If anyone has emailed me, they might have noticed a quote that i have at the bottom of my signature. It's a line from Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress and it's a line that I've always found to be particularly inspiring. It's a reminder that tomorrow is going to be awesome. No matter how terrible it may seem, there's going to be something awesome that's going to happen tomorrow.
I feel as though that carries itself over into the class as well. Our internships might be incredibly stressful but tomorrow, we'll learn something amazing. We'll create something amazing and it's only a dream away.
What you learned about yourself as a writer? I've always had the title of "writer" dangling over my head. It was one of those things where it was always there but I never really thought anything about. People always call me a writer since they know I carry a leather-bound journal around and I write in it. I simply think to myself "Yeah, I'm no writer. Sorry y'all." Over time, I've learned to embrace that title. People come to me asking what I think of something they wrote and I think "Yeah! Someone values my opinion as a writer." It's something I should be proud of even if it's a weird title to have.
What you learned about digital writing? In all honesty, there wasn't much about digital writing that I didn't know before. But I did learn about the community that it creates. Even if you're just throwing your ideas out there and hoping some kind of internet wind would catch it, someone will read it and they'll want to read it!
What lessons you can take to classroom or share with future teachers about integrating blogging into instruction? Blogging is definitely how I'm going to get my students to be comfortable with their writing. I noticed a lot of people used pseudonyms so that they could have a sense of anonymity in their blog. Then again, the real reason they did so is because they don't feel comfortable with people knowing that they wrote something. Blogging is great to build confidence and it's something that I'll definitely incorporate into my own classroom.
Challenges? Successes? The biggest challenge was the open post. Sometimes I had something I wanted to talk about. Sometimes I didn't. But I thrived off that challenge. I wanted to see what I could come up with for the open posts and of them, my favorite one thus far is what I would also consider to be my best success. That post is the one I wrote about Country Music. I know, not the most interesting subject but I loved how one experience in an Uber made me really think about a problem bigger than that of my Uber driver.
If this class has taught me anything, it's that my career path is the right one for me. It's also taught me that as crazy as I may sound for wanting to teach writing at the university level, it's all worth it in the end because teaching writing, writing about writing and writing as a whole is just so much fun.
I'll be honest. (If y'all know me, you know I'm nothing if I'm not honest.)
The only reason I picked Fletcher's book as my second book is because it had the most recent copyright date and the most recent research. That being said, this book could have information that was at least three years old and I still would have found it to be fantastic. For me to try an encapsulate everything I've read into something concise wouldn't be easy so here are the three greatest bits of information I gathered when reading Fletcher's book.
Context - Fletcher uses the famed Washington Post piece about Joshua Bell playing the violin in a subway to talk about how important context is when writing. If you haven't read it (you should, it's phenomenal) Joshua Bell dresses himself down in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers and plays a nearly four million dollar Stradivarius in a Washington DC Subway. Because of the context in which Bell was placed in, many who walked through that subway were under the impression that this person who was playing violin was just an average person playing violin for people on their way to work. But outside of this context, Bell is actually one of the most accomplished violinists and celebrated violinists of today. Something like this is crucial for students who plan to use quotes in their writing to support an argument. You have to understand the context in which that quote came from. Likewise, the quote has to fit within the context of what you're arguing for.
Forensic Rhetoric - Fletcher talks about Forensic rhetoric and likens it to crime shows such as CSI or Law and Order. Forensic rhetoric looks at motives to support an argument as opposed to deliberative rhetoric which relies on examples. She also uses a great graphic organizer to get students to work on forensic analysis. I think it's important for students to understand motives when writing since it's crucial that they know why everything happens. There's an underlying motive for everything and while this might be higher level thinking, forensic rhetoric could help them become better writers and look more in depth into their argument.
