Draft Research Essay

Jennifer MacDonald

Research in Literature and Language

Dr. Chandler

Research Draft

12/08/2011     

            As I proceed through my latter years of college, I have begun to question my aspirations in the teaching field. I remember Elementary and Secondary schooling and specifically considered the teachers that have positively and negatively impacted my life and through that, I have developed a way of thinking; in every great teacher, there are great intentions and is a specific goal in mind. That being said, I question what kind of teacher am I going to be. What will be my teaching style? How will I make my classroom work? My major consists of Elementary and Secondary Education (K-5 5-8) with a focus in English (writing option) which gains my interest particularly in middle school Language Arts. In a middle school Language Arts class there are the kids who actually love English, and the kids who need to pass it to move forward. I want to make sure as their teacher that their experience in my class was beneficial and worthwhile. I am specifically interested in the retention in reading materials. After contemplating my teaching structure, I find myself running back to the same question; Do students reading a specific work of literature (book or short story) as a class/group retain more knowledge than they would do silent individual reading by themselves?

            According to a study done by Shlomo Sharan, Zalman Ackerman and Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz, a three week experiment was conducted involving kids in grades 2 through 6. The study asked the academic achievement of Elementary School children in small group versus whole class instruction. This specific experiment involved psychologists and educators and they questioned the children’s cognitive functioning. Contrary to their experiment, my study would particularly look at the actual teacher’s analysis of the class, reading in a class as a group versus individual, silent reading. There was also research done by DeWayne Mason and Thomas Good showing the diversity of the students that influence the group work. Once again, my research would be more focused. I intend to stick to strictly interviewing a teacher and a student.

         As far as my detailed research is conducted, the abstract of my project will be to interview two teachers and two students based on the end of the year analysis. I will begin my investigation in September of a particular year by telling my participants at the end of the school year, I will be interviewing them based on that in school year- (for confusion purposes, I will meet in September of 2012 with the participants and tell them at the end of that school year, June 2013, I will interview them based on that 2012-2013 Language Arts class, reading time, full year). I will interview one teacher who performs their in class reading as a whole group/class discussion/reading aloud and another teacher who conducts their reading time by instructing individuals to silently read. The two students will be chosen randomly from each teacher’s classroom and will also be interviewed with a different set of questions. Throughout each interview I will ask identical questions to each teacher and a separate set of identical questions for each student and record their answers to identify their interpretation of the different teaching/learning methods. A list of questions is as follows for both teachers:

-         How many students are in your classroom?

-         What are you mainly focusing on in your classroom?

-         What is your goal as a teacher?

-         What books/articles are you focusing on this marking period?

-         How much homework is assigned?

-         What is the general dynamic of the classroom?

-         What time of day do the students enjoy the most?

-         What part of class seems to be the most effective?

-         Where do you feel the students strive?

-         Where do they lack?

After asking basic, general classroom questions, I will then break into the depth of my research:

-         What makes you decide on group versus individual reading time?

-         Do you typically do a group/class discussion daily?

-         Is silent reading time a punishment or an everyday part of class?

-         Do you see an improvement in student’s academics when they group or individualize?

At the end of our interview, I will ask the teacher to sum up the year, particularly speaking about the reading time:

-         How would you summarize the year as a whole during reading time?

-         What would you change for next year?

This set of questions will be asked by me to each of the students who attended each teacher’s classroom:

            - What is your favorite subject in school?

            - How do you feel about Language Arts class?

            - What was your favorite part of your Language Arts class?

            -What books did you read?

            - When was reading the most effective? Morning, noon, late in the day?

            -Do you like partaking in a group reading or individual reading?

            - Which method do you think your teacher used?

            - Do you think it was effective?

            - If I asked you to summarize this year’s focused reading, would you be able to explain the story to me?

            - If your teacher asked you what you thought was best, during reading time, what would you suggest?

            - Do you like when you are told to read silently?

            - Do you feel less focused when you’re in a group, reading aloud or individual?

To sum up the conversation, I will ask the students almost the same question I asked the teachers at the end of our interview:

-         How would you summarize the year as a whole during reading time?

-         What would you tell the teacher to change for next year to make the reading aspect more understandable or comprehendible?

After asking my personal questions, since this is beneficial to me as a future teacher who hasn’t found her style yet, I would ask the teachers if they had any advice on what they’ve grown to learn about the dynamics of a classroom and the effectiveness and retention of students during reading discussion.

            After a successful interview I would transcribe our conversation into a textual transcript. Using discourse analysis, I would, probably over the course of a few weeks and even a couple months, pick through the entire transcript and analyze the interview. Using discourse analysis, I will get an honest and deeper connection to group reading versus individual silent reading.

            I have thought long and hard about this specific research experiment and feel every part of my research theory is feasible. I would be able to easily access extra history research or even just textual research describing other researchers’ analyses of the same experiment. I am doing my field experience next semester which would be a surefire way to watch over a classroom and get a first hand experience; I might even be able to interview the teacher I am assigned to do my field experience with. All aspects of my research are within close reach making this project realistic. The most feasible part of my research would be my personal desire to conduct this explicit research because of my passionate interest in conducting a beneficial, almost perfect classroom where the students’ retention levels and comprehend every aspect of our language arts reading classroom.

