Reflection on Blogging

Personally, I don't have much to say about blogging.  I think it is a waste of time.  If people want to know what I think about a subject, I would rather talk to that person.  I am of the notion that my opinions are not static, they are fluid and because of that, I don't like having my ideas in such a static forum.  I have seen too many "blog" style forums become places where people rant and rave because a blogger didn't express themselves well enough or later on down the line, if the blogger changes his or her mind, they still have to accept that the original opinion is out there in the universe forever.  people can get the wrong idea about a person by their blogs.  for example, I'm a Christian woman but I went through a time where I had a hard time believing that there was a God and that he cared what I was doing.  If I had been blogging during that time in my life, people could look back at what I said at that time, compare it to what I say now and think "hypocrite" without me ever getting the chance to show them that it is not hypocritical but a change of heart.  I just don't like blogging.  sorry.  Also, with everything else that was going on this semester, it was hard to keep up with such an intangible assignment. 

Rap and Orality

This was an interesting article.  The idea of using popular culture to the class room is definitely one that should be used more often than I percieve it is now.  My only problem is I side with the teachers on the idea that some rap music promotes negativity.  A teacher would have to be very careful on what songs he/she chose.  Note, I am not saying that literature is always positive just that in the same vein that a teacher would have to be careful of the literature they chose to teach, they would have to be careful of the rap music they used in the classroom.  For example, we don't typically teach the merchant of venice in public school classrooms because of the antisemitism that is rampant throughout that play.

One of the teachers made the comment about deciding what is proper and appropriate when it comes to rap music.  This (even in light of the previous paragraph) was a tough one for me.  I am of the idea that it is the parents decision as to what is right and appropriate for their kids.  I believe it would be more important to get the parents to understand the assignments their children are doing in the classroom rather than offer alternative assignments.  The idea of alternative assignments further ostrasizes certain children.  This is one of the troubles that awaits a teacher who wants to buck the system.  But, I guess we are safe here in Texas where we only teach the test.  Right?  *eyeroll*

Reading don't fix no chevys

In all honesty, this book seemed like a very long winded way of saying that just because a boy doesn't do well in school (primarily english/reading courses) that he is not necessarily illiterate.  They did make an assertion that I do agree with wholly.  The ego does play a huge part in the development of a male, so suffice it to say that  it plays a huge part in their literacy development.  Every guy I know who talks frankly about the male ego (and not in a joking or condescending way) say that he needs his ego stroked for him to feel like he can take on tasks bigger than himself, whether it is running a multibillion dollar business or reading a book.  Gendered tasks also played a big role in the development of literacy in that the "female gendered" tasks (ie. cooking) required a defense from the male student who enjoyed doing it where as the "male gendered" tasks (ie. rapping) did not require a defense.

Learning to write

Sorry this is so overdue, it's been one of those weeks (last week that is) that the only upside is that it is finally over.

it is interesting to me that the dynamic of schooling has changed so drastically and yet, we still have areas that are considered bad school districts.  Suddenly the ability to write isn't just the end of education, but the least a person can do.  My nephew is 4 years old and his mother is teaching him to write names and count to 100 before he starts kindergarten.  I wonder why society keeps changing the standards of education so much, to the detriment of the people who are on the lower end.  Not that I am opposed to the idea of higher education (hence the college attendance) but what is it that is changing so much that the education of the early 1900's is no longer effective.  Is it because of the focus on business and technology and the lack of agricultural emphasis?  Is it the fact that the median income has changed so drastically that both mom AND dad have to be in the workforce to make ends meet and thereby need to have the education of more than how to run your household?  Is it because women decided they would take a liberated stance, and from then on Men and Women have competed with one another to get the upper hand?  I just don't know.

I often wonder what it is my children and grandchildren are going to be learning that makes what I am learning now completely obsolete.

Oprah for Dictator!

