Reflective Letter

http://jgavins.weebly.com

When entering the class my thoughts of rhetorical choice was actually not bad. I took a communication theory class back in junior college and thought I could sum up a bit but after being in the course I'm well off. I've taken your course before so I know how things go. The articles I read were extremely hard. The only thing that made it somewhat clearer was the thought of service learning. The idea of comparing something that I thought had no type of comparison and using that as a model to expand to other rhetorical issues.

The website was a huge help but I'm still far from a understanding. It's everything else I always thought I knew till I took this course and there's always tons of only ways. When I think of rhetoric I think of an audience, the purpose, and persuading a topic. As many times as it was explained to me I didnt get it till I began my website. I remember last semester in english we covered a lot of different topics and we always had to read the required reading and come back the next class with a extended bibilography. Most of the time I didnt even understand what I was writing and after I later recieved my paper back and there would be a better understanding of how to do such. Like topic of writing analytically, had know clue of what that was before I began the course but now it's a topic I'm familiar with.

The website assignment made this particular assignment fun. It helped in some sort of way, I usually stress over things like this but I took a different approach. As days went on and I didnt more research I found my audience and the awareness of my topic changing a lot. The target of a certain audeince changed and so did my title. Wen doing my website I thought of content, context, and the audience concern. The pictures/images/information I provided all resemble one another. A particular target of persuasion of the audience.

My communication research class which you would think has nothing to do class taught me how to find scholarly artilces which provided me with a significant amount of journals and articles. From those articles I went to the references and found more information that gave different point of views to give me a better understanding. I greatly benefitted from them because when it came to argumentation between two topics I had all I needed. As difficult as the assignment was after a while it became much more managable. I believe this came from working with wix and the difference and how simple weebly was to access material. My sources were very helpful, I used a lot of the assignments we used this semester to help. For one I remember you said how my sources needed to converse and thats what I did.

Pedagologically.weebly.com

When entering this unit my original thoughts about rhetorical choice revolved around articles scattered randomly through any sites deemed worthy by my browser (he’s not particular). I found myself very lost as many articles online seem to have a goal in mind. This may include selling a product, or persuading just for the enjoyment of persuading, and other ulterior motives leading me toward one dead end after another. The most enlightening and refreshing works I found to read is when I broke away from google searches and began to read academic articles found in the library. These articles were inherently dry but, if you allowed yourself to revel in the clinical artistry they display it comes to be powerfully engaging. They not only opened my eyes to the topics they were displaying, but to the world of academic writing.

            Along with the benefit and “eye opening” nature of discovering these writings I came across an issue, which frustrated my work. While pouring through article after article attempting to find those, which spoke in relevance to my topic, I sometimes found myself losing sight of my words. A note left on one of my entries said that my sentences could be a little verbose. I recognized this while I was writing, but had trouble combating myself, as my thoughts would sometimes become a diluted mess which I had trouble packaging. The crux of this issue I would assume resided in seeing and attempting to imitate such complex and encompassing works, as well as writing about the same topic seemingly endlessly. In class we discussed that after a time your work might begin to seem boring or dull to your eye because of the frequency of your interaction with it. Which proved to be a more difficult hurdle than I had anticipated.

            Audience awareness is something very difficult to evolve as we engaged in this unit. Through my website the pictures I chose, were in effect to me thinking of my audience dominantly as young educators. It is difficult to pull yourself from the normal thinking of appeasing the teacher, and maybe just trying to put together something that had facts “shining” in your text. The simple thought of having a more diverse audience, pushed me to write in a more persuasive manner. This was in effect, because I have become truly passionate about the topic of progressive education. My research is a large cause, but also my work at Anser shows me that educators adopting the view of progressive education can supply profound results even with the small pool of children I have interacted with.

            Argumentation is a challenging aspect of this writing. I recognize that it is important to not just steam roll a conversation with any and everyone that supports you. When you are a tackling an issue of such magnitude, it can make you feel silly to try to speak in league with those who agree with you, and even more difficult speaking to those that contradict your perspective.

            I ran into some walls, while attempting to work my way through creating this website. This being said, it has helped me to understand a great deal about what is needed in a persuasive discourse among the academic arena.

