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Mike Rose Summary

"I Just Wanna Be Average" by Mike Rose tells the story about some of his experiences throughout high school. When he was a freshman he accidentally got placed into the vocational program. Instead of putting up a fight to try to get out, he made the best of his situation. Rose goes into detail describing specific events and different types of people he meets, ranging from jocks and rebels to bullies and "hodads". He illustrates for the reader the personalities of certain teachers he came across, while in the vocational program, who were unenthusiastic about their job and didn't believe in the capability of their students. Rose shows through personal experience how this lack of faith from the teachers causes the students to slack off and not care about their schoolwork. During Rose's sophomore year he really enjoyed and did well in his biology class with Brother Clint. Clint was shocked by Rose's success in the class and checked the records only to find the school's mistake concerning his placement. Switching into the college prep program was a difficult transition, however Rose was able to overcome this challenge. As a senior, Rose had an English teacher, Mr. MacFarland, who he really looked up to. MacFarland and Rose became close, MacFarland even persuaded and then helped Rose get into college. One can tell by the way Rose describes his relationship with MacFarland that he had a positive impact on Rose's life. In the middle of portraying these events, Rose mentions the death of his father which seemed a little irrelevant in my opinion. The purpose of this writing is to show how someone can impact your life when you least expect it. The title of this writing is "I Just Wanna Be Average", a quote from a classmate Rose met, while in the vocational program, that stuck with him his whole life. The purpose is also to touch on the stereotypes of certain students based of the classes they take, and some of the flaws within the school system. Taking a look at Mike Rose's blog, his passion with education and his faith in people are undoubtedly apparent. Rose has chosen to dedicate his life to this cause.

Yancey Summary

The text we had to read this week focuses on portfolios and the different aspects of them. There are either written, or print, portfolios; or electronic, or eportfolios. Yancey briefly talks about written portfolios and how they are one dimensional. They focus on the assignment and contain a sense of finality to them. Whereas an eportfolio is multidimensional and is forever changing. Eportfolios have the capability of containing multimedia samples, such as video or audio clips, pictures, or other visual effects. Yancey mentions the role of structure and process in both types of portfolios. She gives examples, from different colleges and universities, of the evolution of students' eportfolios. Most importantly she stresses the necessity to make connections, reiterate, and intertwine the personal with the public. One of the final things Yancey does is compare eportfolios to samplers. She mentions how samplers are templates, compositions, and reiterative; much like eportfolios.

Podcast Terms

1. Collection-showcases validity of work
2. Range-use of different genres shows different areas of expertise
3. Context Richness-instruction and assessment are intertwined
4. Delayed Evaluation-you can revise your work at any time
5. Selection-best quality of work
6. Student-Centered Control-you're in control of your grade based on the selection you make
7. Reflection and Self Assessment-deals with our annotations, reflections on our work and the strategies used for it. Helps us see what areas need to be worked on.
8. Specific Parameters-what you learned and how you learned it.
9. Development over time-shows who you've become as a writer

James Kinneavy’s Aims of Discourse Summary

James Kinneavy's Aims of Discourse is a chart that interprets the relationship between the reader, writer, and context. Kinneavy's chart consists of a triangle. The three corners are composed of the encoder, the writer; the decoder, the reader; and reality, the context. In the middle of the triangle is the word "style". Branching from each of these four main points are lists of different forms of written communication. These lists demonstrate the relationship between the writer, or the encoder, and the three other subjects. For example, if the writer is focused on pleasing itself, then the writing will come out in the form of a diary, journal, conversation, or manifesto. This is classified as expressive writing. Whenever the writer is concerned with the reader, their writing may take the form of advertisements, sermons, or editorials. These are considered persuasive forms of writing. Referential writing is produced when the writer is concerned with reality. Some examples include dialogues, seminars, reports, textbooks, and scientific articles. Finally, when the writer writes with concerns for style, he produces what is referred to as literary forms of writing. Examples would be short stories, novels, movies, lyrics, or dramas.