HAPPY SPRING!!!

Enjoy spring with some Key Lime Pie. Open up your windows and hang a wind chime in the window (until it gets too chilly). Find a short glass and pick a spring blossom or even a weed to put in the "flower vase" to enjoy. Visit Longwood Gardens. Check out THEORGANICGARDNERS.BLOGSPOT.COM site. All these are great ways to get outside when spring traps you indoors.
Spring trivia: Did you know that tulips are actually natives of Turkey and Central Asia? Ranunculus means "little frog" in Latin? And Peony in Chinese is sho yu which translates into "most beautiful" despite the fact the more ants that climb the stocks the better the flowers? Modern flower genetics have formulated a yellow lilac bush?
On a sadder note: Last Wednesday was the 5th year anniversary of the war in Iraq. The Chinese again are challenging human rights in Tibet. Gas prices-need I say more?

POST-CLASS Thoughts on Basic Writing

First, thanks to Amy and Todd for a great class-fast moving and allowing for self evaluation. It was comical to see how we resisted being put in the "concrete" category.
Possibly, the difference in child and adult theory is our ability to move (hopefully) in and out and between the two. By just remembering some of our justifications for our responses I think we can see how "abstract" thinking has been ingrained into our society as being the more desired form of thinking.
Finally, can diversity of learning styles be incorporated into the classroom to allow every student to reach their potential?
Paulo Freire offers many insights into the purpose, goals, expectations, and possibilities of education that I personally find relevant today with the current recession, school budget cuts, threats of graduation testings, and teaching climate. I highly recommend that you check out some of his writings (they are all short).

Week 8A: Technology

Love the subject. I remember back when we started the blog assignment. There was a feeling of overwhelming fear and anxiety. Then I truly enjoyed how to make the site "ME". After the readings for the class I have some thoughts on the "blog". Some of these impressions found focused expression in "Distant Voices, Teaching and Writing in a Culture of Technology" by Chris Ansom when he goes beyond the technology into maintaining a dialogue.
First, the set up for the blogs can be individualized visually. There is room for variations and revisions week to week, by font, and the added dimensions of videos, pictures, or connections to other sites enabling imagination to flourish(which I have not mastered). There is the ability to read and post other classmates postings. I found this feature difficult to evaluate because there were few comments posted by other class members. There was no way of knowing if anyone accessed your postings without commenting I guess that could be addressed in the future as "number of accesses and if it was helpful or not" (like a hotel review). Are we writing a private journal or building a dialogue? I assume the feedback from the professor, Ms. Julie, will come after the last posting has posted. I also found it fascinating how the criteria for the project can be circumvented by the ingenious (thank you Ray) and a sign for use in the secondary classroom that might have to be more fully explored as computers find their way into more classrooms. Will this ability to circumvent become an issue for school boards and school policies?

The issues that remains for me and the use of computers with composition continue as access and knowledge of the vocabulary(how to find all the nuances of written, visual, connections, etc.) Added to those two BIGGIES will be the question of how is truth from the information posted on the Internet be determined (see Faigley's article in Bloom where on-the- surface values of our times blends with research into society as in Lewis's "Faking It") and what is the purpose of the communication factor with this method of composition(Lewis was able to utilize "3 genres in 4 media's"as layers of the composition build on each other). How will the lines of everyday communication on the Internet be diffenentiated from art and special interests?

Where will the money come from to keep the computers and software relevant to the students entering a world more technologically grounded? How will the safety of the net be ensured and regulated? How will the personal be protected within the public and political Internet connections?

I would like to comment the teacher of Christine Neuwirth in "Multimedia Literacy: confessions of a non-major" who "point[ed] out 'things to think about' that my novice eyes had missed and would lead to marked improvements" (Bloom 189) This showed that there was a need to know the vocabulary that connects the process with the thought that allows communication. I agree with Faigley that teaching traditiional composition theory does have a place as modern technology grows in the fields of communication. There is still room for the presentation of self in a physical manner that requires a knowledge of composition so we can use our spell and grammar checks as well as maintaing the flow of our thoughts through transitions. The creativity of the technology still requuires human contact. Charles Moran in "Technology and the Teaching of Writing" touches on all of these issues-access(wealth), vocabulary(English vs. ESL and learning disabilities), personal contact(peer review and teacher review), and trust of sources and information delivered. I believe the most important point Moran makes is that the teacher needs to know the media being used as technology as well as how the students use the technology (formal vs. informal). And as Anson warns in his article the face-to-face contact enabling immediante fed back and exploration of ideas is gone as computers are relied upon for the ultimate tutoring, research, and teaching tool. How will technology ensure that the quality of education as a whole and communication through composition as a use in all spheres and strata of our citizens? After all communication, visual and written, is about an individual being in a place they want to be. I believe the possibility and reality of hope should be available for all.

WEEK 8: Technology

more to come later....just had time to do my sidebar.

