Well, that day is here- the one that I have alternately wished would get here quickly and hoped would never arrive. I really need a break- just to relax, unwind and breathe. But I also have found myself excited to come here everyday, knowing I would learn something new again. This has truly been a fantastic experience for me. I have really come to enjoy our morning writing time, along with all of the other wonderful happenings. The food, conversations, demonstrations, technology, and bonding. We have such a diverse group, yet we came together beautifully. I believe this experience shows that diversity can actually inspire open, wonderful discussions and enhance our lives. Sometimes, we all get ourselves into our ‘life’ groups and don’t get to experience others- what a shame! I am sure that we all do not share the same political, social, or religious beliefs, yet we could come together as a community to learn from each other- what a great gift! And, I would say that this place, the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, in the United States has been the perfect place for this to happen. Thanks to everyone for putting up with me, and for everyone’s contributions to this remarkable period of my life. I wish you all the best of everything- but none of you will need luck- you are all winners! Congratulations! Job well done!!
personal narrative
Hi all,
Here is my story from the prompts that Esther gave us. Enjoy…
When Tramp Found Me
We were living in a big old two story farm house outside Dewey, Il. I was working for a distributing company, and had to spend several evenings each month at bars running promotions. This story is from Halloween, 1990. I was driving home at about 12:30 a.m., and it was a nasty night. The temperature was in the low 40’s, and it was raining. Not a hard rain, but one of those cold, biting drizzles that we get here in Central Illinois in late Fall- the kind you can feel all the way to your bones. I was about 5 miles from home when I saw something run across the road in front of me. I slowed down, because it looked like a dog. I saw her standing in the ditch, just looking at me as I drove past. I knew right away that I was going to stop- I simply could not keep driving. I looked in my mirrors to be sure no other cares were around and quickly hit the brakes. I then proceeded to back up to where she was standing. Not knowing anything about this dog, I carefully stepped out of my van, not wanting to scare her away or have her feel threatened and attack me. As I stood there gently talking to her, she peered carefully around the back of the van- wary of me. It really must have been a humorous sight- I actually did laugh out loud at both of us- here I am standing in this cold rain, with really no idea what I was doing. And there she was, trying to keep hidden behind the van, but yet curious. She was standing behind the van and had her neck stretched out as far as she could, so she could see me, but not be exposed. When I tell this story, I say she looked like a Giraffe reaching for some food! After a few minutes of me talking to her, she came around the side of the van, but kept her distance. I did notice that she kept looking past me at the open door of the van, like she wanted to get in. So, again, not really knowing what I was doing, I stepped aside and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride- she jumped right up! Her manner changed immediately- she was standing on the passenger seat, wagging her stump. I could see that she was an English Springer Spaniel, mostly white with black spots. She was a little thin, but not like she had been on her own for too long. As I got in the driver’s seat, she looked over at me, smiled and seemed to be saying, ‘okay, let’s go, buddy!’ I still had no idea what I was doing- we already had a dog, our 20 month old daughter RaeAnne was sick and we were moving into our first newly purchased house the very next weekend. We did not need another dog, and was very sure my wife would agree! But, I could not just leave her out there on that road in that weather. We arrived at our house, and went inside. The entry was just a landing, with stairs either up to the main level or down to the basement. The basement wasn’t so great- this was a very old house and the foundation had a lot of problems. My wife would not even step foot in the basement, so we didn’t have very many important things down there. I left this wet, muddy dog down on the landing, as I went up stairs to get my wife. I was pretty sure she was not going to share my enthusiasm about bringing this dog home. I woke her up and asked her to come down stairs with me, I had something to show her. She gave me that look, and reluctantly followed me to the kitchen door. The dog was making some noise at the door and I opened it. She took one look at my wife, started wagging her stump again, and just stared at my wife Sandy. She just looked at the dog and said, “well hi pretty girl. What are you doing in my house?” With that, the dog jumped up the last step and went right over to Sandy to be petted. Of course, my wife bent down and obliged her. Then she looked at me and asked where, why, and how I got this dog and reminded me about moving. I said I knew all of that, but I could not have just left her out there on that busy highway. I assured my wife that I would try to find the dog’s real home as soon as I could. Well, that sounded good anyway!
We left her down in the basement with a couple of towels for a bed. The next morning, I was up early to give her a bath. As soon as RaeAnne saw this new dog- well, it was love at first sight! I did talk to some people around town to see if there was any word about a lost dog, but did not hear anything. By the time we moved into our house in Rantoul, the dog had become a part of our family. As we tried to figure out a name for her, RaeAnne started calling her ‘nother one’, since we already had one dog. She was a really good natured dog, and took to all of us right away. My brother had a brown and white colored Springer Spaniel named Lady, so my sister-in-law suggested we call the new member of our family ‘Tramp’. Well, the name stuck, and Tramp fit right in. She went on to become RaeAnne’s best buddy, except when the two of them were fighting over RaeAnne’s pillow at bedtime…
Patty’s presentation
Well, here is my Paco story and my 3 sentence skeleton story.