research question- research- methods

Research
i've decided to narrow down my topic a bit- i started with one question- it branched off into 249 other questions. so- after thinking and rethinking i've decided my research will go something like this-
Research Question-
are kids more knowledgeable about their class assignment if they're in a group/class discussion or as individual workers?
My idea is- is a teacher lecturing in front of a 6th grade language arts class more effective? some of us would think no- it's boring, but that would intale the type of teaching method and activity the teacher uses to get the kids more interested in the work. then- we would think of the opposite method- individual work- some kids so like to work by themselves but i remember being told, in class, to read 5 chapters and write a summary; i didnt get through one chapter without being distracted and thrown off topic, my mind would wander, i would be passing notes.. etc.
QUESTION-
"Is an open discussion during reading time in a 6th grade language arts class more effective than individual quiet reading time?"Methods-
With this idea in mind- i think oral history (ideas and thoughts from teachers with experience in this field) will be able to give me a great look into this question. for my second method- nothing would be better than seeing this first hand. i would have to use visual analysis- go into a couple different classrooms with teachers using both methods of teaching- group class work (full class participation) and silent reading/ individual work.
This will be a great and easy way to get information- seeing it first hand and also, oral history, since i'm not a teacher yet with the experience, will be able to tell me what past teachers have noticed and believed to work the best.

possible idea's for reseach paper

boy oh boy- i thought i liked freedom but this is the hardest thing i've had to do all semester- pick a topic for a research paper. i almost wish i was just told what to do! ha.

i would definitely like to involve my "future" career choice on my research solely because it will be an asset to me and my knowledge or what i might become knowledgeable about-
i am an elementary education major (k-5 5-8) with the english writing option. i am overwhelmed with excitement and cannot wait to finally get into the classroom.
i would like to base my research off of something relating to the way kids are taught in the classroom; influences how they grow up or end up in the education aspect.
im not sure what my question will be but i am definitely interested in how teachers teach and how it gets the attention of the children.
i remember one of my elementary school teachers was all about repetition and memorization. she didnt make things fun- she didnt relate it to our personal (simple) lives at the point.. she just told us what to know and how to know it.
on the other hand, i remember my 3rd grade teacher- she made games for every activity and songs and (looking back now) corny phrases for us to understand the meaning and information we did have to know at the time.

i will better devolope my point and question when i figure out exactly what it is...
any ideas???!!!!!!
 HELP!

revising the DA paper

Definitely for my DA paper- i will be editing..editing and editing my ending. i think the closer says a lot about a person- i spent a lot of time working out the opening, body and then kind of just plopped out an ending that basically was a repeat of the opening argument.. just in closing form. (hah) i think that was weak and definitely needs work and i would love suggestions if anyone is willing to take on such a hard task!
i also would like to maybe answer more of my rehitorical questions- or take some of them out. i feel like me asking all of my ..not supposed to be answered.. questions- opens new arguments and thoughts and i think that takes away from my main focus. i dont want someone to be reading my paper and stop at one of my side note questions and hope i answer it and i dont.. if that makes any sense.
i need work all around on just the tone of the paper as well. i feel like people might think that i am anti- A. it sounds like in the paper i do a lot of negative finger pointing and dont mean that at all! im honestly just trying to validate my point and she happens to be fueling my discussion!
a few of those might help-
(see ^^^^ this is an example of my lack of knowledge on how to close a paper... i just basically sum up what i said- it's kind of a forest gump move... "and thats all i have to say about that.." )

discourse analysis ... analysis =]

i feel like i had a pretty good grasp on my assignment for the da paper.
i might be able to take out one or two of my samples and maybe elaborate on one focal point..more. maybe- but then again that might not be DA because you have to analyize every aspect of the text- im not sure- i'm definitely waiting to see what my classmates think..

expectations-
i'm definitely expecting people to tell me i'm too passive. i know my writing is kind of blunt and straight forward- but that's how i am when i speak/write..blog.
i'm also expecting someone to comment on how mean i am to "A".. i dont mean to sound like i hate the girl! (haha) i'm just using her as my main point of justification- she is the reason were writing the paper anyway!
i want someone to tell me what i might be able to alter and change to make my point more solid- despite the fact that i did go prettttyyy deep with every point ;) ...
oh I'M DEFINITELY EXPECTING SOMEONE TO TELL ME MY QUESTION IS TOOOOO EXTENSIVE TO UNDERSTAND- but i thought about it and rethought and rewrote- i like it. i think if you read it.. and think about each part of the question- you'll understand as well. but i'm always up for constructive criticism!

