Reading body language

 While working on research for one of my classes for my Master's, I came across this article. It lists 10 examples of body language the author uses to assess the feelings of his program users. As I was reading the list, I realized these are many of the examples of body language I use to assess how students are doing with new content/knowledge. You can check out the article here: Full article

Or read the list I am referencing below: 

1. Frowning. If a user is frowning, it can be a sign of a necessity to concentrate, displeasure, or of perceived lack of clarity

2. Brow Raising. When users raise their brows, it can be a sign of uncertainty, disbelief, surprise, and exasperation. While surprise isn’t always negative, we don’t necessarily want our users to be surprised or uncertain of the experience on our platform

3. Gazing Away. When a user gazes away from the screen, they may feel deceived, ashamed, or confused. They could also very possibly be bored with what is on the screen in front of them

4. Smiling. A smile is a sign of satisfaction in which the user may have encountered something satisfying or joyful

5. Compressing the Lip. Seeing a user compress their lips is a sign of frustration and confusion. I see this a lot when a user intends to do something, but it does not work, causing frustration and anxiety

6. Moving the Mouth. If the user is speaking to themselves, trying to understand or complete a task, this indicates them feeling confused or lost in the experience

7. Expressing Vocally. Vocal expressions such as sighs, gasps, coughs, as well as the volume of the expression, the tone or quality of the expression may be signs of frustration or deception.

8. Hand Touching the Face. If a user is touching their face during the interview, they could be tired, lost, or confused. This can also indicate a high level of concentration and frustration with a task.

9. Leaning Back on the Chair. When a user (or anyone, really) leans back in a chair, it is an indication they are having a negative emotion and would like to remove themselves from the situation. This generally shows a fairly high level of frustration

10. Forward Leaning the Trunk. Leaning forward and showing a sunken chest may be a sign of difficulty and frustration with the task at hand. At this point, the user may be close to giving up on a task or experience.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

 Today is National Holocaust Remembrance Day. As fewer and fewer survivors of the Holocaust exist, it becomes more and more important to remember this historical event. Ever since I first read The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school, I have been fascinated with the stories of those who experienced the Holocaust from all perspectives. To this day, some of my favorite things to read are memoirs from the time period or historical fiction from the time period. I bring this up because the Holocaust represents many cultures. There were those who were taken and killed because of the cultures they represented: Jewish, Gypsy, Homosexual, Disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, Blacks, and more. It's important to remember and respect these cultures and what they experienced just because of the cultures they identified with. 

Masculine, Feminine, or Both?

 Today in class we were discussing feminine and masculine cultures. We started by analyzing The Giving Tree and how it represented these cultures in 1973. We then brainstormed on what these cultures/labels mean today. I couldn't help but think of two of my favorite fictional characters and how they each walk the line of being both masculine and feminine equally. 

source: https://mindlifetv.com/movies/disney-didnt-want-luisa-to-be-muscular-in-encanto/

The first character I thought of was Luisa, from Disney's Encanto. She is incredibly strong and expected to do lots of physical labor, which is often representative of masculine culture. She often tries to hide her emotions, which is also seen as masculine. When the pressures pile up on her, she becomes incredibly emotional and breaks down often, which is seen as more of a feminine characteristic. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_(Marvel_Cinematic_Universe)

The second character I thought of was Thor from the Marvel Universe. He, like Lusia, looks quite masculine. He's strong and eager to fight, but when it comes to relationships, taking care of those he loves is what is most important to him, even when those people continue to trick and hurt him (Loki). He might look masculine and his aggressions in battle would be considered masculine, but when interacting with Jane, his father, his mother, or his friends, it is relationships that matter most, which is a feminine trait. 

If I keep allowing myself to slip down this mental rabbit hole, I'm sure I could think of other fictional characters that walk the line between these two cultures. What are some you can think of? 

Amish Culture

 I was just reading a student blog post on Amish culture, and it reminded me of a Yes Theory episode where the guys live with an Amish family for a couple of days. It was incredibly eye-opening for me! Here it is for you if you are interested in learning more about Amish culture:

Stories and their power on self-concept and perception

 As children, we were all highly impressionable. Our world and our perspective mirrored what was around us, whether that be the influence of our families, the influence of our friends, the influence of school, or the influence of media through books and screens. In this TedTalk, the speaker shares our children's books influenced her as a young writer and beyond. Her self-concept was altered by the books she read as were the stories that she wrote 

Culture and Perspective

 

I recently read an incredibly haunting book, This Is Where It Ends. The book takes place over 54 minutes during a high school shooting. This book has been recommended to me by students for a few years, and I was grateful to make time to read it for my Young Adult Materials class I'm taking through Mankato to get my Master's. As I was reading the book, this video came to mind. In it, we can see a couple of things from class illustrated. One, I think it gives a pretty realistic portrayal of high school culture in America. Also, it offers a great lesson in perspective. Watching the last part of the video shows us all the things we most likely didn't notice the first time. Have you seen this video before? What did you think of it? 

Lesson on Culture during Super Bowl Halftime Show

I always look forward to Super Bowl Sunday. It's a fun reason to get family and friends together, to place silly bets, and critique the year's commercials. Since I love concerts and live musical performances, I always look forward to the halftime show, too. This year had me very curious and interested since I've always enjoyed Shakira's music. As I watched the halftime show with a big spectrum of ages, from my own parents to my own kiddos, I found myself curious about the clothing and prop choices. My dad kept asking questions and commenting on how offensive or strange the show was, especially with its lack of English (ethnocentrism in action!) and American pride. I tried to remind him this was Miami, home to a strong Latino culture. The next morning, I stumbled upon this Social Media post by

Brianne Schneckenberger is with Brook Elise Steppe:

The comments and memes about last night's half-time show just reminds me how white-centric the American mind is. There were so many cultural references in last night's show and I'd say probably very few white Americans recognized them.

The Superbowl was hosted in Miami this year - a city nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America".

Some of the costumes in J-Lo's performance showed a tribute to Selena, one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of all time (who J-Lo played in the 1997 biographical film.)

J-Lo, who is of Puerto Rican descent, donned a reversible cape showing the Puerto Rican and American Flags on either side. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory which is still recovering from devastating damage from a hurricane and subsequent earthquakes. J-Lo has notably donated at least $1 million towards aid for Puerto Rico. Her daughter singing "Born in the USA" was a reminder that Puerto Ricans are Americans too.

I know some people said "Let's have more of the kids singing! It should be family friendly!" While that was happening, other children were shown in cage-like structures to represent a subtle nod to the children (mostly of Latino descent) we have kept in detention over the past several administrations.

And Shakira. Thanks to my sister's obsession I grew up knowing a LOT about Shakira! Her father's parents were Lebanese immigrants who emigrated to New York City where her father was born and then subsequently immigrated to Barranquilla, Colombia - where waves of Middle Eastern immigrants came after WW1 and WW2.

The "weird tongue thing" she did? That's called a zaghrouta which is used to express joy in Arabic culture. Shakira is very proud of her Lebanese roots and has been belly dancing since the age of 4.

The "stomping dance" she did? Champeta! A tribute to Afro-Colombian culture.

In fact almost all the dancing in the half-time show was a nod to Latin or Afro-Latin culture including mapalé and salsa.

So maybe you thought it was "nasty" or "not family-friendly" but I saw it as pride, a celebration of culture, and one of the most honoring things these two women could have done for Latin Americans. 🤷‍♀️