Paco is a boy. He is 10 years old. Paco is small for his age. Paco likes school. His favorite subject is Math. He really like his teacher. But today, Paco has a problem. He cannot find his shoes. He knows he left them under the table, but they are not there now.
Abraham Lincoln went to a play.
John Wilkes Booth shot him.
Lincoln died the next day.
Hi all,
Here is what I have been working on during the free writing time each morning. I am posting this for all of you to read and respond, if you would like. I want you to understand this is a very personal and emotional story, so please choose carefully when and where you read it. It is not a ‘light’ read, at least I hope not. I wanted to write it as an exercise for myself, but as I stated earlier, I would like some feedback. So, let me know what you think!The blue title below is a link to the document.
Thanks,
Bob
English Language Learners
The only real experience I have had with an English Language learner is from my days as a substitute teacher. I was called to sub at an elementary building. When I arrived, I was told I was needed to take over the for the ESL teacher. There were two Hispanic brothers who spoke very little English and I needed to pull them out of the classroom at various times during the day to work with them. I was really concerned, because I do not speak Spanish.
We were supposed to work on the names of colors. Both of the boys were very friendly, and we were getting along fine, but they were not very interested in the lesson. As we worked, they just continued to say the colors in Spanish. When I tried to say one of the colors in Spanish with them, they suddenly were very interested. So, we made a deal- if they would work on the English words with me, I would attempt to learn the Spanish words with them. It really worked- they were much more involved with the lesson after that. We would work on the colors in English, and when they got to saying the words pretty well, we would then switch to Spanish. When I got the word fairly close, we would move on to the next color. They tried very hard, and had a great time teaching me colors in Spanish. That was nearly 6 years ago, and I still remember some of the colors in Spanish!
week 2, day 1
Well, another good start to a week! The morning schedule for this week seems to be low pressure. Some good quiet writing time, followed by a demonstration and review. I like changing groups- it gives me new perspectives on each of the demos. I had a hard time with the video work today, I just could not make up my mind what to do the video on, and that is a problem! I finally today settled on an idea, but need to get some things done on my own time to make it work. Just got home from a family birthday party and about out of energy, so I will have to wait until tomorrow evening to get some video done. Still writing in the mornings, and it is going well. Hope the rest of you are getting as much out of this as I am! Only 13 days left- where has the time gone?!?!
week one- UIUP
Wow! I think that pretty much sums up my feelings about the first week. It seems as though we have been here for quite a while, yet it doesn’t, you know? Lots of technology stuff that I am very weak on- a big shout out to Patrick and Amber for their patience with this old guy! The overall writing environment is extremely positive- I feel this has been the best part for me. The first several demonstrations have now caused me some anxiety about mine, or at least what I think I am going to do. The rest of the participants have been a great group to work with- I appreciate the variety, yet we all seem to have the goal. On we go!!
free writing
Well, day two is almost over. This morning’s free write was kind of interesting. As I was driving in today, an idea for writing hit me- hard! I started rolling it around in my head- the start, how I wanted it to sound, etc. In free write, I decided it was time to write this story, even thought it is very difficult for me to think about. Hopefully, I will find time to finish it tonight, and be able to share. My hope of this Writing Project was to spur me to write, and it is working!!
thoughts on “Writing in the 21st Century”
The first comment from this writing is about the historical perspective of ‘writing’. It is very true that past societies have focused on trying to keep members of the society from writing- they wanted to control what was out there to read. If people only read what the leaders wanted them to read, things would be quite a bit easier- and the people easier to control. Even in this country- learning to write was more about penmanship and structure- not about writing quality or content. Even as we move on to testing, the new wave of tests really focus on structure and grammar instead of good writing. And, they students that are being tested get a certain time period to write- no accounting for how each student responds to writing. Today, with the huge growth in Online writing, people can get there ideas out there- but now we need to understand the audience. As the article points out, you must know your audience- how do you, as a writer- know your world wide audience?? Ideally, the article points us in a way to understand what writing is, and more importantly, what it is not. We as teachers need to keep these things in mind when our students are writing.
Writing Project- Day 1
So, my first blog is supposed to be about how I write. I have to begin with the idea, and how I am going to create the paper. I then have to do quite a bit of research, including as much as possible about my topic. Once the research is done, I then start writing, and edit as I go. I will edit many times, and even start over at times. When I get to a ‘finished’ phase, I will then ask someone to read it for me, and make comments. I then take the suggestions, and edit some more. When I think I am close to the finished product, I will then let it ‘sit’ for awhile. I then take one more time to read it, and make any last changes, then be done.