1st Draft of DA paper

Jennifer MacDonald
Research in Language and Literature
English 3029
First draft: Discourse Analysis Paper
November 3rd, 2011
            Over the last decade, the internet has become the biggest known social network. Between friends, family, and even job opportunities, “the web” is the one place everyone can be “linked into” at the same time. The internet has a lot of ups; emailing family all across the world, shopping without having to leave your house, finding the latest fashion and following your favorite celeb, all with a couple clicks of the mouse and a qwerty keyboard. Of course, this world of cyberspace can have its extreme downfalls with many people involved for all the wrong reasons.
                In the “Chat Transcript”, we see firsthand the low’s of the internet. “A” was a victim of the negative aspect of the web as appose to the positive light we tend to relate the internet to. We analyzed this interview, thoroughly, to find one main question that reoccurs repeatedly throughout the conversation. I have come up with a question that I feel I can directly connect and prove through her dialog.
            “A” almost justifies herself a couple times in this interview after expressing her close encounter in the beginning of the transcript. She tells us she was in a chat room, which she knew she should not have been in, and met a man who she did not know. She pursued the conversation and he ended up being an older man lying about his age. For a young girl, this could be a traumatizing and life changing experience. “A” continues throughout the essay to express a lighter topic and she tries to justify herself by using the phrase, “which is dangerous” and telling us a funny story she experienced during another chat room incident. I wonder, does “A” sway the additional conversation and tone because of the confession she expresses to us in the beginning of the transcript by using justification, validation and repeated words to lighten our interpretation of her as a person? This question can be answered by doing a close reading through the transcript by using discourse analysis.
                In the first few lines of the transcript “C” opens conversation about being young and discovering the internet. “A” expresses to us how much she loved being on the internet, AOL, emailing, sending pictures, using Photoshop, etc. At this point, the conversation seems innocent and fun but she uses for the first time in the dialog, “Which can be dangerous”. At this point, we almost dismiss the comment because we’re not sure why it would be dangerous to her yet. After reading into the talk, we see how this incident has shaped her; she kept the situation in the back of her mind and still refers to the internet as a dangerous place because of the devastating experience when she was younger. After the first presentation of the Pedophile Story-, we start to form an opinion of “A” and we can see she almost sees how we can think negatively about her, herself; this is where her justifying comments enter the conversation. She mentions the words “strangers”,” dangerous”, and “scared” all in the same sentence. 
                During her “Reflection on the Pedophile Story”- “A” again, for the third time says “dangerous” and for the second time “scared”. We do have a sense of sympathy for her because of the innocence of “A” in the situation through her youth and unintentional misfortune, but at this same time, my questions rises; is “A” using these words and changing the tone of the conversation so we don’t think less of her, or develop a negative perception of her? Here “C” breaks through the mold but asking if she has told her parents about the situation. “A” confesses she never told her mom or dad then within seconds, changes her statement and says she thinks she told her mom later on in college. This is another place where my question stands strong, is she just telling us she did actually tell her mom so we don’t think she’s a liar, or any less of a person? Through this long statement “A” makes, she expresses how, again, dangerous being in a chat room with strangers is. She also almost pawns the blame on her parents to lighten her load a bit. She tells us she “…had no restrictions, my parents didn’t know how to put restrictions, they weren’t too familiar with it”. Again, in the same statement “A” tells us “…could be really dangerous when there’s chat rooms…” Her justifying comments lead me to believe she is trying to sway our opinion of her as a person, now, over ten years later.
                “C”, after hearing her last statement, tries to close the conversation but “A” comments again, and expresses the tone of the man on the phone and what she “thinks” he said. She adds she wasn’t sure but “thinks” he made a comment which makes her unsure about telling us this phone conversation. The last comment she makes before this first experience is concluded is, she is nervous her mother “is going to kill her”. She again, makes a statement, which might help us to gain respect for her even though she is going against what she knows she shouldn’t be doing.  After this point “C” helps “A” to validate herself by asking “…how did that change the way you used it then?” and “A” expresses to us she was careful and monitored her younger siblings because she didn’t want them to fall victim of the same instances. Again, she is showing us her maturity and responsibility which I personally see as a justification and change in tone so we can interpret a better understanding of her. “A” here is swaying our personal take on her by choosing her words and expressing her further experiences. She also tells us that in middle and high school she was educated on the internet and gained a better understanding on how to use it properly; again a validation.
                When we get to Excerpt 2 in the transcript, I have missed feelings about “A”. I’m not sure if she is sincere and honest or she is trying to swing us to believe she is a good person by saying certain things and expressing particular opinions. “C” asks “A” in the second section what “A” and her friends did typically when they were together on the internet. “A” tells us they would check the internet, homepages, send pictures, and once again tells us, they go into chats but verifies by saying the chats were with their friends and people they knew. Here we ask ourselves, why would she be in a chat room again if she had a bad experience prior to this? Despite our interpretations, she tells us “…which could be dangerous, cause they could be imposters, we really didn’t care”. Again the use of dangerous arises but then she tells us they “really didn’t care”. “Really” to me, is a word to intensify the following word, or in this case, de-intensify; she uses “really did not care” as a way to tell us it wasn’t that big of a deal. “A” then expresses the use of paint and Photoshop. She tells us her and her cousin would change themselves to look more appealing and send the new edited pictures out to people. She concludes this statement by saying “so we had a lot of fun”. I would think she would believe this to be the most dangerous part of the entire transcript but it is the only place she didn’t use the word dangerous! Sending pictures of yourself as a more appealing and almost perfect person by editing and tweaking is to gain attention and they might get it from someone they weren’t necessarily aiming towards. At the same time, my question remains, was “A” telling us different situations and changing the conversation to a lighter note to change our analysis of her?
                In the last and “funny” side of the chat room experience, “C” asks “A” if she has another experience with technology. Here I feel like “A” could go anywhere with this. She could say something completely off chat room talk but she insists on telling us a funny aspect of a chat room, which to me, seems like she is really going to justify her actions in a chat room even though chatting still seems extremely dangerous. “A” goes into detail about being in a chat room, picking a random guy based on his screen name, chatting with him and sending him a picture without knowing who this person was. Why would “A” send a picture of herself to a stranger, especially after her incident with the last chat room guy? The reason “A” decided to tell us this story is because it turned out to be “funny”. She elaborates and we find out the guy who they sent their picture to happened to be the pastor’s son who was 20 years old. He actually became mad with the girls because of the risk of sending pictures of themselves to strangers. You would think “A” from here would be ashamed with herself. What if it wasn’t someone she knew and the same situation like story one happened? What if the man on the other side of the computer was a pedophile from their town and pursued her more than a phone call? Once again “A” repeats herself to get her point across; “He was like our older brother, eww.” “We knew him like an older brother…” “…this time is was someone we knew…” she states this more than three times to let us know she was familiar with the person she was sending the pictures to which is ironic because she didn’t know the person BEFORE she sent the pictures; she found out after. This to me seems like the most dangerous encounter in a chat room she’s told us about and she’s downplaying it to make it seem less “scary” or “dangerous”. Once again, my question relates to this directly; is she downplaying the situation so we form a better perspective of “A” as a person?
            Next she told us she would change her age to make her seem more desirable to older people, she would change her screen name so people would think she was a different person and edited the pictures to look more desirable. This all seems very deceiving and dangerous to say the least. At the end of her statement, she says very casually, “What can you do?” almost like she is brushing off the whole conversation. “A” at this point is trying to make everything seem like it wasn’t that big of a deal by the way she comments and makes fun of certain situations.
            My questions still stands, does “A” sway the additional conversation and tone because of the confession she expresses to us in the beginning of the transcript by using justification, validation and repeated words to lighten our interpretation of her as a person?  I feel my question is validated my aforementioned points. “A” seems to have an “excuse” by her using a repetition of words, neutralizing her actions by telling us a serious, off putting story then counteracting it with another chat room experience, which happened to be “funny”. Her comparison with danger and funny seems to be a justification. She tries to sway our interpretation of the experience by changing the tone and repeatedly stating her feelings.

