Reflection #10 Memes

                                                        A meme for teachers

A meme is used to explain the way cultural information spreads, could be a symbol or social idea.  Most are for humor and shock-value and grabs people’s attention. It is often in the form of image, video, or piece of text and is copied, usually with slight variations. The first one I think of is the Dancing Babies video years ago and then you saw it on the Ally McBeal show, commercials, and later with the dancing hamsters.

     What I took away from this chapter is we need to rethink how we approach critical literacy in the classroom.  We operate on a level of analyzing the text only.  This is not enough.  We need to take into account the social practices and ideas.  We need to give our students important strategies for identifying memes and evaluate the effects they can have on our decision-making and interactions. 

     I wish this chapter dealt more with how to use memes effectively in your classroom.  That interests me more.  I looked at how one teacher used memes to add humor in her classroom by using them for her class rules.  I can see how using the ‘right’ memes in middle school could grab students’ attention and put a smile on their face.