Blog 4

1. In what ways is political agency performed in avatar that you created?

- Political agency is performed in my avatar in a couple of ways. First, it sets an appearance of who I am.  I am someone who is laid back, plain when it comes to dress and someone who will go with the flow of things in life.  I have experience a lot in my life already and I have come to the conclusion that somethings are easier to just let play out rather than having a set plan for it since in the end you don't know exactly what will happen.  Therefore, I wanted my avatar to represent that so I barely changed the way I look on second life. I changed my hair color and eyes other than that I picked an outfit that was already set up and looked like my style.  Not only is this a choice about myself but, something I also see the world as.  I believe in life that things are easier said than done.  Therefore, rather than push certain issues that you do not have control over, let them go and believe whatever way it works out is the way it is suppose to be.  In second life, I made my avatar to be seen that way.  We have talked about appearance and someones first interpretation of someone else by that; I want people in second life to realize that is who I am and what I believe in.  Even though I do not know that much about second life, I still walk around and explore the different places and have an open opinion to those who know more about it than I do.

2. How might an art lesson that involves creating avatars become a critical avatar pedagogy to encourage/ensure virtual diversity, multivocality, diverse and multiple perspectives, and interconnections of themes through interaction of reciprocity?

-I had asked my students how they might think it is important to show different perspectives of diversity through using an avatar on secondlife?
-One of my students said, "Even though this is a life online, there are still real people behind the avatars. I still want to make a good impression as well as show my beliefs that diversity is important. I am not going to change how I think because it is a world online".
-I then asked "Why is diversity important in the first place"?
-They said, "Without diversity, everyone would be the same.   They would look the same, have the same thoughts, values, beliefs, and the world would be boring".  Before I could ask another question they continued by saying, " Diversity is important everywhere as well as different perspectives.  Not only in real life but, also in second life.  In second life, it might be easier to show your diversity through your appearance since you can look anyway you want to as well as be anything you want. However, it might be harder to show your different perspectives unless you chat with someone about it.  This could be the same way in real life but, sometimes you can show those by the way you dress everyday and what logos or graphics are on your clothes".
-I finally asked my students "How can this all be shown through a simple art lesson"?
-They said, "Art is a way to express yourself.  Just by getting dress everyday and the way you present your looks is a way of art and how people see you.  Therefore, through a lesson of art you can learn about yourself and show who are you and why you decide to present yourself that way whether it is through an avatar or not.  An avatar is like a drawing or a painting but, on the computer. You can tweak it and fix it to express your inner artist as well as what you want people to see.  Therefore, interpretation and opinions are left open and able to talk to about, which is what an art lesson should be about."

3. What are the landmarks you use to locate yourself as a teacher?
-I use my beliefs and values I have to see myself as a teacher.  Even though, you can not see these, I use what I see in life to come up with what I believe.  For example, in high school I saw cliques and judgments towards other people.  I was taught growing up do not judge someone by what they look like or how they dress, but for who they are on the inside.  As I saw others not do this in high school, it taught me to believe even more in what I was taught and to teach my future students to do the same.  Another landmark I use is how I see myself in a classroom.  When I think about my future classroom and how I want it to be it makes me think how I want to be as a teacher.  In second life when walking through the art sections and seeing other students projects it make me think that is the environment I want my classroom to be; open for interpretation and fearless. Finally, I use past experiences as a landmark.  I think back to my high school art teacher and how she taught.  There were things I would love to take with me and things I will never do, however, it is something I look forward to.  I have done that in second life, from our chats.  I have written down quotes or ideas that others have said so I can take those ideas with me and incorporate them in my teaching in the future.