more questions and developed statements for my DA paper

I am at a stand still because my intro is really stinking. I'm not sure if i want to relate it to me or just go right for facts.

i want to make sure i display my question- and stick to it... 100 times. i need to explain and i'm having a hard time doing that.

-why is she still going into chats after problem one?
maybe i wont try to answer that question because that's not involved in the interview.. i want to explain her tone and demeaner in the chat. i feel like she bit her tongue by intoducing us to her pedophile situation in the first couple of conversational words- she probably wishes she didnt say that- then trys to justify but going back on her words- saying its dangerous, bad, dangerous, dangerous, dangerous- then says to herself, maybe if i tell a good and lighter situational chat room experience- it wont seem as bad, or I wont seem that bad for that matter. she continued to go into chat rooms, so if she had another BAD experience we might smack her for going into another chat room! like shes fishing for trouble. but- she tells us a funny sitaution so we kind of laugh it off with her...
make sense???

-why does she blame her parents for not knowing what shes doing on the computer rather than taking the fault?
i see a lot of JUSTIFICATION.
i will relate almost every line to somehow show how she is justifying.. over and over. she wants us to look at her as if she's not a bad person- which he cant hold against her now since it happened so long ago but the validating statements repeat to prove my main question and point.

drafting my discourse-

i already know what questions i want to ask. my notes are valid and throughout my 1st rough draft.
i dont want to go into detail about WHY she is going into chat rooms but moreso- is she embarrassed that she told us this story that might make us feel bad, scared, worried for her well being? or is she unsure of how to change the negative vibe of her in the chat rooms-?
does she sway us from unsure to laughing it off by spitting out the pedophile chat experience- bitting her tongue then gives us a funny chat story to make us brush off the bad vibe we're getting?
i want to know why she still did go into chat rooms and send pictures.. but i cannot come to a concises with the chat and conversation to prove that point... maybe she just enjoyed it and we cant judge her for that- but we can devolop a offputting question-
is she justifying herself because she blabbered out a bad offputting situation? by telling us a funny chat story?

blog 10; chat & adult questions

dangerous vs. funny
list questions you have about the chat transcript, do more in depth reading. then list questions and do an in depth reading of the adult learners transcript as well...

Chat Transcript questions & in depth reading;
(might be more of statements and rhetorical questions/statements)

Why was a 5th grader on a chat with friends talking to stranger?
Is she telling us "...dangerous" because she know's it's dangerous or she wants us to think more of her bad situation?
She didn't know the consiquences then- but does now, which leads me to believe she is trying to justify herself by telling us she know's it's wrong...now.

Sticky situation giving your phone number to a stranger... usage of past/present/future tense mix up.. leads us to believe she is still maybe living the experience. Why does she use the present tense when referring to something that happened over 10 years ago?

A lot of justification by the mention of "DANGEROUS".. does she intentionally mention this word to show us she knows right from wrong ?

She knew the guy wasn't her age by the sound of his voice and hung up. She was nervous about him finding where she lived but the thought was then passed up for the thought of.. "my mom's going to kil me"..
why is she more concerned with her mother being upset with her than the actual phedophile?
Did her mother give her some type of trust and it would have been broken with this issue?
Is she close with her parents or opposite? Understanding relationship?

She mentioned her mother not knowing how to use a computer - is this why she is strict on her siblings about the computer now- does she not trust or know the chat world is too tempting and since she didn't get the proper knowledge from her parents about chatting, is she trying to establish that understanding for her siblings? (long drawn out question! ha)

so from 5th grade to high school, trial and error took place - knows how to navigate now. More experienced?
Always with her friends/ no supervision?

2nd ENCOUNTER WITH CHAT ROOM
dangerous vs. funny

with friends again, entering chat rooms- Why does she still go into the chat rooms after she was in a serious situation?
Mention of dangerous again-
Why does she use past tense when talking about photoshop then go to present? Is it because she is still currently using it?
Why was technology the main souce of entertainment between friends?

