Am sitting in on my advisor’s seminar on virtual world’s right now, back at the old hitching post, and thinking about how split I am between two worlds in some ways. I really ended up doing a dual doctorate — in literacy, but also in technology and social theory and while there is significant overlap and I work mostly in the generative space where they intersect, I have gone back to a world of much literacy and it is good to remember the technology world too. These student projects on Second Life are quite good, and they come at learning from the perspective of wanting to integrate an existing technology tool first, instead of beginning with learning or literacy goals. Yet virtual worlds are much the stuff of fun and gaming, and to hook to some of the rich thinking and writing Gus has been doing — does it make sense to co-opt these spaces for learning? In another sense, would I ever try to use myspace for learning in a classroom (other than as an example of the kinds of new literacies students experience and find valuable)?
My undergrads are in the midst of doing presentations to the Joint Subcommittee on Teenagers and Technology to convince legislators that technologies like MySpace and Facebook are not the threats the media make them out to be. OK, I made up the assignment as an opportunity to work on rhetorical and argumentative strategies as well as comprehending and analyzing information found online, but the presentations are good and the students are serious about the topic. I told them that a government subcommittee is considering restricting access to sites like Facebook and MySpace to ages 21 and up and that they needed to come up with a counter-argument. (I did, later, tell them it was a hypothetical situation — I just needed to get them fired up first. Motivation is hard to come by this late in April. Frightening your audience is a trick I learned from my father and boy, is it effective if used only sparingly).
As they worked on their presentations and then presented them, I have gotten a glimpse into their lives and MySpace pages, as well as the running joke Tom (the founder of MySpace) has become. These sites are increasingly essential to students — one has over 800 friends linked to hers and told me that losing it would make her want to “kill myself.” Another showed me his and then changed his background to show his gang allegiance, connecting to a discussion we had earlier this month about gangs and the music industry and helping me clarify which gangs were more active in this area. Their sincerity, passion, and the sheer amount of work some of them put into their pages was astounding and interesting, by far the most active I had seen some of them at that time in the morning over the course of the semester. It reminded me why I want to study things from their perspective as well as how different their literacy practices are from the practices most classes require of them. As I come up with more ways to bridge those practices, I think I see more success and more buy-in from marginalized, or disinterested students. Lots to think about here.
Also to think about –
Their choices to make a profile hidden (by pretending to be under 15) or not
The ongoing joke Tom the founder has become, and how some of the students took him and others off their friends list whereas other students never removed anyone from their friends section
Creating pages to honor a person’s passing, or an event
Now companies and advertisers creating pseudo-pages to link to a product or person. Example: pages for characters for Clerks 2
Just came back from the last meeting of the new faculty cohort, where a chosen spokesperson from each college here summed up “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” of the first year here. Made me think about this, my first year as Dr. C, and how it’s all gone so here it goes and here is mine:
The Good:
-Chris. Definitely the best thing that happened to me this year. My sweet boy and his love-ing one-eyed dog.
-My students and my classes, most of the time. I never end a class without having learned something from them, or without being surprised and impressed or shown a different perspective. There are classes that don’t go all that well, but usually the fault lies completely with me trying to control things too tightly or not being prepared enough or not listening or being scattered….. so it goes.
-My town. I have fallen in love with my little town filled with beautiful homes and quaint shops, old gnarled trees and lots of park.
The Bad:
-I didn’t get nearly enough written and sent out for publication. I know I should have done more, should still be doing more and every to-do list I fill out has research and writing tasks listed on it. Every day is a new day.
-Budgeting. Hmmmm. Still learning this one too.
The Ugly
-The migraines and the stuff coming out of my nose since surgery. I have not had a migraine since April 6. That is 18 days. That is the longest since last fall. I am praying and knocking wood and not walking on cracks and doing anything I can to try to keep that going.
Well, when I look through all of that, I know it could be much much worse and I am so very glad for the things that have worked out. Hell, I also have a clear plan for what to work on next. That’s good too.
