Blog #7

In all our years in schooling we were taught specific ideas and rules about writing. And almost every year we would be told that what we had previously learned the year(s) before is wrong (or at least not fully correct).  When I decided to sign up for this class, I accepted the notion that a fairly large amount of what I believed I knew about grammar and everything involving the subject would plausibly be incorrect.  I could not have been more intrigued.

            While I have always considered myself a decent writer, I do run into minuscule errors more frequently than I would care for; a run on sentence or two, or using a semicolon incorrectly, etc.  And, like the snow in Pullman, many of these little things would build up and I would end up with something as confusing as Pullman’s weather. So, as far as this semester of class goes, there are definitely a few particulars I would care to fix.

            Because of the voice I have through my writing, run on sentences are a large issue I have.  I enjoy explaining things in great detail and because of that I struggle to form cohesive, shorter, sentences. Instead, I make a sentence anywhere from two to five lines in length. While it may sound correct in my head, often it becomes quite the opposite once on paper. So, a skill I would like to be taught this semester is how to correctly use symbols such as colons, semicolons, dash marks, commas, and so on to help mend my exaggerated sentences. Though this seems like a task I should have mastered well before college, as I have said before, it is hard to really know what is correct with the rules changing so frequently. One professor says it is one way, a different professor says something else, not to mention the computers now having the ability to virtually tell me I am wrong (thank god that little paper-clip dude is no longer with us…).

            There are so many little nitpicked things about writing that I just want to master, the majority of which, though, I have already stated.  It would be ridiculous of me to list every single matter out and explain in detail the problems I have with writing, mostly because that would take too long. Nor do I have the inclination, I do not have the time to explain in detail obviously, and you, as the reader, certainly do not have the patience for it. My point being that what it is I want to learn or take away from this class is the ability to fully understand how grammar works within writing. I want to know all the ins and outs, all the small details, because fixing those small details will add up in a big way.

Blog #6 Compound Sentences

    In all our years in schooling we were taught specific ideas and rules about writing. And almost every year we would be told that what we had previously learned the year(s) before is wrong (or at least not fully correct).  When I decided to sign up for this class, I accepted the notion that a fairly large amount of what I believed I knew about grammar and everything involving the subject would plausibly be incorrect.  I could not have been more intrigued.

            While I have always considered myself a decent writer, I do run into minuscule errors more frequently than I would care for; errors such as a run on sentence or two, or using a semicolon incorrectly, etc.  And, like the snow in Pullman, many of these little things would build up and I would end up with something as confusing as Pullman’s weather. So, as far as this semester of class goes, there are definitely a few particulars I would care to fix. 

 

Apparently run on sentences are a large problem I have.  I enjoy explaining things in great detail and because of that I struggle to form cohesive, shorter, sentences. Instead, I make a sentence anywhere from two to five lines in length. While it may sound correct in my head, often it becomes quite the opposite once on paper. So, a skill I would like to be taught this semester is how to correctly use symbols such as colons, semicolons, dash marks, commas, and so on to help mend my exaggerated sentences. Though this seems like a task I should have mastered well before college, as I have said before, it is hard to really know what is correct with the rules changing so frequently. One professor says it is one way, a different professor says something else, not to mention the computers now having the ability to virtually tell me I am wrong (thank god that little paper-clip dude is no longer with us…).

There are so many little nitpicked things about writing that I just want to master, the majority of which I have already stated.  It would be ridiculous of me to list every single matter out and explain in detail the problems I have with writing, mostly because that would take too long. I do not have the time, nor the inclination, to explain in detail obviously, and you, as the reader, certainly do not have the patience for it. My point being that what it is I want to learn or take away from this class is the ability to fully understand how grammar works within writing. I want to know all the ins and outs, all the small details, because fixing those small details will add up in a big way.

Learn By Doing (Revised(Again)) POW Blog 5

Learn By Doing (Revised)

(I DO NOT BELIEVE I HAVE ANY OF QUESTION NUMBER ONE)

When it comes to schooling, the general public will be quick to blame any lack of understanding from the student on the teacher.  This is very true in some cases, but like anything in this life, there are always two sides. TRUE, SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT ENTER THE FIELD, BUT LILE ANUTHING IN LIFE, THERE ARE ALWAYS TWO SIDES.  It seems like everyone considers a teachers job to be one thing: regurgitate some idea or concept to a student or students in a way that allows them to regurgitate that information back to the teacher (but in “their own words”) so that they can remember the answer when it comes up on a test (because apparently that’s how students show “understanding”).  Whomever’s idea it was to generate state level testing is not a well-liked person because (#4) I find this to be missing the point.  The point of school is to learn, and the job of the teacher is to show students how to learn. Instead, most of us will sit down and pretend to understand what some instructor is verbally throwing up so we can cipher through the mess and hope to some deity that we pass the final test in a class, which we will then inevitably forget all about during summer.  It is not a pretty scenario but that doesn’t make it any less true.

