Quiet! Please!!

I've been of the mind lately that it would be really good for me to have a taste of my own medicine. In this case the "medicine" to which I refer is student assignments. Yes, I've been thinking that I should complete the assignments that I ask my students to do. Not a novel concept by any stretch of the imagination. Modeling how it's done is always good for students. Now that I'm here, I find this self-imposed challenge slightly daunting. Well, here goes...

The latest assignment is of a progressive nature. It's ongoing. I like to call it the IME: the Independent Media Exploration. I can't help it, I like to give assignments important-sounding names. I am fully aware that most students see right through my grandiose verbage, but what the heck?! Shouldn't I get to have some fun, too?? I digress...

The IME offers students three options for the exploration of the effects of the media. The objective is universal but students can either demonstrate their deeper understanding through 1) article analysis, 2) media log, or 3) blog. Not surprisingly, several students have gone for the blog idea. I have only seen the blogs of two of them so far and I must say I'm pleased (especially when they are both so excited by their first blog posts that they share their urls so that I can check them out toute de suite). Bravo!

As it turns out, both students have touched on a common thread in their posts written independently of each other. In her first blog post, titled I can't hear myself think, Anmar identifies the intrusion of the media in her life.

"I go to sleep, and when I wake up in the morning I get a million BBMs (oh the next best thing ever:)) asking me what I’m doing and telling me what they’re doing (I think if I cared, I’d ask). Then, I receive a thousand emails informing me about the latest gadgets and the hottest restaurants; when we all know that in a few weeks something new will come along and it’s just going to be “so 10 minutes ago”."

Explained with stereotypical teenage hyperbole and sarcasm, she captures the attitude of many of us, young and older-than-young, who are inundated by all of the media that is available for our consumption whether we want it or not.

There's nothing worse than trying to be productive, think deeply, and create with all of the endless interruptions: text chime, email alert chime, 6 tabs (minimum) open in the browser in order to keep an eye on Facebook, Yahoo! headlines, YouTube videos, Turnitin.com to (maybe) read/score student essays, a live stream playing in the background from my hometown NPR affiliate, Google search results, and foodgawker (just to gawk, of course!). This is just a normal day of trying to get things done in my little world of too many distractions. (Yes, I know. I can turn them all off anytime I want to.) If I'm planning a teaching unit, need some information for a lesson, well...the possibilities for browser tabs become virtually infinite. Choice is a good thing, but too much choice is hard to manage!!

As a result of overload, I am need of alone time at some point, many points, ANY point!!! Alone time. Time to think, reflect, plan, veg, chillax, read, even sleep! Too much media and not enough quiet time makes for a very cranky and run-down me. Even my family recognizes this simple fact and they allow me time to honor the quiet.

I often worry that today's youth don't get enough time to sit quietly and think deep thoughts. Of, even if they do, that they really don't see the value. Time is precious and there's always something to demand it from us. Much to my relief, both student bloggers identify this need in their posts. YEAH! Teenagers do recognize that it's useful to just turn it all off and be alone. Anmar's opening words seem like a confession of sorts.

"Sometimes, I need a break. From everything. I mean… EVERYTHING! Yes, technology and media too."

Bader's post focuses on how he uses the medium of music to find a way to "be alone with [his] thoughts." An instrumental background does have a way of helping to guide us within ourselves as do meditation, yoga, and running (among many other activities). So, in essence, we can quell the imposing and distracting elements of the media with those that are more relaxing and quiet. Use the media to create a quiet place within ourselves to escape from the noise created by the media. Brilliant!