Reflective Letter--Alternative Methods of Education

When I first entered this class, I didn't know what was in store. It sounds cliche, but it's true. I truly did not anticipate the sheer difficulty of this class and the material we were supposed to be working on. I knew that we were going to work on research papers, but I never thought that they would mainly be dealing with rhetorical issues. And I certainly did not expect the added service-learning portion. That was when I first knew that I was in the big leagues.

But now that I have come through these first two units, I'm finally beginning to understand some of what I didn't understand before. But that does not mean that I haven't had problems. My first thoughts about rhetorical choice mainly involved websites that were good at persuading me personally and spoke to my topic. But, like most people, I had trouble finding articles that spoke back to me and my topic. A lot of them were bland and distasteful, to say the least. On some of my blog entries, a few comments said that it would not hurt to lend my own voice to the discussion at hand. It took quite a while to break through myself and finally give voice to the sources I used on my website. Even then, I don't think that I expressed myself clearly enough; nor do I think I was persuasive enough. But it is a start.

When it came to designing the website, though, I had quite a few problems. like most everyone in this class, I found difficulty in finding the right words to speak back to my sources. The most challenging part was to find ways to counter or support other authors' arguments, which is key to this project. Oftentimes, I would go back to check and recheck my sources to make sure I didn't skew the arguments or get them mixed up.

Another hurdle I had to jump over was audience awareness. Even now, I have no idea who would be interested in reading my website. As such, I found that I had to inject some of my own rhetoric to complement my sources and carry on the argument. I don't think I did that properly. But at least I have a better idea of what is expected of me as far as my audience is concerned.

In conclusion, this Unit Two project helped me understand what is needed in an academic discourse.

http://alternativemethodsofeducation.weebly.com/

Website Proposal

1. My website is aimed towards those who have pondered the different methods and approaches to education and how they can shape our children’s lives. Maybe there are teachers, administrators, or superintendents who want to devise a balanced curriculum that deviates from the norm. Or there may be parents who want to know if there are alternative forms of schooling for their children.

2. Almost all the people of this state have some sort of background with regards to traditional education. I would have to include information about vocational and liberal arts schooling.

3. I think that they might be at least interested in the different forms of education. Whether or not they agree is up to them. My main goal here is to encourage a little debate about the merits of traditional learning vs. non-traditional learning.

4. Most of my sources believe that the traditional American education system is inadequate for our children’s needs.

5. I think I may include pictures. The trick here is to make sure it connects with my audience in some way. Does it help convey the message or hinder it? Is it appropriate to the subject matter?

6. Personally, I am inclined to agree that we need to consider revamping our current education system, especially in light of our current situation. But due to my limited intelligence, I thought it would be a good idea to consider any side of the system.

Website Proposal

1) The topic of my website doesn't necessarily single out any one particular type of person, nor does it leave room for too broad an audience.  I'm hoping to direct the subject matter towards teachers, students, and parents of the like.  Being as my topic is about self-advocacy, I feel that it would be beneficial for an diverse audience of age, gender, and educational background to learn the subject.  Not only does this give a student an idea of what could be helpful for the rest of their lives, but it also gives parents and teachers the opportunity to open their eyes a little more to, perhaps, bring the subject to the surface of education.
2) I feel that for the older generation that my topic addresses has enough of an idea of what self-advocacy consists of that they won't need too much of an explanation describing it's source; for them, I'm expecting to give more of an overlay of the importance of self-advocacy.  For the younger generation, I feel that I will have to dive more into the subject.  Generally though, I believe that the audience will get a good idea of the topic without having to dive too heavily into it's background.
3) My audience should be, for the most part, agreeable with the subject matter included in my website.  It's doing nothing but attempting to help the education system, so I believe the interest level will be at a high rate.  Being as my topic is introduced in a way to help students and teachers alike, this should give more incentive for my entire audience to stop and give a second look.
4) The gist of the conversations going on is pretty much the importance that self-advocacy plays in the educational process, and in the future of students.  There isn't a lot of disagreement on the subject; the only disagreement that sometimes arises is the fact that self-advocacy is mainly centered around special needs people instead of addressing everyone.
5) Because the web plays such a huge role in the lives of all people around the world, it seems that attempting to catch people's attention through this medium won't be a difficult task.  People enjoy visuals, and the efficiency of the subject matter.  Are the facts reliable? Can they connect with the audience?  Do they leave room for some conversational thought?  These are questions that most people center their research around.  Taking these questions, and the use of visuals (pictures, videos, etc.) I believe this should be enough to attract the audience to my site.
6) My viewpoint on this subject is directed in a mainly agreeable sense, with little room for discussion on the various other viewpoints being introduced.  I also am going to be leaning in the direction of self-advocacy for everyone as opposed to advocacy just for special needs people.  Given it may mean more to the special needs society, I feel that it should be addressed to all people because self-advocacy is beneficial to everyone. 

