Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Remind me not to apply there for a PHD...
One of my professors is hopeless. He doesn't know how to use the scroll bar. If it's not currently visible in the window, he thinks it's not there. He also doesn't understand tabs. If he clicks on a link and it opens in another tab, he goes through all of the other open windows to try to find it which always ends with him declaring that the link is broken. This wouldn't be so bad; except the class is Digital Media.
Sara V from University of Texas
(from collegehumor.com)
Sara V from University of Texas
(from collegehumor.com)
Jing for Setting up Skype
I am sending my mother in law a web cam for Christmas and tried to make a video tutorial in Jing. Still needs some work!
http://www.screencast.com/users/jrudd143/folders/Jing/media/72f51e08-350f-497c-ac36-016435e2cd12
http://www.screencast.com/users/jrudd143/folders/Jing/media/72f51e08-350f-497c-ac36-016435e2cd12
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Ben and Kylee get married
My son got married a few months ago to his girlfriend in Kentucky. Just thought I would share my try at Prezi.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Service Learning in the Sewers!
I have had several opportunities to be involved with the Service Learning program and each project has been so different. My first project was working with the BSU Special Ed department with SCORE, a program that supplied mentors for struggling students at the various elementary schools in the area. That was a great experience because I felt like I was providing a very necessary service by providing one on one tutoring for young at risk students. I felt that my contribution would really benefit individual students which in turn, would help the community as a whole. Another opportunity was working with and writing for the Food Bank, so this new project with the Boise Water Treatment facility struck me as very different as we would be supplying a service but not really to individuals or a community member in dire need. I suppose a belief that was challenged from me was that I though all service learning partners were of this nature and was surprised that a public works, or city funded program would be in need of service. It seemed in a different category than the other service projects that were presented to the class to choose from.
I have a great appreciation for the service learning program and how it connects BSU students to the community and gives us opportunities to work with and learn more about the challenges, needs and impact that individuals and groups can have when working together in areas of service. I wondered if every university has this type of program because I had not heard of or participated in this type of service at other colleges I have attended. I have often thought that I would love to work for the Service Learning Center and facilitate these types of programs for students. I love the way students get hands on experience, build partnerships, facilitate learning, and addresses community needs. It was very enlightening to see how each of the groups in our class addressed the needs of their project and community partner. You could tell that they cared about the issue and the people they were working with and trying to help.
I really enjoyed working with the staff of the Boise Watershed to create a video that they could use for the schools to learn about their programs and feel it was a valuable learning project. Cindy Busch, our coordinator, was really great to work with. She was so positive, supportive and appreciative of our work every step along the way. It was a good experience to collaborate with her and resolve differing opinions, discuss choices and preferences and come to a consensus together. This was only the second video production I have worked on so this was a learning experience for me in that regard Our group had a good dynamic and each of us had a unique way to contribute to the project through sharing insights, writing and editing skills and working together cooperatively. That in itself is worth the project as group work is a valuable skill to participate in and develop!
It was fascinating to learn more about the Watershed project; a business that I had never been to, nor did I know how they functioned in educating students and community members. While I was filming students at the center, I was able to see the importance and impact of their facility and programs and better informed about their role in the community. I learned new information about the science and processes behind the water treatment and developed a new appreciation for the field of study. It felt like our project had a useful purpose and would be successful in the role it was designed for – to encourage schools to go to the center and learn more about the important role of water treatment in the community. I overheard several young boys talking about how they thought the water center would be a cool place to work. Any opportunity to connect people to new ideas for job, careers, networking and new information is always beneficial.
While working on this project I started to see the connection to Manovich and the other class readings. I could see how the project was integrated to the content of the class, as we filmed, edited, wrote narratives, revised, and cut our materials down to our final product. Going through the process of making our various rhetoric choices and design and music and filming choices helped me see the connections to the information we disseminated through our class reading. After reading and discussing Manovich and the various class readings about elements of video, film and cinema, it was interesting to see these factors come together in the work we did in creating our video. While we worked, several jokes were made about ‘what would Manovich say here, or what would he do about this?’ I also felt more informed as a citizen through working with and learning about the water plant, as well as benefiting from hearing about the other projects and the process that others in the class were working on.
I think any time we can foster active participation as citizens we contribute to a more caring and involved society and we gain a broader understanding and appreciation for our education and our civic responsibilities. Since authentic learning comes from thinking about what we do and why we do it, our personal and world view is broadened by these opportunities to serve in a meaningful and constructive way. As a future teacher, I appreciate the service learning experiences I have been involved in because I know that I will entering the field of never ending service learning and meaning –making activities for my students.
I have a great appreciation for the service learning program and how it connects BSU students to the community and gives us opportunities to work with and learn more about the challenges, needs and impact that individuals and groups can have when working together in areas of service. I wondered if every university has this type of program because I had not heard of or participated in this type of service at other colleges I have attended. I have often thought that I would love to work for the Service Learning Center and facilitate these types of programs for students. I love the way students get hands on experience, build partnerships, facilitate learning, and addresses community needs. It was very enlightening to see how each of the groups in our class addressed the needs of their project and community partner. You could tell that they cared about the issue and the people they were working with and trying to help.
I really enjoyed working with the staff of the Boise Watershed to create a video that they could use for the schools to learn about their programs and feel it was a valuable learning project. Cindy Busch, our coordinator, was really great to work with. She was so positive, supportive and appreciative of our work every step along the way. It was a good experience to collaborate with her and resolve differing opinions, discuss choices and preferences and come to a consensus together. This was only the second video production I have worked on so this was a learning experience for me in that regard Our group had a good dynamic and each of us had a unique way to contribute to the project through sharing insights, writing and editing skills and working together cooperatively. That in itself is worth the project as group work is a valuable skill to participate in and develop!
