Week 6: Mastudu's Process Movement

As far as I can see, it seems that the Process movement isn't exactly the right answer towards writing, Mastudu even thinks so, but it's a step in the proper direction. Allowing to teach so  that "writing constitutes a process of some sort and that this process is generalizable, at least to the extent that we know when to intervene in someone’s writing process or to the extent that we know the process that experienced or ‘expert’ writers employ as they write" tells me that the students should be allowed to write, but the teachers should only intervene when needed.

As far as history goes, I didn't realize that the Process movement wasn't the first movement to reform composition instruction. According to the article, composition instruction has received much reform over the past 100 years, and "and many of the tenets of process pedagogy
existed long before the rise of the process movement in the latter half of the
20th century"(69). This tells me that even now, the pedagogy for composition instruction will probably change in the next 100 years.

Week 5: Good Feedback.

Some of the best feedback that I've received  is from some of my former English teachers. When teachers have asked me to look closer at quotes, and close read them, I found it beneficial. This is because, I was then able to digest the sentence and look at it from a new light.

This is how I learned how to critically close read.

Other times, when teachers have told me to talk more about my quotes. 

On a side note, I made a really good sandwich the other day. 

What Resonates...

After reading both articles, I feel that I have a rounded understanding of the two authors ideas.
I'm guilty of only seeing if my papers are grammatically correct after I have written the entire thing. Micciche claims that this categorizes what is write and wrong, and can leave your paper flat. This idea is new to me, and makes sense. During the writing process, I'm going to need to put more thought and emphasis and the rhetorical grammar I use, so in the end, I have more of a voice. By using grammar during the composing process, I can explore possibilities, and give thought to every sentence and paragraph I construct.

I need to start examining things the articles I read for sentence structure in terms of rhetorical grammar. Once I caught onto this, I tried to pay close attention to how the two authors wrote. Automatic mastery of this is impossible, but through practice, it should help.

Micciche's Rhetorical Grammar

Micciche is calling for students to begin using grammar before the revision stage. I myself have this problem, so this article spoke to me. Rather than making it a "grammatically correct" paper, we should make it so it's "rhetorically grammatically correct". This makes it so thoughts and ideas flow, and the audience can easily hear the tone of the piece. In order to get a sense of this rhetorical grammar, Micciche suggests that students write in a "commonplace" journal.
Micciche states goals for the common place are,

• first, to emphasize the always en- tangled relationship between what and how we say something; 
• second, to designate a place where students document and comment on their evolving relationship to writing and gram- matical concepts. Both goals circulate around the idea that learning how to recognize and reflect on language as made and made to work on people’s lives is central to being able to use language strategically. (Micciche 9)

With this journal, students can deconstruct what makes a good passage good, and get behind the rhetorical essence of its grammar.
Grammar is a varying cultural practice, and by understanding this, we can further understand what makes language great.

Summarizing Ehrenworth and Vinton

Within the Ehrenworth and Vinton article, I found that they really wanted the writer to develop a voice. By doing this, they can incorporate grammar mechanics, and this can only be done through practice. They are afraid that the current way that grammar is taught only offers resentment towards students, thus inhibiting their inner voice. Students tend to write in a language that is similar to their peer groups, so by tapping into personal experience, they offer empathy towards their audience. This makes for an identifiable reading for the audience.  Also, by properly using punctuation  and knowing when to end a sentence, you are able to put power into your words.
By not waiting for the revision process, writers are able to think about their sentence during the free writing process. This will give the writer practice and understanding toward the process.

Week 5: Grammar and Mechanics

While writing papers for class, I tend to use grammar that will help the reader understand my message. I suppose this is why grammar and mechanics are under "delivery". In order to properly deliver your ideas to your audience, you need to construct your thoughts so they are a cohesive unit. I'm not entirely sure what "mechanics" are, but it probably has something to do with grammar as well. Maybe it's sentence structure, or stylistic ways to develop sentences. I'm sure I'll find out with the two readings I'm about to do.

