The most dreaded part about college: Academic Research. Notice, I didn't say it was the worst part about college, just the most dreaded part. Academic Research takes up a lot of time. It's hard to find sources and lets not forget about those pesky annotated bibliographies.
When starting a college research project it is important to be familiar with your schools library. The library is your friend! Last semester I dabbled in a bit of research, but not a ton. The school's library has many resources that will make academic research a thousand times easier. Trust me.
It was required for my English 301 to watch six videos on the different types of places you can find academic research in the library or anywhere on the web. One of the main videos previewed, was ways to create a "search statement,"which is keywords that help narrow your topic. The videos showed EBSCO Host and how to access that web browser. It also showed how to use the library system to find books. Most people don't want to find books for research but sometimes they can be the most reliable. The deeper you have to search for the research, the more useful it will be in your paper. These sources are extremely vital in becoming a good researcher and finding reliable, relevant research.
Academic Research are two words that most students dread hearing about from there professors. Majority of students don't like academic research because it's hard work. The needed academic journals won't just pop out at you. If your "search statements" aren't direct enough you'll end up with thousands of articles. The "search statements" are just the beginning.
Academic research is not as bad as it sounds. Most likely you've chosen a topic that your are remotely interested in so finding information to cover that topic should be interesting.
Academic research is difficult because you never know where the research will lead you. You could start off with one topic nailed down but then you start researching it and it can change five different times. You keep reading different things on your topic and trying to pinpoint the exact information for your paper and that is a challenge. I don't think academic research has to be as bad as everyone sees it to be. Most students/people don't like what they don't understand. They are afraid of things they can't navigate and then it makes them feel a certain way towards that issue. Academic Research is one of those things that students don't like. If every student had a course on how to properly locate academic sources, I would guess the dislike of academic research would decrease supremely. Even if professors took time out of class to show students that academic research is not as scary as it sounds, students would not be so hesitant about it.
Another point they could be taken into consideration regarding academic research could be taken as a challenge for professors. Along the lines of comparing "street smarts" and "intellect" and thinking about my last post on blogging, professors could try the route of bringing in relevant information from the students lives into academic research. If professors tried to help compare real life to the research process it might be a good way to get students more involved in research and not make them dread it so much.
Whether they know how to do it well or not, academic research is something that all students will have to take part in at some point in time in their academic career. This topic will never go away. I wish academic research wasn't as scary to students as it is because it would benefit them quite a bit if they knew how to do it correctly. I think that students would be able to get the full academic reward of this knowledge they've found, if they weren't so stand-offish about it.
In other words, academic research is unfortunately one part of college that will always be that issue that no one wants to talk about, much less fix, until it is right under their noses for an essay. If students did choose to turn their cheek and try to find the good in research, they might find that it's not as bad as it sounds and they might just enjoy it.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Prompt #4: Read All A-Blog It!
You may wonder why I titled this blog post "Read All A-Blog It," well wonder no more. This entry will be based on answering some questions about an article I found from The New York Times. It was based on the logic of blogging in the classroom. As anyone could tell from my former posts I feel strongly about blogging being used in classrooms, so when I was reviewing articles to post about I felt this one was the most relevant to my own school blogging assignment.
The author of this article is clearly responding to the use of blogs being used in the classroom as an effective way of teaching. This article is based on blogging at an elementary level, but it exceeds the possibilities to be relevant for any age group. The author is trying to get across that if small children can use blogs and it be an effective way for them to express themselves, why not older students as well?
The author is agreeing with the use of blogs. It can be seen that he is agreeing because of the references and quotes he is using from the school mentioned in the article. He gets the opinions of teachers that not only agree with the use of blogs but are doing everything they can to incorporate the use of blogs into there own classrooms. These teachers discuss using the blogs on assignments, because it is an easy way to give the students immediate feedback. I see what he is saying and I agree with him. As a student myself this is such a great mechanism for students. When doing a writing assignment it is always so important to have any kind of feedback. I realize this article is addressing it in the form of younger students but it can be seen in a versatile light for the effective use of feedback on writings from the older students to.
There is a lot of motivation for this argument. The author who is interviewing these teachers is seeing a whole new side to blogging. These teachers are looking ahead to the future. This is something that the author picks up on. The author is aware, as are the teachers, that technology is constantly changing. Having the younger kids pick up on the constant changing is something will benefit throughout their educational experience.
