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Workshops

Each workshop is designed around specific teaching standards. Here is a sample of Frank’s most recent presentation/workshop topics. A detailed list of previous presentations is available here. To book a workshop with Frank, please contact us.

Recognized in 2019 by UNESCO with the annual Global Alliance Partnership for Media & Information Literacy for lifetime devoted to media literacy.

The 2013 co-recipient of the NTC Media Literacy Award for Excellence

The 2007 Media Literacy Winner…read more here

Read a review of my March presentation at the 2006 Florida Ed Tech Conference in Orlando, Florida

Click this link to watch a clip of Frank in action

frank-workshopMost educators agree: we have moved from a print-centric to a visual culture…but our schools have not kept up. Our students come to school already media savvy–but not necessarily media literate. Are your teachers prepared to use the popular culture of young  people as the hook to meet and teach standards? Do they know how to teach meaningful and relevant visual and media literacy? Teachers must be comfortable with new media, technology, and youth culture and how each fits  into 21st century classrooms.  If teachers aren’t comfortable, or unfamiliar, they will not connect with their students. If our students are going to be prepared for 21st century jobs in a global economy, they must have 21st century knowledge and skills, including the ability to think critically about the world around them, to critically question and view with an eye toward skepticism. Media literacy skills are what I teach.”

My goal is to help teachers feel more comfortable in teaching those standards which include media literacy, now part of the 21st century skills. Most educators have never had any professional development in this area, even though it is in the standards. When teachers expose students to media culture and help them learn to analyze non-print texts, those same skills can transfer to their study of traditional print.

Frank W. Baker

WORKSHOP DETAILS:

Each workshop is designed around specific teaching standards.

Here is a sample of some of his most recent presentation/workshop topics:

  • Helping Students Better Judge the Credibility of Information
  • Magazines: Analysis & Production
  • Close Reading of Media Texts: A Critical Common Core/College Ready Skill
  • Analyzing Visual Media Texts
  • Storytelling Through Film: A Workshop for Students
  • Reading and Writing in A Digital World
  • Looking Deeper at Informational Texts
  • Critical Thinking & Viewing:  Key 21st Century Skills
  • All Media Are Written: Improving Student Writing Skills with Media Literacy
  • Pulling Back the Curtain On How Advertisements Work
  • Incorporating Non-Print Texts In The ELA Classroom
  • Media Literacy 101: Meeting Standards While Engaging Students
  • Every Picture Tells A Story–Visual Literacy: An Introduction to Reading Images
  • Understanding Point-of-View in Film
  • Buy Me That: How Toy Ads Influence Kids
  • Using the Broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow As Primary Source Documents
  • Thinking Critically about Media Messages in an Election Year
  • 21st Century Literacy Skills All Teachers/Students Need to Succeed
  • Who’s the Boss? Financial & Media Literacy: An Important Combination
  • Film in the Reading Classroom; Using Film in the Literature Classroom
  • Tobacco Advertising & Marketing: How Big Tobacco Targets Youth

Workshops also available for parents and PTA/PTO groups on these topics:

  • Parenting in A Digital Media World: What Every Parent Should Know About Media & Technology
  • The Role of Media In The Lives of Our Students
  • TV Toy Commercials: Helping Kids Understand Advertising’s Powerful Persuasion

OPEN LETTER TO EDUCATORS

Thanks for visiting my website, devoted to helping teachers (and students) better understand media, media literacy and its place in the classroom.

In 1999, I conducted a large study in which elements of  media literacy were identified in almost every state’s teaching standards. But teachers aren’t necessarily receiving the training they need in order to know how to implement media education.

I am honored to have been previously invited by the SC State Department of Education (SCSDE) to assist in rewriting English/Language Arts and Visual/Performing Arts teaching standards. In support of those standards, I conducted “Best Practices” hands-on workshops for teachers (in 2005, 2006 and 2008). I also assisted in the 2010 revision of the state’s Visual & Performing Arts standards which include media literacy.

To read specifics on where media literacy fits in SC’s standards, click here.

A number of large, national organizations now recognize, endorse and recommend media literacy, among them:

Yet, many educators still don’t know what media literacy is, nor do they know how to incorporate it into instruction.  That’s why I created  the Media Literacy Clearinghouse  website, and conduct workshops for educators across the U.S.

I am pleased that both the website and the workshops have received rave reviews.

My work involves helping educators feel more comfortable with media literacy and demonstrating simple ways of integrating it into instruction.  I have personally designed a number of hands-on, interactive exercises that meet every state’s teaching standards.

As part of my continuing effort to get MORE media literacy into schools, I authored three books: one for elementary (Coming Distractions: Questioning Movies), one for middle and high school (Political Campaigns and Political Advertising: A Media Literacy Guide), and one for teachers: (Media Literacy in The K-12 Classroom). It is my hope that more school libraries will consider acquiring these texts for both their student and teacher collections.

I invite you to contact me to discuss how I might help your teachers become better prepared to help students learn 21st century literacies for 21st century success.

List of previous presentations posted here

To schedule a workshop or for more specific details, including availability, contact Frank: fbaker1346@gmail.com

Phone: (803) 582-8802

In the film “The Wizard of Oz,” Toto wisely pulls back the curtain to reveal that the Wizard was in fact a projected image, controlled by the man behind the curtain. Like Toto, I too help “pull back the curtain” to reveal how the media works. I like to call it: critical thinking about media messages.

Frank talking to the media about toy advertising.

“Storytelling Through Film” workshop with elementary students.

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