I got really into thinking and, therefore, writing with the questions from the Quick Write we did in-class on Wednesday so I am going to attempt stretching out this thinking as well as applying it more directly to the Russell reading.  One thing I’ve learned to do well outside of school is random crafts, especially with my friends. Some of the things I’ve created include making several sugar scrubs, tie dying and/or cutting shirts, making tutus, and the most recent craft I did was making fabric cork boards. The materials I need depend on the actual craft but usually involve one-to-two trips to Joann’s and my hot glue gun(s). My boyfriend and I have a three bedroom house so that we each have a space for all our stuff and to do those things we enjoy that need a certain space; for example, one of my activities that require a specific space is aforementioned crafts and one of his is cleaning his guns without scaring the dog. I find a lot of things online that I then have to make for myself, my friends and family also tell me about things that help facilitate this type of crafting, and then some things also require me to look up more detailed instructions. In addition, what I make and how I make it sometimes depends on things going on in my life at the time.  One example is when I was in two weddings one right after the other in 2015 because I made a lot of small but time consuming crafty things for each of the bridal showers. 

When doing most crafts I tend to be a perfectionist the first time that I attempt to make something and then change how I execute it in order to make it easier for myself when I do that same craft again.  As Russell states in “Activity Theory and Its Implications for Writing Instruction,” “All learning is situated within some activity system(s). And one learns by participating—directly or vicariously—in some activity system(s)” (7).  For example, my friends and I had an entire day (yes, over 9 hours) of buying supplies for and then making our own tutus.  It took so long because we were measuring and cutting each strip of tulle perfectly not realizing that both ends will roll and then not show at all when the tutu is all finished.  Therefore, when I made tutus for my nieces and then for my dogs I had learned that cutting the tulle quickly rather than perfectly was more efficient but I never would have known this without first participating in the activity of making that first tutu.  Don’t worry I did include a picture of one of these dog tutus that I mention!

I also want to spend some time discussing the reading in relation to some of my experiences as well as hopes with teaching English 130I last semester and in the future.  I started the semester by having students reading, thinking, and writing about their own literacies concerning both the academic arena and their lives outside of school.  The first paper that students write is a Literacy Narrative in which they explore the writing they already do, some of the rhetorical choices they make when writing, and how this writing affects their sense of self as a student and a person.   In terms of Russell’s Activity Theory my hope with this short paper is that students will become more aware of the fact that they are already writers and that many of the skills they use in their everyday literacy activities, for instance scanning an article on Facebook rather than reading the entire thing, can be useful skills to apply to their academic writing as well.  I think that by first showing students that the skills they already have can be in some form transferred to academic writing that they will then also begin to see how the activities with reading and writing they do in my class can likewise be used in their other university courses as well.

In addition, I structured my 130I course in a way that learning is scaffolded with the smaller writing assignments leading up to and preparing students for the larger writing assignments.  This is also a way for students to get comfortable with writing different genres, as Russell additionally explains, “As one becomes adept at more and more activities that require writing and hence at writing more genres, it is more likely (but by no means certain) that one will be able to master a new genre more quickly, since it is more likely that there will be some features of the new genre/activity that resemble features in a genre/activity one already knows” (11).  One way that this activity and writing scaffolding works in 130I is through the use of blogs and reflections.  The blogs are a genre meant to be an early writing activity that ask students questions in order to get them writing and thinking about things that they can then incorporate into the larger writing assignments.  For example, before students actually write the Literacy Narrative they will have done an in-class group activity talking with their group mates about all the reading and writing they do and then they will have also done a blog post talking about it as well.  The blogs as an early writing activity are meant to show students that with assignments for their other classes it can be very beneficial to start writing early because the act of this writing itself is a way to start thinking and figuring things out.  Reflections for the larger assignments and the class as a whole are an additional genre that I hope is teaching students ways to be thinking and writing for other classes.  The genre of reflections is a way to have students think back about the decisions they made when writing to show them that writing is a process and there are various ways to approach the same assignment.  After doing countless reflections students get used to thinking about their writing and realize that certain writing assignments may never be completely “done.”  As with the blogs, my hope with having students continually reflect on their writing is that this activity will be something that they also do (both “directly and vicariously” as Russell would term it) with their other academic writing.           