Anyone who reads this article would be able to tell that the article is mainly centered around the use of blogging in this one particular school, but I chose to dig deeper into the words. The people the author interviewed are the educators that are teaching the future of society. If these kids aren't motivated to do well in school then that decreases the chance of a successful working class in the future. Writing is a big part of the process of getting a respectable education. Encouraging these young students to write about even a simple field trip could forever change the way they perceive writing. They are getting a hands on learning experience with immediate feedback. Teachers are being trained in the use of this technology and it is helping further there technology skills along with the students.
This brings in another point that the use of blogging in a classroom is not only benefiting the students technological advances, but also benefiting the teachers.
You can't have blogging without the use of technology. This article explores the use of blogging in the education system so I believe it is necessary to showcase technology as a form of educational use in schools, too. Technology is a 'hot topic' in the education world because it is constantly changing. Teachers need to stay on top of the ever changing track of technology as much as the students. Blogging is a huge part of technology and if the teachers want to have an advantage along with students, this use of technology will be helpful to them in there careers.
On another note, this article is dated back in 2004. Most people would have wanted something more current. I used an article from that year to show how far the blogging system in schools has come throughout the years. In the year 2004, blogs were just being introduced and now I am using one on my college English assignment. I used this article to show how effective blogging can be and has been, since it was first discovered as a teaching mechanism. This article shows how relevant blogging is and how much it has improved after eight years.
No matter who you are, whether it be a student, a teacher, or anyone else, get yourself a blog. You'd be amazed at how writing in a constructive way can change the way you perceive things.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
Article Cited:
Selingo , Jeffrey. "In the Classroom, Web Logs are the New Bulletin Boards." Technology. The New York Times, 19 August 2004. Web. 23 Sep 2012.
The author of this article is clearly responding to the use of blogs being used in the classroom as an effective way of teaching. This article is based on blogging at an elementary level, but it exceeds the possibilities to be relevant for any age group. The author is trying to get across that if small children can use blogs and it be an effective way for them to express themselves, why not older students as well?
The author is agreeing with the use of blogs. It can be seen that he is agreeing because of the references and quotes he is using from the school mentioned in the article. He gets the opinions of teachers that not only agree with the use of blogs but are doing everything they can to incorporate the use of blogs into there own classrooms. These teachers discuss using the blogs on assignments, because it is an easy way to give the students immediate feedback. I see what he is saying and I agree with him. As a student myself this is such a great mechanism for students. When doing a writing assignment it is always so important to have any kind of feedback. I realize this article is addressing it in the form of younger students but it can be seen in a versatile light for the effective use of feedback on writings from the older students to.
There is a lot of motivation for this argument. The author who is interviewing these teachers is seeing a whole new side to blogging. These teachers are looking ahead to the future. This is something that the author picks up on. The author is aware, as are the teachers, that technology is constantly changing. Having the younger kids pick up on the constant changing is something will benefit throughout their educational experience.
Anyone who reads this article would be able to tell that the article is mainly centered around the use of blogging in this one particular school, but I chose to dig deeper into the words. The people the author interviewed are the educators that are teaching the future of society. If these kids aren't motivated to do well in school then that decreases the chance of a successful working class in the future. Writing is a big part of the process of getting a respectable education. Encouraging these young students to write about even a simple field trip could forever change the way they perceive writing. They are getting a hands on learning experience with immediate feedback. Teachers are being trained in the use of this technology and it is helping further there technology skills along with the students.
This brings in another point that the use of blogging in a classroom is not only benefiting the students technological advances, but also benefiting the teachers.
You can't have blogging without the use of technology. This article explores the use of blogging in the education system so I believe it is necessary to showcase technology as a form of educational use in schools, too. Technology is a 'hot topic' in the education world because it is constantly changing. Teachers need to stay on top of the ever changing track of technology as much as the students. Blogging is a huge part of technology and if the teachers want to have an advantage along with students, this use of technology will be helpful to them in there careers.
On another note, this article is dated back in 2004. Most people would have wanted something more current. I used an article from that year to show how far the blogging system in schools has come throughout the years. In the year 2004, blogs were just being introduced and now I am using one on my college English assignment. I used this article to show how effective blogging can be and has been, since it was first discovered as a teaching mechanism. This article shows how relevant blogging is and how much it has improved after eight years.
