Movie synopsis:
Two best friends are total opposites, one craves routine in L.A., the other thrives on change in New York. Both secretly crave what the other has; while also secretly in love with one another. They swap houses and live for a week until they each discover their love for one another.
I have assigned a similar assignment to some of my students. Rather than describe a movie or book title, they had to describe their morning/day/weekend in emojis. A cliched quote that comes to mind through this type of assignment is: a picture is worth a thousand words (or something like that). My students were able to share a lot more using emojis than they would have if asked to write about their day, often because they lack the vocabulary to do so. However, as an educator, I could probably describe my day/week better in emojis better too, here goes: 
… it was a rough week.
Kress et. al. (2001) described how educators tend to carry a bias towards traditional printed works, in my experience this is true. Our school board invested a great deal of funds towards books and various hard copy reading programs. With very little funds being dedicated to media literacy. However, there are educators willing to make space for a variety of visual and print modes, while others are set on traditional texts. As in previous decades (or even centuries) we are at the forefront of change in how we regard text. Mcraney, D. (2020, Nov. 29) describes the complexity of texting, emojis and phrases. Additionally, Mcraney, D. (2020, Nov. 29) discusses the push back that occurs when changes are made to literature and the way we read and communicate. History repeats itself. Although I do not imagine that telling a whole story with emojis will be in our future (although maybe?). Text that incorporates both visuals, hypertext and various other forms appears to be the path that we are taking (Bolter, 2001). Kress (2005) describes this change as a sort of metaphor for social, cultural, and ethical issues; as culture changes so does how we decipher, digest and seek information or entertainment.
As I read our course materials, I wonder, as an elementary educator, what does this mean for me and how I educate my students? What can I take away and implement in the upcoming weeks? Springs (2019) suggests that educators can bring current and engaging perspectives into their students through the use of authentic texts. Authentic texts might include: social media posts, newspapers and/or online articles, and infographics. Although Springs (2019) focus was on developing a second language, the examples that are shared are applicable to classroom instruction in any language (you can find the article here). Through the provision of more authentic texts to our students, students have more opportunity and practice to engage in and decipher an ever changing medium in a supportive and controlled setting. Thus, “moving from the centrality of writing to the increasing significance of image… from the centrality of the medium of the book to the medium of the screen” (Kress, 2005).
Ultimately, the choice in emojis for my movie title was chosen for its simplicity and with a focus on the main words of the title, similarly to a game of charades. It is a peek into my lifeworld, while also allowing an understanding of my fellow classmates’ lifeworld, as Kress (2005) suggests is one of the objectives of our shift of consumption; if you are able guess the title or not.
References
Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kress, G.R., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Oxford University Press.
Kress, G. (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, 2(1), 5-22.
McRaney, D. (2020, Nov. 29). Because Internet – Gretchen McCulloch (No. 194). In You are not so Smart. Omny Studio. https://omny.fm/shows/you-are-not-so-smart/194-because-internet
Springs, B. (December 19, 2019). The power of authentic texts in world language instruction. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/power-authentic-texts-world-language-instruction
amy stiff
February 25, 2023 — 10:38 am
Hey Dana,
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t even seen Your Place or Mine yet, but I’ve read the synopsis and knew instantly that is what you described in your emoji story – might watch it this weekend, hopefully it’s a good one!
The task you shared that you do with your class is an awesome one, you’re so right that it is sometimes easier to relay your feelings through pictures or emojis than it would be to do so in words. I don’t have a lot of special ed background, but I know this is really effective especially for non verbal kids!
I myself am a high school teacher and my colleagues and I were just recently were having a conversation about how students are really struggling with basic comprehension because there has not been an emphasis on traditional literacy like there used to be (even though literacy is the emphasis and where money goes in most school boards – so I don’t really know what’s happening with that??). I agree that there is certainly value in expanding to different kinds of literacy (digital literacy in particular) and the value of multimodal texts, but worry this might further detract from more basic forms of literacy and comprehension. What do you think?
Amy
dana connors
February 25, 2023 — 12:18 pm
Hi Amy,
Thank you for your comment. I also had a conversation about this with our resource teacher, and in her 20+ years of experience she believes that ‘old school’ works. Word lists, read a story and answer questions etc. is the way to go. I think if we start off with the basics (or old school as she put it), then we can expand our students comprehension beyond that. What are your thoughts?
As for my more non-verbal students or those with learning difficulties, I often have them illustrate pictures and label (with or without assistance) to demonstrate comprehension. This is also a good check for comprehension.
Thanks again for reading my post.
🙂 Dana
sn88882
February 26, 2023 — 4:36 pm
AHH! I just watched that movie last night! I usually watch true crime or docuseries, so this movie was a nice change of pace! There were scenes where I almost cried!
We are in such an exciting time right now because I agree students should be able to read and express themselves in a way others understand. When I was a student, teachers always had to remind me to use words to express myself – verbally or in written form. Through the years, I’ve strengthened this skill, but I find that some memes or emojis can say precisely how I feel, and I don’t have to use words to share that emotion. Should students be allowed to use emojis in paragraphs and essays? Would students be deemed incompetent when asked to write a reflection piece and hand in a piece of writing when a few emojis are sprinkled throughout? In the corporate world, sending emails to our clients with emojis or memes is considered unprofessional. As mentioned above, with these students who have trouble expressing themselves entering the corporate world, how will they adapt, or will we have to redefine professionalism?
dana connors
February 27, 2023 — 2:57 am
Great question! Should students be allowed to use emojis in essays. I feel as though once that is an allowed (and other formats too), various modes of expression will be more accepted. Should an essay be entirely made from emojis? No, but some scattered throughout that express an emotion would be beneficial.
lubna yasin
April 11, 2023 — 1:56 am
Hi Dana,
I really enjoyed this post and have linked to it here:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540lyasin/2023/04/11/link-6-dana-c-task-6-an-emoji-story/
Thank you for some super-thoughtful reflections!
l.