Friday, September 30, 2011

Discourse Analysis...

Define discourse and discourse analysis, discuss how it might be useful to you as a method.


I feel like the two chapters in the book flew right over my head.  


I am having a lot of trouble with discourse/discourse analysis.  Again, it was like reading another language :( .
I think that discourse is writing in a certain way to understand.  It is language in use.  It is the changing of one's writing depending on the purpose and audience.  For example, I would not write my academic papers the way I text so, I am changing my discourse.  It is an approach to write or to speak a certain way that is acceptable to society.  It is ways people approach, adopt, and adapt the language in response to the different locations and situations.


There are two forms of levels in discourse: macro which is the broad view:  cultures, ethnicity, politics and micro: 'face to face' which is close interactions, immediate interactions, and social events.  


Discourse analysis is studying language in context during a literacy event.  It is the study and research of discourse a certain classroom, in this case, is.


From what I got out of pages 24-30 with the first graders, I think that the literacy event can view it in two ways: macro and micro.  If the researcher views it in the micro way, they will view it as one of the children being quite, bossy, etc and the macro would be cultural or racial reasons for what went on in the literacy event.   


Discourse can  be used as a noun and verb.   A noun meaning language in use and a verb meaning it becomes an action that a person or group of people take with others; 'she as discoursing him as a hero' which means she was using language to define him as a hero.


I have some questions since I a confused.  

  • How exactly does one study discourse?  
  • I do not get how one can use discourse as a research method.  
  • What is the researcher researching?  
Because I do not understand it fully, I cannot say discuss how it might be useful to you as a method.


Monday, September 26, 2011

The research/writing process of my idea...

Describe the research/writing process (make a writing/research plan) you would use to complete the creative project we started in class.  Begin with the steps we covered [writing to a prompt, discussion with peers, clustering, talk with peers, freewriting (more talk) . . . .] and go from there.  You can use the pattern described in Pope's essay on composing "Teacher Training" - or you can write something that more characteristic of how you write & what you would do to get the best results.


Creative 


The project I started in class was about a passed boyfriend who passed away in a car accident.  I had other ideas listed but I thought I was able to talk about this topic the most.  It is not like I am still dwelling but there are so many aspects of this topic that I could cover, I can write a research paper that would be 1,000 pages long.
This paper would not be about a person, but about everything that revolves around a person and terrible situation...kind of hard to explain...
MY RESEARCH PLAN:

  1. Writing a prompt..to write about a hard time in my life, the strength I had to have in order to get through school and work, etc.), pro's and con's of a death (it is terrible to say), how this death made me a stronger person in general, what I learned from this experience, and how I have made it since.
  2. Discussion with peers, talk about ideas that might work/might not work.
  3. Clustering:  When I clustered in class today, I had so much to point out, I ran out of room.  
  4. Talk with peers about my clustering ideas.  What are important points?  What are points that should not be in this paper?  Are there any to leave out?  What can I add?
  5. Freewriting:  today, I was freewriting until my hand hurt; again, I had so much to write about.  When I was freewriting, I noticed that a story started to build and at the same time, my ideas were scattered but all came together at the end.  I would have to organize better later on.
  6. Some more talk about my freewriting.  How can I organize this freewrite in such a way that I can start my PAPER?
  7. Freewriting focus, where I would free write about my focus (to write about a hard time in my life, the strength I had to have in order to get through school and work, etc.), pro's and con's of a death (it is terrible to say), how this death made me a stronger person in general, what I learned from this experience, and how I have made it since.  
  8. Next, I would start 'getting out there' to research.  I would interview my parents, sister, and grandparents about my reactions during the grieving process since I do not remember much (this death happened 3 years ago).  I would also interview his mother.
  9. I could go to his grave or the accident site, this would bring back memories and true emotions to make the paper better.
  10. As for composing the research paper, once I got the appropriate research information, I would break up the different aspects of what I will be talking about in the paper.  Before each part of each aspect, I would do what Pope did, sort of.  I would use a quote or episode from the past that had to do with each different aspect of the research paper.
  11. Once I had what I think might be my final paper, I would definitely have peer review and workshop.  I would love to hear more about what people think of my final paper.  Can it be revised in a certain way that would make it better?  How?  I would get ideas and other people's opinions.  
I have a feeling this would be a great topic to write about.




Saturday, September 24, 2011

My three research projects...

