Module 6

In this unit, argumentative writing was covered and it was no easy feat. 

The readings for this module included Hyler Chapter 5 and Gura Chapters 12 and 13. Hyler discussed argumentative papers and how to best format them. He also compares argumentative writing to persuasive writing and stresses the importance of knowing the difference. Argumentative writing involves facts and knowing both sides of the argument, whereas persuasive is more one sided, looking to merely convince an audience. I think to understand one, you need to understand both. 

Gura discusses argumentative writing as well, but focuses on tools that can be used to enhance an argument. Blogging is heavily emphasized as a prewriting exercise and, as a big advocate for blogs, I loved this. I think blogging is a great tool that also involves peer review and 

My favorite part of this unit, however, was the Public Service Announcement assignment. I appreciate a great public service announcement and think they are necessary for keeping people aware. Many times we get so caught up in our everyday activities that we forget to take a step back and care for the world around us, the world we live in. 

The following was the PSA I created... (My printer ran out of ink, so unfortunately I did not have the PSA I would have liked for the gallery walk)

I did my PSA on voting because I thought it was very relevant with the election only a few weeks away. I cannot tell you how many times I hear people complaining about our president or political officials and then have the nerve to say they did not even cast a vote. That is exactly where the inspiration behind my announcement came from. 

Overall I think this unit was very helpful and I took many things away from it. As a non-education major, I always skew the content to fit my needs and sometimes it is rather difficult. With this unit, I found it fairly simple and even got to utilize design elements, which is a huge part of my major. 

Module 5

In Module 5, the objective was to discuss strengths of digital tasks that enable students to create original narratives. The chapters discussed in this unit contained a lot of relevant information, but something about Gura Chapter 2 really stuck with me. At it’s core, the chapter discussed how creativity is being jeopardized in school due to the preparation for state wide assessments.

I really resonated with this because towards the end of my time in high school, more and more state assessments were added. Luckily, as a senior, I was grandfathered out of them, but saw my sister and her friends suffer.

The digital tool within this chapter, Animoto, a service tool/application that allows the user to produce slideshows from pictures, video clips, and music. I had never heard of this tool, but it immediately caught my interest and would have loved to utilize it's features in some of my classes.

The assignment, "digital story pitch," required the students to create their own short stories and then create an Animoto to endorse/sell their pitch. I love the kind of assignments that allow students to focus on something other than just the writing. Writing is not everyone's strong suit and it is important for teachers to understand this and incorporate a diverse set of learning tools within the curriculum. 

In the discussion surrounding this Chapter, TO brought up a very interesting point regarding the animated pitches and if students should be told about it before writing their stories or after. I thought it would be wise to tell them ahead of time so they could get the most out of the assignment. Sometimes students put in a minimal effort if they think the assignment is solely what is in front of them. If you told them at the beginning, the opportunity for critical thinking would present itself with the potential for great work. 

Module 3 Reflection

libraryaware.com

Unfortunately, I was never exposed to graphic novels before this class and, truthfully, I am a little sad. I was under the wrong impression all along and thought they were

I had a lot of fun creating my own graphic novel strip, but I will admit the initial process was challenging. I found that the books I was interested in recreating had already been made into movies and instead of drawing what I imagined when I read the books, I was recreating scenes from the films. Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter were just some of the novels that I was struggling with.

While I was laying in my bed thinking about this, I had a revelation thanks to artwork that I have hanging in my room. I collect art from all over the world, whether it be drawings, street art, postcards, books marks, or even museum tickets. Every time I travel I try to buy art that embodies the newfound culture around me. I have 3 book marks of Don Quixote hanging on my wall from a street artist in Mexico and I knew I had found my novel.

I come from a Mexican-American background (my father is from Mexico and my mother was born here, while her mother was from Mexico) and grew up hearing about the adventures of Don Q. I had never seen the movie and all of the images that popped into my head when I thought of the novel were strictly from my own imagination. It was perfect. I had a lot of fun planning and drawing my graphics and, surprisingly, I even enjoyed writing the analysis.

Like many of my peers mentioned in class, I experienced the novel in a whole new way and had to actively analyze the scene I was recreating. How would he look in this part? How would his squire react to him doing this? How would the horse look? And I even asked myself, "What sound would his spear make hitting the windmill?" (This was actually quite difficult!) In the end, this was a great project and would be very beneficial within the classroom to help students completely grasp a piece of literature.

P.S. Here are a few fun facts about the novel (15 Things You Might...):

• Don Quixote is considered the first modern novel.
• Don Quixote might be the best-selling novel of all time.
• Don Quixote helped to establish the modern Spanish language. 

Sources:

15 Things You Might Not Know About 'Don Quixote' (n.d.). Retrieved October 05, 2016, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/65764/15-things-you-might-not-know-about-don-quixote