ENGL431fosen

The amount of different types of social networking existing in today's students' lives is gigantic, also fascinating for me. I find it important and interesting to think about many different aspects of social networking, its effects on our lives. I am also interested in looking at how people's writing can reflect their true identity at that particular point in their lives. So, this article, which is based on a research project, seemed relevant to me. Basically, it examines and discusses 5 things: a) what SL (Second Life) is; b) how SL fits the definition of a Web 2.0 technology; 3) how SL can be beneficial in composition classrooms; 4) brief review of the research methodology; and 5) how identity and otherness can be viewed in a virtual world and the writing that comes from that. The author says: "SL is a medium that challenges students and gives them experiences, and ultimately confidence, helping to make their writing more engaging to read and more enjoyable for them to write". As I was reading this article, it was interesting to look at SL as an example of liminal spaces for those who are newbies and feel as outsiders. Will they always feel and be viewed as "others"? Will this affect the writing they will do? To what degree is composition linked to literacy today? Can we predict its future and take measures accordingly?

This article showed how a five-paragraph essay can actually be USEFUL in getting students to narrow down their topics. Ed White shows how this format keeps students limited to having three sub-points on one overall theme.Even if students in English 130 classes are writing a "more-than-five-paragraph-essay," I think the useful thing to take away from this essay is helping students to narrow down their focus. Even having students constructing an outline that has them narrow their topic and the sub-points of the topic would be really helpful for creating narrower papers that aren't all over the place.

I have bad news! He was being satirical. ;-) He wrote it in the dullest, most unimaginable way ever--which was part of his point.

The article describes language teacher preparation in the use of learning technologies. Three focus group interviews were held with 28 pre-service teachers; 9 in-service teachers were interviewed, and a post focus group interview was held with student teachers after they completed their field teaching experience. The article continues on by describing teacher response to technology in the classroom. In correlation to that idea is that of the effect of technology to the students of ESL classroom. This article demonstrated that if a teacher is not adequately in the technology at hand then they will not use it. If a teacher is not using it the neither will the students. To prepare a teacher is to prepare the teacher to prepare the students. It has a cyclical effect.

The article written by ERIC (The Educational Resources Information Center) which I must assume is a part of George Washington Univ. Washington DC. Graduate School of Education and Human Development is a broken down "checklist" of sorts. It addresses six different concerns with grading student's writing. One such concern is one I think we all might have asked ourselves at one point in time, "Why do professors need to construct effective writing assignments?"(3). The answer given to the question was interesting in that it pushed hard for effective peer reviews. While some peer review is helpful the article did address the fact that most students are unaware of how to give effective peer review. The basics of the article concerning peer review are that professors need to help students learn by example and explanation. I thought it interesting as well that the article addressed how professors can avoid giving a grade that they will have to defend after the fact, a problem for professors who grade writing without a series of rewriting stages. The solution offered is, that's right, stages of rewrites with the professor holding off giving a grade for as long as possible. One important idea brought up in the article is that "…the writing assignment should include necessary information about audience and purpose, the two pillars of writing."(3) I often wonder how we focus on the first and not the second. As the article states one of the pillars of writing is purpose, yet we seem to habitually focus on the audience and not give student's a purpose for their writing.

I found this guide quite interesting since it broke down several areas of a composition course suggesting what could be down in each instant of the classroom curriculum. > I focused more so on peer groups and peer revision. (starting at pg. 12) The article mentions that students could bring in multiple copies of their paper so the entire class can read it (in groups and/or individually) and further discuss it in its entirety together. > I really enjoyed this idea especially since I've practiced it in some of my classes here at Chico. However, the only drawback would be of course the expenses and extent of resources the student/teacher/school has. However, this practice could help with distinct revision instead of quickly overlooking an assignment (peer revision is sometimes not taken seriously by students for them to care enough) on the projector slide and/or taking home a fellow peer's paper home to "revise." Also in revising as a group rather than pairs helps students actually gain different perspectives and open doors to their own knowledge received and practiced within the exercise. Along with such a revision process... can come about peer discussions. Sometimes, teachers forget to put into practice discussions following peer reviews. This allows students to further understand where the comments are coming from and how they can take away information to their advantage in revising the assignment.

Becker's article discusses the various models researchers have used to blueprint the cognitive process writers use during revision. The discussion associated with these models came from Becker's inquiry on why novice writers have negative attitudes towards the revision process in comparison to more experienced writers. The goal of this research was to make explicit the most effective and efficient cognitive strategies teachers could use to help novice writers improve their revision process. Most of the models consist of evaluation skills and long-term memory associations. I find this article useful for teaching writing in the sense that it has potential apparatuses that teachers can use to motivate students to revise their work. Because revision is an important and sometimes complex part of the writing process, these models may serve useful or may serve as templates for other models to arise when applied to teaching. The important thing here is finding ways to encourage students to revise their work and examine what processes students use to motivate them to revise rather than have students assume their work is already perfect.

