Teaching Journal: Week 8

Well, we are officially over the half semester mark! Only 6 weeks of classes left (not including time off for holidays)! I am not sure if I am excited or terrified...probably a mixture of both! The fall semester always seems to drag on and on, and it is at about this point when everyone really wished there was a break! But alas, we have another month before Thanksgiving, so we will just have to push on until then!

This was a rather interesting week--campus was disrupted by President Obama on Wednesday--and so quite a circus gathered Monday through Wednesday to prepare for his visit. Monday and Wednesday class was held, again, in the 3rd floor library computer lab for group work. As I did last week, groups had set goals for the day, I checked in with each group, answered questions about project two, performed one on one conferences with a few students, and collected written work at the end of class. On Friday, groups came prepared with "rough drafts" of their projects. I divided the room in half and each group presented to another group their work thus far. Each person was expected to take detailed notes of the projects and ask questions. Group members supplied digital information/locations of their projects so that peer reviewers would have additional access to the projects over the weekend.

I have nearly met with all of my students for one on one conferences--it has been great to give them back their project one and have the opportunity to go through their papers with them. I have given each student very detailed comments on this project as they will all be expected to revise this project for project four. By and large, my students have done well with this project--there are a few who missed the mark, but I am very pleased overall with the work--I am especially proud of my high school students! They really worked hard on their first college projects and it showed!

This coming week we go back to normal classes with readings prepping for project three (ethnography), large class discussions, and group work! I am looking forward being back in my class room :)

Teaching Journal: Weeks 6 & 7

It's been a busy time on campus! We are now officially half way through the semester and the first major project is finally complete!

Week 6 was the wrap up of project 1 and the start of project 2--I was worried this might not work out very well, but my students did an excellent job staying on top of everything. All project one's were turned in on time and I am in the process of grading them now. Additionally, at the same time they were handing in project one, they also needed to write and present their literacy narrative. Each member of the class produced short, one page vignettes which they read out loud.

Between week 6 and 7, students completed their "self study" interview (460-461 Writing About Writing), which would be used as "data" within their project 2 groups.

Week 7 went a lot better than I expected. I was very concerned that project two would be a disaster for my class--it has been difficult explaining the collaborative, multi-modal concept, but after we went over it again on Monday and they had time to talk with their group members and go over data, they had a better grasp on it. Wednesday and Friday showed everyone moving closer and closer towards realizing project 2--by the end of the week, I was receiving excellent group work detailing concepts, questions/arguments, possible conceptual ideas, as well a defined roles for group members.

While project two has been going on, I have been having one on one conferences with students--handing back project one, going over minor work, attendance, and asking questions, etc. These have been great since it gives me the opportunity to get to know my students even more--plus, I think one on one time is good for students, they get to talk to someone who really cares about them--even if it is only a few minutes, I see my students walking away from those meetings feeling a lot better in general :)

It is now the start of week 8! It always surprises me how fast semesters go by! I am looking forward to seeing how much further my students have got in their projects, so hopefully, I will be report more good things next week!

Dialectical Journal: Baron

Author/Title:

Dennis Baron: From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies

Summary:

What can I say? Baron does indeed spend a lot of time with the mighty pencil in this piece. Tracing the histories of literacy technology, Baron provides us with often humorous tales of old and new ways of writing.

Reflection	Quote
Defined: The study or forecasting of potential developments, as in science, technology, and society, using current conditions and trends as a point of departure.	“futurologist” (423)
Setting up the stages of writing technology (and technology in general). I like that Baron is demystifying the process of how technology gets to the public—it is important we understand that many of the items we use, that we think of as “new,” have been around for awhile either in “testing” mode or being retained for private use.	“Each new literacy technology begins with a restricted communication function and is available only to a small number of initiates. Because of the high cost of the technology and general ignorance about it, practitioners keep it to themselves at first—either on purpose or because nobody else has any use for it—and the, gradually, they begin to mediate the technology for the general public” (424).
This is deeply important because it brings awareness to how economics impact our ability to gain literacies.	“As costs decrease and the technology becomes better able to mimic more ordinary or familiar communications a new literacy spreads across a population. Only then does the technology come into its own, no longer imitating the precious forms given us by the earlier communication technology, but creating new forms and new possibilities for communication” (424).
Yes! Very important! The piece eventually gets to the use of signatures as a way of authenticating, reminds me of how we are now attempting to use digital signatures—most commercial enterprises have a digital pad for you to sign (like UPS, checking out at a store, etc), but the average person does not have a signature pad hooked up to their PC—when will that change??	“In order to gain acceptance, a new literacy technology must also develop a means of authenticating itself” (429).

Dialectical Journal: Malcolm X

Author/Title:

Malcolm X: "Learning to Read"

Summary:

In this poignant section of Malcolm X's autobiography, he describes how he became a reader and what he does with that knowledge, i.e., fighting the Man.