I hope this blog post wasn’t too rambling!

My theory of writing is what I would consider rather straightforward as far as theories go.  Writing is not something that there is one “good” standard that everyone can be held up against.  I think that writing is a long process and that every step (and even the number of steps) per person, per assignment or task, per context, etc. can be incredibly diverse.  

Many of the key terms that I would use to explain my thinking as far as writing goes also had various meanings. For example, one of the terms I came up with was “read” because I am one of those people that rereads my writing tasks and assignments as I go and do not just wait until I am coming to the end or until I am in the revision process to read what I had previously written.  In addition, I added to this term the fact that I am known to reread and proofread texts that I send to people; sometimes this means that I even forget to send texts when I accidentally leave my phone on a longer text that I am in the middle of rereading.  I have also found that reading your own work, no matter how small the assignment, before you expect someone else (either a peer or an instructor) to read it is important and I really tried to stress this idea with my 130 students last semester.

Another one of the most important key terms that I came up with to describe the process of writing was “copying and pasting.”  I use this language because it is how I move, not only my sentences, but also, and sometimes more importantly, my ideas around when I am typing a larger writing assignment.  I do this with important emails and other things that are not necessarily an “assignment” as well.  I think that the ideas behind “copying and pasting” as a component to writing is important because it shows that there are always different and/or better ways to convey ideas more effectively through writing.

While reading Metaconcept: Writing is an Activity and a Subject of Study I was underlining, starring, and writing in the margins like crazy.  Many of the things I wrote in the margins were related to my own experiences with writing both personally and pedagogically.  For example, in “1.1: Writing is a Knowledge-Making Activity” Estrem notes, “Writers of all kinds […] have had the experience of coming upon new ideas as a result of writing” (19).  I had double starred this and wrote “awesome when this happens!” because it truly is an experience in itself and the best way that writing begets more and, perhaps even better or more in-depth, writing is organically.  By organically I mean on its own or almost by accident as a result of thinking that only writing itself can beget.

Another example is the connections I made between Dryer’s principles in “1.4: Words Get Their Meanings From Other Words” and my own writing.  As Dryer explains, “Certainly students are often exhorted to define their terms, but this concept helps explain why particular meanings for key terms in their writing can require careful framing” (25).  While reading this I had connected it to the actual quick write that we did on Monday when we came up with our own key terms because, as aforementioned, many of my terms had more than one meaning for the writing that I do.

Lastly, my reading group and I had a fair amount of agreement in terms of the ideas in the Metaconcepts reading. We did not discuss many of our individual, specific key terms because at the end of class on Monday we did not have a poster so we had to devote most of our time Wednesday on getting something on the page to present to the other groups.  However, we all seemed to be in agreement that it was immensely important how many of the ideas concerning writing directly correlated to the ideas that we hold about literacy as well.  

Hello, I am Ginamarie! After receiving my B.A. in English Studies here at Chico State in the fall of 2015 I began the Master’s Program in the Literacy and Language pathway and working towards my Certificate in Teaching College Writing.  My ultimate goal is to one day be a composition teacher at a 2-year college.  I am currently the VP of Academic Affairs for the English Graduate Student Council, or EGSC.  Last semester our main focus was the fall Symposium (which was a great success) so I look forward to being able to give our attention to different components of being an English student, such as possibly doing a film series and GRE workshops.  

I also worked very hard last semester on a project for Laura Sparks’ human rights rhetorics course that ultimately took over my winter break and I never pass up an opportunity to plug the website I created.  I made the website as a way to showcase all the research I did concerning the human rights of homeless women and then it also became a platform for a local Purse Project.  Purse Projects are local women collecting gently used purses filled with feminine hygiene products and giving them to homeless women in great need of such products.  I have collected over 20 purses so far and have been able to pack them full with feminine products and other small toiletries that many women were kind enough to donate.  The first donations will be to the Jesus Center because I was in contact with someone there throughout last semester; I recently decided that I would like to do this first round of donations in time for the women to receive the purses for Valentine’s Day.  Here is a link to the website and I welcome any questions or comments on the website and in-person: homelesswomensrights.wordpress.com.

