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Perfect for how today went 😆

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me_irl

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Progress Blog #10

So, I am finally finished with the paper for my research project. It was definitely difficult trying to sort through all of my previous writing assignments and literacy articles to figure out where to make cuts and where I needed to elaborate on other things, but I think I managed to touch on the more important things to get my points across. At first, I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to get ten to fifteen pages worth of stuff out of the information I had collected, but as I was analyzing and writing, I discovered that I actually needed to cut out a bunch of stuff to keep this final assignment from being too long. This project definitely made me realize that there is a lot more to being a literate jailer than was in the job description when I took the job. I will say, though, that I feel I still have a lot more to learn over the next few years in order to be really good at this job.

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Progress Blog #9

Ok so now that I have my first several writing assignments done and a good amount of information from my observations and my interview, I only have a couple more artifacts I want to try and get to look over for the final project and then the hard part begins-sorting through everything to try and piece together something that will convey my message adequately without being way too long and rambling. My plan over the thanksgiving break, I think is going to be printing out all my writing assignments and going over them to figure out what I want to keep for the final paper and going over my other literacy artifacts I want to get and incorporate. From the readings I think I am going to “cut and paste” my related ideas from all my assignments so it will be a bit more cohesive. I have learned a lot from gathering all my information, but now the thought of re-reading and sorting through it all is a bit daunting. Fingers crossed…

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Progress Blog #8

I got writing assignment four typed up. I hope it makes as much sense to the reader as it makes to me, because I have never really been very good at explaining things to people simply. I also hope that it isn’t too rambling on some details-I tend to have issues on knowing how much detail is too much. I actually cut some of the detail of the environment out, mainly because it isn’t really appropriate for this kind of paper, even though it is something all the women who work at the jail have a problem with, from some inmates more than others. Even so, I feel that it is a bit long, considering I only have one interview completed, so I am probably going to be doing a lot of editing, or I may cut the second interview and flesh out the final piece with my literacy articles instead.

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Progress Blog #7

So, I got my first interview for my project done and got the framework for this next writing assignment hand written, now I just have to type everything up and flesh out the outline I have written up. I also have one of my artifacts I want to use, but it’s pretty worn from being folded and unfolded and pulled in and out of my uniform pocket, so I may have to find a new copy that will scan in better so I can include it in my essay. I also need to try and find another artifact I want to use and try and find time to interview the second person for my final essay. I may have to change tactics to get the other interview done, though since the rank at work is trying to change where I work at during shift from being on the floor to staying in bookin where I won’t have as much time with my coworkers as I would like. I’m starting to think that I may have to type up my interview questions and have the other person I want to interview write their responses down for me.

[taterpickle]

Progress Blog #6

I finally got my research proposal finished and all typed up. Having to actually sit down and write out a code of ethics was interesting since it made me think a little more in depth about how I am going to have to approach this research project. I have to get copies of my consent and code of ethics forms printed now so my participants can have them. I wonder if doing face to face interviews will be ok, or if my participants would rather my write out my questions and they can answer them as they have time? I hadn’t actually thought of that option until now. I also wonder now if I need to interview more than the two I included in my research proposal? I think I may need to include at least one more, if she’s willing because she is one of the only two people on my shift that actually knows how to do one part of the intake process. I think adding her may be something I need to do.

[taterpickle]

Progress Blog #5

I did end up deciding to stick with my original idea for the research project. I think I have a decent consent form and code of ethics and I did sort of write out the major bullet points for my paper for this next writing assignment- the question will be, again, can I flesh it out enough to meet the length requirements for the assignment. The biggest thing I still have to do is figure out which of my coworkers I am going to choose to interview for this project-all together on my shift there are about eighteen of us, the same with the other night shift. I know there are some people who have worked extensively in corrections and law enforcement, but we also have several that this is their first job aside from fast food or waiting tables. I think I need to choose one from each group so I can get a more well-rounded view of how people view literacy practices in a jail setting.

