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Michelle's response to Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

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Michelle's response to Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

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The way you’ve captured this scene is interesting.  How can a person be expected to process that amount of information?  It is most certainly overkill and the caption is perfect.  It is true that we become so desensitized to certain signs in the urban environment that we don’t see them anymore.  The online world is similar in a way, where we need to sift through massive amounts of information and learn to ignore the unnecessary information (ads, junk email, etc.).  An overwhelming task, but an important skill to be learned in order to function in today’s society.

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I have to say this image made me think a little more deeply about how I ‘see’ this school and school design in general.  The focus on the chain link fence reminded me of a penitentiary, not a place of learning.  Walking by this school, I focus almost entirely on the building itself and the positives of it so it is refreshing to look at it from a broader perspective.  Similar to what Lindsay said, is it more important to spend time and money on learning resources for inside the school or on the aesthetics of the school?  I would say it is important to keep up both but perhaps the CBE has a different opinion.

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I agree with you that this image is a striking metaphor of time and decay. It is interesting to note that the school itself is a rather beautiful historic building that I have walked by many times without even noticing the level of disrepair. Is this symbolic of how we ignore some forms of literacy in favour of others?  I think we need to reach a place where we are able to balance all forms of literacy as valuable and necessary, not just those that are traditional or trendy.

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When I look at this picture I wonder about what is inside this building, The saying " Don't judge a book by it's cover," comes to mind. Isn't what is beyond the walls more important than the aesthetics of the building? Has the school district spent it's money on tools and resources, rather than making the building look nice?

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For me this image speaks of the complexities of literacy. The methods and systems required to teach basic literacy skills to the expanding need to explore digital literacies.

This image brought forth feelings of anxiety and confusion. Travelling to a new city or country may offer challenges. Having to read signs and images such as the one's in the picture is difficult. This picture had me thinking of our ELL population, and the literacy challenges they must experience when coming to a new country.

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I feel as though Time Fades Away depicts how we may neglect what is important in literacy. The sign, as you stated, is of historical significance, yet has been left to rust and decompose. For me, the image also speaks of how old is being replaced with new (see image below). Similarly, have we moved away from traditional literacy to make way for technology, without truly understanding the impact or how to effectively teach children about digital literacy?

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Terry's response to Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

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Terry's response to Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

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I like the vintage appearance here.

First of all, that is a ridiculous amount of signage in one area. This is a great example to compare this to the amount of information we are expected to process. How do we do it? Is it too much? What's important and what isn't? Is some of it repetitive?

It's one thing to look at things, and it's completely another to notice what's beyond the surface.

I think that a lot of students feel overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at them, as I know I certainly have. Are there certain items I need to devote more time to? How do I determine what is important and what isn't? This is certainly a literacy in itself.

Before starting this program, I really only considered literacy to be a text-based idea. In almost completing my second year, I have learned that is certainly is as much visual as it is text-based. This is the changing face of literacy in today's world.

Terry

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Another great photo. You've got a good eye for photography. I like it's framed perfectly.

I think your viewpoint here is interesting. If I was to walk by this school, I too would fail to see the bleakness of it. Much of our current school design is taken from what's happened or worked in the past; we do need to be able to create new environments that are suitable for today.

I feel it is not easy to look ahead and in different places; it's certainly a challenge.

Terry

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I like the photo you have chosen; it is a sign that clearly needs some attention. I also think that the metaphor you have come up with is extremely appropriate. Maybe we haven't been keeping up with the new literacies that are in front of us today, just like this sign is in front of us today. Or maybe we don' t know what to with these new literacies, so we don't do anything to improve the situation.

Do we need to stay on top of things to make sure they don't go into a state of decay?

Terry

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Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends

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Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends

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With apologies to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, here are my photos for your perusal and bemusement. I hope they're not TOO heavy handed!

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P: An image of the opposite side of the street, across from Connaught Community School (my side of the street). It is deliberately in soft focus and tinted to have a somewhat "vintage" appearance. (How does that inform reading the image?)

H: An unbelievable amount of signage trying to communicate massive amounts of information in a very restricted space. The density of the information makes it virtually illegible.

O: 1) To situate the school in its urban context, and 2) to suggest that we "read" the urban environment in very complex ways.

T: Literacy is as much visual as it is text-based. We "read" the urban environment every day without paying attention to what we are "seeing" and "reading". The image provides a context within which the school ostensibly functions.

O: To deconstruct the urban environment and force people to actually LOOK at things they normally pay very little attention to--to NOTICE, an to realize the gulf between "naturalized" seeing without noticing and "self-aware" seeing WITH noticing.

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P: An image of Connaught Community School, directly across the street from where I live, and where several children from the building go to school, so definitely a part of my community. In black and white, obviously. (What ARE those things (poorly) framed by the chain link? Why black & white?)

H: Nothing, or at least virtually nothing, is happening--which is somewhat the point.

O: Because I find this sight--which I see every day--profoundly telling and depressing.

T: That we are largely illiterate when it comes to the design of schools and the grounds. Most people don't give it a second thought as they pass by (usually in cars). The just "see" a "school". They don't really "SEE" it, or the bleakness of it. (chain link fencing, somewhat neglected grounds, forlorn "play" structures, etc). Again, the image is intended as a metaphor, not a literal representation.

O: Again, by forcing us to pay attention to things we tend to overlook or not notice. We need to "see" beyond what we normally take for granted if we're ever going to be able to make profound changes.

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P: This is an image of the sign for one of Calgary’s supposedly historically significant sandstone schools. It is also on a very busy street (12 Ave SW), so it is highly visible. Yet it is woefully neglected. Shot in high-contrast, "hyper-real" style, completely straight on the subject which fills the frame completely (Feel free to consider the composition, etc!) H: Time is slowly consuming the sign. It's suffering from what is obviously years of neglect, is rusting away. O: I think it is highly symbolic--a visual metaphor of time and decay. T: It is meant to suggest that the institution of "school" is in a state of disrepair, and hardly equipped to deal with "new literacies". O: By forcing us to look more closely at things we tend to ignore or simply accept as "the way things are", the image draws attention to the subject itself and the metaphor it represents. It asks us to notice things we normally fail to "see" or ignore as "the way things are". It requires us to use visual literacy to grasp the metaphor and leads us to a consideration of how the insitution for which it stands thinks about various forms of literacy.