Distinguishing Among Different Purposes for Writing - Students are always asked what the purpose of a piece of writing is. But they never really look at it from the perspective of writing an argument. In this case, Fletcher mentions the many different purposes that writers seek to accomplish with regards to their rhetoric. This is great across all student levels since each student will be able to look at the many different reasons why an argument is written. Students will be able to think more analytically about the text as well as incorporate these different purposes in their own writing.
I thought Fletcher's book was rather narrow in it's subject but after reading it, I realized that there are so many ways to write arguments and there's so much that goes into it. Arguments on their own are a much broader subject than anyone would realize.
While it isn't exactly something that I could use with my students, I created an infographic about how to start listening to the monstrous discography of the band Swans. I make a lot of music-based infographics mainly because I have a lot of time on my hands. I also make them as a way to lend a helping hand to someone who wants to start listening to some artist but doesn't know where to start.
I was in Washington DC a few months ago and I took an Uber to get me from one part of town to another. As I was riding with my driver, I noticed that he had the Spotify service in his car where riders could play their own music in his car. I asked my driver what he thought about this relatively new feature and he said that he absolutely loved it since it exposed him to music he would normally never listen to.
I was intrigued by his statement and asked him what was some of the music he was exposed to through this new feature.
He was exposed to traditional video game soundtracks (scores). [Shimomura]
He was exposed to non-traditional video game soundtracks. [Meguro]
He was exposed to complex and abstract hip hop. [Bavitz]
He was even exposed to 90s emo. [Kinsella]
There was no shortage of music that my Uber driver was exposed to. But I was curious. There had to have been something that he didn't like. He told me he's been using this feature ever since it was implemented and he's appreciated just about every single piece of music he's been exposed to.
So I told him "There just has to be something you don't like. One of your riders has to have put on something terrible that you just couldn't stand."
And he replies with "There's no such things as terrible music. Except country music. No one wants to listen to country music."
Sadly, before we could continue this conversation, I arrived at my destination and I said good-bye to my Uber driver. (Thanks Trevor! I hope I can run into you again sometime!)
That experience will always stick with me. And I don't know if it's because my Uber driver was incredibly social or because DC traffic was awful and we filled it with conversation but that ride is easily one of the most vivid memories I've ever had.
And it got me to thinking...
Why do we hate country music?
Country music is always cited as one of two genres people tend to avoid when talking about their musical interests (the other being hip-hop). But why? Statistically speaking, it's still one of the most successful genres of music in America.
I've been a classical pianist for over twenty years and I've been an avid consumer of music for about that long as well. I've been exposed to all types of music from interning at NPR and I've stumbled across some really interesting fringe genres of music that traverse the furthest ends of the spectrum of what is considered "music". For the sheer volume of music I listen to (as in two dedicated 1TB hard drives just for music) I actually don't mind country music. I own quite a few country music albums as well. To say that I enjoy country music isn't that far of a stretch.
But I'm very particular about the country music I listen to. Simply put, I'm not a fan of modern country music. Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Jake Owen aren't for me but I know that other people enjoy them.
In recent times, I've come to realize that I'm a bigger fan of bluegrass and alternative country than I am modern country. It's not the question of authenticity but rather it just feels more natural. It's just genuinely feels more country.
One of the biggest country songs of the past few years was Luke Bryan's "That's My Kind of Night."
Despite the song's success on country radio and crossover radio, it was panned by critics for it's generic lyrics and mountain of cliches. It relies on typical country cliches such as beer, trucks and catfish so that it can still be marketed to country radio. The faint banjo also means that on a technical level, this is still country music.
On the end where the bluegrass grows is "Wait So Long" by Trampled By Turtles.
And here is where the differences start to show.
The biggest difference here is the complete lack of electric instruments and it lends itself to my personal belief that country music became what it is when electric instrumentation became common. Or to be less kind, electric instrumentation ruined country music.
One of the most well-received country music albums in (somewhat) recent times was the soundtrack to the Coen Brothers' film "O Brother Where Art Thou". Critics mainly praised the authenticity, production and adherence to traditional country. And it's a damn good album.
And there we are again with the complete lack of electric instrumentation.