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Progress Blog #4

Okay so we’re almost at the end of week two of our group project unit, and I must say that it is turning out a bit better than expected. Although my group members and I had a bit of a hiccup trying to “get together” to go over which ethnography to pick and how to divvy up the topics of the rhetorical analysis, we did get it smoothed out. I am glad that they are both apparently a bit more tech savvy than I am because they sent a link to something I have never used before and it updates all my edits automatically so both of them can see as soon as they open the email. Now I just have to wait for them to complete their parts of the slide show so we can get it turned in on time. Hopefully they get on it in the next couple days because I will be at work when it’s due and won’t have computer access so I will be unable to turn it in if they aren’t done by then. Overall this has been an okay experience as far as online group projects go.

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Progress Blog #3

Well our first week into our group project unit is up and so far, I am unsure how this is going to end since nothing has been done other than me skimming through and narrowing down the list of additional readings to a few for the other group members to choose from. Hopefully they can agree on one of the four I narrowed it down to because I go back to work the 29th when the project is due and will be at work when the deadline passes. Luckily, I am on vacation the rest of the week so I should be able to help them along through Saturday. I was never fond of group projects when I was in face-to-face classes, but this is proving to be much more difficult. From the other group members’ introduction posts, I think two of the four I narrowed it down to will be good choices, but I am unsure of whether they will be able to agree on one. Fingers crossed as we head into week two, I guess.

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Progress Blog #2 Jailhouse Literacy

Okay, so inspiration finally struck during our video lecture, so topic has been chosen for my paper at least. I have the first writing assignment done, but I am not entirely sure that I will be able to expound enough on it for my final project, although I think it’s a catchy title. I chose law enforcement since I work in a jail and get to talk to various agencies everyday at work and my goal is to get out of the jail and go into financial crimes. I think I could probably go a bit further into detail about the nontraditional literacies my job requires, but as far as a research aspect I’m not really sure where to go. Do I include state regulations for my current job or do I try and interview officers that I have come to know from work about how their agencies are different than my own? Also, do I need to include what the state says about licensing requirements for my job on top of what they set as jail standards?

[taterpickle]

Progress Blog Unit 1 #1

So I finally finished the required readings for this unit and I have to say, for the most part, Part III of this textbook is starting out to just be a repeat of Part I, or at least what I remember of reading Part I two years ago for English 1301. I noticed that the main difference in this chapter is that while the broadening of the definition of “literacy” is the same, the reason behind doing so seems to be more based on case studies rather than the reader extrapolating their own expanded definition from a random compilation of short stories. As of right now, I have absolutely no idea what community to even start with for this semester’s project as I am really not in a “fandom” of any sort, nor do I particularly even know where to look to find inspiration for one as other than as required for these English classes, I don’t even use or have social media accounts. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon.

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Unit 3

Reading Response 2

Learning to Serve did a good job detailing many different kinds of literacy events that most people would not necessarily consider to be part of being literate.  Most of us are inundated with what makes a “literate” student – testing well on state standardized exams, composing papers with proper grammar and syntax – from the time we learn our alphabet.  These so-called qualifications for being literate member of society in no way prepare students to be useful in society – these vernacular literacy skills are learned on the job most of the time.  A good example is being a waiter or waitress and needing to be literate in the ways of knowing not only what the menu says the kitchen offers, but also how the components or dishes as a whole are prepared.  Interpersonal skills are probably the most important vernacular literacy skills any one in any sort of customer service based industry can learn.  Someone adept at reading the nuances of micro expressions and body language are going to be better police officers, salesmen, and waiters than those who only worry about being able to read the daily specials to a customer or read the map to get to the crime scene.  Because these are jobs that don’t necessarily require a college education, we are taught that these jobs are not “career” material and should only be stepping stones to better things.  All levels of both vernacular and dominant literacies are necessary for society to function at its fullest capacity. In fact, I feel that my vernacular literacy skills I learned in my time working in food service/customer service, military and sales have made me a more productive member of society than all of the dominant literacy skills I learned in school combined.  While I still strive to improve on my dominant literacy skills, I definitely value all the skills I learned in the real world outside the university.