Reflective Blog

Walking into ANSER, I had a very dim view of what the school might consist of.  I thought of it as nothing more than any other school I had ever been to/heard about.  What I didn't realize was how different it's teaching methods were compared to other schools.  It's like nothing I have ever experienced before.  Being as I come from a series of public schools who do nothing more than follow a basic teaching style, it was a major surprise to see how ANSER strays away from that in an attempt to better prepare the students for what lays beyond elementary and junior high school.  The students aren't limited based on the available resources, ANSER has a very large emphasis on providing the students with whatever resource they may need to finish their schoolwork on time and efficiently.  It's also a major help in the various different ways that the students might learn.  They are never denied learning a subject due to the fact that the school doesn't provide them with many helpful resources.  The time I've spent at ANSER has opened my eyes to a whole new style of teaching and learning.  It's amazing to see how schools are attempting to introduce new teaching styles.  The students at ANSER, even the struggling ones, seem to have an extremely good understanding of what is expected of them, and they put their best effort into the obstacles introduced throughout their time at the school.  Working with the students has given me an extraordinary opportunity to see the difference in educational maturity compared to, for example, various other students in public schools.  I am looking forward to continuing with my research and working with the kids at ANSER.  They have begun to open my eyes to this new style of teaching and learning that, otherwise, I would have been completely ignorant of. 

Web proposal

1.                   The audience that I would like to engage, are those currently active in the teaching process. This may be students trying to get the best education that they can or a teacher/professor. This allows for a large variety of age, but I can assume that dominantly younger educators will be the most willing to tackle a new way of teaching.

2.                  Even though it is broad I feel like anyone who is reflective on their time in a classroom will have experience they can relate to my research. It will be important for me to differentiate the different ideals in teaching, in regards to conventional and more progressive teaching.

3.                When I write anything whether the purpose is to entertain or inform, I like to think of every reader as resistant. This is helpful because it keeps you thinking of how you need to try to pull your reader in, and focus on making sure your content will flow well as to not lose their attention. Those who will most likely be interested are educators looking for better results from their students, and students who are frustrated with the downfalls of teaching in their past.

4.                My sources speak toward better education, and reform in learning for the benefit of our young. In my life experience if there is a topic worth talking about there is always going to be disagreement. Within my topic there is differences in opinion on what the focus should be i.e. teacher, curriculum, or idealogy. Also there are those who say that progressive education is not only not the way of the future, but can even be a hinderance to a child’s learning.

5.                When I visit a website, the most important things to me are visuals and flow. I would like to incorporate humor with pictures, and videos that speak toward my topic. Also in regards to flow, make a website that is intuitive to navigate, allowing easy navigation from one area to the next.

6.     I would like my contribution to be highlighting the fact that education is lacking in some way. I would also like to really bring acrossed how important it is to have students who are critical thinkers and well rounded with the ability to adapt and push this country/world to a better place. What has brought me to these conclusions, has been watching the youth that sometimes “crawls” out of our education system. Those kids who are narrowminded, apathetic, and with very low standards of what they want to accomplish. I recognize the fact that education is only one factor in what will be a deciding factor for changes in youth, but it is one that we can control. You can’t force on people the importance of abstinence, planned families, general morality, and integrity. Hopefully though if we can inform and create more well rounded individuals in the classroom, these issues will naturally be recognized and reintigrated into our society.

