A brief side note

On my way back from Portland after Thanksgiving break, I sat next to an elderly gentleman named Bill on a rickety propeller plane going into Seattle. I quickly learned that Bill was a superintendent for a school in Alaska and while our conversation started off through comfort during my anxiety for takeoff, it rapidly turned into a personal conversation. Bill told me all about life in Alaska, and I similarly told him of my life in California, Oregon and Montana.

After an hour of non-stop conversation we landed safely in Washington and Bill gave me a relaxed wink along with his business card. He told me that if I was ever looking for a teaching job, or a friend in Alaska, I could always look him up.

What stuck me most about this experience was not the job opportunity that he had "promised" he would give me if I came searching, but rather, the friendly manner in which we conversed. This is why I love language--this is why I love conversation. Being in the air, with absolutely no internet service at all, offered me a chance to get to know someone I otherwise would never have conversed with. Throughout this entire flight I did not once turn on my I-pod, my computer or even so much as open a book because I was so engrossed with our conversation. Not only was I suddenly fascinated with his life, but it was obvious that he had taken a keen interest in mine as well. I made a friend that day--not through facebook photos of my "normal" life or through witty text messages that were considerably thought out...but through actual face-to-face conversation. No pauses for intelligent responses, no fake personalities and no force. What I search for most, what makes me happiest in life, are these brief encounters with strangers that leave a startling aftermath within me. Conversation that is genuine is the most significant part of human interaction.

Today I emailed Bill on the screen name that he put on his card with no other intention but to say hello and to thank him for the engaging conversation that we shared during our fifty minute flight. This interaction left me thinking about the lasting effects that language and conversation can have in the most   unplanned situations--it also gave me the boost I needed in order to truly grasp the enthusiasm I need when facing the topics of this class.

Project Proposal Part 2

For my final project I would like to write a research paper on the effects that technology has on language. Since our discussion in class I now know that I need to approach this paper without a bias or conclusion in mind when going into it. Rather, I would like to observe the change in our language due to technology, without saying if it is a bad or good change. Some changes I expect to see are shorter conversations, more abbreviations and the invention of new words/slang.

I wrote a paper previously on the effects of technology on empathy and when writing that paper I noticed a cross over between empathy and language. That is what sparked my interest in this topic. For what is empathy without the ability to express it through language? My first paper on empathy and technology, which I wrote for Kevin O'neill's class, revved my interest so much that I am very excited to be exploring it further.

I have chosen to write a research paper because I think that I will be able to get the most out of the project this way.  I believe there will be many articles on the web about my topic and I have also found a few books related to it as well. I believe I will be able to produce the most information this way. That being said, some of my research may include a few short interviews with people. I have not fully decided yet, but I may include a few quotes in my essay from questions I ask people.

Some questions I have about my project are:

• Is anyone doing a project similar to mine, and would they like to try and pair up for some of it? 
• Kirk, do you want me to draw a conclusion of my own in the end? Or remain completely objective throughout the entire paper? 
• Is there any way to narrow down my topic so that it doesn't turn into a twenty page paper? 

Close Reading/ Proposal Idea

Close Reading of The Common Core:

Paragraph Chosen: Research and media skills blended into the Standards as a whole

• ·      He uses a blend of vernacular and specialist language. His choice of words at times is very casual yet he will also throw in very factual scientific and technical words or phrases.
• ·      He uses fancy phrases like “in like fashion” where one otherwise would probably just use the vernacular word “similarly”.
• ·      He is saying it is a social good to familiarize yourself with many different forms of technology and in order to become successful one is going to need to “produce and consume media”.
• ·      He is trying to create an action out of his words by informing students what they need to learn to be successful in today’s society. By writing about this subject, he is hoping it will motivate students to focus on the right subjects and in turn will eventually create action. This is like Gee’s idea that language is about saying, doing and being.
• ·      In the beginning of the paragraph he uses very specific language: “college”, “technological society”, “students”, “workforce training”.
• ·      Towards the end his language gets a little bit more vague: “extensive range of print”, “consume media”, “standards”. These words are very open for many different forms of interpretation. Instead of specifically naming things he uses a very broad definition in order to cover a wide range of topics in one sentence.

Thoughts on proposal idea:

I am not entirely sure if this topic is too broad for the ideas we have discussed in class, but I was thinking about discussing the idea of technology and the role in plays with changing our societies language. In short—I believe that the constant use of texting and facebooking, etc. is condensing our societies thoughts. We interact in short brief sentences, we abbreviate, and we speak in terms of what we think people want to hear, rather than how we actually feel. Rather than offer long advice to a friend, we opt for a short response, similar to how we would text, because we believe that no one will listen past a sentence or two. Similarly, rather than tell a friend how you are doing in detail, we usually respond in one word replies—good, bad, okay. I believe that the classroom is the last place where real discussions take place on a daily basis and I believe that it is one of the few places where people truly express their ideas in great length. I would want to write a paper on this idea. A lot of this is just my own opinion so I am not yet sure how to incorporate research in it (if that is even a requirement). I feel really passionately about this idea so I hope that it follows the basic guidelines!  

Make those shy kids speak up!

One thing that stuck out to me when reading the transcripts aloud was just how much student participation there was. I had gone into this project expecting to see one student dominate the conversation while everyone else steered clear of having their voice recorded--but that wasn't the case at all. In the class that I recorded, the teacher barely even talked for more than a sentence before the students jumped in, eager to participate.

This project was really interesting to me because when reading the transcripts I had absolutely no idea what was even going on and could probably hardly even summarize the topic. Yet when other students in our class read them out loud with different voices and tones it made it much easier for me to follow along. I found it interesting just how much adding a voice can make sense of something that would otherwise be gibberish. Perhaps I should start reading difficult homework assignments out loud more often...

The most difficult thing about this assignment was reflecting on the idea of how to set up a classroom in order to let the discussions flow more easily. I have never been a fan of circle seating because personally I feel like it hinders the readiness for students to speak up because all eyes are on them. The fact that one can't look anywhere without meeting a dozen expectant gazes has always been why I have trouble speaking up in class. However, when reading over the transcripts it really surprised me to see that most of the classrooms were set up in a circular fashion and almost every student was more than willing to discuss freely. This made me re-think whether or not seating formation is really the problem or if a students shyness will stay with them no matter what the seating arrangement is. I definitely think it helps discussions when the teacher is willing to either take a step back and see where the conversation will go or be able to converse as casually as the students do. I have had teachers be extremely strict in high school with letting the students openly discuss and most of the time they would cut off the conversation without even realizing that it could lead to something they never considered before. To me, I think the best questions and issues arise when one stops trying to control and confine the discussion with strict limitations. "Gregging" may not provide the most useful information, but it creates a comfortable environment when one is willing to share a humorous anecdote and it allows students to loosen up and become more engaged. With a comfortable atmosphere students will talk more and if they are not cut off to quickly a teacher may be happily surprised at the genius that can come out of the most unlikely discussion.