When I write for other people, I tend to ignore my grammar. Only when the proofreading process begins, do I actually spend time with grammar. I'm not sure why this is, but possibly it's because it's easier to get your thoughts down, and then polish them up later. Then you can play with the way you phrase certain things so it becomes a much more enjoyable experience while reading.

What will happen in my paper.... And Why it Should Matter to Audience

So far, I feel that my argument is coming into shape. By finding sources, I've found many positive things about using technology in the classroom. Is there a benefit to using digital media in the classroom? Of course there is, but how will I be able to make an argument that makes the audience care? I plan on highlighting the benefits and drawbacks to the experience. For example, some schools are allowed to use cellphones in class-this seems negative..................

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My audience should understand, because I'm sure that many people over 20 without kids don't have a clue how much technology is being used in the k12 school system. I graduated about 6 years ago, and things are certainly different now, than then. I remember getting detentions for having a cellphone in school when pulled out at the wrong times, now in certain schools, this isn't the case. The audience needs to understand that technology isn't going away, but is become more woven into our society that it will continue to be utilize and grow.

Everyone in this classroom is using a computer, we had a class on d2l last week, this is all something that we can talk about and learn from. How will be embrace digital media in the coming years, and how will our children come to terms with it?

2/14 Class Response 1

Starting with invention, and moving to arrangement and style has made me question my original thoughts on invention. Through the coming weeks I've started thinking more positively towards digital media than I  have originally intended, but makes me question where I'll go next. Between Invention and Arrangement, I seem to keep going back and fort between the two, which may be the point. This is still the prewriting, and brainstorming process, so I feel some confusion is accurate because it's helping me think closely on what I'm actually going to write about. In terms of style, I feel that I need to get closer to Invention and Arrangement before I can zone in on what I will do.

How Johnson Defines Style Part 2..

So when I read the Johnson article, I was in the middle of a bunch of homework. So I reread it with fresh eyes, and had an easier time coming to terms with his ideas.

Johnson looks at style as an ongoing process of discovery with his students. He wants his students to not look at writing as a chore, but as playing. By playing, he doesn't mean  playing a video game  but playing an instrument, athletic sport, or anything where the person is engaged, he want's his students to channel this source of inspiration. I don't think Johnson tries to exactly define style, but offers alternatives on different styles to use in writing.  He feels a writer needs a certain "magic" while writing there piece. If the magic isn't there, it's aware that the writer isn't completely sure on their topic, and understand it fully....

Speaking of magic, I'm writing with haste because I have to go to our class right now. Off I go...

Continuing My Research.

I've found good sources to contiune my search on using digital media within the classroom.
The UWM library online cateloug is a great tool, and thats how I found the majority of my sources.
One of my sources talks about how the using the internet can help using direct or differentiated styles of teaching while in the classroom. They are trying to decide if by using this technology the teachers should adapt their teaching styles to their students differences.

To Differentiate Or Not To Differentiate?:Using Internet-Based Technology in the Classroom

• b:y Aries Cobb

 My next source talks about linking literacy to technology in the K-8 classrooms. By using technology, it's possible to help at risk students and have poor reading habits.
Here, I'm able to find some solid positive examples of how technology can work in the classroom.

Using Technology in the Classroom To Foster Student Learning

My last new source talks about how using print never goes out of style. This focuses not really on the negatives of technology, but more on the positives of the old standard.

For Many Students, Print is Still King

• By: Jennifer Howard

Own Your Style

I need to pay attention to my sentence structure, and make sure that they flow and are coherent. Another thing I need to consider is integrating my vocalized voice into my work, this will help things sound less awkward when written out. This will allow me to vary my sentence and paragraph lengths, and give a helpful flow to my paper. I need to speak with words that are natural in my vocabulary, otherwise they will come out oddly and sound phony. There is much more to consider, and will develop with the coming weeks.

Johnson.

