Week 13: My Reflection

1) So far in my reflection paper, I've used sources that I have used in the past. I'm talked about the process of change to a certain extent, but I feel that I'm still in a process of change at the same time. Writing is always a changing thing within the composing process. My opinion has certainly changed, I didn't know that there were so many key concepts involve with the composing process initially, but clearly there are. Invention, arrangement, style and delivery are all active components within the composing process. I'm hoping my paper isn't a conversion story, I'll certainly avoid this from happening.

2) What is missing from the list is possible concerns that we are still having with the composing process.

3)More that I could do is is talk about the worth of my writing so far possible, I'm also planning on talking about the other areas arrangement and style. I still have a couple of pages to go on my paper, so I can have a chance to put some of this into the works.

What can I do in a video?

I feel that I can assert a meaning on a video through an image, rather than text only. This will allow me to possibly convey meaning through less words, and more actions on screen.

Week 12: 30 seconds.

I will attempt to have an intro, like a cover letter.
Then try to establish a thesis of some sort.
So I suppose I'll possible be presenting my information in a documentary style.
I'll try to somehow relay that teachers are responsible for being technologically literate.
I really think that I'm going to sort of wing it while I make it, I tend to work best all at one time while making movies.
I have the paper, and my poster in the back of my head, so all I really need is an idea of some sort.

Week 12: Posters and Revision.

I feel that my poster may have been too simple. I could possibly put more text on each poster, just to clarify my ideas. The Sherlock Holmes poster definitely needs some revision, many people felt confused about it's message. I sort of felt this in the back of my mind before turning it in today as well. Basically, simple is good, by if it's too simple, then content can be lost. For my final poster, I plan on adding some subtext to whatever on I chose. Both could certainly use it.
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From what I have found out, I have brought my confusion from my paper to my poster. Lucas indicated that there wasn't clarity to whether my audience was students or teachers. So I suppose, I am having the same struggle within my poster than I am with my paper.  Keeping my poster and my text on my poster directed to an audience certainly feels similar. There is a tad bit of anxiety trying to get the right words and structure so your message is fit to your audience

Week 12: Rubric and Evaluation.

From what I've gathered so far, I feel that I'm still working towards this rubric. My argument is still being tailored towards my audience, but since I have revised my introduction, I feel that it has more weight to where I am heading. I'm hitting a wall trying to focus my attention to teachers only, so that the audience doesn't think that this is a student technological literacy paper. While I find this important, I need to make my point clearer that teachers can be behind in the tech literacy race. I'm slowly working more and more towards my style, through revision, I've already rearranged paraphraphs and phrasings so there is more word power within my paragraphs. This goes hand and hand with my examples and sources that I've been stringing in. I have been finding some wonderful sources toward my topic, and need to deep digger into the material so I can articulate my argument. I'm struggling towards finding that hidden meaning that puts all of my paper together. I most certainly need more time filling in some bulk with my essay. I still need to fit bubbler in there somewhere.

Week 12: Poster Drafts

I have on of my posters finished, and plan on finishing the other tomorrow.
For my poster, I made a yellow background, with a blue computer in the center.
The yellow background causes a huge amount of contrast with the blue computer within
the center of the screen. This then allows the computer to be the primary focus of the picture.
Then within the screen, I have it yellow, with a picture of Sherlock homes saying "It's elementary  my deer teacher". I figured that the phrase summed up what I was trying to say within the picture because:

1. The picture is made out of construction paper, and looks like elementary school arts and crafts.
2. The computer is displaying the image, so Sherlock Holmes is clearly saying that using a computer is elementary.
3. The shift from "Watson" to "Teacher" shows that the audience is being targeted.

So I started poster two, and I am trying to have a teacher chase a computer in a footrace. I'm having a little trouble in potraying this in terms of a teacher in technological literacy. It's difficult making a teacher out of construction paper. But I have to say, that I'm having a blast in making these. My color scheme is yellow, green, and blue. I tried to make it so all the colors come from the same source, therefore the picture will feel more appealing to the eye. I have the runners on the ground, so there is a depiction of gravity. And I have the computer running in first place to the right of the paper, and the teacher behind, on the left side of the paper.