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Unit 3

Writing Response 1

I found The Coming Apocalypse to be very interesting.  This unit being about different forms of literacy, I immediately thought of the Terminator movies when I read the title.  I will agree with Miller that while the Internet could not have become the thing it is today without previous technological advances – telephones, satellites, radios – its “birth” spawned exponential growth in communication abilities.  Today, anyone can talk to anyone else almost instantaneously via text messages, emails, or various social media platforms. One hundred years ago, the pony express or the telegraph were the norm and telephones hadn’t really become all that commonplace yet. I remember when we got our first cordless phone, and a couple years later my mom got a bag phone for her car since she was working home health at the time. When dial up internet finally made its way to our house in the late 1990s, we thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.  After that it seems is when the web started its hostile takeover of society.  Within just a few years, we went from nobody owning cell phones or having call waiting and answering machines to everyone old enough to walk having a cell phone.  We have also seen a steep decline in face-to-face interactions because everyone “can just do it online.”  This is probably the one thing I hate about the most about technology – it has completely dehumanized society to the point where everyone wants instant gratification, nobody cherishes personal interactions anymore and the obsession with social media has brought out the narcissist in everyone.  Reading this excerpt made me realize that I really wish we could go back prior to the giant that is the internet to when people actually acted human instead of behaving a certain way just to get the most “likes” on social media.

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Unit 2 Response 2

Reading Response 2.2

 “Fashioning Lives” really made me think about the lack of diversity in most peoples’ everyday lives, mine included. In high school, the student body was roughly 55% black and Hispanic and about 40% white (the other 5% was Asian.)  My neighborhood growing up was and even my current neighborhood is almost completely white.  This is something I never realized because of two reasons:  I have never seen race as a dividing factor and I really don’t ever leave the house unless I have to go to work or take the kids to school and daycare.  Now that I think about it though, the only thing that really offers any diversity to my neighborhood is the economic class that everyone belongs to – most of us are working class, some are low income working class, and there are a few that more white collar. 

I also ran into several terms that I had to look up because I had either never heard them or I had not seen them used in the context that Pritchard used them in.  For example, I had only ever heard jezebel used in reference to sexually promiscuous women or briefly referenced in Bible study growing up and never as a racial slur.  Also, I had heard queer as a derogatory word or to describe something that out of the ordinary, but I was not aware that it was a distinct identifier of one’s sexual orientation.

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Unit 2

Reading Response 2.1

Reading Response 2.1

  “Confronting Class in the Classroom” made me consider things I had never really given much thought to in the past.  For example, I never really made the connection between the “disruptive” students and the ones that teachers deemed “acceptable” and their corresponding societal class.  

Part of that may be because I always related more to the “disruptive” group – it wasn’t until I was around eleven or twelve that I realized my family’s ranking as working-class was why I had trouble fitting in with the “acceptable” group of kids at school.  One instance that has stuck with me was when my dad was dropping me off at a birthday party. He was talking to the mother of girl throwing the party about what he did for a living and her response to him saying he was a machinist was, “Ooooh, you do shift work.”  Needless to say, that was the last party any of the popular kids ever invited me to.

I was very quiet, introverted and studious in school because I knew that if I ever wanted to go to college, I had to get scholarships because there would be no handouts from my parents to get a degree.  To save enough money to cover what my scholarships wouldn’t, I enlisted in the National Guard when I was seventeen and during the summer between semesters I worked two to three jobs.  Even now, if it weren’t for my military education benefits, I wouldn’t be able to afford to be going back to school.  Hooks stated that the things that separate us (race, class, sex) can be catalysts to our drive to overcome obstacles.  This is one reason, aside from the obvious patriotic love of country, that I decided to join the military – being a small female (and the first female in my family to enlist) in a very large, predominantly male family with old fashioned gender role views, I was made to feel that I would never make it through basic training much less any subsequent deployments or fulfilling my eight-year contract.

One of the biggest influences I have noticed that class differences make in the classroom is everyone walking on eggshells to avoid offending anyone that is part of one a different class.  We are indoctrinated to believe that there is only one way to think, speak and act in the classroom and in public and anything that goes against that is to be feared, rejected, and the offenders must be reprimanded until they conform to “the way things are.” 

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What do you think?