Note Book Activities
Notebook Activity 1:5f
Notebook Activity 2 :4f
Create a dialogue between two of your sources. Make it a comic or an GoAnimate film if you'd like. Make the voices talk to one another- you can quote, but don't only quote. Use your own summaries and paraphrases, too. See where the sources agree and disagree and where they diverge entirely.
Click to watch my animated film about my social justice issue.
Notebook Activity: 3b
Tell someone about your writing project. Or: imagine telling someone about your writing project. What are the most important parts of it? What order would you tell it in? What parts of your writing project would you leave out in this telling? Why?
Currently in my English 2010 course we are researching a social justice issue of our choice. I chose to focus on unemployment. I chose to research unemployment as my issue because I relate on a personal level. Soon I will have a degree and will be job searching for something better. So, why not research unemployment.
What is the most important would be how there is more jobs than ever. In fact by 2020 half all jobs will require an associates degree. So, many are having a hard time find jobs in which they meet the qualifications. Also, unemployment affects minorities groups harder. Considering, compared to white people, minorities are more likely to be unemployed longer. I would also emphasize how even with qualifications finding a job is not guaranteed because you also need experience and a degree.
The order I would tell someone about my issue is first giving them the background info. Such as, what is the purpose of the project. Then telling them my social justice issue of choice, which is unemployment. Adding on, I would tell them why I chose the subject and give them a summary of what I'm doing. I would leave out race and why they struggle with unemployment until myself is more read on the issue, so I can be as accurate as I can.
Notebook Activity 2i
2i Notebook: Visit a public space that is connected to your issue. Take your notebook with you. Meander through the space for at least an hour (or situate yourself somewhere you can watch from for the whole hour). Observe the people you see and in your notes, describe (using sensory details) what you're seeing and what is going on. Make your description as creative (while maintaining accuracy) and as lively as possible. encompassing the entire essence of the space within one good, descriptive paragraph.
Click on images above for description about the images.
What is the Department of Workforce Services? Basically the Department of Workforce Services aids you in getting a job, when your having a hard time finding one. They will help you get the necessary training for a job you may want, as well as job preparation. Also, when you're out of a job you may find yourself struggling to provide housing, food, childcare, and medical insurance, work force services aids you in that. I decided to take a trip to the Department of Work Force Services the one located in Midvale. The reason I decided to go here is mainly because my topic is work vs experience, and what better place to go where they aid in people to find job. As well as, aid in finances, in result of not having a job. I parked close to the entrance my goal was to observe for 45min on what kind of people visit. I observed mothers, fathers, disabled, veterans(based on their attire), and elderly walk in/out. Personally, the majority seemed troubled because at one point I did see a older man putting his hands up against his head, almost seeming embarrassed to be here. The remaining time I thought I would go in, and take a look. It almost looked like a prison in a way where anyone you spoke to you spoke thru class, which I think of course was for privacy. I saw a lot of pamphlets everywhere talking about what you can do at interviews, WIC, budgeting, and things to helps you thru this tough job. I observed a women yelling at one of the workers frustrated about not qualifying for EBT benefits, and concerned about feeding her children. The rest of the time seemed mellow a lot of people were really interested in finding any job to make ends meet.
Learn more about Workforce Service at their website http://jobs.utah.gov/
Notebook Activity: 2L
Interview someone who has been involved with affected by your issue for quite some time. Write down 6-8 questions in advance. Remember to create open-ended questions. Record the interview in your notes or via an audio/video recording device. Ask them to tell you the story of their involvement with the issue. Ask them about specific locations/places that remember as important to their story. Conduct some research on the facts, locations/places, people, and/or events that they mentioned in the interview. Use your research to connect their story to the broader connections to your issue. Start with a description of a place they mentioned.
Notebook 6: 4B
Interview a key player in your community organization. Who is responsible for the group you serve? What are the stereotypes and assumptions that surround the particular group(s)? Reflect on how you yourself might have previously employed stereotypes or assumptions about this group. How might your credibility (ethos) as a writer be affected by this?
Notebook 7: 2F
Write a letter to one of your sources or to a politician whose ideas you disagree with. Explain, respectfully, why you disagree with their ideas. Explain your own ideas. Discuss where you think compromises could/should be made between you and the audience for your letter.
Notebook 8: 6N
Create a meme related to your topic. Write 100 words commenting on the implications and ideas contained in your meme.
The idea of the meme is that we blame the poor for being poor. For example, I have heard people complain about taxes and how its goes to people with no jobs or lazy people. However, would you blame people in Africa for being poor. Although, it is difference of locations, the poorest cities in the United States compare to the poorest countries living conditions. The goal of the meme is how as a culture we get angry and blame the least fortunate for being poor.
Notebook 9: 8b
Choose a section of text, or an image, or a piece of media, and write in response to it. You can structure a dialogue with your selection, or write a counterpoint to it (contradict it); write about what experiences it connects to, for you, or what other texts/images/media.
I decided to respond to this media article
https://www.cc-sd.edu/blog/the-great-debate-education-vs-experience
After reading the article The Great Debate-Education vs Experience, I realize now it really is not education vs experience, rather education and experience. An individual whom has experience will not have a problem getting a real world job, but will struggle to move up. Adding on, another individual with the best education, but no experience at all, is no better. The ideal candidate would be someone who has both education and experience . You need both to make it.
Notebook 10: 6p
Transform one of your pieces or one of your notebook activities into a had-built book. Here are some instructions for two different types of books you could use: Build the book, and fill it with the material from your piece. Add images if you'd like. Be creative. Make it persuasive and interactive.
Notebook 11: 8f
Look at "Collaborating Online" by Anthony Atkins. What opportunities do Google docs or other open source tools for composing afford you as a writer? How do those compare with using a proprietary platform like Microsoft Word? How does each work for collaborating?
Being a college student of this generation is difficult. We all have our own lives whether we are traditional students or nontraditional. For example, I am single young mother who works full time, volunteers in hospice care, and goes to school. I make time to go to campus, but if it was not for online classes I would probably would not be in school right now. Collaborating with other students like myself can be a challenge basically you are trying to schedule people who have no time. Google docs has allowed me with collaborating group work to still have my busy schedule and be a part of a group.
The way google docs works is it is private until I invite other individuals to be part of the doc. Once we do that we are able to add and contribute to the project. Let's say we have a power point due tomorrow deadline is midnight we all are able to do our work wherever and when ever. Overall, whatever you use google docs for whether it's for a group project or you are writer, the point of it is to collaborate without the stress of having to meet.
Final Notebook Activity
- What were the notebook activities that made you think differently about a project, or about your writing (or research or revisions)?
- What notebook activities were the most interesting or fun?
- Which notebook entries do you like the best now?
- Which notebook activities might you try again, in other writing circumstances?
Respond to these questions, and answer one more:
- Name three new tools or strategies you now have as a result of doing the notebook activities, ones that you can use with some confidence going forward.
In my notebook activities you do see a shift in view. At first, I was focused on education vs experience. I think looking back at the beginning of the semester I was focused on why education matters and experience. However around the time I worked on the notebook 3b and 2i you see my viewpoint change. For example, finding a job or unemployment is the realistic truth when you lack both experience and an education.
Adding on, I found the go animate (notebook 2) the most fun engaging. It was also very difficult to come up with a plot as well as moving the characters. My favorite notebook is notebook 8 mainly because it's a meme. Also, I would love to use this again for other writing circumstances. I believe memes draw interest right away. Now, going forward I have the memes to draw in attention, the go animate site, and letters. I probably feel the most confident going forward is using a memes. A picture alone is worth a thousand words and adding to it gets the message across.