I swear I do have interests outside of school, too!  I live in Oroville with my boyfriend Tory and our dog Jack.  Tory is currently enthralled with trying to buy a house and has used the idea of being able to get a puppy for Jack as a way to get me on board.  Needless to say, I am a very big dog person.  I also frequently visit my wiener dog puppy, who actually just turned 10, in Paradise where I grew up.  I enjoy doing crafts, hanging out at the river, and going to the farmer’s market with my friends.  I am likewise very close with my family and spend as much time as I can with my mom, my two younger brothers, my older sister and her 5 kids and 2 grandkids, my dad and his girlfriend, and my extended family as well.      

From English 431 this semester, I hope to gain further insight into the one-on-one relationship between students and their tutors or instructors.  I have already taken English 634: Teaching Composition and taught English 130I in the fall.  (Due to health reasons I had to take a break from teaching and am only taking 2 classes this spring).  I think that taking English 431 after already teaching will be a new experience and will help me to better interact individually with students.  Through the use of ePortfolios in my 130 class last semester and making my own WordPress sites I feel a lot more comfortable helping students in the English 30 Workshop with their own ePortfolios and other components to the Digital Studio space.  This is a new confidence for me because I have not always been as comfortable with technology as I am now.     

A day in my literate life is varied because the things that I read and write are part of such a wide range of differing things.  For instance, the first thing I usually read in the morning are articles from Apple News.  When I was consciously paying attention to what I read it was interesting because I read countless headlines on Apple News before actually reading only two articles, those being “Throwing Shade at Mia Thermopolis, Kate Middleton Says She’s ‘Very Lucky’ To Be a Princess” from Cosmopolitan and from Smithsonian.com “More Women Die of Cervical Cancer Than Previously Thought.”  The types of articles I read also varies from other people because I am not a big social media person and I am very tired of reading both positive and negative articles about our new President.   

Recently my literate life has also been different than it has been because of the medical issues I am currently dealing with.  For the literacy list I created this translated as me reading directions for a gastric test at Enloe, reading my medication bottles in order to write a medication list, looking up and then writing driving directions to Enloe on a Post-it note, answering texts from my mom about what I had to do for the test, and actually filling out and signing paperwork while at the hospital.  I think that this change in what I read and write could be considered what Szwed in The Ethnography of Literacy terms a “literacy-cycle” because there is a change in my literate activities specifically due to the situation I currently find myself in (423).

Likewise, another change in what I read and write because of my “stage and position in life” has to do with what I mentioned before about my boyfriend buying a house (423).  Many of the items on my literacy list have to do with reading about different houses online and then on papers from the realtor.  I included reading about different types of loans online and writing a list of the things that the house “must have.”  My boyfriend and I also read about dishwashers and refrigerators together online to compare prices and features because not all the houses have these things and, while it is not on his, a dishwasher is definitely on my must haves list.

I actually read the Szwed piece while in a waiting room at Enloe and something interesting happened that made me have further questions about the types and functions of literacies that Szwed discusses.  While I was sitting there several notes of loud, happy music played throughout the hospital and myself and the lady sitting next to me both looked around very confused.  A hospital volunteer explained to us that this means a baby was just born and how special it is that the mom of the baby herself actually gets to push the button.  I wrote about it in my notes and termed it “literacy of sounds.”  Although I am not crazy about naming it that, it did bring up questions about whether or not this event could even have anything to do with literacy.  I ultimately decided that this was a form of literacy because, while not reading or writing, the distinct music communicates something very specific to the listener.  This type of communication Szwed also discusses in relation to the role that social literacies and communities play as part of an individual’s literacies.  I am interested in exploring further this idea of sounds as communication because it is not something that I have ever considered before as having a connection to literacies.