread media literacy to local schools. We did multiple events and projects to achieve this goal. We first visited William Wirt Middle school in Riverdale and taught a lesson about media literacy and tools for fact checking and more. Many of the students were also interested in learning about college so we were able to talk to them about that. We were only able to visit this school for one day, however our lesson plan could be used by teams in the future. Secondly, we attended the Hollywood Elementary School career day and talked about what we do in college and what we study. Lastly, we held a media literacy booth at Maryland Day with an information board about media literacy and resources.
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I was lucky enough to find my practicum within the Media Scholars program, making the job of finding one much easier. However, my advice to future scholars is to not be afraid to reach out to your professors or other connections to find opportunities. Many people are very willing to help find you connections if you only ask.
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I learned many different things from my practicum. I gained experience communicating and working with community members in a professional setting. When connecting and interacting with the community I gained a better understanding of how media interacts differently with different communities and people. It was very interesting to learn how younger kids view media and I was surprised to see how unique their view was.
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One part of my practicum that taught me the most was planning the lesson to deliver at William Wirt Middle School. We had to work as a group to make a lesson and break down our topic specifically for the middle schoolers. We ended up with a presentation much different than if we had made it, for example, for a class presentation. Having to be so intenful with our message and perspective gave me a deeper understanding of how much the message you receive can impact what you take away, emphasizing the importance of media literacy.
I think the experience of planning to teach a lesson in the middle school also helped me grow professionally. It was odd being in a school as not a student but I think it in a sense gave me confidence that I am qualified to communicate and execute a plan professionally.
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Me conducting an activity with 6th graders at William Wirt Middle School
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One of my main goals of my career with art is to find a way to involve social activism and community engagement with whatever I do. My practicum gave me experience reaching out and getting involved with the community around me. I have considered pursuing becoming an art teacher and this experience of working with the middle schoolers gave me confidence and made me excited to possibly pursue this.
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With the rest of my time at the University of Maryland I will continue to study Studio Art and focus on what I want to do with the art I am creating. I hope to find more opportunities in the next two years to connect with the college parking community, specifically schools and youth causes. I think art can play a big role in bringing together a community and this is something
I plan to study and explore.
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I think art is something that can be powerful in connecting and bringing people together. I hope to be able to work to create public art in order to serve my community and work to improve it. This may take many forms from murals to functional art to park designs. The broad range of the art world creates a bit of uncertainty when it comes to employment, however, I want to pursue a career that will allow me to have a positive impact on my community while learning in the process.