I'm not a fan of Oprah.  I am glad that a girl from the ghetto got out and made herself the most powerful woman on the planet, but I just take umbrage at one woman attempting to dictate how the world lives.  But enough about my own personal irrational feelings.  I am actually pleased with the book club in the fact that she is promoting reading so heavily.  I wish she would maybe pick books from a wider range of genre and older classics as well as newer authors but that is neither here nor there.  I'm all for reading for reading sake.  She should be recognized as a literacy giant in the fact that what she says America goes and does, thereby making books more important in the lives of many people.  I personally would have never heard of Toni Morrison had it not been for her book sitting on the Oprah's Book Club shelf at the Half Price Bookstore.  The article didn't seem to have much to do with Oprah's influence on Literacy perse, but more about her social influence and THAT can't be contested.  I don't agree with the statement that Oprah doesn't exploit her viewers weaknesses.  I believe that she does, just in a benign way.  She tells the people what to do to help themselves, what to read, go volunteer, go do..... She is helping them, yet treating them like sheep.  I will say though that English teachers ARE missing out on the opportunity to use Oprah's influence over the masses to their advantage.  If more of them would teach maybe one of her book club books a year, it would most likely be the one book that keeps the students engaged long enough to realize that reading is a fun past time. 

Gender, Advertising, and Mass-Circulation Magazines

OOOOh, this is a fun topic.  The beginning of the article is nothing more than a rundown of the rise of the woman's magazine and the popularity of such publications (because of the advertising? or is the advertising as such because of the types of publications they were.  I mean daytime soaps are called soaps because when they were aired, the vast majority of the advertisements that were played were for dish, laundry and body soaps.)  It goes into the problems in the Saturday Evening Post because they were unsure of where to place it in the canon of the magazines at the time, it wasn't necessarily marketed towards women, but it wasn't necessarily marketed towards men either.  Interesting.  it makes the point that men's magazines had more of a problem in the marketing because there were less male targeted goods.  I don't know if I believe the reality of that statement.  Even now, there is a large market for men, and in the 50's men still smoked, drank, bought cars and other various things that would have required advertising (also, men were the majority money makers and they had a perceived habit of telling their wives what they could and couldn't buy.)  it goes into sex magazines as well.  I won't go there.  I don't know what the point of the article is.  I really don't.  It doesn't seem to even make a point until the last few paragraphs of the article.  I didn't really like it much.

Hypertext and Intercultural Inquiry

(sorry I didn't do this before class, but here it is).
The way that hypertext changes the face of literacy is like the way that the printing press changed the face of books.  Hypertext allows the reader to choose which aspects of the knowledge that the reader wants to know more about making us all "experts" on different aspects of the subject.  You used the example of Bruce Springsteen in class, one person could be more interested in his discography and another in the state he came from.  Still another could be more interested in the fact that he is called the boss and where his name came from.  It opens up topics of conversation to new inroads (is that the right word?).

The intercultural inquiry does just about the same thing in a different aspect.  Where the conversation may not have different aspects of knowledge in the same subject, it is possible that the two people conversing will have a different reading on the topic at hand because of their understanding levels.  In the idea that two people from different classes (I don't necessarily like to use that term, but it works here) are conversing about the same topic in different (for lack of a better word) languages.  (or different uses of the same language)

The Pencil Riots

I know this article was about the history of the technology of writing, but I can't get past the part of the article where he mentions that "to his knowledge, no one rioted over the pencil."  I can see it now.  People with their torches and pitch forks, burning pencils in effigy!  I laughed so hard while reading that.  Otherwise, it was an interesting article.  Better than the others we read (mainly because Baron has a good writing style that is interesting and engaging) but I also liked reading about the history of writing.  This was a good article.  (I know this is a short post, but I didn't have much else to say about the article.  It was easy and straightforward)

Situated Knowledge

I was wondering if, in the 'presentation' that was given by the students of the CLC, if it was just the police trainer who was invited or if it was the entire force, and just he showed up.  I think that that area would benefit from an open, moderated dialogue between the youth and the citizens of that community and the people on the police force who patrol that area, but that is neither here or there.

The idea of situational knowledge is a good one.  I think that if more people took into account the idea of situational knowledge more people would be empowered.  It goes back to what we have been talking about almost the whole semester, the idea that just because someone can't articulate as well as I can doesn 't mean they aren't as smart (or is the majority of cases smarter) than myself.  I have learned to work the system.  I went for years as an undiagnosed dyslexic and for that reason I always had a hard time reading and writing in the classroom setting.  However, when I was 8 years old, I had 2 stories published in an anthology in my school.  It was not a publication that everyone was allowed into (if i'm not mistaken).  That, to me, doesn't sound like an uneducated person.  It sounds like a misunderstood person.

