Years later... another new project
Just started a new grad class at SNHU on Rhetoric and Composition. Part of our (extra) assignments is to create a public blog, so here goes!
April 26, 2015 - Road trips and Reflections
Dear Journal,
Memories of childhood…Road trips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TeurBFZGNI
(Just the Country Roads part.)
Yesterday, we took a road trip to Vermont with the two fuzzies. Lilly was glued to the window, and Stry had his nose as close as he could get it to the sunroof, he’s not physically a big dog, nostrils rapidly jitter-bugging with new smells. I was thinking about this Reflection and how experiences vary. Both the dogs were actively engaged in a kind of reading. Lilly’s a sight hound, so she was coursing the landscape. Stry’s main sense is smell, and he was creating a travel log of all new experiences. Likewise, my two writing formative experiences are non-formal. The first was having an author friending my blog over a decade ago, because she liked my writing. The second was the period of late 2012. My 49 year old husband had a left sided stroke. He lost almost all capacity for language. Both these teachers continue to inspire, give me new ways to look at the world and make me feel like I can do anything, no matter how improbable.
This is my goal for myself as a friend, mentor and wannabe teacher. Echoing another student this week, I also want to bring everything back to students, and meet the students wherever on the road they are. Along mine, I’ve been gifted with wonderful instructors, challenging course materials and many great groups of students to work with. It’s hard to pick one or two notable events , but much like getting lost in a high rise in Chicago at the age of three, the first one that sticks in my mind is our Department head yelling at me in an email, “Very good but MUCH TOO LONG.” I seemed to have 8-10 pages as a natural length but not after that. The most recent is easy, dear journal. It is last term, writing that 20 page paper for a 12-15 page exam, in my professor’s area of specialty and having her say, “This is very good. With more work, I think it’s publishable.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm94FmRX6c0
The good and bad both continue to inspire, in different ways. Most of my teaching experience is one-to-one and not Formal.
(1986-7) SOSU, Durant, OK-tutoring Icelandic students in their required English classes;
(1987-present.) Various locations. Parent, one now tall son. In addition to traditional parenting, this often involves writing help-- from research reports, to college application essays, to more recently, resumes and job application letters, geared to audience;
(1994-2008) NYSNA, Albany, NY. Training of seven person revolving door staff in communication, correspondence, micro-soft Office products and use of a proprietary AS400 database;
(2008-2013) Russell Sage College, Troy, NY. Writing Studio Mentor. Literacy Volunteers.
Journal, I know this is early in our reflections together but writing all this down has me thinking about different people’s experiences and needs are. I’ve worked, mainly, with students from other countries or colleagues who have no formal training in areas that they need to be successful in their jobs. Tonight, I was sitting in on a student committee for graduate students in speech pathology organizing their annual scholarship fund raiser, and thinking about how teaching and learning occur everywhere. I was also thinking about how to apply composition, visual rhetoric and creative approaches to help them achieve their goals. There’s always ways to find wings. That’s what I want to do.
To Be Continued…
Ang
Works Cited
Chickenamengo. “Keep Calm and Believe in Flying Pigs.” February, 2014. http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-believe-in-flying-pigs-2/. 26 April, 2015. Web.
Taylor, James. “Country Roads.” Originally released in Sweet Baby James. 1970. Version: Carole King and James Taylor Live at The Troubador. (2007.) Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TeurBFZGNI. 27 April, 2007. Web.
April 26, 2015 - Road trips and Reflections
Dear Journal,
Memories of childhood…Road trips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TeurBFZGNI
(Just the Country Roads part.)
Yesterday, we took a road trip to Vermont with the two fuzzies. Lilly was glued to the window, and Stry had his nose as close as he could get it to the sunroof, he’s not physically a big dog, nostrils rapidly jitter-bugging with new smells. I was thinking about this Reflection and how experiences vary. Both the dogs were actively engaged in a kind of reading. Lilly’s a sight hound, so she was coursing the landscape. Stry’s main sense is smell, and he was creating a travel log of all new experiences. Likewise, my two writing formative experiences are non-formal. The first was having an author friending my blog over a decade ago, because she liked my writing. The second was the period of late 2012. My 49 year old husband had a left sided stroke. He lost almost all capacity for language. Both these teachers continue to inspire, give me new ways to look at the world and make me feel like I can do anything, no matter how improbable.
This is my goal for myself as a friend, mentor and wannabe teacher. Echoing another student this week, I also want to bring everything back to students, and meet the students wherever on the road they are. Along mine, I’ve been gifted with wonderful instructors, challenging course materials and many great groups of students to work with. It’s hard to pick one or two notable events , but much like getting lost in a high rise in Chicago at the age of three, the first one that sticks in my mind is our Department head yelling at me in an email, “Very good but MUCH TOO LONG.” I seemed to have 8-10 pages as a natural length but not after that. The most recent is easy, dear journal. It is last term, writing that 20 page paper for a 12-15 page exam, in my professor’s area of specialty and having her say, “This is very good. With more work, I think it’s publishable.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm94FmRX6c0
The good and bad both continue to inspire, in different ways. Most of my teaching experience is one-to-one and not Formal.
(1986-7) SOSU, Durant, OK-tutoring Icelandic students in their required English classes;
(1987-present.) Various locations. Parent, one now tall son. In addition to traditional parenting, this often involves writing help-- from research reports, to college application essays, to more recently, resumes and job application letters, geared to audience;
(1994-2008) NYSNA, Albany, NY. Training of seven person revolving door staff in communication, correspondence, micro-soft Office products and use of a proprietary AS400 database;
(2008-2013) Russell Sage College, Troy, NY. Writing Studio Mentor. Literacy Volunteers.
Journal, I know this is early in our reflections together but writing all this down has me thinking about different people’s experiences and needs are. I’ve worked, mainly, with students from other countries or colleagues who have no formal training in areas that they need to be successful in their jobs. Tonight, I was sitting in on a student committee for graduate students in speech pathology organizing their annual scholarship fund raiser, and thinking about how teaching and learning occur everywhere. I was also thinking about how to apply composition, visual rhetoric and creative approaches to help them achieve their goals. There’s always ways to find wings. That’s what I want to do.
To Be Continued…
Ang
Works Cited
Chickenamengo. “Keep Calm and Believe in Flying Pigs.” February, 2014. http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-believe-in-flying-pigs-2/. 26 April, 2015. Web.
Taylor, James. “Country Roads.” Originally released in Sweet Baby James. 1970. Version: Carole King and James Taylor Live at The Troubador. (2007.) Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TeurBFZGNI. 27 April, 2007. Web.