Grammar Mistakes

Here are a few grammar mistakes I found online in public places. Like we discussed in class, it is amazing how often and how many grammar mistakes you can find in public! Enjoy :)

~ Quotes ~

I had a really hard time deciding what to write this week’s blog post about. My first thought was to try and self-explore what I wanted to write my second paper on for this class and hoped to gather suggestions from my peers. After about two minutes I scratched that idea. Not only did I think it would make for a boring post, something else caught my attention. Yes, I was procrastinating and while on Facebook I read my old English teacher’s Facebook status: “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”   I looked up this quote and found that it was said by Nathaniel Hawthorne. On this website, there were several other inspirational quotes about teaching writing and being a write that I found worthy to share for this week’s blog entry.

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.”  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

This quote parallels to my thought process while I read and write. Whenever I read a piece of writing that sounds effortless, I often wonder how much time and effort was actually put into making it seem so flawless. What I find with my own writing is that whenever I have a finished product that I am proud of, I always wish that it could have happened a lot effortlessly.

“I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.”  ~James Michener

I found this quote to be very interesting and also encouraging for beginning writers. This quote will set the foundation of my writing classroom. I think it is very important for writers of any level to acknowledge that writing is a process. First drafts are never what we intend to be the finished product, however, it is a very important aspect of the writing process. Revision is something that demonstrates who great writers really are.

“Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning:  I wanted to know what I was going to say.”  ~Sharon O'Brien

I love how this quote associates writing with a process of discovery. Often I find that what I think I am going to write about is lost or dramatically changed by the time I get to my final draft. It is amazing how writing can be used to free the mind and often times our papers, essays and literary works seem to have written without having an exact plan throughout the entire writing process.

Hope you enjoyed these quotes!!! J

From Behind Bars

From Behind Bars

Post scripted by the Hamilton County Jail, a letter from my cousin David was addressed to me. He had just been sentenced to a two year period for a DUI and possession of illegal drugs while on probation. While most find it odd for a 14 year old to receive such a dirt honest letter, I can truly tell you in a cliché manner; it changed my life.

            Having his father run out when David was only four years old and watching his mom struggle through her eight year battle of breast cancer before passing when he was seventeen, David had spent a lot of his time at my house, taking on more of a brotherly figure, rather than just a distant cousin from another state. Living and going to school in Indiana but traveling weekend after weekend, sometimes even during the week, to stay with my family and I in Illinois, David had anything but a place to call home. In Indiana, he dealt with the line between stepping up and becoming the male leader of household, while witnessing his mother deteriorating from such an attacking disease. In Illinois, he was a part of what to him seemed to be a rather stable family, however, the fears and anxieties grew stronger being away from his Indiana roots and what was still there.

            David and I began sharing a bond that neither of us even acknowledged was forming. We stayed up all night when he came to visit, talking about everything and anything; excluding all of the negative realities that consumed his life back home. I seemed to serve as an escape from his issues, freeing his mind and allowing him to be a kid; something that he could not experience in Indiana. David and I understood one another in an unspeakable manner. Although we did not talk of the disasters in his life, he knew I was fully aware of what life had thrown his way, and that was enough to develop a trustful bond between the two of us. For this reason, I can only make the assumption that this is the reason David reached out and wrote to me while he was behind bars.

            “Things aren’t so bad in here.” David began his first letter to me with those words. I recall rereading this first sentence multiple times, trying to grasp an understanding as to how anyone could explain time spent in jail as not so bad. Cold showers, beds hard as rocks with sheets as stiff as cardboard, food that slopped onto the discolored lunch trays and unshaven criminals packed 45 to a block … these were now the realities of my cousin’s life and he describes it as being not so bad? For someone like me who has been fortunate to grow up in a dual parent home with parental and academic support, these were unimaginable conditions. His life, however, was compiled of a continuous downward spiral and it began to make sense that this occurrence offered stability, if one would call it that, for a least the next two years. Jail was just one more stop added to David’s long list of places that would never be called home.

“On the way home I got pulled over for speeding and the sheriff found a small pipe in my car with a little pot in it.”

            Speeding was a behavior that my family was quite familiar with but a small pipe with a little pot in it; what the hell was David thinking? My fourteen year old mind immediately began to judge him. Drugs were the things that made people on shows like Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones flip chairs over, they were the cause of the distorted brain cells and missing teeth photos that D.A.R.E scorched my mind. Now my cousin was a druggie? Describing his pipe as “small” and the amount of pot being “little,” it irritated me that David tried to downplay the significance of his actions. Drugs were drugs. Pot was pot. And jail was a place I never anticipated David to be.