Reflective Blog #1

All throughout school I always heard of schools changing there approach of teaching. It was always questions that came up and teachers mention about passing state test and all the requirements and do they really reflect on the lives of students as of in the real world. I'm from Miami,Fl and we had a pretty harsh school system being below state requirement during my time in high school and etc. I really believe every state district teaches different. The same traditional teaching ways but different methods or ways of simplifying a problem depending on the subject. While I'm doing research and attending my service learning I'm observing certain things, comparing them to the way I learned and etc. I always thought it would be beneficial for schools to change there way of learning but now after seeing it at ANSER I have really change my mind, it's really the worse possible choice ever. As I began my first day at ANSWER the kids are really in a different type of comfort zone as anyother type of kids. I'm not sure if thats ANSWER's way of experiential learning but I thought they were in a sheltered world. The biggest surprise was the school stops at 8th grade and most of the things they aquired at ANSER over the next four years will go to waste. The kids my first week didnt really communicate with me, I pictured experiential learning as more hands on constructual things similiar to ANSWER but I felt that teachers babied the students a bit too much. Part of it I believe comes from the school being so small which influences a closer relationship between teacher and stduent. My model of what experiential learning is, is based around ANSER.As I observed many of the kids work so saw many errors. These are middle school kids and I'm not most definitely the smartest person but there were minor spelling, grammar, common sense issues that they should know. I think the idea of really focusing on experiential learning leaves holes in what learning is really about. A good foundation of learning and the basics. None of the kids seemed to have it. Discipline was the first issue, kids get up and leave the class as they pleased. When a issue came up and the teacher asked him to finish typing his paper he wouldnt so she stood next to a middle school student and typed his paper for him.Of course this is only of one school of many that teacheS this way and I'm sure every school like ANSER is different within the school but I'm going off observing ANSER. I felt as if there were so many negativities, and the worse was the teachers letting students have their way and not thinking how it hurts them in the future.

Website Proposal

1. The audience of my subject will be parents, teachers, the community, and anyone who is involved in the school board system. My website will target concerns parents want to know about their children’s future, what their learning in the school system,and how their being taught. Teachers are included in my audience mainly becuase it’s their profession and whatever happens within a school system starts and ends with teachers. The community will also be the audience, people that don’t even have kids always want to know what’s going in their school systems mainly because of taxes. Depending on the age group of students they should be a minor part in the audience because majority of what happens is based on the student outcomes. The students introduce the way of how students want to learn,teaching style, etc.

2. 2)Teachers and parents background play the most significant role in my topic. Teachers background in education play the most important role in getting students to be productive and parents play the role of being involved in students schooling supporting and influencing them. I believe the amount of background information and explanations I include varies.

3.I believe knowing the majority percentage of your childs outcome is beneficial. Whatever type of school system or teaching techniques better your child for a more successful chance at having a career will draw in parents and interest them. I’m not really leaning towards a particular type of teaching. Both I believe are great ways of teaching so I don’t know where my audience will choose to go but I expect them to agree in some way with the result I provide from information and studies.

4.The gist of the conversation sources have been providing are the pros and cons of experiential learning. We have been taught by the same standardized teaching techniques there isn’t much information bashing the basic way of teaching besides the complexity and difficulty of how students struggle learning that way. Experiential learning is a newer approach and hasn’t been studied too much, many have a thought of how it seems to be but there isn’t much research of actual students compared between the two and their outcome. (theroritical opinionate not too many facts)

5.People now-a-days don’t seem to care about the future and what’s seems to be the most beneficial at the time so they do what they feel is best depending on circumstances. I think the best way to grab most people’s attention is through money. Show them how the children’s education one day will affect them whether its taxes and etc. At a time like this many people are out for themselves and it’s hard to get anyone’s attention if it doesn’t have to do with money.

6. The main viewpoint is the pros and cons of experiential learning.

Is it worth it, we’ve been in this system for a while why should we change now? I went through it, you went through it. Before you ever leap into something you always have to know at least where you can benefit from it and there’s always a downfall to something way down the road. I once agreed with experiential learning till I began my service learning and there are a few things that I believe will come to hunt us. Structural things like spelling, grammar, fundamentals that mean the most. Hands on experience is great and we haven’t found any research about it but I believe experiential learning has a bigger downfall then the normal traditional way of teaching.