AS A FUTURE TEACHER, the three possible research projects that I would possibly do would be the following:
  • Internet and Children
The focus for 'Internet and Children' would be: does the internet make children smarter and does it socialize children more?  If it does socialize them, is it better than face to face socialization?
Where? (not sure what where means)  I would do this research project in a setting where children and the internet are.  I can go to someone's home and research the way the internet causes the child to socialize and if the internet causes the child to be smarter than he or she would be without the internet.
When?  I would do this research during the school year because children use the computer for school work.  Also, children might socialize more during the school year with friends since they are seeing them everyday in class.  I think that I would be able to get the most information when the child is using the internet the most out of the year.
How?  Methods I could use to research internet and children would be ethnography, interviewing (parents, children), and visual analysis.   Once I obtain my information/research, I can talk about the differences between children who use the internet and children who do not use the internet.  I can compare and contrast so that the focus can be 'brought to life':  does the internet make children smarter and does it socialize children more?
Would I be able to actually compare and contrast children who use the internet and do not?  Are there even children who DO NOT use the internet nowadays?  I think that would be somewhat of a problem.  I could always research information from the past when children did not have access to computers!...then talk about then and now.  


I would also do book research for 'internet and Children'.  I would go to a library before I started anything to get information relevant to my topic and purpose.  I can always interview parents of children who use the internet.  I can also observe the way children act on the internet versus face to face (as said before).  
  • No Child Left Behind Act
The focus for 'No Child Left Behind Act' would be:  is this law working or isn't it?
How?  The methods I could use for this research topic would be ethnography, interviewing (teachers, parents), and visual analysis.  Once I gathered my information, I can talk about children who were left behind and who were not left behind, the problems each had, etc.  My goal would be to prove or make an inference if whether or not the No Child Left Behind law actually works.  I can go to the library and research books on this topic.  I am sure there is much information on this topic since this is a controversial issue.  I can interview parents and see how they feel about this law, as well.  All of this should be done before I start to write.
  • Spanking
The focus for 'Spanking' would be: should spanking be outlawed or not. What does spanking really do to children?
How?  The methods I could use for this research topic would be ethnography, interviewing (children, parents), and visual analysis.  I could always read auto/biographies about a person who was spanked as a child and read about if or at all this person was affected.  With all my information I gather, I would be able to explain the pros and cons of spankings, if any person was severely affected, etc.  My goal would be the same as the last two ideas:  to make my purpose come to life.  Should children be spanked?  Does spanking harm children physically, mentally, emotionally?  I can go to the library and do book research about incidents/statistics/facts on this topic.  Again, this should be done before writing.  

Some general questions I have for all of these ideas:
Yes, I have written down various methods I can use, but
1.  How can I use these methods to actually do research?  It seems that obtaining research for these ideas is hard to do.  I would like to know how I can obtain sufficient information to support my point and focus for the project.



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

"What Young Children Teach Us About Literacy Learning"

What Young Children Teach Us About Literacy Learning – Catherine Maderazo


By sitting down and scanning through this article, I was able to obtain the following information. (Not sure)  I feel like I do not have enough information to write so that this blog is 'good' enough but here goes...


Purpose:  The author's purpose was probably to tell what young children know about literacy and how they come to know it.  Even though society teaches us that children usually are known to know less than adults.  Children can also teach adults new things i.e. children's work which is photocopied into the article.


Process:  (From flipping and looking through the pages) The author's process was probably putting children's work into the article and then explaining the child's work.  Children's work was photocopied into the book as an  example and then the author explained the picture/image.  There were various lessons that were explained based on the children's work.


Sources:  The author probably studied her children's work or other children's work.  She might have gone to a classroom to get children's work to study.  This person (I think she is a teacher) might have used her knowledge as a teacher to explain the children's work.  


In terms of methods, she used ethnographics, observations, and visual analysis.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Livingstone: ethnography



The research essay that I found most relevant to my interests and career goals is ethnography.  Ethnography is a research method in which you as the researcher are a participant in the group you are observing.  So, a person must play two roles in order to get his or her information.  This is a good research method for my future career as an education of young children because it is important to get the best one on one experience and information as possible.  For example, in the Moreno essay, when she used ethnography, she was the leader of the class and she also observed what the students had to say about her topic of interest (people came to the school with different cultures, then the school tells them to write only one way).  She was able to experience what they students were experiencing from the best perspective-a teacher, first-hand experience.  As a teacher, I would like to find information out right on the scene of things happening-pretty interesting.  It is best for my to learn something first hand.

In the future, I will definitely encounter problems in my classroom.  Some children will have problems in different subjects, some children will find certain subjects boring, etc.  My goal as a teacher is to make the learning experience fun and also effective.  So, I would observe and research why a particular problem is happening, then do my best to make things better for the class.   

I found that this research method would suit my interest because as I have said previously, I find it interesting to research a person or theory through the person.  In other words, I like how the research method is mostly live.  The researcher is researching the group of people she is studying about talk and act.  