PASTOR'S SON
Why are they chatting with random guys again?!
Why was the pastors son so mad when he was doing the same thing; talking to random girls via chat room?
Why is she using funny as appose to dangerous now?
the fact that it was a farmiliar face helped ease the situation-
Why was she still lying about her age?

sidenote-
this is pretty funny because i remember going on the computer and my mother would yell at me if i was in a chat room or something. she taught me to not do that- but i do remember changing my screen name every other day- to jenn<311 or jenn<3syou.. corny screen names. ha.

blog 9; gaming interview

(MY COMMENTS ARE IN PURPLE)
Interactional units defined by- laughter direct statements
Defined by = 2 speakers on same topic


Set interactional units= conversation on same topic with multiple turns/interaction


Change in set of interactional unit
When laugher, direct statements




Messages= what someone says = 1 person + 1 topic


Direct statement that introduce new language




Where does the conversation change focus? What marks those changes?


1.      Being an expert in games doesn’t count as being an expert in software


Ch        I wanted to talk a little, you  talk about your self as a hardware expert, you said software novice, although I bullied you into being competent, what software do you know how to use?
B          you know, what everyone else knows how to use, word, frontpage, powerpoint, excell, spreadsheet things
Ch        so it's interesting, games aren't really considered software are they?
B          they are -
Ch        so you know lots of software
B          yeah, but it's just games (laughing)
(signal for end of that part= laugh)


2.      Relationships between games and software (background)

Ch        so what kind of crossover did you find between learning the games and learning the software everyone needs to know?  Obviously it wasn't real hard for you to learn, frontpage (assertion)
B          I think it's because I had ah, background exposure
Ch        what background?
B          Well, just in learning how to learn a program, I just see buttons, tool tips and ah I make a go at it, the scissors mean I can cut in here, and I can just cut and drag and drop - these a simple things everyone knows (minimizes his expertise) , I guess the only reason I can pick up learning a program is that I just have that knack, no other way to explain it.

3.      Gaming as literacy (chandler again changing topic/control/agency)
Ch        that's literacy - you have the basic tools, the right basic set of assumptions for how to read, understand, interpret a program.  And so what I'm looking for is the connection between all the gaming experience you have and your ability to do that with the applications - the academic applications (connection between literacy and gaming. showing agency while introducing a new topic while relating it to something comfortable/understanding to him ..gaming)
B          well like a lot of games, in the beginning, there's menus.  You don't just start playing.  There's menus, you get to customize your decal your spray, clothes,
laughing (break in conversation)
It's not all playing the game it's a lot of process to prepare for it, there's like box, scripts, you practice it, and you're not playing with other people, you're just like fooling around. (sounds like Chandler can relate this type of gaming to the writing process/research process)
Ch        OK so all those things - same kinds of processes, same kinds of moves - so navigating menus is something you learned from games that can carry over - anything else?
B          I think that is the main thing, I can't connect a First person shooter with Microsoft word, that would be a real stretch
Ch        how about file systems and gaming spaces?
B          you know, you're right, because the game, the games are still software, and they're still files, so there are certain organization of a game that is different from regular files (connection/realization)
Ch  - so what's another thing - so playing those games when you were a little kid set you up to be able to disentangle that DOS system more easily than your stepfather, so what were you doing?
B          like I was navigating through menus
Ch        you got used to trial and error
B          I wasn't being graded - there's no - all right man, let's pass this class you've got to (under pressure situation vs. enjoyment)
Ch        so you're completely comfortable with messing it up and starting over.
B          Oh yeah
Ch        I think the print generation has a lot of hangups with that - what's something else
B          there's a song by Natasha Ben ? I hear it on the radio - it goes like, she says in her song, that we're taught not to make mistakes, we really can't live that way (enlightment)

Presentation- Bloome pg 119

Ok guys, this is for you- I hope it's understandable! Ha, I kind of just wrote all of my notes while reading through the article in the beginning so the first part of the blog is informal and might be a little confusing. The second part is the actual questions- also informal. Sorry!

“What Kind of Person is Dee?” Interrogating Black Female Identity in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” – Stephanie Power Carter
            - Carter telling us her point- what she is trying to accomplish by using a prime example – Everyday Use (Dee). Showing us Feminist thought by example.
Theoretical interpretations of black woman’s realities by those who live in it.
Showing us how perceptions can be misconstrued because of misunderstanding and obscured thoughts.
Distinct Epistemology's
Dominant society making it hard for black females to stand
Using a “black female lens” to examine how Black Female Identity is positioned and contest in the classroom discussion in the target event which focused on Alice Walker’s everyday use… (Page 120)
Black feminist lens is helpful because it helps show the hidden ideological stances that position black female identity negatively.
Also helps us raise questions – student’s opinion
                                                    - What evidence supports their interpretations?
(Bottom 120) I combine a Black Feminist Theory frame with a micro ethnographic approach to discourse analysis. Micro ethnographic discourse analysis focuses on language and other means of communications as people interact with each other to construct an event while also emphasizing social and cultural processes.