No matter who you are, whether it be a student, a teacher, or anyone else, get yourself a blog. You'd be amazed at how writing in a constructive way can change the way you perceive things.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
Article Cited:
Selingo , Jeffrey. "In the Classroom, Web Logs are the New Bulletin Boards." Technology. The New York Times, 19 August 2004. Web. 23 Sep 2012.
Prompt #3: Have I ever had to "Invent the University?"
This prompt is meant to address the article written by David Bartholomae titled, "Inventing the University," in which Bartholomae discusses the dynamics of students and professors. He speaks of what is expected from students and the communication between students and professors and how it effects there college experiences. The definition of "Inventing the University" in simple terms, is how students must learn each individual professor and the expectations there professors have for them in each class.
Bartholomae speaks of professors needing to aid the students, but I believe it should be the other way around. I understand that professors could work a little harder for better communication with students, but as students we need to have the initiative to do some things on our own. When we graduate college we won't have someone there to help us along the way. We are on our own. Our future bosses won't be able to "Invent the workplace" for us, so why start with the coddling now? I believe it's a good experience.
Bartholomae speaks of professors needing to aid the students, but I believe it should be the other way around. I understand that professors could work a little harder for better communication with students, but as students we need to have the initiative to do some things on our own. When we graduate college we won't have someone there to help us along the way. We are on our own. Our future bosses won't be able to "Invent the workplace" for us, so why start with the coddling now? I believe it's a good experience.
Have I ever had to "Invent the University?" The answer, yes.
When I started college as a freshman in the fall of 2011, I was not sure what I would find the first day. I was nervous, excited, and worried. College and high school are on two very different wavelengths. I was unsure if I would have the same positive communication with my professors as I did my high school teachers. I quickly learned that in college it is up to me to get my assignments done. The professors weren't going to nag me about them until I turned them in, either I did them or I didn't. If I didn't come to class no one was going to call my parents and tell them I wasn't present that day. I realized that the only person who it negatively affects if I don't come to class, is myself. I found this out extremely early on in my History 203 class.
My History 203 professor is a very smart man. He knows everything there is to know about History. He had a straight forward way of explaining history. The one thing not straight forward about his course was what expected of me. No one knew until about the second week of class that he would not be taking attendance, but I quickly realized that if I missed one class I would be missing out on an entire era of history. Little did I know that the only points you received in class were on the tests. If I did poorly on one test it might negatively affect my final grade. The way I had to "Invent the University" in his class was through trial and error. He was not a professor that would communicate with me on a regular basis so I had to wait until after the first test to see what he wanted from me in the form of information on the tests. After the first test passed I finally understood what was needed to receive a good grade on the tests.
In the end I did well in the class but it was like pulling teeth trying to find out what my professor wanted from me in the beginning. I'm glad that I had this experience because it has made me more assertive in trying to find out what my professors want from me. I realize now that my professors want me to succeed but the success isn't going to be handed to me on a silver platter. Having to "Invent the University" affected me in a way that made me more independent in my classes. This is an important skill to have because I don't know when I'm going to get another professor like my History professor. I want to do well in college and to have a successful life and career and that begins with being an assertive person, which is what I learned in having to "Invent the University."
I think it's important for all students to have to go through this process because then they can fully appreciate when they have professors that are good communicators. No matter where you go to school you will always have to deal with all different kinds of professors. If you have the skills necessary to handle them in a way that will help you, it can only bring out the good in a college experience.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Prompt #2: They Say, I Say
Hello again! I'm back and ready to argue. This will be a brief argument on behalf of Gerald Graff's essay, "Hidden Intellectualism."
They Say, I Say...
Gerald Graff, who is an English professor at the University of Illinois, published an essay entitled, "Hidden Intellectualism," which is written about the capabilities of someone with "street smarts." Graff argues that most people believe intellectual smarts are more appreciated in the real world but he believes "street smarts" are more important. Graff says when he was in school he would rather read about sports then a play written by Shakespeare. His main point is that he would rather see a student write about something they enjoy then for them to write a lifeless piece on a boring topic that does not relate to them in the least.
This topic is as "real world" as it gets. The debate between what needs to be taught and what students want to be taught is a constant battle. The old-age question that is asked in classrooms across American is, "How will I use this information in the real world?" The answer does not come as easy as one would think. If a student isn't going to be an English major in college why do they need to know the rhetoric of a Shakespearean sonnet, when they could be learning about their favorite Red Sox player's batting average?