WEEK 7: BASIC WRITING

I believe that Mutnick's article is very timely with the "threat" of graduation testing, the revisions on admission to community colleges, and budget cuts at all levels of education. Shaughnessy and Bartholomae bogh address the problems of errors on the written page. Yes, errors do detract, but revision and guuidance can help. The statement "do not worry, you have spell and grammar check" is the easy way out. some rudimentary knowledge of the basics are still required. Sometimes the written composition is like the first handshake-first impressions place the person in a place in their society. Personally I believe that the concept of an error free composition from day one adds to the problem of confidence in the student's ability to write. "We [do] need to show our students how to seek, in the possibility of revision, the dissonances of discovery. . . and thus to show them the potential for development implicit in their own writing"(Tate 188). Even today there can be no assuming of "a level playing field" m I believe that Bartholomae and Petrosy are wrong for assuming that "the academy is an ideologically neutral zone that fosters critical thinking and self-criticism"(Tate 191).
I believe this to be true because often education is promoting the business of education rather than the passion of education. I very much liked the observation by Coles and Wall that basic writers are "people who live between two worlds" (Tate 192). The assumption that these people are outsiders in the hierarchy of society of society poses the question yet again-How do we promote equal access to the potential of writing and speaking well and correctly? Another question would be,"how important is the correctness for communication and respect of others within our society?

The perfect sequae to this article in "Diving In" by Mina Shaughnessy. Basic Writing should not just be about "lackings". It should be about possibilities. The language that the Basic Writing Pegagogy is tainted. Her discussiion of the power of the teacher over the student . The concept of "Guarding The Tower" and "Converting the Natives" make the pedagogy of basic writing "THEM" and "US". Upon reflection of "Diving In" I agree with Leo Strauss "always assume that there is one silent student in your class who is be far superior to you in head and heart" (317). What value will we place on the creativity underlying the limitations of a student's compositiion.

Sommers' article on "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers" once again connects the thought word with the spoken word with the written word. I love how Barthes says "speech is irreversible" (Villanueva 44). It was interesting to note that Sommers' methodology left the door open for a verbal explanation of the written words, particularly within the topic of how the student viewed revisions. The importance of vocabulary and word choice seemed to be the revision technique of the student writers who often had different perceptions from the teachers. The experienced writer attempts to discovery where the words take them in their composition. Again I would ask, who is giving meaning to the written word-the writer or the teacher? How brave will the writer be and how open-minded will the teacher be? I do love the ending statement, "Good writing disturbs: it creates dissonance. Students need to seek the dissoncance of discovery, utilizing in their writing. . . the very difference between writing and speech-the possibiility of revision" (Villanueva 53).

POST-CLASS

Thanks to everyone for participating with Vicki and me.

I think one of the most interesting observations that came out of the class was in regards to collaborative writing projects. How telling to realize that many of you did the collaborations because it was required, but ultimately wanted to create individually. Does anyone see this as a barrier to younger, less-secure students?

It was also fun to see how small group dynamics had a place in our class. Who wanted to be group leader, who was recorder, and just how did the group speaker bring everything together was very interesting to see "sitting in the front of the classroom".

Again, thanks to everyone.

WEEK 6: CRITICAL THEORY IN COMPOSITION

Short and sweet this week

(probably should not be using cliches for my postings)

Will critical theory of compostition let students learn as they get older to learn to write and read critically? Our readings offer glimpses of how questions and answers build in education from the obvious and literal to clues that infer into the final stage of evaluation that offers a learned opinion. Young students learn to "crawl through the foundation" and learn through Critical Theory to take the concrete into the abstract as they become older. I believe that without thinking there can be no critical theory in any subject. I also believe that reading the written word and literacey of adults is important to encourage all people to become empowered through knowledge.

CULTURAL STUDIES + COMPOSITION CONT.

The teaching of cultural studies and compostition have the common thread of communication. All our readings this week make mention of the ability to communicate through the written word.

There are two different uses of composition within cultural studies I would like to mention as a form of communication within specific groups. One is the use of composition as a written rhetoric connected to mass media and the popular culture. There is a kool commercial where a father and son go to Norway to trace their roots. After much tourist activity, the truth of their heritage is found in a library. They are Swedes not Norwegians. Well, the words that relate to composition in a bizarre consumer driven society are..."What is your story? Citibank will help you write it".

The other teaching of composition is found in a summer class offered through Maine Media Workshops. The title of the week long class is titled, " Writing for Photographers". Who would have figured they would be taught to "grasp the power of the written word and how it's used in photography today". "This workshop focuses (no pun intended) on characterizing meaningful ways (to make a statement, apply for a grant, or make a pitch for a storyline) rather than with needlessly ornate language". As always the teacher of the class comes with wonderful credentials.

These are just two more ways cultural studies has appropriated Composition Studies in our current world. Our readings address the appropriation and the effectiveness of the teaching in modern, popular culture. I will not discuss the clash between the elite and the masses today, but that is a common thread in all our theories.. Who writes? Who reads? Why is writing and reading important in our world today?