February 15, 2012
So far I think the class is going well. I think the students are beginning to trust themselves as writers (and as readers) and are becoming more aware of their own writing processes. On the other hand, I have noticed that some students have expressed heightened anxiety
when they are constructing understanding when reading and writing in
some of these asyncronous and syncronous mediums because they have had
minimal to no opportunities to "acquire" and/or "learn" these
strategies and skills prior to taking this class. Hopefully the
scaffolding their peers and I are providing during these types of
"literacy learning events" (Kucer) is helping them to remain engaged
rather than giving up.
I will be interested to read their R/W blogs in the next few weeks to see if they are taking the time to write specifically in their journals about their experiences with blogging, wikis, and other digital literacy learning tools. Even if they choose not to write about these issues for their "open entries," I do hope they are taking time to reflect on the parallels between their writing processes and their reading processes.
I think journals are one of the easiest "forms" to use when trying to encourage myself to engage "epistemically" in writing (in other words to re-envision my knowledge; to allow for the possibility that I may need to radically reshape my understanding of the issue, concept, or experience I am focusing on in my writing). There is a freedom in this type of writing that I do not always feel when writing in other genres. Certainly the freedom to write only for myself or primarily for myself allows me to more readily "let my thoughts go" (like I did at the start of this entry....). I also think that because I'm writing in first person this genre allows me to be more closely engaged or more personally invested in the ideas I'm exploring -- even if the ideas are not my own.
Now that I think of it, this idea of feeling more connected to or engaged with the ideas when writing journals is also true when I am reading works written in this genre. When I read journal entries (whether they are true/biographical or fiction/simulated), I feel I am able to consider the ideas being expressed in a way that is more full (fully epistemic? or as Tierney and Pearson would say, I am able to more easily shift my "stance/s" as I work to construct understanding) than if I was reading the same information say....in a narrative piece. There is an intimacy here in journaling that is unique to this genre. This is a point I want my the class to be sure to fully appreciate as a part of my Teaching the Genre Expert Presentation.