This was article was clearly theory, and I hope I at least gained something from it, so here we go.

I believe that Johnson doesn't want writers to not just write in their own voice, but to try and own it. By writing in a way that's similar to the way they talk, it allows the reader to comprehend the authors message. He wants the students to use prose, and own it at the same time. I like his idea of using stylistic devices, and trying to use time within your paper. By speeding things up, or slowing things down, this can determine pace and can make things dramatic.

Honestly, I believe that I'll have to hear people talk about this article in class to fully grasp it. I'm going to try and finish this question after class on Thursday, because many of his ideas are still unclear to me.

Styles in Handbook

DKHB Style

I found this to be one of the more benefiting sources, it wasn't as old school and seemed to get to the point. By addressing your audience through either Academic, Workplace, or Popular writing, I found that this helps the writer get points across. You must find a tone in your writing and write for the audience that will read your words. Somewhere in the reading it said something along the lines of, "You need to ask how your choices will help your readers understand your purpose", this quote was a good point. How will I make the correct choices in helping my reader understand my argument?

Hill and Brooks

I enjoyed the Hill reading more than Brooks', but thought they both had something informative to offer. Hill did a good job of offering terms and styles, and then defining them. By using the different styles he offers--Dry,Plain,Elegant, Florid, and Bombastic-- we'll have an ability to see different ways to communicate our purpose to our writers. Hill claims that style is the way in which thought is expressed, and I happen to agree with him. 

Brooks gives us scenarios and techniques to learn through trial and error. I didn't have a chance to practice any of these, but appreciated the summary of his thoughts at the end of his reading. Brooks want the writer to own their sentences, and he gives us many different way of doing this. While reading through his peace, it felt a little daunting, but this is more of a textbook example. 

My Definition of Style

As far as my writing style goes, I think I'm more of a thought process writer.  Through all the papers that I've had to write in college, many of them were reflections on different theoretical academic sources. I had to then make a connection between them, and show the critical thinking process through my writing. This is the first that I've asked myself about a style in my writing, so other than that, I'm really drawing a blank. But I try to find sources to support certain claims I make, and this helps show my position in a paper. 

When I think "Style", I think a way to get points across. How is your message going to be relayed to you readers? This is done through style. 

Week 4: Using My Research Question for Invention.

Question
Does digital media benefit the function of k-12 classrooms?

This question is open ended, which seems good. It doesn't  really offer a direct "Yes or No"response,
so this will allow me to form an argument, and hopefully persuade my audience toward my findings. I plan on researching while writing and try to come to a conclusion towards the end of my paper.

By doing this, it allows the reader to go through the journey of discovering an answer to my question. I'm hoping this is the write way to do this, as long as I'm trying to support my argument throughout the process, I should be alright.

I would hope this would encourage a person to look at the positives and negatives of using technology in the classroom.  Who would the question then be the most beneficial for? It could be directed towards either teachers or students. Students of course would love being able to use all of this great technology in the classroom--I know I would if I were still in k12. But it's the teachers that would have to look at this more closely and see if this model will match a working pedagogy in a classroom.

Different Forms

Comparison and Contrast:

• In a changing world, what are the possible outcomes of the evolving technology being used in the k-12 school system?
• This will allowing me to look at both sides of the issue and help me draw a conclusion as to where this argument lyes. 

General to Specific:

• How does the use of digital media effect the teaching in a k12 classroom?
• This sounds like it could be a cause and effect question, but this will allow me to take a general question, and then focus on how it works in certain classrooms and situations. What works for one classroom, may not for another. 

Reflection

I found the first exercise to be extremely helpful. I've realized it's a bit harder to pick a great question than we originally thought. These key questions made me wonder if my own argumentative questions deserved a closer look. I need to make it so it's not an easy "yes" or "no" style question, and gives me some length to talk about. It also can't be summed up in a few paragraphs, and has to allow me to develop a certain form.

Why'd You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?

