Reflection 3
17th October, 2022
LIT 102, 2022
Dr. Hadiyah Green was the first black woman to cure cancer with nanoparticles, Dr. Mae Jemison was the first black woman to board a space shuttle and go to space, Dr. Mary Maynard was the first African American to obtain a Ph.D in Chemistry in the United States of America, and Dr. Alexa Canady, the first black woman to become a neurosurgeon in the U.S.
Do you know what all of these women have in common with us? I'll list 3:
1) we are all women
2) we are all Black/of African descent
3) We all have great ideas within us
A wise person once said, "A good idea becomes a great idea when you let it out." The innate ideas that we all have should be held firmly but gently with care. They can either create the impossible or be that failed attempt that forces a person to persevere and keep trying. In the classroom, ideas are the meaning and development of the message being given/ perceived. They are the foundations of writing. It starts off as a random fuzzy thought, progresses into clear concise details that capture the main concept, thesis, and storyline, and eventually takes the reader through the journey of understanding and allows them to produce a satisfyingly clear, focused, and compelling piece.
While some of our students find it very easy to sit and write a story on cue, there are others who may need a helping hand. With the use of a prompt using sourced pictures and drawings, the class, through group discussion should be able to create their own scenarios from the photos or even organize their sequence in order to explain the events of the story. Using connections to real-life examples aids in this area.
As I've notified the connection between Ideas and Organisation, it's important for me to state that at this point students are still in the brainstorming phase as this is still one of the foundational steps of writing that takes place in the pre-writing stage. Without the organization of the ideas, the writing being submitted will obviously be one thing, and one thing only- Disorganised. This is what we as teachers try our hardest to avoid. After taking our time and going through the thought processes of how we should begin to develop our stories, we look forward to seeing our students develop and embrace their ideas, and use their organizational skills to decipher and explain what is the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
This is where the quote "SHOW, DON'T TELL." comes in especially in Narrative writing. Identifying the importance of characterization in their writing gives the story personality. It makes the characters and the story's events come alive. This can be done in activities where students are given well-known stories, for example, 'The 3 Little Pigs', and are given the task of rewriting the story in their own words, their own details, and their own ending. As their plot thickens - wink wink- the readers should be able to use the skills garnered through their ideas and organization, and the demonstrations and models used to draw their own conclusion; which in turn will be a very effective part of their writing process.
The writing process is a long, growing, learning, and fun time for all writers of all ages. We must learn to make this experience easy and understandable in the classroom so that in the end, even if we do not receive perfectly written stories from beginning to end. We can see the improvement in their thought process which can only harness their writing skills to eventually be the best they can be in time to come. And I'm sure that is something that we all can look forward to in the classroom.
Hi Breanna, in reading your post, the first thing that popped out that actually baffled me for a little bit was the initial part relative to the famous women mentioned. However, upon thinking of last week's session and that bit of information you presented in your reflection, I thought of expository writing which seeks to expose, inform or explain.
ReplyDeleteSubsequently, I read and reread the quote that you included which states, "A good idea becomes a great idea when you let it out" because it encompassed much of what we discussed during our session last class. In letting it out, you mentioned brainstorming as one of the fundamental steps of writing; or the pre-writing stage in which ideas dominate this phase. Similarly, you mentioned that ideas begin as random, fuzzy thoughts, my question though is, do you believe that all ideas begin this way? For me, sometimes I know what I want to accomplish or I am cognizant of my topic, purpose and end goal or objective in writing; however, for me, it is the mapping and refinement of the ideas that create the fuzziness in the initial stage because of having to do and redo and redo. Thereafter, comes the organization. Both as you alluded to are important and both corroborate the quote you mentioned earlier.
Finally, just to point out, the subsequent stages of the process entail numerous clusters of fuzziness as editing is conducted before it progresses to clear concise details that capture the main concept, thesis, and storyline as you mentioned. Ultimately, I agree that one's work should take the reader through the journey of creating a satisfyingly clear, focused, and compelling piece as you mentioned
Thank you, Sandra. I do believe that all thoughts and ideas are "fuzzy" in my opinion because they're not concrete. This may be a little confusing but imagine the concept of a ghost. The idea of a ghost starts off like a light haze. It's there but not fully. The more you believe in the idea and concept of ghosts, the clearer that picture forms in your mind and "materializes". That is how I perceive the thought process of ideas to be... at least for me, personally.
DeleteI admire how "easy" your thought process seems to unfold. Maybe one day you can hold a workshop for students like myself who may have the initial struggle to begin writing but wishes to be more content with our thought process.
Thank you for your input.
Hi Breanna. Very catchy introduction in the sense that immediately, I too noted that all the women were Black or African descent. This just shows for me how powerful our black women can be. It also caused me to think that no doubt these doctors would have mastered the skills in writing different text structures, especially, expository writing, which we are now doing. For example, I imagine in their expository pieces that they would have made written scientific reports using different organizational structures: cause and effect, problem and solution, description, sequence, and compare and contrast. As such, a very good quote to note given the focus of our study in the last session.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, I understand and could relate to how a single fuzzy idea stemming from a student’s prior knowledge can be developed to a sound piece of writing. The results I imagine would make them feel proud, especially once they have been able to follow and implement the 6 + 1 traits of writing to include being able to show and not tell. I also agree that concrete material such as scrambled pictures and drawings could help them develop their ideas and produce a composition that includes all the necessary elements.
Lastly, I certainly agree that the writing process can be long. However, in the end, it should be satisfying and rewarding for students, particularly, those who can see how they have improved their writing pieces, especially the struggling writers
Hey Jeneva, thank you for mentioning how exposed doctors would have also been to writing as it pertains to the organizational structures of writing. Maybe they should be brought in to speak on the importance of writing so students can see that writing well isn't only for writers and authors. It may be a very good motivator for those who say "I dont have to know how to do this. I only want to be (this) when I grow up." It's a great way to push exposure on the writing traits as well and continues to motivate the students to produce well written pieces in the classroom.
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