Vibrant shades of green kissed by sunlight Locals relax and enjoy the beauty A patch of brown bathes in the gentle ripples of green merk Machinery rips into the earth for better or for worse...not sure yet Apathetic smoker casts its harmful habit onto the living Shitty speller inflicts pain on the innocent
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All of the stories included in this reading really amazed me by how much was offered in so few lines. "Waiting" by Peggy McNally was my favorite out of all them. I found this story rich with description and emotion. Taken back by the emotional high of the date the night before and the possibilities of something growing from it, I felt optomistic about how the story was going to end, then all optimism was squashed when the realization of why the story is called "Waiting" sets in. I don't even know the main characters name, yet I know so much about her in such a short read. This poor woman is so depressed, and it's like she is trapped in a never ending waiting room that won't allow her to move on with her life, let alone enjoy it. I can't help but wonder how this story could go on so she could eventually claw her way out of that loney waiting room.
Out of all four readings assigned this week, I enjoyed reading the two stories from "Dubliners" by James Joyce the most. In the first story "An Encounter", I wasn't suprised to read that it's no different in Ireland than it is in America when it comes to children wanting to make their own adventures, and an unexpected adventure they did find. As I read, I found the story interesting, because the author is discussing his life in Ireland and his perspective alone caught my imagination of how life was there at that time. The story started to take an even bigger twist when the older gentleman appears in the story, my interests started to grow even larger at that point. Especially when at this man out of nowhere just passed by him and Mahony, but then he turned back around heading towards them again. Initially, his conversation is a kind of sweet, but at little odd at the same time. At this point I'm thinking, what is this guy up to? Then, he leaves again and comes back after Mahony was off on his chase and there it is...suspense like a wildfire burning straight down from my brain into my fingertips as I flipped the pages! My pace of reading started to increase as I wondered, what is this guy going to do. As his rantings started to turn violent and even more awkward, I kept thinking, please don't hurt the boy! Then the boy slips away thank God, and it I'm reminded of when I was young and found myself in a uncomfortable situation with my heart beating through my chest as well, trying to escape without letting the suspicious catch on to my frightful realization.
I really enjoyed reading "Living the Narrative Life" by Pagnucci. This reading brought to mind many of the verbal beatings I've endured in the past from writing teachers in regards to writing as "I"! A great deal of the writing assignments I have worked on have dealt with what only prominent researchers and authors have decided was important, and I'm delighted to read that some people find it important to hear what I have to say! Most refreshing was his ideas of how a writer grows from looking inward while writing in the narrative format. This reading also brought to mind how we tend to learn from connections made from our own experiences as we grow in life. My classmates and I have discussed in great detail how children learn from what they know to be true, which is essentially based off of what they learned from their own life experiences. In a nut shell, it's recognized in the education world as scaffolding. It's incredibly important as future teachers for us to keep in mind how what is true for one student isn't necessarily true for another based on different culutural norms. This reading also reminded me how much I enjoyed reading about how other people share their stories about coming to age and how the world around them shaped who they are today.
Prior to uploading my thoughts onto my blog, I had to take some time to revise. I didn't incorporate too much private information except for my counselor's last names which I removed, but other than that, everything else I wrote could be posted publicly. I did however look over the original email I sent to our professor and changed the way I wrote some sentences and cleaned up some of my grammar errors. Nothing to exciting and no real major changes to report. I did however reflect on the importance of privacy when posting information on the web, and how I need to be mindful of protecting the identities of the innocent!
When it comes to writing, I enjoy creating my own stories or discussing personal experiences. I have also enjoyed writing poems in the past as well that deal with once again tales of my life and other characters I created. Freedom to say what I want and the ability to move in the direction I want to go is what best suits me. For instance, I despise writing research papers! Having to obey all the rules of citation and making sense out of others research bores me to death. I would prefer giving my own spin on what happened and then explain how I make sense of it all! I was excited to hear that we could do our own research for once, rather than reading others work and finding creative ways of putting their words in my mouth.
Who or what do I want to research? Not really sure yet, but I’m always interested in talking to teachers and school administrators since I’m going to be a teacher on day. Ideally, I would love to interview a teacher new to the profession to see how he or she is dealing with the stress of the first school year, but I don’t know if I will be able to swing that. In regards to technology, I usually just type papers up in Word. I have used Twitter, created a blog, wrote a collaborative White Paper on Good Docs, and I believe we used a wiki one time in my Writing with Style class, but I wouldn’t consider any of these technologies a regular for me. I will say in regards to group projects, Google Docs comes in handy since everyone in the group will have access to the main document. Blogs are a different way to deliver information, because it’s a more creative way to tell a story. I mean, if you going to design your own blog page, you may as well make it pretty crafty looking. I just turned 36 this past summer, and I have been part of the CPCE program since last year. For all purposes, I’m considered a senior this year, but I won’t graduate until December 2011 since my student teaching doesn’t start until next fall. The CPCE program has its pros and cons just like anything else in life. Being in the CPCE program is kind of strange, because I’m considered a Rowan student, but I go to school on Camden County’s campus. I just love trying to explain that to outsiders! I will say that the people I work with from CPCE like Amanda and my education counselor Gina are very helpful. Often I’m confused, because the CPCE program was sold to all of us with the promise of being flexible for the working student, but most of the time the program is not flexible at all. In the end, the most important aspect to me is to receive a Rowan degree. On a positive note, it’s really nice knowing everyone in your classes!
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AuthorWriting can be friend or foe at times, but it's always good to stick with it so you can see where it will take you. Archives
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