The Cognitive Revolution article takes into account the various psychological theories applied in the field towards language. One particular theory called into question by Miller is behaviorism. Having been a Behaviorist himself, Miller examines his previous biases about language in relation to Chomsky's theories of grammar. Miller finds that in adopting Chomsky's view of grammar, we bring the mind and cognitive process back into our understanding of language. In relation to grammar, Miller states "The grammatical rules that govern phrases and sentences are not behavior. They are mentalistic hypotheses about the cognitive processes responsible for the verbal behaviors we observe." This article is really helpful in providing teachers information about where some of our language theories come from and how they have shifted in practice after behaviorism. I think the most important point here is to not make the same mistakes with behaviorism as done in the past. The assumptions of behaviorism applied in the teaching can have some devastating consequences in student writing. Since teachers have the potential to exploit the cognitive processes using stimulus and response, it's possible that teachers may or may not be aware of the consequences if they happen to instill negative writing habits and attitudes in students using the assumptions implied in behaviorist theory. Having the definition of grammar rules Miller states, it provides teachers a working definition and inquiry to better understand how we form grammar rules, and what strategies students are using to apply grammar and form rules of their own.

"This interdisciplinary approach to rites of passage comprises 31 essays by outstanding contributors, including Marie-Louise yon Franz, Robert Bly, James Hall, Helen Luke, Victor Turner, and Marion Woodman."A watershed book ... an interdisciplinary array of essays highlights both the need for, and importance of, rights of passage to mark important transitions in our lives". Victor Turner's essay, "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites of Passage" gives readers a better understanding of human's inner growth during the various stages of life. As an English 431 student studying English 30 students I notice this group demonstrating feelings of anxiety as if something was lost in translation or transition from high school to college. The transition from high school senior to college freshman appears to be difficult for the students in my internship. I want to know more about their "rites of passage" and why these students are struggling their first year. How does understanding this transition help us better prepare them for success in academic writing?

This article addresses every aspect of writers' block as "symptoms" then gives specific cures for each reason for blocking. It goes hand in hand with our reading for this week. While some of the "cures" are rather broad, many are specific enough to really help a person overcome writers' block because they touch on the problems so specifically.

I was reading the article and the symptom see to match some of my writer's block. Especially the symptom for "don't want to spend too much time or don't understand the assignment". This symptom fit me really well. And the cures really help.

I really liked the points this teacher made - many of the characteristics I've seen practiced within my workshop. Dr. Davis then explains certain aspects of his/her classroom that have helped shape the environment in a very productive way that has proven helpful for students and him/her. Many of the characteristics provided are very basic; however, they are sometimes not put into practice in this way making it difficult for students to be interested and/or continually participating within the group. Steps I found quite interesting: Step #1 (Introducing Writing) Sometimes students have the tendency of assuming the assignments have no further impact on their lives. But of course, that is not the case - writing assignments help students synchronize their thoughts and ideas about certain topics as well as help them communicate them in clear, understandable ways. > I like the idea of professors introducing the assignment in a way that students can quickly relate to their daily lives that way they aren't as hesitant about beginning the assignment. Step #4 (Model Writing) This concept may help students who are more visual than audible learners. Students are able to visually interpret the steps and structure of a good paper and what the professors are looking for in the assignment. I really liked how the professor provided steps and goals he/she has enforced and continually changed based on students' perspectives in order to maintain a level situated learning environment.

This article reviews how college freshmen's self-perception influences their transition into college life and their academic success. This relates to my research question because I am curious about how freshman transition from a typical high school mindset to a successful college lifestyle. The article discusses the many different factors that influence college freshmen's self-perception and reviews the data that has previously been found on this topic. Then the authors explain how they completed their study and discuss their findings. In the introduction of this article, the authors explain that one of the largest factors for academic success and a positive transition was a freshman's reasons for attending college. If a student had long-term goals and felt that their university was going to be a positive aspect of their life then they were more likely to be successful. I thought that this was interesting because I'm not sure how many of the freshmen in my Engl 30 section have this type of mindset. In the discussion section, the authors review their findings that students' perception of their intellectual ability and ability to make friends was a major influence on their success. Students who have a positive perception of their intellectual ability are more likely to be successful academically and socially. This was interesting to me because some of the students in Engl 30 might question their intellectual ability since their test scores were low. Lastly, the authors mention that students' perception of instructors and/or mentors as sources of support was a positive factor towards a successful transition. This made me think that maybe my Engl 30 students do not see myself and the mentor as sources of support because they are struggling in class, but if we could change that than maybe they would do better and be more successful.

