Who is Kasey Dye?

                 Hello, my name is Kasey Dye and I am from Williamsburg, Virginia. I currently go to Longwood University and I am in the Cormier Honors College. I contribute to Longwood through academics; I am the historian of Alpha Lambda Delta, which is an honor society for first year college students. I am a History major with a concentration in secondary education, and I would like to teach high school history. I have always enjoyed history, and I would like to share my passion with high school teenagers. I feel that I could connect with high school students more than younger students because I could have real and meaningful conversations with them. This blog was created for academic purposes; it will show how my writing developed over the semester and how I achieved the course goals for my English 150 class.

Flexible Writing Process

My writing process differs depending on what type of paper I am writing.

                      When I wrote my literary analysis paper, I just read Wordsworth's poem and watched Lady Gaga's music video, "Telephone," and then showed up to class and started writing. I did not preplan what I was going to write, nor did I look up critiques of the poem and music video. I have developed "flexible processes for engaging in academic inquiry" because I plan out my writing differently for different types of papers. For my research paper, I spent days looking up theories and studies in a variety of books and internet sources because I knew that in order for my paper to be a success, I would need have a multitude of information available to me. For my literary analysis paper all I did was read the required material and then I started writing because I knew that I did not need to find further research to write my paper, and I knew that I already had background information about multitasking because of the summaries I wrote in class. I spent a couple weeks researching and writing my research paper, whereas for this literary analysis I only spent a fifty minute class period writing it. What is not visible in this paper is the process by which I wrote it.
 

           Although William Wordsworth lived in a time where cell phones and computers were nonexistent, he knew about technology and its effects on production because of the Industrial Revolution. Lady Gaga’s songs reveal her distrust and annoyance with technology, and cell phones in particular. Although Wordsworth and Gaga are from completely different time periods, both can be connected through their dislike of technology and multitasking.

             Wordsworth’s poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” demonstrates his view that solitude and relaxation are necessary for happiness. When alone, Wordsworth recalls the daffodils and in order to feel “the bliss of solitude; and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils” (Wordsworth, L. 22-24). If Wordsworth was trying to multitask he would not have been able to fully appreciate the beauty of the dancing daffodils because he would have been distracted. One cannot multitask when trying to have peaceful alone time, so Wordsworth would be against multitasking. Wordsworth would declare that people should focus their attention on one thing at a time in order to get the most out of it as possible. 

            In Lady Gaga’s opinion, which comes across in her songs, she is constantly surrounded by technology. This prevents her from ever truly relaxing and enjoying herself because she cannot escape the interruptions that are caused by technology. In her song, “Telephone,” Gaga tries to have fun at a club, but her telephone keeps distracting her with its calls. The phrase, “Stop callin’, stop callin’, I don’t wanna think anymore,” is repeated numerous times throughout the song, which signifies that although Gaga wants to ignore her phone, its presence is always in the back of her mind and is keeping her from enjoying herself (Gaga, L. 20-21). She cannot put all of her focus into having fun because technology is distracting her from reality. In her music video, Gaga can be seen with a telephone on her head multiple times, which illustrates the fact that Gaga can never seem to get her phone off of her mind and it is controlling her actions. Lady Gaga would rather put all of her focus into one subject at a time, but in today’s society it is nearly impossible to accomplish that due to the fact that people are always surrounded by technology.

            William Wordsworth asserts the importance of solitude and relaxation in his poem, which leads one to conclude that he would disapprove of multitasking and technology. Lady Gaga’s music confirms her belief that technology is ever present in society and holds people back from what they want to achieve. Both artists emphasize the importance of taking time for oneself and avoiding excessive multitasking in everyday life.  

Sources and Plagiarism

How involved should parents be in their child's classroom?

           For my education class on human growth and development, I wrote a short essay for my final exam where I engaged "in academic inquiry uising and evaluating a variety of sources, incorporating and documenting source material appropriately, and avoiding plagiarism." My final exam was completed using APA formatting, and I made sure to document my sources accurately. I used the sources to provide information and facts, and then I gave my opinion about what the sources were stating and how it could be used in the classroom. My reaction to the sources I used is visible when I state that parents should be able to visit their children's classes, but not too often because it could cause distractions. This is a response to Houghton's belief that parents and teachers need a relationship where they can communicate easily and how parents should be able to be involved in the classroom.