Within this piece, the genre expectations (to the best of my abilities) are as follows:  

Ethnographics is a genre of writing common in the social sciences.  Ethnography is usually organized in step by step, simple manner.  First, an introduction is written which identifies the problem, places the problem within research, and discuss the research of the specific topic.  Then, the context is next, then the analysis of the data, and then finally the conclusion which wraps up everything.  Ethnograpy is usually written for  a group of a particular culture, customs, beliefs, and behavior, based on information collected through research. Ethnography can also be used like a case study or field work.  

Sunday, September 11, 2011

blog 1 questions for flattery

I did not write the questions I had for the other groups essay.


1. Was the reason she killed the man was to show that women as well as men are able to do such horrid things?


2.  Was it that she wanted to make a point about men versus women?


3. Did the pharmacy ignore her reasoning as to why she was buying the poison because they knew she was going to use it to kill?  It says it the essay, "Finally they created a situation in which they became the criminals?"  If they knew the reason why she was buying the poison, why did they choose not to further question her?


4.  What kind of research method/methodologies were used?

MORENO





The first main point of this essay was to discuss how race, ethnicity, culture, and language could affect the way bi cultural people learn in classrooms daily.  I am not a bi cultural student, but I notice that in my classrooms, bi cultural students struggle more-not because they have problems understanding the assignment, but because the teacher/professor is not open minded and expect a paper to be written one way and one way only.  The students must stay in the box and not go out of it.  These bi cultural students know of different ways to write depending on what culture they are from; when they have an assignment to complete, they have to follow strict guidelines or else they receive a failing grade.  I knew that some bi cultural people had issues with writing but did not know that it is so wide spread that people (Moreno) are actually conducting studies for proof of how terrible and unfortunate it is for bi cultural students.  


Another main point in this essay is that many of the students want to have individuality during their everyday life-which is how it should be.  When writing, these people want to be able to express themselves through writing.  If it means that they write the way they were taught or the way they speak, so be it.  It is not that they do not know the proper way to write and speak, but this is the way he or she was brought up in his or her specific culture.  In a way, these bi cultural students are 'saving' their culture from becoming extinct.  Moreno states, "By reclaiming native languages that evolve over time, culture is created and hope for society is realized."  If these bi cultural students did not reclaim their native language, soon enough, it would become instinct.  Moreno also implies that without different languages and cultures, what is society?  By reclaiming languages and writing through individuality, it allows differences in people and society-which is a good thing.  Colleges and universities should not force American students and bi cultural students to write one way and one way only or else a failing grade will be given.  Also, Moreno states that even though we are all from different cultures, languages, ethnicities, etc, we all are able to communicate one way or another.  We are all equal individuals and should be treated with equal rights.  

Moreno's research method that she used was ethnographics, which is a research method she used.  She was the classroom leader as well as observing and putting information together in order to complete her research.  The analytic moves Moreno made was to put herself in another’s position.  For example, she focused much on one of her students name Raymundo.  One of her analytic moves was imagining what it was like through Raymundo's writing.

The method ethnographics is a good method to use to see what is happening first hand.  For example, teachers will be able to conduct research through ethnographics by being a part of the group (the teacher in the classroom) and also observing what is going on in the classroom. If researchers want to research first-handed, live observations information, ethnographics is a good method to use.  I will be able to use this method for my own purposes when I become a teacher.  If I find that my students are having a difficult time concentrating on an assignment, I can observe and try to use my data from the observations to make my lessons more interactive and more involved so that my students will have fun while doing the assignment, which will most likely produce better grades.  

Moreno's methodological approach is the Social Constructionist Perspective approach based on the fact that Moreno was very open minded and thought that various types of people from different cultures should use individuality when writing.  One answer is not right, but all different answers and way of writing is correct.  Moreno states, "I was interested in providing them with a safe space (however institutionalized) in which to explore the topics of race and ethnicity and to experiment with language, and I wanted to create an "oppositional" space within this traditional institution."   This proves that Moreno believes that one answer (the traditional way of writing) is not the only correct way.


The skills Moreno used in this study involved asking the bi cultural students questions about colleges and universities writing courses/assignments, listening to the student’s answers and comments, reading what the student’s wrote, and responding to the student’s comments/questions.  These skills helped conduct her research for the better by getting as much information as possible. 

In conclusion, Moreno discussed how race, ethnicity, culture, and language could affect the way bi cultural people learn in classrooms daily and that every individual should be able to write with individuality.  The research method used was ethnography and she used the Social Constructionist Perspective approach for the methodology.


1. Was the reason she killed the man was to show that women as well as men are able to do such horrid things?

2.  Was it that she wanted to make a point about men versus women?

3. Did the pharmacy ignore her reasoning as to why she was buying the poison because they knew she was going to use it to kill?  It says it the essay, "Finally they created a situation in which they became the criminals?"  If they knew the reason why she was buying the poison, why did they choose not to further question her?

4.  What kind of research method/methodologies were used?