1st – made transcript of the videotape data- created a line by line description of implicit and explicit references to Walker’s character Dee-
Student’s standpoints are supported not by text but by ideological stances that negatively position African American female identity.
Black Female theory and micro ethnographic discourse analysis that makes findings visible and material.
“Personhood”… dynamic and cultural construct about who is and what is consider a person.
Personhood shares assumptions about characteristics and attributes that are assumed to be inherent in a person.
Not just negative representation but historically black women have been denied personhood (slavery)
When the teacher asks what kind of person the Dee (a black feminist female) they give more of an opinion on black females as a whole more than Dee in the story.
White child in the classroom says she is trying to be something she is not- interpreted by Carter as judging more outside the box then taking it for what it is… (Dee changing her name to more African)
No textual evidence for Valerie’s point- she can’t afford and buys- Dee never buys etc- what is Valerie doing with the evidence? Taking it and twisting it with ideologies…?
Students are making assumptions- money, embarrassment- etc.
Students assumptions are almost opposite of the story-
Dee is not embarrassed or selfish or stingy or bratty- not textually based-
Students assumptions based on prior opinion
Endings expresses how, as writers we should examine every bit of relation to the story- when asking a question, who is Dee? We should look into who she really is and who is answering the question... What the answer is and where they got their interpretations from? Textual based? Assumptions? Etc…



________________________________________________________________
Questions answering in blog-


What are the essay's main points?
How we can interpret a story negatively based on self knowledge and bias opinion. We can also take text and change the meaning based on belief. Why people might change textual analysis and what can help prevent this from happening.
The main point of the whole story is Carter in a classroom, watching students analyze Dee from “Everyday Use”- Carter informs us of the already misconstrued opinions and interpretations people have on African American Woman, especially feminist African American Women.
2. What theories does it draw from (the authors should mention them straight out)
Historical Knowledge
Bias/Opinion
Influenced student to student opinion
Epistemology's
Theoretical Interpretations
Textual Analysis
3. What "moves" does the analysis make (in terms of the particular features of language it focuses on, and the particular frames it uses = micro -macro correlations, socio-historical context, etc)
I would definitely say socio/historical context- based on our knowledge from history- we make assumptions of black females- especially young children.
I might even say Dominant narratives as well-
Dee wants simple things that even the children could relate to- more understanding and simple life which the children have interpreted as wanting more- being selfish- trying to be something she isn’t- ashamed.. etc.
4. How this essay is organized (name what kind of material is in each section)?
First section the narrator explains what she is doing with this essay. She tells us she is going to use Everyday Use and Dee specifically to developed a conclusion that might be drawn by children after reading the story.
She first explains why we might view African American woman in a specific way- based on history- assumptions- views- etc.
She goes into the identity of African American feminist’s and how they were misconstrued by their voice. She then explains how she can analyze- using epistemology's and contrast to the direct hierarchy (white dominant males)
She draws conclusions and assumptions of her own from which she would assume the children will form after the story-
Next she told us how she will document her findings- transcript to videotape- she wrote, verbatim what the conversations was- how it went and touched upon a select few comments from the classroom.
Valerie
Rita
Eve

She also relates understanding to “personhood”. Someone’s personhood is described as: Personhood shares assumptions about characteristics and attributes that are assumed to be inherent in a person.
Black females were denied personhood based on slavery and the lack of personality and being while slavery existed.
She then interprets the teacher (after the students) by analyzing her questioning. If the teacher possibly changed the way the question was asked or a word or two in the question, would it have made a difference..? 
She goes into depth about Valerie, Rita and Eve’s answers to the questions of “What kind of person is Dee?”
She tries to understand where they could have gotten heir answers from since every part of their answer was not mentioned in the text. (no textual representation).
5. What is this kind of discourse analysis good for? Or - what kind of questions can it answer?
I think Carter’s analysis was a great way to show the connection to historical past, assumptions and opinion through this simple activity. There was a long extensive analysis drawn from a simple conversation in the classroom. Every aspect of the talk influences answers and questions throughout the conversation.
Carter’s intro gives us a better understanding ourselves of what to expect, what might be misunderstood before going into this reading and what she is trying to do throughout the essay.

Discourse analysis; take 2

Discourse analysis, discourse analysis, discourse analysis... OK!
we'll in class i think the reading we did on the bratty girl Michelle, Katie, Oscar, and David helped tremendously. i would NEVER have interpreted that simple "baby" reading the way i did when we analysed it.. discourse-Ly. (i know that's not a word..ha)
it was such a simple and silly reading- "I'm building a house, i want that crayon, that's my crayon! don't draw a house..." etc.
from a first glance and even a second and third read- i would never come to the conclusions i did with the processed and used. it was a great way to explain discourse. i liked how we did it in class because reading it on my own, i wouldn't be able to think up that type of analysis.
i, and my group, had Michelle- i found myself counting her comments, documenting her "mean comments" questions, answers to questions, etc.

to me, it's hard to understand the difference between visual analysis and discourse analysis. i know visual you literally watch and take notes and the same is with discourse but it's more in depth, but it just seems like the same type of thing to me.

maybe if we compared discourse to visual it would help me notice a bigger difference-
example- if we took  the lesson we did on Monday with the conversation between Michelle Katie and the boys - do a discourse analysis, then visual, i might be able to see the bigger difference.

Discourse Analysis; blog 6

Discourse Analysis.... wellll! from the reading, i was more than overwhelmed, so to better understand what i was attempting to read i dictionary.com'd it!
after reading what they had to say i came to the conclusion that discourse analysis is just analyzing a group of people, how they react, what their initial intentions are, what their meaning in the group is- etc. i look at discourse as how you carry yourself around/working with other people. on the same page- discourse is more than verbal conversation- it's reaction, emotion, tone etc.


without a doubt, i would use discourse analysis more so than any other method in my field of work. as a future teacher, the best way to get the classroom to mesh as appose to clash- is to see who works well with who, what they work well at, what ones strengths are and on the contrary, their weaknesses and where another classmate may help the other one out.
Through discourse analysis i can make my classroom a more successful one with a more fulfilling outcome for the students and myself.
as we learn new methods, i have become to realize there are so many ways to conduct my classroom and how to make it right-- or work right for that matter. having different ways to fix a problem- discourse analysis, visual analysis, (which i believe are similar but discourse i feel is more in depth) interviewing, etc.
this is awesome! ha..