***

This intimate back and forth writing between me and my convicted cousin was a way to express my own thoughts and concerns on the daily struggles of a teenager with someone who understood the severity of making wrong decisions and would live with the long-term consequences.

                                                               ***

“Tonight I got a taste of the night you were arrested. My parents caught me sneaking out.”

            Josh . . . That was his name, the love of my life for the first full two weeks of summer between my 8^th grade and freshman year of high school. It was a rainy Friday night and nothing was going to stop me from seeing him. The clock struck 1am and I took my first step towards my window. With the first screech of my window opening, I was lucky I had the sound of the rain to drown out any unplanned sounds that my escape might generate. As I made it out of my window, my feet slipped on every wet shingle. I only had to maneuver across ten panels of shingles and one broken gutter to reach the ladder, which I had strategically placed the morning of this big escape. Reaching the ladder, my hands raw to the bone from grasping the edges of the roof, my eyes locked on my father’s grinning face. Needless to say, I was not handcuffed by my dad and thrown into the back of police car; however, I knew what this meant. House arrest is what I was looking at for at least the next few weeks!

***

Not once did I feel David trying to “lecture” me or step into a third parent figure. Instead, a new element of our friendship emerged. Communicating our thoughts to one another, we grew from each other’s involvements, questions and mistakes. Through this writing experience, although I never once thought of this as a writing experience back then, I learned not only how to avoid making the same mistakes my cousin had, but also that the simple act of communicating through writing surfaced common interests that David and I were unaware even existed.

***

“I used the money I came in with to buy stamps, envelopes, paper, pens and hygiene items. To pass time I’ve been reading, something you always told me to do. I have two books down already!”

            Two books down already? This was not the David that I spent days upon days with during his visits. He always made fun of my “nerdish” hobbies. Instead of reading books, David forced me to participate in activities that were “cooler” such as skateboarding, tag, basketball and the worst of them all (fishing). These were the activities that David wanted me to join in on. Using the money he came in with, which I am positive was little to nothing, to buy items that allowed reading and writing expressed a different side of him that only jail could take credit for. Although no one in their right mind would wish to be thrown in the slammer, David was aware of his life spiraling downward, and recognized jail as his saving grace. Even though jail consisted of living amongst criminals, eating the same food day after day and being treated like animals, being jailed allowed for the liberty David needed to initiate a fresh start.

“I told you reading wasn’t that bad . . . you never listened to me”

            Being the older cousin, David always had to be right. He called the shots and he was the reason I felt the need to alter my own words and behaviors in hopes to be accepted. Realizing the impact that following others can have, David was a victim of this behavior. Without the conditions of his family life in Indiana and the social pressures he faced by his friends, I often contemplate whether David would have ever had his hands cuffed behind back, thrown into a cop car and placed into the Hamilton County Jail. What I find most interesting is the fact that although David never listened to me about silly things such as what games to play and what hobbies to take interest in, David did listen to others in life-altering situations such as his drug use. The power of listening to someone is the one take away that I got between mine and David’s interaction through these letters. Entering high school I thought I was steeping into a world of freedom. I was wrong. Instead David’s mistakes made me aware of the harmful effects that one decision can have. High school, in a sense, jailed me.

***

            Hearing my name called at my 8^th grade graduation ceremony was an experience that has come and gone. Walking across the graduation stage to receive my diploma, I knew my world was about to change. FREEDOM. Those seven letters spelled out the only thing that I was looking forward to. High school was just a few months away, why did it seem like an eternity? This new beginning was such an exhilarating event that consumed most of my thought process.

            As soon as that diploma reached my sweaty palms, I was free, careless, independent and above all…adventurous, or so I thought. These vivid feelings of freedom came to an abrupt stop after realizing that freedom is not always what one expects it to be. David, who was legally not free, was able to express his freedom in ways that were never exposed to him before his sentencing. I, on the other hand, being legally free had restrictions that I was blindsided by.

           

Short and Sweet

I am going to begin my blog by apologizing. This past week/weekend has been crazy busy for me in many ways so I am going to keep this blog short and sweet! Midterm week has definitely worn me out and I cannot believe a whole new week is starting tomorrow! Ahhhh.

I am looking forward to our read aloud tomorrow during class. Just working in my small writing group, it is amazing to see how much talent and diversity we have in our class. This assignment allowed for a wide range of flexibility so it will be very interesting to hear classmates read their stories. Along with this assignment, I have never had to write a commentary before this assignment and although it took more effort…I found it very helpful to track my writing process along the way. The commentary also serves as a great reflection to all of our memoirs. I am interested in knowing whether most people began working on and writing their commentary while they were in the process of writing their memoir or if people finished their memoir and then looked back on the entire writing process and then wrote their commentary? J

See you all tomorrow!