I don't know where country music will be ten years or twenty years from now. But all I know is that the moment the average listener hears a banjo, their first instinct will be to pedal faster.
I would definitely consider myself a tech native. I've always been a tech-y sort of person and it's definitely reflected in my personal life. I've worked as a network manager for an online education platform where I would manage the server racks and maintain the network. I've also worked as a Genius at Apple. My brother was an electrical engineer as well and I think that's just about enough evidence to call myself a tech native. Technology has always been around my house and in my life and even today, I schedule almost everything through my phone. My phone's calendar is my bread and butter and I don't know where I would be with out it. Email is incredibly important to me as it's where I also discuss a lot of important events coming up as well as schedule meetings (which are then put into my phone).
I've used Padlet and Kahoot quite a bit in both my internship and my actual classes. With Padlet, I've found it's a great way to do the whole "post-it note exit slip" thing. Having done those a lot in my internship, I've realized that it not only chews through post-it notes (which are incredibly expensive) but that organizing the notes might not be all that easy (especially with students who have some not too great handwriting). Padlet is a great remedy for all of those issues. Kahoot might very well be the most used method of formative assessment in the classroom and it's definitely my personal favorite. There's the competitive aspect that gets students excited about the material and then there's the objective information right there to see what they do know and what they don't know about what they just learned.
Virtual writing is important mainly because it gets students to write in a way that isn't just the traditional pen and paper method. There are other ways to go about it and writing virtually is one way to do it. With that carries it's fair amount of risks. To me, the biggest issue is that of anonymity. It's a great thing but in a classroom, it's far from ideal. It's important to know who's writing what so that they can receive the right kind of feed back. The risk of plagiarism is also something worth paying attention to since it's possible that students could copy and paste their writing from another student and pass it off as their own. But with virtual writing, it's also a great tool in having student write in different styles. For example, Fodey has a great tool to make something you write look like a newspaper. So if a student was working on an assignment for something like The Crucible, they could write a newspaper article on the trials that ensued or have a sort of mock interview with one of the characters.
With this presentation, I've noticed that there are a lot of tools out there for teachers to use that aren't just Kahoot, Edmodo and other sites. There's a huge multitude of tools out there to use to the point where there's probably an app or a site for just about everything. A significant amount of these I haven't even heard of before and those that I have heard of, there might have been a new way to use it that I hadn't even thought of. There's the way how I've always used something and then the way the teachers could use it.
I think with the digital tool version of Bloom's Taxonomy, it's important to know that not every tool can be used on every level. Likewise, I think it's important that teachers use certain tools for certain things. They can't really use something like Kahoot for analyzing but it can be used for something like remembering. Something like Edmodo could be used for applying and evaluating but I don't think it could be used for creating. Each digital tool has one level of the taxonomy that it's best suited for and it's definitely up to the teacher to determine which level it could be used at and whether or not it'll be effective at that level.
Having done an almost mind-numbing amount of assignments about technology in the classroom, I honestly didn't think I would actually get any new information from this. But in this case, I was happy to be wrong. The Slideshare on the different kinds of tools available is definitely something I'll keep handy but the one thing I'll definitely take to heart is actually the Bloom's Taxonomy of digital tools. I've learned that certain tools do certain things and it all correlates to something on that taxonomy. So if I do plan on having a very tech-friendly classroom, I need to find out what level of Bloom's this certain tool relates to and use it to it's full potential.
"Shoot for the stars and if you miss, you'll land on a cloud."
"Everything I'm not makes me everything I am."
"Believe in your flyness. Conquer your shyness."
"Love your haters. They're your biggest fans."
"We laugh to keep from crying."
There are two types of people in the world. Kanye West and everyone else.
I will never be Kanye West. I've accepted that. But I've also accepted how much of a huge figure he's been in my life and the sheer magnitude of everything he's done for music and the world.
The biggest question I get asked is "Why do you like Kanye so much? He's such a jerk!" to which I respond with something along the lines of "Yeah, he may be a jerk but have you actually listened to what he has to say?"