Week 11: Central Idea for Poster.

*Technological literacy amongst teachers.
*Teachers should be as technologically literate as their students.
*Teachers should never stop learning.
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Probably show a picture of a teacher confused.

Week 11: Where I'm Hurting.

From what I've understood in my writing career at college, confusion can sometimes be a good things. This is where the writer can hopefully tap into the critcal thinking process, and think about why a certain topic is difficult to write about. This is where I seem to be at, and I need to fine the thread that holds my paper together--or just start all over again. I really like where my introduction is at, but then the body just seems to fall flat on it's face. Being able to struggle shows that the process of writing is not meant to be a cakewalk, but like anything, a process where we are learning. Thing become struggles because they are new to us, thus through the struggle comes a lesson to be learned.

Week 11: Where I'm At With Writing.

I feel I need to take more time on my writing, I feel I've hit a slump on the direction of where my paper  is going. I ended up taking out a few paragraphs because they didn't align with my thesis for my audience, so through the last couple weeks, in certain areas, I've ended up with less information, but hopefully more targeted toward my audience. At this point, I'm reading through source material, and trying to find examples as to why teachers need to use certain programs to learn the importance of using technology within the classroom. These programs teach the technological literacy that is important for teachers to understand the literacies that their students may already understand.

I need to narrow my focus for my papers, it still feels much too vast. From all that I've gathered, and smaller, crafted argument can become much more powerful than and overly convoluted one. I can't seem to break past the invention stage, so therefore my revision is consuming my invention at times. I need to spend a solid 5 hours on this thing one of these days to further refine my ideas.

Week 11: What is Writing?

I would think that writing would be a developmental plan throughout the course of the semester. Sort of like how our class has been structured. The kids in my class would have the ability to develop a voice, structure and a sense of word power within the papers that they write. Writing is the ability to put words on a sheet of paper on a topic that is posed to us. Students all have an internal voice, and hopefully they can develop the ability of translating that voice to the page. Invention, arrangement  style and delivery are all important aspects of the composing process of writing, and through practice, students will be able to learn this skill. The words we use must have some rhetorical meaning and sentence structure.

Week 11: Reflective Writing About My Draft

What would you describe as your purpose in your current draft?
As of now, the purpose is to persuade teachers to find a way to accept technology into their classroom, and attain technological literacy.

For whom are you writing?
Teachers that aren't technological literate.

How have you shaped your writing to address that audience, given your purpose?
I'm giving examples of working classrooms that have technology, and also places where teachers can learn how to use technology in the classroom. I've also tried to rewrite my introduction so I could implement a little more rhetorical writing.

Describe the main points of your argument. Why are the main points arranged as they are in your current draft? Given your audience and purpose, what other arrangements might work?

As of now, this is how my working draft is arranged. 

• Teachers should become technologically literate like their students.
• Teachers should look at the models of other schools that implement technology in their classrooms.
• Teachers should seek out programs that teach technological literacy.

I could possibly start with why teachers should be technologically literate, then talk about the programs that talk about literacy programs, then lastly, talk about the school models that work.

Is your audience likely to find your sources persuasive? Why—or why not? Do you have enough sources? Are they from an appropriate time frame? Are they from sources appropriate to your argument and purpose?

I believe they will, I tried very hard to find sources that aren't before 2005. Technology from even then seems to be much more advanced, and much more integrated into the school curriculum. I could certainly use more sources toward the argument of literacy programs.

Describe the style of your writing. How is this style appropriate for your audience? How might you modify the style to be even more appropriate?

I've already modified my introduction to make it sound more academic, so eventually, once my body is more concrete, I plan on trying to rewrite some of my sentences.

What do you think your audience will walk away from your paper thinking? What might they feel when they finsih reading? What do you hope they will do?

That technology isn't scary, and actually a beneficial tool. It's like teaching people to be responsible with fire, if used properly, it can be very helpful.

What are your main choices in shaping your writing—the main strategies you have chosen—that will help readers finish reading so that they think, feel, and/or do what you just described?

