My Journey
If you know anything about
hobbits, you know that hobbits typically are not
adventurous beings. They live in comfortable homes,
under hills, identified as hobbit-holes. Hobbits also
typically do not do anything unexpected.
In many aspects, I am not unlike a hobbit. I live in
a small house, and, though it is not in a hill, I do keep
the house fairly dark and private. I rarely open my
front window curtains because I do not like to feel like
I'm being watched. I'm sure that this is an obvious
indicator that I tend to stay very much to myself (which
is the part that is unlike a hobbit because hobbits enjoy
company). I am not very adventurous, and people can
typically guess what I would do in most situations.
This is partially because anyone can read my emotions on
my face. I am also known to be a planner. I
often turn down dinner invitations because it wasn't in my
plan book far enough in advance.
So, the fact that I decided to go back to school full time
to work on a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction came as a
shock to many people. Of course, what those people
didn't know is that I've been working on making this
happen for months.
I took a communications class last fall and met several
students in various Ph.D. programs. I learned from
one student that going back to school full time is
possible with a teaching assitantship. I began to
look into this process.
I spoke to Dr. McCarthey in November. After sharing
my story and my future goals, she recommended that I apply
for the full time program with a focus in Literacy and
Language in the Department of Curriculum and
Instruction. At the same time, she recommended that
I apply to the University of Illinois Writing
Project.
I applied to both the summer institute and for the full
time program. I was fortunate to be accepted into
both. By the end of May, I was able to let my school
know that I was not returning since I had an exciting
adventure to embark upon. This was quite a leap of
faith since I prefer stability, and others know
that. However, I was sent off with well wishes and
support for partnerships in my future studies.
Thus, my true adventures have begun... starting with UIWP.
I hope this web page will demonstrate how much I truly
enjoyed the writing project. I can't believe that it
is over and the digital portfolio is the final
project. It's ending before it even got started.
At the beginning of the project, it became quickly
overwhelming due to the technological aspects. One of
the reasons I wanted to participate in UIWP was because of
the technology we were promised to learn. We began
immediately with signing up for a blog, signing up for
Twitter, and becoming familiar with the UIWP website.
Baptism by fire! The following day we were given
cameras to begin the digital literacy narrative video.
At the same time, demonstrations were presented, adding
another layer to the workload. With reading, blogging,
responding, discussing, taping, and (one of UIWP's prized
activities) eating... my head was spinning. However,
this feeling quickly dissipated as I began to get a handle
on the technology. For the first time that I remember,
I was also very patient with learning technology, which made
the experiences pleasurable.
Once I spent some independent time with WordPress and
Twitter, I felt more comfortable with posting
messages. While I didn't necessarily blog daily,
because some of my writing was just for me, I find the
process valuable. It's great to share thoughts and
receive responses as affirmations, as well as receive
responses to stimulate more thought. I haven't found
too much personal use for Twitter except for "hearing" the
random thoughts of other participants. But, I do find
Twitter useful to stay informed on world issues through BBC
and CNN.
As far as making videos and podcasts are concerned, I feel
like I've only begun to scratch the surface. At times
it was frustrating because those who are familiar with the
technology find working with it so easy. Usually, if I
was told that this would be simple, the task I was
performing was anything but simple. It never worked
quite like I expected. However, as I mentioned above,
I had more patience with technology than ever before.
My patience allowed for me to truly learn and make
connections so I feel confident to work with audio and video
technology on my own. With my personal dedication to
learning more about it, I believe I will become proficient
in using it.
Now I'm completing this website, and I am finding that I
am more comfortable with the process than ever before.
I've made web pages for other classes many years ago, but
the process never stuck. Just like with audio and
video technology, I plan on using this process again
immediately so I can work on my skills and provide
information through a website for my future students.
It would also be a great way to catalog my progress through
my Ph.D. program.
Reading and writing is something that I will, of course,
always continue. I do want to become more diligent
with personal writing beyond academic writing. These
experiences in the writing project have broadened my
understanding of the writing world through both processes of
reading and writing during UIWP.
As I wrap this up, my only regret is that we are
done. I would love for this to continue for at least
another couple of weeks. This has been an invaluable
experience and one that I dub life-changing.
My final, digital portfolio includes aspects of all areas
of UIWP. I chose to include writings that represent
what I did during the morning writing time. I've
covered information about the texts that were most
influencial on my thinking and that I will explore more in
my future. Media artifacts in this site include my
experiments with audio and visual that I will continue to
improve upon in the future, possibly remediating what
already exists. I've also included a resources tab
that includes sites used as well as other cites that would
be helpful for those interested in these topics to visit for
support.