Annotated Bibliography

Birbalsingh, Katharine. “How can we make our teachers better.” The Telegraph, 24 Nov. 2010, web 3 Mar. 2011

            Katharine Birbalsingh, in an article written for a British newspaper, speaks towards the importance of rigor in schooling for teachers. She calls out the struggle she has with those teachers who are not pulling their weight within the schooling system. What is difficult about teachers not performing is the unionizing of teachers, allows little room for head teachers (principles, administration) to insure their teachers are giving the best effort. This article was an important note to supplement what I have already been researching in regards to a better learning environment. Birbalsingh expresses frustration with lazy or incompetent teachers, this is an important fact to note in our education system. How can we expect students to excel and further their education if there are teachers who are not themselves constantly striving to create a better learning environment? 

Reflective Blog#1

         Walking into the classroom for the first time, I found myself feeling like a child again. I am more mature this time around and have the experience of adulthood but I still had to fight my natural urge to want to seek out the ‘in’ crowd. The kids filed in, interested in their own conversations and thoughts. For the time being, I figured that I would just sit and be an observer. Their little heads seemed filled with thoughts, I had almost forgotten at thirteen that you can feel stress and frustration for the work that you have to do. Even with the weight of the work they had waiting for them though, they all interacted in a jovial and agreeable way. Now that I had observed and gotten a feeling for where the kids are at I decided that I would jump in and see what I could learn from them.

            Their style of learning was something that was very abstract, the first challenge I was going to try to tackle was understanding the math they were doing. This was interesting because it was covering surface area and the ‘wrapping’ thought that accompanies understanding how surface area equates. The interesting thing is I could figure out the problems in the way that I knew how to do it, but I literally couldn’t understand their method of doing the math. We achieved the same results, but they got it in a significantly different way. I have always believed that it is best to learn by different methods, but I usually equate that to how a teacher issues the material, I had not really thought about changing the method of the process all together. After a time of losing myself in a conquest to understand their method, I recognized one of the kids who seemed like he was struggling.

            I decided to abandon my conquest and walked over to him, I asked, “is there anything that I could help you with?”

He looked at me, deliberating whether I was worth asking, and after a second he responded, “why do we need to learn about segregation?”

At this time they were learning about the early years of the country during and post slavery. I let him know that I thought this was a very good question, but I think it is important to think about that for a minute for himself. After a short time of him thinking, I asked if he would explain to me what he had learned about it so far. He began to explain examples in his book and after listening we engaged in a conversation about the benefits of learning from the past, among other things.

            I found these children wildy impressive, both in their comprehension and adaptability. This is the perfect school for me to attend, because the teaching that the students are given, not only seems to be giving them a depth of knowledge, but also their comfortability in changing environments were unreal. There were six students in class and every one I went to was able to clearly bring across their thoughts and didn’t show the timidness, and unease that most children would show meeting new people, especially adults. I am very excited to continue with my service learning and see what I can gain from my interaction with the children of this school. 

Fear....less

"Going To School With Social Anxiety Disorder." Social Anxiety Disorder.net. N.p. N.d. Web. 8 March 2011.


           This article stresses the issues dealing with social anxiety in the classroom.  It explains the many different ways social anxiety may be shown, and also how it effects a students social and academic behavior.  The article reads that many kids won't do school work if it involves asking for help, speaking in front of others, or just generally socializing in any way.  Student's suffer through this anxiety throughout their lives with the risk taken of holding them back from succeeding.  This issue of social anxiety is strongly fought against in the use of self-advocacy.  Many withdraw into this issue for fear of being judged, embarrassed, or even bullied by others.  Self-advocacy promotes one to speak/act out in an attempt to benefit that individual, so that they may succeed in future endeavors.

The Importance of Self-Advocacy in Society

McGovern, Kieran. "Advocacy and Why it's Important." National Kids As Self Advocates. N.d. Web. 8
            March 2011.


