WA3

Eddie Arciga

English

Shannon Carter PhD

20. October. 2009

Proposal

                As I finally narrowed my search down to a final question, I was able to think of all the ways I could approach it and I found that this specific topic can be one with a great potential. Many have wondered what drives a student to succeed when certain parts of their life are not part of the idealistic views that are set up for success. I know what influenced me, but I do not know if that same thing is what influences any other person. So that leads me to my final question, “How does someone’s personal History affect their own pursuit of the ‘model student’.”

                Not everyone is always blessed with the perfect successful home all the time through wich many scholarly people come out of. Some have homes that are broken; some have families that do not support education because they simply did not get that luxury as a child. Others are so poor that education is such a far stretch to them that they just do not even try because they think they will end in ultimate failure and their hard work would be in vain. You always see the doctor’s kids or the lawyer’s kids as the ones who will succeed in school because they are set up to succeed. But there are those kids that work hard and despite all of their struggles in their life, they make it through and begin a new legacy for their families. Those are the kids who no one sees as the model students but regardless, something inside of them serves as a catalyst to continue through and throught that determination, they some of them accomplish their goal of being one of those model students. Through this project I hope to discover what drives those people who have lives that are set up for failure to succeed and excel far more than in just the classroom.

                This to me is a personal subject because I was in one of those situations where success was not all lined up for me just waiting for me to take it. I had to work hard in various things so I could get to the spot where I am now. Through my parents being uneducated and the lack of money at times, I was probably not the one you would have thought to succeed in my class. But for me it was more than that, it was the burning inside knowing that I could do so much that kept me driving forward to my goals. In order to get there I had to strive to be that model student that is not only good when it comes to making good grades but also is a well rounded student. As a member of the band, football team, powerlifting team, track team, UIL science team, and other clubs and organizations, I found myself busy up to my neck. Not only was there all that but I also had to work on the weekends I was free in order to have all the money I would need to go to all the extra curricular things I was involved in. That took a lot of time off of my day and I was always really close to my breaking point, but somehow there would always be someone who would encourage me enough to serve as a boost to keep going. My drive was to make something of myself, and that is what kept me going through my high school years. The work load was tremendous but in the end it was worth every second of doing it all and I know if I had to, I would gladly do it again. The questions I ask are questions that I would ask myself about my experience through high school. I would start off by asking what all they were involved in, if they had a long term goal they wanted to achieve, where they were born, were their parents educated, and stuff like that. All these questions pertain to the essential part of how their life may have been more difficult than others to succeed.

                My targets in this research are all those of whom may have had a difficult journey to having success as a well rounded scholar. Those that had no chance according to the society’s expectations but yet made a great run to get where they may be now. As a fellow classmate of many of the people I will be interviewing, I will approach them through a meeting and ask them if they would be interested in being in my research project. I would explain in detail all that I am trying to accomplish and not leave anything out. I would tell them what to expect from the questions that I may ask them during our interveiw so they would not be taken by surprise on any of the questions. I would ensure them that if a question made them feel uncomfortable we would gladly move on to the next question and continue. I would assure them that the research is being taken seriously and that all that they will provide me will serve as a tool in trying to find the thing that drives people to success. While doing this I would be calm and make sure they understand everything that I am saying to ensure there is no miscommunication between us.

                When I am done with all the interviews, I will start to compile all the information together and finding the answer to my question. I will look from the habits of all the interviewees to the beliefs of each person. By doing so I hope to find a connection somewhere so I may draw a conclusion to the question of what drives them to working towards being a model student.

                As for the permission, I plan to make an appointment with Dr. Green so we can discuss my project and see if he will allow me to do some of my interviews among the Honors College students. Not only will I ask him for permission but I will also ask each individual for their permission to interview them as some of my possible interiewees do not go to Commerce. After I obtain permission, I will go in search of those who fit the criteria within the Honors College and then go to my friends and ask them to be a part as well. I will set up meetings with each indiviual person at a pace of their convenience where they feel most comfortable so my interview can be most effective. By asking questions and recording the conversations I will later analyze what everyone said and try to draw a conclusion from which seems close to what they all indsiviually said in the interview.

                This research to me was brought up through Brandt when she compared the two people of which one was set up for success and the other one was not. It showed the difference in the ease of one to further his education as the other had to go the extra mile to further hers. That and my personal experiences sparked this project to which I believe will help people understand that it is not always who is in the spot for success that succeeds but that in order to succeed, you must have a drive to get you there and that in the end is worth more than being set up for success. In the end being able to find a correlation in similar interest towards striving for that “model student,” may help even teachers motivate some students towards working for that same goal.

Eddie Arciga

(903)335-6974

I understand that I am being interviewed and recorded for an ethnographic research project conducted by Eddie Arciga for English 102-H taught by Shannon Carter PhD. I agree to let him use the interview to write a paper for the class. It will not be used for any other purpose.i have been informed that if I am at any time uncomfortable, I do not have to anser the question or I can ask for the recorder to be turned off. I am aware that I may request a pseudonym to be used. By signing, I agree with all the terms stated on this form.

Do you agree to participate in the interview?      YES    NO

Can the interview be recorded?      YES      NO

Should a pseudonym be used?     YES     NO

Signature of participant:                                                                                                               Date:

Eddie Arciga

(903)335-6974

I                                                              give permission for Eddie Arciga to conduct a study among his fellow classmates in the Honors College for his ethnographical project for English 102-H instructed by Shannon Carter PhD. By agreeing to this I am aware that this research is only to be used in his project and in no other place. I am also aware that he will be conducting interviews upon his research question to which he has thoroughly discussed and explained to me. I also understand that if these guidelines are not followed I am allowed to take any action of my choice.