I liked this article more than the others... because it was a little easier to relate to with the idea of situational knowledge.  I liked that they tried to open up a dialogue between those in power and those being 'lorded over'.

Theoretical Frameworks and What am I doing with them?

I was interested in the first section of the reading since I am actually a fan of the standardized 5 paragraph essay.  Now, granted my essays are no longer 5 paragraphs, but they still follow the formula that was developed in the learning process of the assigned writing assignments.  I see the possible problem with teaching one form of writing though.  If you teach all the children in a classroom the 5 paragraph essay, that is all you will get for the rest of your life. You know the old addage "all your problems seem like nails, when all you have is a hammer" well this applies here.  If you hand every child the same format, you are going to get the same format back stifling the creative process that is inherent in some children.  On the other end of the spectrum, the "creative freewriting" is also a stifling concept for some children in that not everyone is capable of writing papers effectively.  Some of the children in a classroom excel in math, science and social studies and the safety of the 5 paragraph essay allows these children to feel like they have at least done a decent job in a subject they may not do as well in.  I wonder if teachers ever thought to teach a combination of the structured writing style and the free writing style.  They hadn't when I was in elementary and secondary school.  I do agree with Flower on the idea that students should be taught to speak up, against, with or for something.  The idea of speaking for something, as opposed to "advocating or critiquing" it is actually novel.  We assume that if you are for something that you are going to be an advocate for it.  That is not necessarily what the "something' you are speaking for needs.  Sometimes the "something" needs a common voice just saying "Hey... this is a good/bad idea and this is why I think so."  Sometimes it takes someone who is seen as "less literate" than the norm to open the eyes of those in power.  Take the example of that "plumber joe" during the presidential campaign.  His simple articulation of a simple statement earned him the right to be considered by both political parties and he was able, if not to affect change, then to at least bring attention to the ideas that the politicians were overlooking.

I really liked the point in the second article about "towns and gowns" working together to raise literacy and essentially "raising the missionary flag".  That is almost what it feels like people who are teaching standard literacy are doing.  "You can't read.  I can.  Let me teach you."  Everyone is smart in their own right, everyone is literate in different ways and when one group comes in and says that they can do it better, then tries to teach their way as the only way... things feel a little colonizing. :)

The idea should be for the "towns and gowns" to work together to teach the importance of certain literacies while learning the aspects of others.  Maybe someone can't read, but can look at a room and know how many cans of paint it is going to take to paint it.  That is not an act of doing the actual math on a piece of paper, but it happens in the person's head almost unconsciously. 

Who am I? I'm not even sure I know.

I do know that my name is Kristen.  I was born and have lived my entire life in Corpus Christi, TX with the exception of a 6 month jaunt to Berne, Indiana a few years ago.  I like long walks on the beach and comedy movies... Just kidding. :)  I'm a writer.  I mostly write novels. I have completed 2 fiction novels that are still in the editing phase.  In the past year I have developed a love (and hopefully a small talent) for writing poetry as well.  I dabble in short stories and creative non fiction when the mood strikes.  I promise there is a point to this part of the story.

I don't know what I hope to gain from this class.  I do know that my entire life I have been interested in literacy.  My father's family are avid readers, white collar workers, and having spent a majority of my childhood among them, I too found a love for reading, so literacy was never really questioned in that side of the family.
My mother's family are mostly uneducated.  I have a few great uncles who don't know how to read or write.  My mother's family were the kind of people who became contractors, blue collar kind of people.  You don't have to read very well to know how to paint a house or install cabinets.  They have always fascinated me because they aren't stupid people.  In fact, they are very smart and have talents and abilities I myself would love to have but... I have watched them struggle to write a sentence, and it is odd because it is polar opposite of what I do (being a writer, told you there was a point to the first part of this post).  I have seen what illiteracy can do to a person, how it can change who they are fundamentally and I have always been interested in the idea of literacy in the community because my own private community was so very diverse.
I look forward to this class.