I see Graff's point and I agree that most students would most likely do better in school if they could chose the topics they learned about. Most students would do a significant amount better if they could write about there favorite sports team, but the downside of this, is that it downgrades the real reasons kids go to school. School is a place of learning and a place for children to learn how to open up their mind. If teachers only had students focus on just the things they liked they would never find out new things that they might enjoy. That exact reason of students being shut off from new experiences is why I disagree with Graff's point of only having "street smarts" in the classroom setting. Students need to have many different choices of learning.
A simple solution to this debate would be to come to a happy medium in the classroom. If teachers had a time of the day to discuss and teach on real life related issues and have a time to learn about specific rhetorics and narratives the students would be getting the best of both worlds. Graff's point are not totally discredited but rather revised to fit to the best of the students abilities.
For example, this blog is a good source to show that using real life in the classroom is an effective way of teaching. I am allowed to explore my own ideas and formulate my own thoughts on the topics assigned. I am using 'narratives' and 'rhetorics' but in a way that I can identify with. I am a true teenager and I love the internet. By my professor allowing me to explore my own thoughts and ideas in a way that I enjoy she is ensuring that I stay interested in this project. This new way of teaching is something that should be introduced in more classes.
I'm going to round out my point by saying that this issue of "street smarts" vs. "intellect" is one that will be in a constant debate unless someone takes a stand to change it. Graff begins to address the issue in his essay but someone needs to take things a step farther for future generations. This step would be to settle this on-going debate and give everyone a little of what they need. Some people may think that this issue can be swept under the rug and dealt with at a later time but I believe someone should take action now. Students are the future of society. The kids in the present need someone who will make an effort to better there future.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
*Words Cited
Graff , Gerald. "Hidden Intellectualism." They Say, I Say. Ed. Gerald Graff and Ed. Cathy Birkenstein . Second Edition: New York: W.W. Norton and Company , 2010. 198-205. Print.
They Say, I Say...
Gerald Graff, who is an English professor at the University of Illinois, published an essay entitled, "Hidden Intellectualism," which is written about the capabilities of someone with "street smarts." Graff argues that most people believe intellectual smarts are more appreciated in the real world but he believes "street smarts" are more important. Graff says when he was in school he would rather read about sports then a play written by Shakespeare. His main point is that he would rather see a student write about something they enjoy then for them to write a lifeless piece on a boring topic that does not relate to them in the least.
This topic is as "real world" as it gets. The debate between what needs to be taught and what students want to be taught is a constant battle. The old-age question that is asked in classrooms across American is, "How will I use this information in the real world?" The answer does not come as easy as one would think. If a student isn't going to be an English major in college why do they need to know the rhetoric of a Shakespearean sonnet, when they could be learning about their favorite Red Sox player's batting average?
I see Graff's point and I agree that most students would most likely do better in school if they could chose the topics they learned about. Most students would do a significant amount better if they could write about there favorite sports team, but the downside of this, is that it downgrades the real reasons kids go to school. School is a place of learning and a place for children to learn how to open up their mind. If teachers only had students focus on just the things they liked they would never find out new things that they might enjoy. That exact reason of students being shut off from new experiences is why I disagree with Graff's point of only having "street smarts" in the classroom setting. Students need to have many different choices of learning.
A simple solution to this debate would be to come to a happy medium in the classroom. If teachers had a time of the day to discuss and teach on real life related issues and have a time to learn about specific rhetorics and narratives the students would be getting the best of both worlds. Graff's point are not totally discredited but rather revised to fit to the best of the students abilities.
For example, this blog is a good source to show that using real life in the classroom is an effective way of teaching. I am allowed to explore my own ideas and formulate my own thoughts on the topics assigned. I am using 'narratives' and 'rhetorics' but in a way that I can identify with. I am a true teenager and I love the internet. By my professor allowing me to explore my own thoughts and ideas in a way that I enjoy she is ensuring that I stay interested in this project. This new way of teaching is something that should be introduced in more classes.