            A classroom that could create a positive learning environment has to be accepting and have a safe atmosphere. The teacher is responsible for creating a classroom where its students are comfortable and feel at ease. Parents can be difficult to deal with, but if the teacher collaborates with the parents, children will be able to learn new things at home and school. To promote positive social cognition, the teacher has to adjust to new students and try to make everyone feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and feelings.

            I agree with Patricia Houghton that students should help decorate and arrange the classroom so that they feel that their opinion matters and it is a way to make connections with students (Houghton, 2001). The look and feel of the classroom matters because students will be spending many hours each day in the room. To discard stereotypes and prejudices, students could share photos of their families that could be displayed throughout the classroom. Also, students should do projects or assignments with different children in the class, not just the same friends for every project so that they can meet new people and realize that diversity can be positive.

            Teachers can develop strategies for creating positive social cognition by doing projects on different historical figures from their perspectives, or rewriting stories from another character’s point of view (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010, p. 474). Children should be able to share their opinions without worrying about being ridiculed, so the teacher needs to create a classroom environment that is open minded. Trust must be established in the classroom so that creativity can flourish. If a teacher has a child with special needs, they should try to make the child feel accepted and like everyone else. They will have to adjust their teaching style to work with the child’s needs so that they do not fall behind.

            I personally like the idea of a comment box in a classroom so that if a child has something they want to say, but they want it to be anonymous, they can just write it on a piece of paper and drop it in the box. There also needs to be a zero tolerance policy on bullying so that children can feel safe in school; a child will not be able to interact and learn when they are worried about their safety. I also believe that a teacher should not force his beliefs on his students, but should accept all his students’ ideas and faiths (Gibbs, 2005).

            Parents’ involvement in the classroom is a tricky situation because children should learn how to be independent, but parents can also be an asset to teachers. Teachers should talk to parents and tell them what their child needs to improve on, and what they can do at home to help their child (Houghton, 2001). I feel that parents should be allowed to visit the classroom occasionally, but not too often because they could become a distraction. Teachers should set clear boundaries with parents so that parents know what to expect, but teachers need to acknowledge that parents will have concerns about their children and should be able to freely express them. I do not think that parents should be able to choose the teacher that their child receives because it is not fair to other students and it does not give students different experiences with teaching styles (Gibbs, 2005).

            Children learn best in an environment that is friendly and accepting; teachers have to work hard to create a safe atmosphere for their classrooms. Parents and teacher need to be amiable so that the child’s needs are put first and they can work as a team to meet those needs. Promoting positive social cognition will help create a classroom where students feel accepted and they are able to learn that everyone is unique.

Works Cited

Gibbs, N. (2005, February 21). Parents behaving badly. Time, 125-131.

Houghton, P. (2001). Finding allies. Phi Delta Kappan, 706-711.

McDevitt, T.M. & Ormrod, J.E. (2010). Child development and education. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Reflections and Judgements

My response to Chapter 5 of Keith Hjortshoj's The Transition to College Writing fulfills the course outcome of "reflect on and make judgments about...texts and writing processes." Chapter 5 was one of the most interesting chapters for me because it had to do with commas and writing in first person, which are the two things in writing that I struggle the most over.
            The reflections that I made in my response were about my own experiences with commas and first person, such as how I use more commas than I need to because I have a difficult time finding where they belong. Hjortshoj claims that listening for the natural pause in a sentence is a false rule, and my judgments can be seen when I wonder if reading sentences aloud actually helps find where to place commas. Another judgment is visible when I state that I wished Hjortshoj had gone further in depth about when it is appropriate to use first person and when to use third person.

I believe that proofreading by ear is really helpful because when I proofread I tend to zone out and think about more interesting things, but if I was reading the paper out loud it would be easier to pay attention and look for mistakes. One of my biggest problems in writing is figuring out where to put commas; I often use more commas than necessary in my papers. I read the sentences aloud when placing commas to find the natural pause, but after reading Hjortshoj's opinion I am unsure if it is actually helpful or not.

Even though I am using first person in this paper, I am not a fan of using it because it was drilled into me in high school that first person is not acceptable. I know that I need to use first person in papers about my experiences, but for other papers I try not to use it because it seems unprofessional. Even with opinion papers I was taught that a writer makes a stronger point when they do not use "I." I wish that Hjortshoj went further in depth about when it is acceptable to use first person because it is slightly confusing for me.