Here's the big thing to think about with Kanye West. To many (if not all) he appears to be arrogant, self-centered and just outright full of himself. But I feel like we often mistake all of that for what is actually confidence. You don't need arrogance to call yourself a god, you need confidence. You need to be confident to even think about calling yourself a god. And to actually say it? You'd need a god's level of confidence.
My senior quote in high school was a quote from Kanye that I've lived a decent amount of my life by.
"Nobody can tell me where I can and can't go."
It's the beauty of the simplicity of Kanye's message that has gotten me through the hardest times. It's the foundation in which I lay my unbreakable determination in and it's what gets me up in the morning believing that I can do whatever I set my mind to regardless of what others think.
None of this even accounts for how highly I regard Kanye's music which is a completely different beast. In order to make it more manageable, I decided I would pick one track off each of his albums and explain it's significance to me. Granted, I could just put a link to each of his albums and say "All of it is amazing and it's gotten me through a lot" but while that may be true, that would be the easy way out.
Family Business - The College Dropout (2004)
The College Dropout is the album I have listened to the most. It's also the album that has gotten me through so much that I would need another post in order to properly explain the magnitude of what this album means to me. But all my feelings about this album can be summarized by one song (and what I believe to be Kanye's most overlooked song). Family Business. Everything this album has gotten me through has always been because of family business. Whether it was my dad having a heart attack (and surviving) or my mother having a huge mental breakdown, this album has gotten me through everything. But it's helped me realize that whatever happened to me during that time or whatever happened to my family, it's just family business. And I don't need to let anybody in on my family business.
"Keep your nose out of the sky. Keep your heart to God and keep your face to the rising sun."
Heard 'Em Say - Late Registration (2005)
Nothing in life is guaranteed. Sometimes, it feels like everything sucks. But this track has helped me realize that sometimes, I need to do what's best. And sometimes, that may be the hardest thing to do. I've realized that sometimes I have to do what I need to do as opposed to what I want to do.
"Nothing's ever promised tomorrow today. But we'll find a way."
The Glory - Graduation (2007)
You ever listen to those songs that just get you pumped up and excited to face the day? That's what this one does for me. It's the song that gives me confidence and puts an extra swing in my step. It makes me feel awesome.
"With my ego, I can stand there in a Speedo and be looked at like a fucking hero!"
Robocop - 808s and Heartbreaks (2008)
This album definitely gets overlooked a lot. I really want to change that one day. As for the song, it's significance to me lies in how sometimes, people aren't what they seem and when you start to date them, you realize just how ridiculous they are. Then you distance yourself from them and you're glad you did. (Pat, if you're reading this... sorry I'm not sorry)
"Fast or slow. You could stay or you could go."
Lost in the World (featuring Bon Iver) - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
I don't know what I can say about this album that hasn't been said already. The extravagance and outlandish nature of this album make it an absolute beast to tackle and yet, it's incredibly accessible. The lush production and sounds make it so sonically pleasing. Lost in the World is the kind of song that takes every kind of possible turn and then some. If humanity is somehow wiped off the face of the earth, I want this to be the album we leave behind.
"Run from the lights. Run from the night. Run for your life."
New Slaves - Yeezus (2013)
I once said that if I was ever locked in a quiet room, I would want to blast this album. I want to lock myself in a room and listen to this album and nothing else. This album was an absolute challenge to listen to initially. It was loud. It was abrasive. It was intense to say the least. But when I was finally able to tackle it, it was so worth it. Then I went to see this album performed live on the Yeezus tour and needless to say, it was otherworldly. There will never be any words I have to properly explain what I felt while watching that performance. In the last minute of the track, there's a part where Kanye's confidence truly shines. He's proudly proclaiming how he's on the top of the world and just those few bars alone always fill me with a sense of determination knowing I can be whatever I want to be.
"I won't end this high. Not this time again. So long 'cause you cannot survive and I'm not dying here. I can't lose."