Question 1
Why do some people think video games are harmful?

Or.....

Are video games as harmful as they really seem?

Question 2
 Is the death penalty effective and moral?

or...

What defines the morality of effectively dealing with murderers?
 

A Complex and Not so Complex Response.

More Complicated
How does teen parenthood affect the future lives of young women and men?

This question feels complicated, people with or without children can already put themselves in this situation. Of course, this isn't a "yes or no" question, but could probably be talked about in many pages. It's along the lines of ethos, due to there being an ethical attachment to this question. So a writer will be able to identify and attach to a side to the issue.

 By stating that there is an affect on teens due to teen parenthood, you already have a vision in your mind of possible negative connotations. Granted, this question doesn't say anything negative about teen parenthood, but it suggests that there is still an affect from it.
What causes these teens to go through such an early parenthood? Whether it's consensual, forced, or just plain stupidity, there is always a reason for why these children are having children.

Hopefully, the student will explore possible positive affects from the teen pregnancy issue. No one is the same, and for the sake of not being bias, I feel the paper would benefit from both point of views. 

This question also will be answered differently between adults and teenagers. Most teens have no idea how this could affect another teen's future life, so will probably approach this as a research question. An adult will come at this question in a parental, and "experienced" way, and will probably answer much differently than a younger student would.

Less Complicated
Is it right for scientists to create new life forms?

Right off the bat, people can answer this in a yes or no fashion. This questions raises some ideological morals, and would cause the student to argue their own world views rather than facts. Of course, this may not be true with every student. But it's general enough for the students to easily answer the question. Hopefully, the student would take the time to define what constitutes a life form, and when or if there is a time when creating a life form is just. At that rate, hopefully the student is able to see that saying something is "right" is on a personal level, for there are many truths, not just one. This is an opinion question, and the student will have to understand this and try to bridge the gap between the two sides of the argument.

Lindemann and Podis: Finding Form.

Both Lindemann and Podis have opinions on how a student should arrange a paper. I found useful ideas from both authors, but I found the Lindemann article a tadd bit more cohesive than the Podis article. This may be because she writes very conversationally, but the Podis article seems like much more scholarly. I know I wasn’t supposed to write on the way they wrote, but I had to get it off my chest. 

Moving on, I still found beneficial information from the Podis article. Podis approached this with a much more of a “There’s no right or wrong way to organizing an essay”, but then goes on to explaining helpful strategies at trying to achieve the “right way” of organizing a paper.  Leondard Podis himself says, “My suggestion in this essay…is that as teachers of arrangement we must directly explore for our students the relationship between essay organization and logic rather than working on the teaching of basic logic per se”(Podis 201). Thus, Podis wants to spark critical thinking in the student in terms of making a cohesive and strategized paper. Using progression, “…is to lend a sense of controlled, orderly motion to an essay”(200). By using this logical rationale, the writer is able to think out a strategic way of putting their thoughts on paper so they’re sequentially plotted out. This approach is different than the Lindemann way of going at essay development.

Lindemann wants the students to discover the form of their paper through writing, and this is possible threw prewriting.  She claims that “writers discover form at every stage of composing”(Lindemann 132), this is very true. She wants us to get rid of the 5 paragraph model, because there are times when this just doesn’t suit the situation, and 5 can simply not be enough. Lindemann tells the writer to use form so the reader can follow along. Erika also suggests that students read other argumentative essays in preparation for their own paper. This allows the student to be influenced and understand the way their paper should be approached in terms of creating a proper form. 

Like Lindemann suggests, we are supposed to get inspired from other people ideas and thoughts. This is happening for me already, and I plan on using things such as promise sentences,  blocking, progression,  and “consciously crafted scheme of arrangement”(Podis 197). By constantly revisiting my stasis for my paper, I’m already trying to craft an arrangement in my head of how this will all fit together. I finally understand the function of these blogs; they’re a form a prewriting.  And I believe that’s the point of much of this—to get us think about our papers. A lot of prewriting can happen in your head, not on paper. So with a mixture of both, I’ll be better off within the coming weeks.