"Alexie-Like" Literacy Narrative

In the small village I grew up in, our grocery store, an ancient A&P, sat centered in the middle of town. It was close enough to walk to from our meager little house and I often remember journeying with my mother the several blocks there and back to get our weekly supply of canned beans, white-boxed generic ice cream, and bags of Malt-o-Meal. Years later the massive two floor building with its banister clad staircases would be torn down and left an empty parking lot to crack and decay, but in those precious early years of my life, it stood proud and large, displaying its pealing paint and chipped window panes, welcoming the town in through creaky doors to save six cents that week on ground beef. In the fall, along with the autumn inspired glassware that sported cheap painted-on leaves in orange and yellow, small books would appear on wire racks at the front of the store. "Just in time for school," a sign would read. Just in time in deed! Thin hard backed story books with glossy colored covers gleamed at patrons and one could almost be hypnotized by their vividness if they spun the rack around too fast.

Golden Books! Golden Books! I would jump for joy and beg my mother to buy me at least one story book. We were terribly poor in those days, daddy worked second shift at a factory as a custodian and mom stayed home with me and my older brother, who never seemed to be around much. My mother would look nervously at the books and inside the white envelope the weekly food budget was kept. Even as a very young child I knew how cash-poor my family was, I never not knew the struggle to put food on our table or shoes on my feet--for years the only shoes my family could afford for me were cheap canvas slip-ons with thin rubber soles, they were miserable to wear in the winter--but how could I complain? I rarely asked for anything as a child, but I had early on become a lover of words and books were my safe place. Perhaps it was the painfully awkward lisps I had developed, it was difficult to communicate with people, I was humiliated and alienated for it, so talking or requesting things vocally was not common. But a book! I had to ask for a book--I needed my safe places, even if they were temporary refuges in the pages of a short children's story.

My dear mother somehow managed to allocate a few extra dollars for a book or two and I would run home with stories like "The Pokey Little Puppy," and "The Shy Kitten." These simple little books became priceless treasures to me, objects of untold worth and an abundance of imagination waiting to bloom in my mind.

I still have in my possession these rare treasures, occasionally I look at their worn covers and the crayon marks on the pages--I think, "look! Even then I was trying to annotate and analyses my texts!" And often, when I am reading some kind of literature or theory, I wish I was opening the pages of "The Pokey Little Puppy" instead...

Sample Apparatus and Response: Bell Hooks

Author/Title:

Bell Hooks: Writing Autobiography

Summary:

In this brief essay, Hooks details for the reader her experience writing her autobiography. Although it is a short piece, it is very intimate and provides a working image of the author, her life, and her writing processes.

Sample Questions

Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

1.      What does hooks mean when she writes that she wanted to “kill” her self through her writing?

      This concept actually made me really sad--I understood it as her deliberate attempt to erase the person she was, or rather, erase that persons experiences so that a new person would evolve. I intimately connect and understand with this desire to "kill though writing," but nonetheless, it is painful for one to want to destroy any part of themselves, even their past selves. By the end of the essay, you can see that that death has been reshaped, redefined into birth; so for Hooks, her process of autobiographical destruction was actually the life force for the creation of something new. 

2.     

      Define bio-mythography. Is hooks’ work an example of bio-mythography? Why or why not?

       

      I would define "bio-mythography" as the act of combining reality with fiction, not always consciously, in order to fully realize a moment in time. From the essay Hooks gives us, it is clear that during her process she realized she was fictionalizing some of her memories, but it is not clear as to whether or not she went back and rewrote them. Without further evidence, I am unwilling to commit an answer in the affirmative. 

      Applying and Exploring Ideas:

      

       Have you ever had to change your identity for something that you needed to write? How does this relate to McCloud’s mask?

      Well, this blog is a good example! My full name, where I teach, who my peers and colleagues are, these are things I eliminate from this blog as a way to "protect my identity." For me, I wouldn't necessarily say I am wearing one of McCloud's "masks," it is more like a screen that I am placing in front of myself that provides anonymity--almost like a confessional--I sit on one side of the screen and type out my confessions of a graduate student/teacher/human being and the on the other side of the screen sits my priest, my audience, and I hope they will forgive me for my errors and mistakes...maybe even provide me with penance and solace. 

 

Teaching Journal: Week 5

What a long week it was! Even my students are commenting on how long this week felt and I think we are collective feeling tired and a little down. BUT they were really excited when I pointed out to them that in two weeks we would be half way through the semester and they couldn't believe how fast it was going (despite this week feeling so long)!

Project one is winding down, the class is working on peer review this weekend and next week we will be wrapping up the project with final drafts due at the end of week six while introducing project two.

I am a little concerned about project two, I actually don't quite understand what the students will be focusing on...I have read the project sheets and additional material connected to it in the Writing About Writing text...but I'm still a little lost...hoping this weekend to get it all straightened out so on Monday we can dive into the Brandt reading and project two introductions.

Next weeks journal will cover how successful I am at conveying project two..so if you're interested in how disastrous this will be for me, stay tuned!