I've never read Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" or the other book written by his son "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens". I've read all of one self-help book and I plan on keeping it that way. (by the way, THANK YOU BASED GOD) That being said, I know that what goes into being someone who gets stuff done lie purely on your habits. I also know that habits could either make you or break you. Despite being one of those kinds of people who seem to do just the bare minimum in everything, I actually have achieved more than anyone really thought possible with my work ethic (or perceived lack thereof). That's thanks in part to the things I make sure I get done everyday in order to be the best that I can be. They're my own personal habits that make me highly effective.
Go for a run. This might very well be the one that makes everyone drag their feet and do it with utter reluctance. "Me? Go running every day? But I don't want to!" Yes. Go running. Every day. It's one of the hardest habits to start since it's physical activity that requires a sense of effort and the drive to go on that run every day. But it's one that has such a great pay off. Stress is natural in all our lives. For me to take thirty minutes out of my day to go for a run helps clear my mind of absolutely everything. A morning run or a night run, when I'm done, it's such a great feeling.
Listen to podcasts. For as much music as I listen to, I listen to just as much podcasts. Podcasts are, for me, a way of taking part in an intellectual discussion without having to actually talk. I can have a discussion about something and not have to actually say anything. Podcasts are a great way for me to learn things and find interesting new ways to look at something. I've been a big fan of NPR podcasts such as All Songs Considered, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Pop Culture Happy Hour and the TED Radio Hour. I also listen to a lot of other podcasts such as Switched On Pop, Monstercat, You're The Expert and The New Yorker Out Loud. Each of these podcasts scratch some itch that I have. Whether it's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me challenging me with a news quiz, Switched On Pop giving me a fresh new perspective on top forty radio, All Songs Considered handing me some new music or even The New Yorker Out Loud telling me what I missed in the latest issue (since a subscription is rather expensive these days) I always get something new delivered to my phone's podcast app and there's always something to listen to.
Listen to classical music. I don't hate top forty radio in the slightest. But having been a classically trained pianist for over fifteen years, classical music just does it for me. This is music that has withstood the test of time since at least the 1700s. We must be listening to it for a reason. Classical music is also the one kind of music that always gets me focused. I just throw on some Chopin and I can type out papers with no problems. I can write lesson plans with no issues with Bach playing in the background. Vivaldi speeds me through my formal emails. Even something like Byzantine music has helped with tasks as arduous as cleaning my apartment.
Drink lots of water. Self-explanatory. Stay hydrated by drinking at least a gallon of water every day.
Have a morning routine. This one is, to me, the biggest one. It also encompasses a lot of habits that I build into it and the best part is that you can make this one whatever you want to make it. My personal morning routine is as follows. 1. Wake up early meaning no later than 10AM (depending on how early my day has to start, I may also go for a morning run). 2. Make breakfast. They aren't kidding when they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I make something substantial like an egg white omelette with diced ham or turkey sausage. 3. While eating breakfast, watch one TED Talk. I've made it no secret that I love TED Talks. They're inspiring, informative and can even be entertaining. As soon as my breakfast has come off the pan, I go to the TED site and hit "random" and watch whatever the talk is that they give me. If it's one I've already seen (which has happened before) I hit "random" again. It may be a talk that I don't find the subject particularly interesting but the speaker will almost always have that charisma that pulls me into the subject. 4. Shower. Start the day smelling nice and fresh. 5. Make a cup of green tea. I'm not a coffee drinker by any means but I absolutely adore tea. The power of green tea is something that I will laud for years to come. Everything from an increased metabolism to clearing my skin, green tea is just absolutely amazing.
I'm not saying this will make you an all-powerful god who's good at everything. But these few things I do every day have helped me feel like I'm getting the most out of my day. I feel like I'm getting a lot out of my day just by making sure I do these few things. I no longer feel like I'm just going through the motions of my every day life but getting something out of it by learning new things and keeping up with the world.