I'm trying to be understanding that as we get older, the more overwhelming, but beneficial technology can be. So a sympathetic approach, with a voice will allow readers to relate.

Based on all the above, what modifications do you think you will make in order to make your writing stronger still?

Finishing my paper, then reworking my sentences to have more rhetorical power. 

Week 11: Shore, Dondis, Bang

All three articles brought something new to the table. Dondis has definitely the most concise explanations toward the information that is proposed. Whether it's the way we receive visual messages, "representationally, abstractly, or symbolically", this sort of frame work seems to be where Bang gets her theory from. Molly Bang shows abstract shapes, and attaches reason as to why their is an emotional weight to them. As humans, we seem to place ideas of our world into the images we see, such as gravity, symmetry, or even common phrases such as, "he's in the corner". These ideas can give certain tensions to an image no matter how abstract they may be, and the spatial element of visual communication is a key component. Shore on the other hand, tends to work with actual photographs, and talks about the four components that make a photograph: flatness, frame, time and focus. All of these dimensions show that a miniature world exists within a photo, and depending on how these elements are conveyed, will have a cause and effect on the photo.

From what I understand, with visual composition, there are different ways in conveying meaning. Photography, and visual images can go for more of the abstract, thus conveying meaning through the rhetoric of images. Tensions, emotions, gravity, framing, are all ways in which a picture can tell a story,  on the other hand, words perform rhetoric through sentences, and the act of being told something. An image however can only be shown to a viewer, but not given a script for the symbolism. Thus the two modes perform differently in their respected medium.

Knowing how to convey meaning through the use of emotion will be important. I never knew that certain shapes and spacing can cause such an internal feeling when looking at such abstract images. Dondis says, "Vision defines the act of seeing in all of it's ramifications". By attaching emotional weight through the subliminal placement of our posters, we'll hopefully be able to convey meaning of some sort.

Week 10: Delpit, Young, and Me.

Delpit
From what I gathered from the Delpt article, teaching English to non standard English speakers is both controversial  and ever changing. There seems to be no "right" way to accomplish the task, but through critically thinking about the process, there is at least thought  and empathy through the process. Language is power, and white people tend to take this power for granted. This wasn't a white hate article, but certainly a diversity understanding of culture and knowledge article.  As educators, we need to embrace the cultural differences of our students, and not exclude their individual differences, rather let them own their individuality  In the classroom, the teacher and the students need to become "experts" in the material that they approach. By this, I mean, both student and teacher need to bring something to the table in terms of the educational process. We can then teach the students the language of power, through understanding that it is the "formal language" of society. But at the same time embrace our own language codes, they make us who we are!

Young
Young is a black man that is well versed in both BEV and WEV, and has constant racial identity conflicts with himself. He is constantly questioning the system, and doesn't exactly give the "right" answer to teaching students fluent in BEV, but rather gives insight to the situation. He claims that by allowing students to Code with and have plural dialects, an identity crisis is given to students. No one in the BEV and WEV benefits from these code switching dilemma, this is because it claims that one is more right than the other. He however states that the issue is within the schools, and that there needs to be reform of some kind. This article was a little heart breaking, but at the same time empowering into the black psyche.

Me
College has definitely been an eye opening experience. There were days that I use to say "tret" instead of "treated", and other parts of dialect that seem so strange to me now. People talk like their peers and their social settings do to their environments and upbringings. When I came to the relization that "tret" wasn't a word, I was about 16 years old, and a former girlfriend asked me what it meant. I felt like my world was shaken-- tret has been a word that I used all my life, and I never second guessed it. This slang had it's teeth sunk into my past, and my parents were the source of the issue. This opened doors to me, and a greater realization that everyone speaks differently. There are times that this word comes nearly out of my mouth, and even to this day, when I'm on the verge of saying  treated, tret is not too far behind in my mind. My ability to be conscinece about the actions I make in my language could relate to Delpit's idea of "code switching". When I'm with my parents, I seem to get back into my nasty habits of improper grammar. It's difficult, because I don't want to sound like a snob when I'm around them, so I tend to conform to the code that my family speaks. Young would agree that this part of my language is a partial identity, but at the same time, I'm resentful towards it.