I'm going to round out my point by saying that this issue of "street smarts" vs. "intellect" is one that will be in a constant debate unless someone takes a stand to change it. Graff begins to address the issue in his essay but someone needs to take things a step farther for future generations. This step would be to settle this on-going debate and give everyone a little of what they need. Some people may think that this issue can be swept under the rug and dealt with at a later time but I believe someone should take action now. Students are the future of society. The kids in the present need someone who will make an effort to better there future.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
*Words Cited
Graff , Gerald. "Hidden Intellectualism." They Say, I Say. Ed. Gerald Graff and Ed. Cathy Birkenstein . Second Edition: New York: W.W. Norton and Company , 2010. 198-205. Print.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Prompt #1: Got Blog?
Hello! First off, lets start by saying that this is not the first time I have done a blog before. I tried one last year and it did not work out as planned. Hopefully, this will be the one time when I actually follow through with it.
This is an important topic that reverts back to real world discussions. The internet is a part of everyone's daily lives. Most of the population has iphones or blackberries that allows you to check your email, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at any time in the day. There's even an app that I could post this blog on from my iphone. My point is that since the world has such easy access to the internet in this century why not challenge the students of today to take complete advantage of that. If more students, middle school, high school, or college aged, could use the internet to voice there opinions in a positive light then the internet wouldn't get such a bad rap for simply being a useful tool.
For example, I can write this English project on a blog, which gives me a chance to get a break from the normal, sometimes boring, formal college essay. If more students could voice there opinions in a free matter, such as a blog, and be encouraged by there teachers and professors to do such work, there would be more writing and less complaining. In my opinion, students of today's society don't get to voice there opinions in a positive way because no one is there to push them to do it. Let's face it, teenagers are lazy, they aren't going to do something unless someone forces them to do it and then maybe they'll find a way to enjoy writing and teachers everywhere can breath a peaceful sigh of relief.
This blog is about a writing project for my college English 301 class. The first topic we were assigned to discuss is about the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation is basically the reason behind why people write using purpose, text, audience, author, and context. I am going to discuss why I am using a blog as my WAW project for this class using the rhetorical situation.
My purpose for using a blog as my medium is because I want to be a writer someday, in the far and distant future. I need to be comfortable with my writing being out in the open for anyone to read or comment on. As I stated earlier I want this blog to actually work, because it is important as a writer to have some constant goal for your writing. This is a project for my college English class so I will follow through with this blog because I will have a reason for an end result (a good grade in English).
My audience would be anyone who might need motivation to write or wants to learn more about different topics in writing.
The author is me, Kelsey. I bet you're glad I cleared that one up for you, just in case you didn't know who was writing this superb blog post.
The text would be the blog. This is where I will be putting all my thoughts/opinions/statements on any of the prompts we get in English for this WAW project.
The context of this project in a historical sense is to show how much the internet has changed the way we work as people. I wanted to use a blog because it shows how far technology has come and how it has dramatically changed the course of writing. We, as people, have a more free form now of voicing our opinions on a certain subject matter. We have websites were we can post stories about our favorite celebrities or talk to are friends who live in a completely different timezone. The internet has changed us all, whether we chose to admit it or not. History itself is changed everyday with the use of the internet. I could not be writing my college homework on a blog if the time was 1942 instead of 2012. The social focus of this blog is to showcase how people interact using the internet. I am writing my thoughts on a writing project but other people blog about cooking, reading, television shows, fashion, just about anything and everything under the sun. This blog is an example of the social aspect of today's society.
This is an important topic that reverts back to real world discussions. The internet is a part of everyone's daily lives. Most of the population has iphones or blackberries that allows you to check your email, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at any time in the day. There's even an app that I could post this blog on from my iphone. My point is that since the world has such easy access to the internet in this century why not challenge the students of today to take complete advantage of that. If more students, middle school, high school, or college aged, could use the internet to voice there opinions in a positive light then the internet wouldn't get such a bad rap for simply being a useful tool.
For example, I can write this English project on a blog, which gives me a chance to get a break from the normal, sometimes boring, formal college essay. If more students could voice there opinions in a free matter, such as a blog, and be encouraged by there teachers and professors to do such work, there would be more writing and less complaining. In my opinion, students of today's society don't get to voice there opinions in a positive way because no one is there to push them to do it. Let's face it, teenagers are lazy, they aren't going to do something unless someone forces them to do it and then maybe they'll find a way to enjoy writing and teachers everywhere can breath a peaceful sigh of relief.
There will be 10 entries in this blog series about Writing about Writing. Fingers crossed that this one will go well and I can grace this wonderful world of the web with my presence once again for a future blog when this one is finished.
Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
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