It’s funny because whenever I’m in class or talk to Kim/classmates and then leave class, I feel so confident in my multi-modal project and what I’ve learned thus far (no, but seriously, this has to be one of the most enlightening English classes I’ve taken [also the only one I’ve taken but still…]). And then, I get back to my apartment and start thinking about my project, and honestly? I don’t really like it and I don’t know if I have the creativity to pull it off or I guess, make it more creative. But really, what other option do I have?

So now you’re probably like… Just say your multi-modal project already!

Okay, okay, okay. I’m THINKING of doing a subset of spoken word pieces that kind of connect all of our readings and conversations together. Kim talked to me about “Ignite Talks” and more about blackout poetry and I have to say I’m really interested in all of that. I would take quotes from different pieces and add in my own analysis to create a bunch of small spoken word pieces and then potentially, I would “perform” them in video format. This idea really makes me nervous and I’m not entirely sure I like it, but I don’t know what else I could do. I’m wondering if it’s because I’m not creative (which is partially true) or because I’m not used to this much freedom in an assignment?

I was also thinking I could make kind of a family tree for all the authors and have their main quotes/points on there that show how all these readings are linked. We do similar projects in my multi-cultural sorority where we show the lineage of sisters, but I could do that with the authors we’ve read? I think I may like this idea better actually. I can see it in my head more, but I think the other one is more “multi-modal.” I don’t know. Help!

So, while there were a lot of different avenues and approaches I could have taken with my multimodality project, I wanted what I chose to be most aligned with some sort of practical application to my internship. Being that multimodality, at least to me, is a complex enough topic that there are a number of different opinions and perspectives on its use and function within academia, I decided to try to be more effective and decisive, both in defining the importance and beneficial use of multimodality in tutoring ESL students, and in how tutors can take advantage of multimodal resources in aide of helping students, whether ESL or not. That is why, simply, what I have been cataloging from my time interning at the ESL Center in in my internship has been a number of different perspectives and ideas for the use of multimodality, and of multimodal resources that can be effective in tutoring. In accordance, my project will also reflect the same through a sort of handbook for what from a tutor’s perspective would be everything multimodality, and what of its place in academia that is most imperative toward that of tutoring. There is still a lot of I’m working through, from websites, correlating different schemas for learning with multimodality, and the different approaches that multimodal resources could be applied and tailored to a number of different individuals and situations in tutoring, but I am making progress, and so far, that has been the sphere of my research and progress for the duration of my project. And up to now with this blog post, I would say that so far, everything has been coming along to the way and need that I have felt  has been necessary for the vision I have of building and composing a useful and worthwhile handbook for tutors and using multimodality.