Author Jane E. Hindman uses her "personal" writing, through her identity as an alcoholic, a feminist, and a professor of rhetoric, to illustrate how to make writing matter, and to argue for personal writing (which she also refers to as "embodied rhetoric") as a means to "illuminate the theory and practice of teaching composition" (92). She examines how the process of personal writing can evolve into academic writing, that the two are not mutually exclusive. For those who were fascinated by the Lave and Wenger account of Nondrinking Alcoholics as a form of apprenticeship, this may be an interesting read, as she explores the concepts of personal identity and social discourse practices through her experiences with Alcoholics Anonymous.

This site contains the summary of another article related to how technology and composition have shifted in the classroom. It begins with the pencil, then the typewriter and then the computer, and how these various advancements in classroom technology have affected learning.

The author inquires about why students dislike writing. Bricker presents a case in her inquiry that addresses the student's problem through one on one discussion. Her case lifted the student's aversion to writing by showing him directly that he was able to write without realizing it. This article really brings to light the importance of identifying negative attitudes towards writing and paying close attention to the student's psychological reaction to writing. In doing so, teachers can adjust the dialogue to get a more eager response to write from students having difficulties with writing. One significant idea presented in this inquiry is allowing students to write what they want to say rather than what the teacher wants to hear. This gives teachers and future teachers a big clue as to what possible circumstances prevent students from writing and ones that encourage them to write.

After reading our Homework assignment I was truly interested in the true "America Style" of writing. According to this article some styles of the American writing include directness, audience,clear examples, and the uses of sources. I've witnessed many non-native speakers of English struggle in their writing due to their cultural writing expectations. In this article it shows that for those students they offer tutoring one on one, workshops, help sheets and multilingual readers. This made me wonder as to what techniques are the most beneficial for American students struggling in writing and what techniques help native speakers the most. There are different modes of writing as well and each will change depending on the class subject.

This isn't a scholarly source but it is actually kind of interesting. A grad student that will be teaching freshman comp is asking for advice on how to structure and teach the class. A lot of the questions he has are similar to the things that we've been discussing in class, like how to make the work relevant, how to get the students interested. The comments and suggestions people left had a lot to do with the importance of grading rubrics, teachers leaving comments on the students' papers, etc. Also, suggestions highlight being clear to your students with regards to expectations and then explaining reasons for the grades they get. I think this is a good webpage to look at just to see how other people are thinking about freshmen comp and teaching in general. It's interesting to see other people's perspectives.

Hypermedia Authoring as Critical Literacy Jamie Myers Richard Beach This article talks about the benefits of implementing hypermedia into literacy education. Hypermedia or hypertext is a web tool that allows students to access school texts via the Internet and actively engage in annotating those texts or providing links to relating websites, pictures, or videos. Students don't have to just link either, they can create their own webpage geared towards whatever it is their doing. A student could make a webpage featuring a paper they wrote, with links to videos and pictures that the creator feels relates to the paper. It's a type of personalization that would motivate a student and make them view their writing differently. Free writing is a useful tool for helping a writer find their voice or develop their own style. Hypertext allows students to free write with freedom and creativity about particular texts, and puts their writing into conversation with other student's responses. Similar to the way we use dijgo, but with a focus on the inquires made into a certain school text. Discussion of the various posts can be made in class, to create a literal conversation on inquires and interpretations of a text.

This is an assignment I did for eng 333.....the video is really long i think so maybe skip around....?

This is an hour long lecture by the same guy (Dr. Wesch) who did the short video "A Vision of Students Today" that we watched in class at the beginning of the semester. This video goes more in depth about the issues presented in the short video. He discusses how the way most college classes are set up (i.e. lecture-based classes) do not encourage learning. He talks about how we can create a community of learning by incorporating different types of media like Google Docs, Twitter, Diigo, etc. to get students engaged with each other and what they're learning. This is a great video, but I warn you: Dr. Wesch likes to pace around in the same area when he lectures. This may not bother everyone, but it was distracting to me because he never holds still.

This paper is and interview from the teachers who teaches academic writing to post graduate students and EFL students. It provides the teachers methods to bring up an academic piece to the students so that the student will understand the purpose of the paper. Through a series of lectures and example, the teacher works on having the student find evidence and state their point of view. It's mostly on the things that most of us should know, such as a paper should start with an introduction, have body paragraphs and conclusion and don't use the word I think, I believe etc. in an academic paper, but us quotes and supporting evidence.