            In Cordeiro’s “Dora Learns to Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation”, Dora was lucky enough to find a rare gem as a teacher instead of the walking textbook that most get dealt.  Learning anything at a young age is difficult, everyone knows that.  Now, throw some sentence structure and punctuation into the mix and add a little dash of their short attention span and these kids may as well be learning the mechanics of Shakespeare (if that is even a thing). Teachers and students alike will stress themselves out in this scenario (#2). What Dora’s teacher does that works so well was she let Dora ponder the ideas of punctuation little by little on her own. When Dora has a question she goes to her peers and they bounce ideas off of one another. Then, when the time comes for Dora to present her writing, her teacher tells her what she has done correctly and then simply adds new information for her to consider. And as time goes on, Dora begins to understand.  She learns what works and what doesn’t through experience. That experience will stick with her longer than anything and much easier than trying to just remember the facts. Learn by doing.

            Of course there are downsides to everything and teaching methods are no exception. Students will revert back to a certain way of thinking if they get to confused or frustrated while attempting to understand any new concept. In Dora’s case, she went back to end-page styled periods when she struggled with the end-line concept. Eventually she would grow back to the end-page method and continue growing from there. Sometimes three steps forward can result in one step back, but in the end she will be more the wiser for it and as previously stated, those concepts will stick with her better because she experienced them instead of having to regurgitate some amount of facts concerning it. 

Learn By Doing (Revised)

Zachary Ferderer

September 7, 2013

English 326

Learn By Doing (Revised)

When it comes to schooling, the general public will be quick to blame any lack of understanding from the student on the teacher.  This is very true in some cases, but like anything in this life, there are always two sides. It seems like everyone considers a teachers [MISSING THE “S”] job to be one thing: to regurgitate some idea or concept to a student or students in a way that allows them to regurgitate that information back to the teacher (but in “their own words”) so that they can remember the answer when it comes up on a test (because apparently that’s how students show “understanding”).  I find this to be missing the point [CHANGED TO MAKE THE WRITING MORE APPROPRIATE].  The point of school is to learn, and the job of the teacher is to show students how to learn. Instead, most of us will sit down and pretend to understand what some instructor is verbally throwing up so we can cipher through the mess and hope to some deity that we pass the final test in a class, which we will then inevitably forget all about during summer… It’s not a pretty scenario but that doesn’t make it any less true.

            In Cordeiros “Dora Learns to Write and in the Process Encounters Punctuation”, Dora [NEEDED TO INSERT THE TITLE AND AUTHOR] was lucky enough to find a rare gem as a teacher instead of the walking textbook that most get dealt. Learning anything at a young age is difficult, everyone knows that.  Now, throw in some sentence structure and punctuation into the mix and add a little dash of their short attention span and these kids may as well be learning the mechanics of Shakespeare (if that’s even a thing).  What Dora’s teacher does that works [CHANGED FROM PAST-TENCE] so well was that she let Dora ponder the ideas of punctuation little by little on her own. When Dora has a question she goes to her peers and they bounce ideas off of one another. Then, when the time comes for Dora to present her writing, her teacher tells her what she has done correctly and then simply adds new information for her to consider. And as time goes on, Dora begins to understand.  She learns what works and what doesn’t through experience. That experience will stick with her longer than anything and much easier than trying to just remember the facts. Learn by doing.

            Of course there are downsides to everything and teaching methods are no exception. Students will revert back to a certain way of thinking if they get to confused or frustrated while attempting to understand any new concept. In Dora’s case, she went back to end-page styled periods when she struggled with the end-line concept. Eventually she would grow back to the end-page method and continue growing from there. Sometimes three steps forward can result in one step back, but in the end she will be more the wiser for it and as previously stated, those concepts will stick with her better because she experienced them instead of having to regurgitate some amount of facts about it.