And soon it is summer and Chris and I move in together…. Oh? I haven’t told you? *wicked grin*
Am going through students papers and listening to NPR and there’s an interview on with two recent children’s book authors.
One has written:
Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!
The other has written one not yet out (or else I can’t find it) called Why Mommy is a Democrat. Are we kidding? First of all, how easy is it to explain to a small child the concept of Republican/Democrat without devolving into a discussion of good guys/bad guys — thereby oversimplifying a complex and important concept? This isn’t just about good and bad but why people believe the things they do and plenty of good people choose conservative positions on some issues (abortion for religious beliefs for example) and liberal positions on others (welfare for the same reasons). How do you explain that when you’ve already portrayed liberals as monsters or Republicans as uncaring, capitalist fiends? It’s just not that simple, whether you or anyone else would like it to be and teaching children a complicated, multihued issue in the black and white format of a picture book is a moronic idea.
Think I will write my own. Help! Kids! There Are Idiots In My Country!
What do you think?
How to Save the World
I think I blogged this before, but the books and articles on this list are going to be a good part of my summer reading list (the part that is non-academic, although if I can make the crossover, I certainly will). The world is changing, not for the better, and while we have the intelligence and moral capacity to make the right decisions, I’m not sure we have the cojones (look it up).
Come along and read with me?
The Good Earth — made me want to visit China
White Noise — such a siren song for our times
Possession — because some people DO love 18th century poets
Rebecca — Gothic romances got me through middle school, damn it
The Magic Mountain — I’ve been thinking about invalids
Complete Sherlock Holmes — got me started on puzzles
The Optimist’s Daughter — let’s just say it made sense
Thinking about a few things this morning — the holiday and what it means, both religiously and in a secular sense (the Easter bunny came and left chocolate! Yay!); the beginning of Spring; my graduation in a month; my slow recovery from surgery (I still have to wear the bandage at least half of the day). Seems like things are moving in the right direction, maybe more slowly than I would like, but going the right way. This is good.
And for your amusement, here is Spenser:
I’m sitting here, grading papers and I come across one (as I do with every assignment, in every class) that is just out in left field. This is a good thing, I think — it means I don’t know everything about my students, that not all the papers are rote mimicry of what they think I want to hear. My students are an interesting bunch and the one I have in front of me is arguing against the death penalty using her faith but because she is lately here from an African country I don’t want to name (some sort of anonymity would be good, I think), her take on it is interesting, different. Her writing is strong but more than that, her perspective is so interesting that it stops me and makes me think. Yes, the paper doesn’t exactly fit the requirements but I want and need to find out how papers are written where she is from (she’s only been here since January) and moreover, I just want to find out how she went about writing it — handwritten, in beautiful handwriting, her pen pressing so hard that the paper is light and crinkly to the touch.
Usually the out in left field papers make me wonder about the sleep deprivation of the student. This one makes me want to learn more from her. Is the death penalty used in her country? And how do students write persuasive research papers? What kind of format do they use? What are the requirements and how is it taught? It’s a rare chance for me to learn a new way through her — and I need to be careful to understand how she is shifting from one system to another while still holding her to the same high expectations I have of the rest of the class (they love that, too. Let me tell you).
hmmmmmmmmm….
The surgery went fine, I didn’t react badly to the anesthetic and am doing OK so far. My face and head ache and I have gauze taped to my face for the dripping, something I hope will stop sooner rather than later. Mostly I’m just tired and wondering how I’m going to get all the work done I want and need to get accomplished while still sleeping most of the time.
And Hugh Laurie is still damned sexy and Chris has taken wonderful care of me. The man is pure gold and deserves any and everything I can cook up to pay him back. Who knew snot came in so many colors?
Five things likely to make you happier in the short term
So simple, too. I would only add:
Take a photo
Hug a stuffed animal
Cook something fun and complicated and don’t care how it comes out
Throw a slumber party
Go for a night hike
Play tackle football with good friends
Play anything with children and *really* listen and watch them
What would you add?