..i would never write about that...;blog 5

well, in class we went into some deep detail about what we wouldn't go into detail about! (ironic) we discussed if we were asked to write something we wouldn't want to write about- what would it be...?
i thought for a while because as much as i complain and I'm a cry-er-- i really dont have much to complain about. i have a good life with a lot of positive in it- then after i thought a while i came to the realization that if i was to publish an article, short story or even autobiography on my life and my family... i probably wouldn't want to (does that make sense?)
i have a big family- immediate (4 kids) we're only 2 years apart between all 4 of us. my brother 26. sister 24. me 21. little sister 19. we're all pretty close and at the same time want to kill each other.
i probably wouldn't want to write a story about us because honestly, i bet most of the readers wouldn't believe half of what i say.
of course there would be a long drawn out process-
i would start with the basics, clustering/webbing. i would write all of our names (Anthony Jessica Jennifer Carleigh) and cluster about each of us.. (I'm not going to go into details because i might get in trouble by the law! ha ha)
after clustering i would probably free write. the funny thing is when i was free writing in class- i couldn't stop my pen from moving. one thought led to the next and before i knew it i started getting mad. it would go from a good thought and a laugh to what a jerk! i cant believe that happened oh and then this and that. so i think my free writing process would be long and drawn out. it might even turn into a rough rough draft with different memories thrown together.
next i would probably read, read, and reread my free write and eliminate and add to make it more flow-y so i could make sense of it for someone who didn't know exactly what i was talking about.
i would start with my first rough draft after analysing my free write.
even though it would never happen or work- i would then probably interview or ask my siblings how they felt about a certain incident of what their fondest/least fond memory of all of us together was-
there would definitely have to be some interviewing because being the middle child, i probably have a different perspective as everyone else! ha. (yes whoa is me, they gang up on me ha ha)
next i might do a little bit of visual analysis- maybe if i sit back and see how they interact, it would be less hard for me to "fit in" and understand whats going on... we might actually get along if i do some visual analysis.
lastly, i would have to somehow compile all this mumba-jamba into some sort of organized literature to start the 1st book of my series- the MacDonald siblings because i know for sure, there will not only be one book. i could probably make 2 full books out of the first 20 years of my life with my siblings!
i probably wouldn't want to write about it though ha ha.
a thought and actually writing it down on paper is a fine line i don't know if i would want to cross- especially because my older sister might kick my butt!

(i hope this is what you wanted- i posted on your main post asking for help because i was a little confused-)
thanks =]

....the MacDonald siblings series has a good ring to it!!!!!!!!

Blog 4; senior seminar

thinking into my near (hopefully) future about my senior seminar... my palms are starting to sweat! If I had to choose 3 possible research projects i might like to do for my senior seminar project they would obviously be "teacher education" based.

The first and most important "investigation" i might like to do would be something like all of the works we've read so far this semester; how has my personal experiences, education, family, friends, background in general, shaped the person i am today and how will it effect me as a teacher in the classroom..?
With this I would say there is a lot of personal research that needs to be done. It probably will be much like an autobiography but at the same time, i might not be able to finish it until I'm actually in the classroom to get interviews and visual analysis.
(that just gave me another idea-)
i would probably do the first part of my research before getting into the field. write the introduction, what i am looking for as a "newcomer" how i reacted or handled experiences in my life (how they've shaped me) and how I've overcome them. This being mainly in school- teachers I've had or had to deal with. what I've seen and what I've decided i definitely don't want to do in my classroom.
after I've compiled a rough list of the things that have shaped me in the classroom i would probably do some research into other teachers and their experiences as a "new bee".
then after being in the field, i could answer my own questions and form new ones for the years to come.

possible question 2...
how might the economic, ethnic and demographic setting of the region i teach in contribute to the positives/negatives in the school?
there would be a lot of visual analysis and interviewing. I would have to do statistical research to see the demographics and numbers to take into consideration and above all- the economics of the town/city I'm working for. that will definitely have a big impact on how i productively work in the class and the school system in general. depending on an urban or rural community changes the pay scale for a teacher's salary. that's a big part of waking up everyday WANTING to go to work. So definitely some research on demographics of a town in which i may become employed.
Lastly for senior seminar, i would probably like to do some research on how i, as a teacher, can impact and create a foundation for each child i teach. I aspire to have a well constructed and organized classroom which plays the role as a stepping stone for my children's futures. Without discipline and an enjoyable environment, the students won't get anything out of their experience. A lot of the early education and elementary education is memorization and repetitive learning. I don't want my kids to memorise, take a test and forget the information the next day or even their next year of schooling. I want my classroom to (in following years) say oh yeah! i remember when Ms. MacDonald told me a story about that and it reminds me of this.

Through research, statistical research (statistics of a town influencing my salary), ethnographically research (changes the way i may teach a class or how it impacts the general feel of the classroom) , visual analysis,(when i become a teacher, visually seeing my own class and how it's going as a whole) interviewing, (again, my own class) oral history (stories other teachers write) brainstorming (what i can do to better my teaching attributes) and archival research (methods other teachers have found to work) i can become a better person and teacher, eventually, through these seminar research topics.

*please excuse my spelling and grammar (or lack there of)...i was writing and it was flowing out of me, i didn't want to break my train of thought!

Rose; blog 3

I read the Mike Rose essay which was quite interesting. He, in detail, explained the problems with the education system and how it effects us today. He specifies especially in people who aren't able to get full education- and how they lack as a lesser educated society. He not only goes into the problem with lower educated students but how the education system, as a whole, needs a change.