Reflection of West High Partnerships

Overall I think the idea behind these partnerships with the West High students was a great way to try and advance the writing of both ATTW students and the students at West High. Unfortunately I did not have the success that I was hoping for with this partnership. The initial interaction between my partner and I was pretty good. When we exchanged journal entries in hard-copy formats, I seemed to be able to connect with my partner on a more detailed level. While we exchanged journal entries and constructive advice, my partner included all the required entries and even gave me some feedback and asked questions about my own writing. It seemed to be a really helpful and enjoyable activity between my partner and me.

                Things began to change as soon as we began exchanging thing electronically. I received the first draft of my partner’s one page autobiography, and that was the last I have heard from her. After receiving her first draft, I also sent my one page memoir to her along with comments and suggestions that I made on her first draft. Like I said, this was the extent of our partnership. I began to wonder what may have caused our partnership to have sort of dwindled down. I am still not sure as to what may have happened, since I have still not heard anything, even after I have sent my partner a second draft of my essay and also my audio one page memoir. I think it would have been a great experience for both my partner and I if our exchanges would have been more frequent.

ISEA Student Program

For this blog, I am going to share with you something I participated in this past weekend and hopefully promote an opportunity for all of us education majors to get involved in. About a month ago, I was introduced to an organization called ISEA in one of my class. ISEA (Iowa State Education Association) is a state-wide student organization allowing opportunities for leadership. On their Facebook page, ISEA is described as, “a professional association for college students preparing to enter the education profession. The association gives students the opportunity to learn--not only from each other, but also from a network of campus advisors and from the finest professionals in education. Each ISEA Student Program campus chapter plans activities and programs designed to help students become successful educators and to provide tips and information not covered in college coursework. ISEA Student Program also provides statewide leadership training sessions to keep future teachers informed on the issues that will affect them when they enter the classroom.”  To be honest, I was not really sure what exactly I was getting myself into when I first signed up, however, I knew that joining an organization such as this one would only better myself in my preparation to become a high school English teacher.

This past weekend I traveled to Des Moines to participate in the ISEA Student Program Fall Conference. This was a great way to jump right in and get involved. At the conference, ISEA members from all around the state of Iowa came together and participated in different workshops. The first workshop I attended gave me a better understanding of what ISEA is all about and the positive benefits that it has to offer to its members. Scholarship opportunities, local and community wide discounts, teacher liability, networking opportunities and service projects are just a few of the many benefits of joining ISEA. The second workshop that I attended at this conference was a question/answer panel in front of administrators from the Des Moines public school system. This was a great experience as an education student to get a chance to meet administrators and see exactly what they are looking for in prospective teachers.

My favorite part of this fall conference happened on the second day. We participated in an out-reach-to-teach service project at a local elementary school in Des Moines. This school is a very old building and is on the “renovation” list. As a group, ISEA went to the school and “spruced up” the atmosphere. Some activities included, washing lockers, cleaning desks and tables, taking down and putting up bulletin boards and landscaping the outside of the building. This was a great way to get involved and make a difference at a local school.

ISEA is a wonderful organization and a great way to make connections and make a difference. If anyone is interested in joining or has any questions please feel free to ask me! J

Silencing the Writer

Ever since last night’s class, I cannot stop thinking about the concept of silencing a writer during a workshop. I guess it just makes no sense to me. How could this ever be beneficial to a writer? In my previous understanding of a writers “workshop,” a possible read-aloud, a question/answer segment and any other constructive comments were the main elements that would be helpful to the writer. In workshops where silencing the writer is a deliberate action, I cannot see how the writer would be able to advance his or her piece of writing, without being allowed to voice their own opinion.

In our workshop that we participated in last night, if I had to remain silent, I would still be left with the crappy draft that I had from day one. Asking focused questions to my readers helped to gain a sense of what readers got from my piece and engage in a conversation with all of the members of my group. Keeping a writer silent during a workshop eliminates one of the most important elements of personal writing, voice. There seems to be quite a mixed message when writers are told to be silent during workshops, but also to make sure to have a strong and profound voice in their writing. That sure does not make any sense to me!

In my future classroom, I plan to have my students work in writing groups, partnerships and workshops, encouraging students to talk as much or even more about their pieces of writing as the others in their group. I find voice to individualize writer’s works and silencing them during their workshops would go against all I hope to teach and model with voice. What does everyone else plan to do in their classrooms when it comes to workshops and silencing the writer?