Finding Sources

How it Went
I tried to find sources that asked if using Digital Media in the Classroom was beneficial.
I found many sources, which is comforting, so I know I'll find much to talk about. There are articles talking about the use of smartboards, cellphones and other digital means within the classrooms and possible challenges involved with the process.  I typed my question of invention into Google, and got a ton of hits, so it definitely helped out.

My Four Sources

The Challenge of Digital Media in the Classroom:

• Popular Source: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/09/the-challenge-of-digital-media-in-the-classroom265.html

Learing, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age:

• Popular Source: http://edr.sagepub.com/content/38/4/246.full.pdf+html

Blogs in Language Learning: Maximizing Students’ Collaborative Writing:

• Have the pdf downloaded--Scholarly Source. 

Learning with Laptops: Implementation and Outcomes in an Urban, Under-Privileged School:

• Have the PDF downloaded-Scholarly Source.

What I Decided On.

Digital Media
Even though it still feels painful to make a final decision, I must. I feel that I should go the Digital Media route. Technology is evolving everyday, and the more it grows, the more it will be integrated into the school system.

I have a friend that is a teacher in the West Allis school district, and their students are allowed to use laptops, smartphones, and tablets throughout the class day. When I has in high school, this was never possible, but hat was almost 7 years ago. In order to be a good teacher, I need to adapt to the ever changing world, and by writing my argumentative paper about this topic, it will hopefully help me wrap my head around it. I am nowhere near anti-technology, I'm just use to using a paper, pencil and a book. I just had to drop a math class because they wanted us doing math on a computer four days a week. I think I must be getting old.

Why does Rhetoric Inluence Others?

Deciding to go the Thesis and Theoretical Route.
For My other question, "Why Does Rhetoric Influence Others?", I feel that I must approach my question as a "Thesis". This is because the question isn't as specific as a hypothesis, and this will allow me to use many examples of great speakers that used the art of speech to influence people. This would then be more of a "Theoretical" question, rather than a "Practical". Theoretical questions are questions of knowledge, rather than a question of action. Being able to question the actions and reasoning behind rhetoric is much more Theoretical than a practical approach.

Possible Stasis Approach
If I use this question, I believe a suiting stasis would be the "Quality" route . This will allow me to as questions like:

• Is Rhetoric good or bad?
• By asking this, I'm able to question the pros and cons, and then come to a consensuses by the end of my paper. 

• Is Rhetoric add up with Fact?

• There are times when we see speakers dodge questions, and try to be flowery with their words. But does it come out to be a positive thing, or negative?

Was this Useful?
Now that I've done some thought on my two topics, I feel even more torn between them.
I wasn't too hot on this topic from the start, but now that I've had some time to think about it, it's definitely grown on me. I suppose I'm still confused if either of these topics are even worthy of a 5-7 page paper, so I should probably make a decision somewhat soon. 

Using digital media in the Classroom.

I believe one of my argumentative questions, "Are there Benefits to Using Digital Media in the Classroom", would be viewed as a "Thesis". This is because this question has a much broader approach, and will allow me to then take examples of where this would possible work and not work.

Step 1
Using the Thesis method, I could use the following questions:

1. Does digital media benefit the function of a K-12 Classroom? (Conjecture)
2. What is Digital Media in relation to a classroom? (Definition)
3. Why would Digital Media be considered a bad thing within a classroom? (Quality)
4. If Digital Media is used in the Classroom, should it then be regulated? (Procedure)

Step 2

For the Next Step, I would approach my question Generally, and stated Practically:

• What Happens when K-12 students use Digital Media in the Classroom?

Step 3

Now reaching step three, I feel that using a combination of  the first three stasis'--conjecture, definition, and quality--would be beneficial. I'm curious if this will be possible, I'm still trying to make my final idea concrete.