Within Mike Rose's process- he took first point of view as a teacher in the educational system and analyzed the function/dysfunction to decide what needs to be done to change the problem. He also mentioned in the text that he was a victim of the "left out" part of the classroom in which he had no other means to become a fully educated child, almost deprived of education. Mainly through everyday in the classroom as a teacher, Rose was able to see first hand what needs to be changed to better the education system as a whole which motivated him to write this text.

First off, I would say like every other piece I've read, being an educator and analyzing the classroom as a teacher would be categorized as visual analysis and interviewing; asking the children / class what works... how it's going as an individual and as a whole classroom... what they liked and what they feel needs improvement.. etc.
Secondly- there is certainly autobiographical text in this piece since it's based on his life and his experiences.
As an assumption- I would also say discourse and statistics and research analysis to get his facts, stats, and other peoples (maybe other teachers) takes on his perspective.

Lastly I would just like to add that every text I've read so far has given me an extra edge on my aspect and view on becoming a future educator. I guess you don't know until you literally get into a classroom. You can never learn or be taught the ways of a classroom in college, you can only read other teachers perspectives and hope they improve or give you light on your own classroom.

relative methods

to begin with- i know for a fact that visual analysis works best for me so i've decided that it might be a great idea to incorporate it into my future as a teacher-

i've always thought that as a "future educator" the best way to learn or even teach a classroom full of young, extremely distracted children is to do everything hands on. during student teaching, i've seen first hand that children relate to and pay attention more when there is something they can 1. relate to directly 2. be involved in 3. Tangibly hold 4. talk freely about.
I feel like this applies to "adults" as well. my best way of learning something is to see it first hand. i need something in front of me- or relatable to my own life. that being said, i think the best methods for me to focus on are probably visual analysis mixed with interviewing.
visual analysis makes sense because just doing my student teaching is visually helpful to me in fulfilling my future endeavors in the elementary education field. when i student teach or observe i can see the way children react to a certain way the teacher instructs and conducts a lesson.
my main goal is to conduct a successful/fun/challenging environment for my students while at the same time, keeping them involved and intrigued in the topic at hand. i know that seems like something that every teacher should achieve but- easier said than done.
Interviewing plays a role in my future career because just asking the students themselves is a type of "interview" that works 100% best. if you see the kids arent responding well to an activity or reading or whatever is being taught at the time- simply asking them why they didnt like it ? or what could have been done to change their opinions to make it work? could easily help you get where they are coming from.
when the kids in your class are happy and you can actually reach to them and feel like they've grasped whats being taught, would probably be the best feeling for an educator- which is why these methods would work best in any scenario in the classroom. on page 86 in our book- the author expresses that visual analysis is the way into written materials. i took this as, if we can get our students to like something that's a visual/tangible material- then we can add the text that goes with it.

example--- (wish me luck)..
if i'm teaching a section about oceanography and pollution and how it effects everything that grows in the ocean- mammals plants food wildlife (etc) i could introduce fish and their habitats- i could first read a short story that the kids might enjoy to hear. then i can tell them after i read this story- i want them to draw/color a picture of themselves if they were fish in their own habitat- what might be in their habitat? who would live in their habitat (etc.) then relate it to the ongoing struggle pollution has on the ocean.
using their own drawings they could tell me how it would feel if they lived with garbage in their "home" in the ocean.
i don't know if that fully expressed what exactly i was trying to explain- but kids relate and honestly, just enjoy doing something that's not just reading, writing and listening. they want something they can do themselves which is why i want to focus my research on visual analysis and interviewing because not only does it personally work for me when i'm learning in the classroom but it will also be extremely beneficial when, one day, i'm actually teaching in the classroom!

Moreno

Prompt (for the assigned essay): 1.  List what you see as the essay's main focus (what it "shows") and the points or evidence it offers to "prove" that point.  2.  Discuss or describe the essay's methodological approach, its methods, and how the author analyzed her data.  3. What other kinds of research projects or problems would this author's approach be good for?  What might you use this methodological approach for?


To begin with, Moreno took me by surprise. When I read the first few paragraphs- this paper sounded like an opinion paper. I thought there would be a lot of strong, passive remarks regarding her take on race, ethnicity and culture and how it intervienes with education and literature in the classroom.
After reading deeper, I came to the conclusion that this was a way of reaching out and telling readers that there is a fine line between knowing how to write well and being educated in writing well.
One of the best aspects about this paper is when she tells us that based on someones social background, ethnicity and culture, their ability to connect and process their take on literature, varies.
She tells us that background has an impact on the way we learn. This right here-shows me there is ethnographic methods in this paper. Based on location and ethnicity; certain perspectives can be influenced.
Reading further, academic discourse came into play when Moreno took it into her own classroom.

Moreno also told us that based on ethnicity it can alter not only challenge the students in literacy but the classrooms perspecitve as a whole.
Through ethnologcial, visual analysis, interviewing and academic discourse, Moreno tells us that all students, no matter race or ethnicity, should be educated equally.
In my opinion, there should be no scapegoat for someone who isn't "white american". We all learn at different rates which is taken into consideration, but to baby or even punish someone who isn't fluent in the English language because they are not 100% american, is un-american itself.
I think that this essay really brought light to the people (myself) who are planning on being future educators. This study is great to read when you're going to teach your own classroom. Being educated yourself on knowing the in's and out's of the classroom flow, ethnicially, socially, literally, can create a warm enviroment for your students.