It was fascinating to learn more about the Watershed project; a business that I had never been to, nor did I know how they functioned in educating students and community members. While I was filming students at the center, I was able to see the importance and impact of their facility and programs and better informed about their role in the community. I learned new information about the science and processes behind the water treatment and developed a new appreciation for the field of study. It felt like our project had a useful purpose and would be successful in the role it was designed for – to encourage schools to go to the center and learn more about the important role of water treatment in the community. I overheard several young boys talking about how they thought the water center would be a cool place to work. Any opportunity to connect people to new ideas for job, careers, networking and new information is always beneficial.
While working on this project I started to see the connection to Manovich and the other class readings. I could see how the project was integrated to the content of the class, as we filmed, edited, wrote narratives, revised, and cut our materials down to our final product. Going through the process of making our various rhetoric choices and design and music and filming choices helped me see the connections to the information we disseminated through our class reading. After reading and discussing Manovich and the various class readings about elements of video, film and cinema, it was interesting to see these factors come together in the work we did in creating our video. While we worked, several jokes were made about ‘what would Manovich say here, or what would he do about this?’ I also felt more informed as a citizen through working with and learning about the water plant, as well as benefiting from hearing about the other projects and the process that others in the class were working on.
I think any time we can foster active participation as citizens we contribute to a more caring and involved society and we gain a broader understanding and appreciation for our education and our civic responsibilities. Since authentic learning comes from thinking about what we do and why we do it, our personal and world view is broadened by these opportunities to serve in a meaningful and constructive way. As a future teacher, I appreciate the service learning experiences I have been involved in because I know that I will entering the field of never ending service learning and meaning –making activities for my students.
Service Learning Reflection
It seems strange to me that the mysterious entity at the end of the sewer pipe would materialize for me so concretely in a graduate-level English class. The beauty of service learning is that such a materialization makes perfect sense and dovetails naturally with the purposes of higher education. To channel my inner circle-of-life-ness, I’ve been impressed throughout this semester at how intertwined our community is--I love that an English 583 student can help produce a useful, rhetorically-sound artifact for an organization in a completely unrelated field, with satisfaction on both sides.
---
Working with the Boise Watershed as a service learning partner has been remarkably positive; some of the reasons for this positive experience are due to the specific partner, and some of the reasons are inherent to service learning. I’m unsure which is which though, hence the benefit of this reflective essay--uncovering and understanding specific reasons behind my learning.
I think one of the things I enjoyed most was learning about the waste-water treatment process in general and the West Boise Treatment Facility in specific. I had no idea what happened when waste-water goes down the drain. I was intrigued by the scientific details (bacteria, ultraviolet disinfection, etc.), the education facility, and the people involved. I’m unsure if another service learning partner would be as informative, but I believe this benefit is inherent to service learning: serving any community partner would be eye-opening and informative.
Cindy, our community partner liaison, was great to work with. She gave us very specific goals for our project, an articulate description of the audience we were to reach, and a valuable perspective on our work. She met with us more than she technically needed to, she helped get video footage, and she got permission from parents for us to film the kids. I’m sure there are other community partner liaisons who would make a service learning experience similarly enjoyable, but I’m sure one of the reasons for the success of this project was due to Cindy.
---
I was surprised about the dichotomy of language in the waste-treatment field; it seemed like there was a definitely scientific language-set (there are a surprising number of euphemisms for...waste), but there was also a group that valued less formal language (Cindy told us to “feel free to use poo humor”--I never thought I’d hear that in school). I feel like this stark divergence in language is due to the community’s desire to be a respected member of the scientific field while still being viewed as fun and approachable. Formalizing language distances themselves from a traditionally stigmatized subject: poo. On the other hand, embracing bathroom humor helps disarm a hostile audience by proving they can be hip. Now that I write this essay, I realize that all the informal language was used at the education facility, while the formal language tended to revolve around the waste-water treatment essays, descriptions, websites, etc. The few news reports and other neutral descriptions that I looked at tended to be in the middle of this language spectrum--they would address/use the humor/stigma of human waste, yet still utilize scientific phraseology.
Where did we fit into this formality continuum in our project? In our video, we almost exclusively used a professional, near-humorless tone (except the flushing noise transitions, water-themed word choice, etc.). This was kind of at odds with what Cindy said we could do, but I feel like it was still a good decision--I feel like informal humor may be appropriate for personal settings, but could potentially alienate teachers and other audience members of our video. I sensed that Cindy would have appreciated more potty humor in our video, but I got the impression that her boss would not have (he wouldn’t let her wear a poo Halloween costume, and he never complained about our tone in any of his feedback). Also, I personally don’t find bathroom humor all that funny. I think Tom has an excellent point that sometimes working as a professional means not following instructions to more effectively accomplish rhetorical goals.
---
Service learning this semester has emphasized to me how applicable and useful rhetorical theory can be in a non-academic setting. It has grounded my conception of what it’s like to collaborate professionally. It has helped me foster civic awareness and responsibility. It has informed me about the waste-water treatment process and has generally been awesome. Before this class, the closest my writing got to the Boise Watershed facility was when it was really crappy; now, my conception of effective composition derives depth from my experience, of which this project ranks high.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)