Thoughts about Readings

This week's and last week's readings were great openers! That is the best way I can think to describe it.  All the pieces (Sommer's "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers"; Nathan's "The Art of College Management"; and Kleine's "What is it we do . . .") were all extremely relatable and relevant to our classroom.  They brought out the positives and negatives of students, which also brought up some moral issues.  Sommer's piece on revising was great, discussing the techniques and differences between students and adult writers.  Now, just saying someone is an adult does not make them any more a better writer or more experienced.  Although, my favorite piece was Nathan's "The Art of College Management."  For starters I love how he uses the word management in regards to cheating! Also, the points he makes (see previous post) are very relatable and require the reader to think a little.  


These articles made me more aware when 'cheating' (not that I cheat, but to think about school work and how it could affect my morals, rather than if it fits the definition).  I liked the different perspectives of adults and students and the ways (and differences) that they revise.  Kleine's piece on research was extremely interesting considering research is my least favorite part of any paper.  It allowed me to think outside of the box and to have a different, more positive view on research.


XOXO, College Girl

Cheating... Thoughts?

               I thoroughly enjoyed Nathan’s piece “The Art of College Management.” I thought it was extremely cool how she chose to not just study cheating, but gather some primary information by putting herself in the situation of a common student.  Cheating is a very serious topic that has created many issues of honesty within the learning world.  I agree with most of the points made in the chapter, but it is hard to have a ‘black and white’ view on this topic because there is so much grey area.  For example, signing someone else’s name on an attendance sheet: is that actually cheating? It is not harming or hurting the student who is in class signing the sheet, and it is only the person who did not show up to class who is hindered from the situation.  I agree it should be part of an honor code, and it is not morally right, but does that mean it is cheating?  When talking about taking the character of a student, I like how the author has an open mind and took the time to see the perspective of a student.  It is hard for a student to feel that they should not cheat, or check answers with someone else if they feel as though it is a worthless assignment or a class they just need to pass in order to finish their general education classes.  I do believe though, that just because a student believes that those forms of cheating are “not that bad,” does not mean they are cheating.  The rules are made to be followed so all students have a fair chance, and just because you don’t believe in them does not mean you have the right to break those rules. 

XOXO, College Girl

Reading Aloud

During conferences, reading my paper aloud was a great learning tool! When writing a paper, you tend to not write exactly what is in your head.  If you are listening to music or talking, you may write one of those words instead of finishing a sentence correctly.  It was a great indicator of how other people would read my paper and how it would sound to them.  It was a great tool to discover run-ons, and to see if the paper flowed smoothly.  Reading it out loud, helps to make sure the paper flows as you would like it. 

 I definitely benefitted from this exercise.  It allowed me to figure out if the diction was a good fit for my paper.  It also allowed me to make sure my paper had a focus with an appropriate flow.  I also thought it was a fitting exercise because it allowed me to see if I used words too often or incorrectly. 

I also benefitted from it by hearing other peoples' papers.  It was good to hear what they had to say, what type of writers they were, and to hear how they interpretted the prompt.  It also a great exercise having everyone critique all the papers in the conference in order to think about writing from a different stand point.

XOXO, College Girl

"New" Literacy Sources

The article “iPoetry: Creating Space for New literacies in the English Curriculum” from the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, is about a study in which teachers tried to instill digital poetry into a group of sophomores’ curriculum.  Students were directed to read, critique, and then using a poem they wrote traditionally, they had to transform that poem using different forms of digital medias.  Curwood and Cowell, the authors of this piece and the implementers of this experiment, stated “we sought to infuse new literacy practices to enhance students’ critical engagement, increase their awareness of audience, and encourage their progressive use of multiple modalities” (111).  They could see the different ways students used their creativeness to express their new poems through different applications such as blogging, social networking, and visual editing.  They also stated that “while literacy skills are still rooted in decoding, comprehension, and production, the modalities within which they occur extend far beyond alphabetic print text (Gomez, Schieble, Curwood, & Hassett, 2010).

 This article was FANTASTIC and brought to light many of the elements I will try to argue in my piece about the new age of literacy that is dawning.  It is extraordinary the support they provide and emphasis on moving towards a new day in age where we are using our literary talents and exploring many different applications and mediums available. 

Jenn Scott, Curwood, and Cowell Laura Lee. "IPoetry: Creating Space for New Literacies in the English Curriculum." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 55.2 (2011). EBSCOhost Discovery. Web. 2 Feb. 2012. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?vid=6&hid=1&sid=42871a99-a1cb-4597-aa37-7518e337fbd8%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=66819936>.

According to “Information Literacy, “New” Literacies, and Literacy” in The Library Quarteryly, there has been the HUGE controversy of whether or not these “new” forms are qualified to be known as literacy.  Also, they question if the contrast between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ literacy forms are actually that different.  John Buschman begins the article arguing that “Literacy was once thought to be well understood and well defined, particularly through the consequences of its alternative, illiteracy: poverty, backwardness, lack of access to the intellectual and emotional riches that reading brought and the economic advances that literacy enabled” (1). The negative stance that illiteracy brings, creates the pedestal for literacy to rise upon.  This pedestal is questioned with the many new different forms that writing is brought to attention with. 

This article was a great piece for analytical thinking.  It has a lot of information, with the counter-argument mentioned which helps prove his theories on the evolution of literacy. Buschman has great arguments regarding these mediums containing theoretical voice and has also introduces the view of social literacy as being the main idea for this change in literacy.

Information Literacy, “New” Literacies, and Literacy

By John Buschman

The Library Quarterly , Vol. 79, No. 1 (January 2009), pp. 95-118

XOXO, College Girl