           Kieran McGovern expresses the need for self-advocacy among people of any age, gender, or mental/physical ability.  She promotes the use of self-advocacy for the many ways that it revolutionizes modern society.  Self-advocacy has had a major outbreak in the nation recently, and society insists on pursuing it even more.  With it's affect on the way people accomplish simple tasks (such as asking a question in class), get noticed, and generally live a more freedom-filled life, self-advocacy is creeping into schools and other facilities nationwide...making changes for the good!  McGovern examples the issue of a "person with a disability" living on their own; without the use of self-advocacy, that person wouldn't be able to function as well as the rest of society. 

How progressive education hurts the poor and minorities

Nadler, Richard. "Low Class." National Review 50.24 (1998): 31-32. Military & Government Collection. EBSCO. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.

            Richard Nadler speaks against progressive learning, with focus on the poor and minorities. He speaks toward the importance of structure and a moral center in teaching for students who are not receiving either from home. Studies he referenced state that not only was a more didactically centered teaching experience better for youth’s well being, but it also yielded more desirable test results than that of progressive teaching. He makes a claim that progressive education is an elitist form of teaching and may leave minorities and the poor behind. 

Annotated Bibliography 1--March 4

Bondelli, Kevin J. "An Evaluation of the Ineffectiveness of the Traditional Educational System." Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar 2011. .

Bondelli argues that the ‘traditional’ American education system—which he defines as intellectual learning that trains students on how to succeed on standardized tests—is an ineffective and inefficient system of teaching. Teachers are feeling pressured into merely teaching what is on these standard exams rather than establishing connections with their students and addressing their individual needs. Standardized testing is inherently detrimental to the students’ learning experience, and thus the students never truly learn the value of individualized education.

Seldin, Tim. "Montessori and Traditional Education: Philosophical Perspectives and Approaches in Contrast." The International Montessori Council. The Montessori Foundation, 19 Sept 2006. Web. 4 Mar 2011. .

The author writes that the American education system is steering away from a student-based approach to learning and instead focusing on high test scores in an attempt to impose discipline through an authoritarian education. As such, a proposal known as the Montessori Way was pioneered. It is an approach that teaches partnership between teacher and student, respect, and mental health for the student, along with the basic skills. The children learn through real-life application and problem solving. Rather than giving the students the correct answers, teachers much learn how to ask the right questions. The key to this approach is the culture and relationships that develop between students and their peers.

Progressive Education

Zimiles, Herbert. “A Bittersweet Appraisal of Progressive Educatiion”. Society. 2011, Print.

Zimiles writes an article speaking toward the role of progressive education. His emphasis begins with where progressive learnings roots began, which he describes as families wishing a “better” education for their children. The changing landscape of women in the workplace, higher divorce rates, leaves the responsibility on educators. Without the supportive and encouraging family—mother, father—progressive education may not be as effective, but still holds a possibely more important role with increasingly neglected children. 

Annotated Bibilography

Discover learning: YouTube
Dr.Andrew P. Johnson
Minnesota State University

Johnson's video agures the difference between directional instructions and indirectional instructions. His powerpoint simply He doesnt seem to lean to one side or explain if one is more beneficial then the other he simply explains the concept between the two. In his video I believe he doesnt want to bash one or the only or believes that both are good depending on a preference. He explains traditional teaching as more of a toughier way that teaches you in a way of more direct with trying to put students at pacific goals and discovery learning as more powerful and faster. Both have there limitation and of course we know what that is of traditional teaching with students struggling with work and etc. Discovery learning has its downside also creating a bit of chaos and has the role of giving students too much freedom.

Annotated Bibilography 1

David A. Kolb(1984)
Experiential Learning:Experience as the source of learning & development.

Kolb begins his argument of the learning process of experinential learning but in his argument he doesnt seem to compare and contrast the differences between experiential and the basic learning skills were taught. Experiential learning is learning from the a different prospective that emerge in some very different presriptions for the conduct of education, the proper relationship among learning, work, other life activities, and the creation of knowledge fr itself. Kolb has help from the 3 others (Piaget, Dewen, and Lewey) that show the learning models in which the process of how we develop skills through experience. Kolb has researched beyond what has already been research and supported this withwhat I thought was the most significant model of them all. The four cognitive developement steps that start from when your a toddler till you about 15 years old. His research emphasizes the theory of experiential learning is support in the journal by concrete experiences and how the more influenctial in learning.