Signature:                                                                                                                           Date:

Questionaire:

1. What all activities were you involved in as a High School Student?

 

1. Would you consider yourself well off, average, or below average economically?

 

1. What was your favorite subject in school?

 

1. How many hours did you put in to extra curricular activities during the average week?

 

1. Why were you involved in the extra curricular activities?

 

1. Did your parents support your studies?

 

1. Did you work? If so, why ?

 

1. What grades did you maintain yearly?

 

1. Did anyone outside of the family encourage you?

 

1. What made you want to succeed?

 

1. Were there any problems in your road to be where you are now? If so, what were they?

 

1. What is the one thing or things you believe helped you succeed?

 

1. What do you think is the reason people decide to continue with their goals and dreams in situations like yours?

WA2

Eddie Arciga

Shannon Carter

Honors English

29. September. 2009

WA2

                When you see a building what do you think of? What is in it? Who walks through it? Or do you simply just walk by and kind of acknowledge that it is there but do not really pay too close attention to anything that may be happening in the certain building. Most of the time you can not tell anything about a person when they walk out of a building besides the fact they just walked out of that building. The Hall of Languages is a perfrect example to what I am speaking.

                As a very important building, the Hall of Languages serves the purpose to educate all of those who may enter it with the same kind of treatment. This building serves as a reminder of the founder of this whole university, Mayo. Like in Gold’s article, equal opportunity is a big part of the university so therefore, it suits to say that in the Hall of Languages the opportunities for the students are equal as well. This building is important not only because of that but because of what kind of learning that occurs within. Also in concordance to Mayo, this biulding serves to build upon the literacy skills of all who enter whether they are American, Mexican, poor, rich, Christian or Agnostic. Whoever they may be, they are receiving the same kind of treatment within the barriers of the complex.

                Like Mayo, I believe in an equal opportunity setting and I truly believe that everytime I see the Hall of Languages, whether it is going to class or just walking by, I notice everyone that comes through there and I sit and think about all the different backgrounds that they may come from. I will probably never know the real backgrounds behind them all just due to the fact that you can not tell anything from the way they come out the doors or come in through them.  

                Take for example in the previous picture that you saw. Are you able to pick out the backgrounds of each one? Which one is going to succeed? Unless you previously knew them I do not believe you would be able to pick out anything from just seeing them stand there in front of the Hall of Languages. The one thing I can tell you is that they are all striving to be more educated in reading their books. They all have ambitions of one day becoming someone renowned, someone of importance, and therefore they take their education as a serious manner. Two of them are standing there discussing a book and trying to maybe get a better grasp of what it really means. They always have said that two heads are better than one and it seems to me here that they are engaged in that thought to maybe help enrich their understanding of whatever it may be that they are discussing. The other Girl in the picture is reading a book as she prepares to walk into not only a building but a community of students where the common goal is to learn. None of the students or teachers in the building are prejudice for any reason, one, because they do not personally know what that student goes or has gone through, and two, because Mayo left a legacy that every student should be treated equally in importance. As she approaches this building she embraces herself for a magical moment that is yet to come where her understanding and knowledge of literacy will be improved and in turn help her succeed with any goal she may have for her future. None of the people in this picture have to worry about what they may be called or if anyone will have a prejudice towards them. They know that every person that walks by just notices that they are students and just think, “Hey, there is another kid going to English class.” The fact that this is possible and true in the community of Commerce is something that is really neat to know.

                This picture represents the same concept that Mayo laid out while he was alive. “We want your story,” here we see that the university is interested in your own story. Since they can not just label you when you walk by, they have taken interest to know all the different stories that are behind all the students that walk through the doors at the Hall of Languages.

                With so many interesting backgrounds and environments that exist on campus it is very hard to say which environment is the one that produces the best literacy, if that is even possible to say. I do not believe that the environment you were raised in determines how you will develop your literacy, I do think that sometimes it affects the way you do it but that is all dependant on the way you take the challenges that arise while you are trying to make something of yourself. How bad you want something in the end is what determines your success. The determination you put in something is what determines the outcome and whether it is good or bad.

Literacy can be found in many forms and the diversity of the students within the Hall of Languages alone produce various ways to putting to use literacy in their everyday lives. Some use pencil and paper to jot down thoughts and anything that may be thought provoking while others simply like to take pictures of certain things that to them will function in the same way to provoke some thoughts. Background and environment sometimes have little to do with what kind of literay one uses but the one thing that is true is that no matter what, every student that steps through the Hall of Languages use s one way of literacy.Whether you are writing stuff down on paper or you are taking pictures of words, the concept is the same; you are using literacy in your life. The way you do it does not matter as much as the fact that you are just simply doing it.

Thanks to William Mayo, a lot of kids that would otherwise not have a college education were privalaged with the honor of attending this universtiy to study and continue to pursue their goals. Backgrounds and ceratin situations played little part in the role to getting to come to this university.Mayo believed in hard work and determination and as long as you possessd those two traits, he would find a way of letting you be a part of this great university of opportunity. So it only fits that Mayo being an English teacher, that when you see the Hall of Languages, you can see his works being put to use as he intended them to be used. Thanks to him, diversity with no prejudices within the building are possible where as in many other places that may not be possible, so consider our community of Commerce very fortunate to have had Mayo lead by example so many years ago.

WA1

Eddie Arciga

H-English

Shannon Carter PhD

10 Sept. 2009

Self Sponsered

                Literacy is something essential in the American culture. It is something that we all use and are exposed to everyday of our lives as Americans. The more literate you are in our society, the higher position you will achieve the majority of the time. People with literate parents and that grow up in a very literate environment are usually the ones who excel the most when it comes to school. The less fortunate that do not have the resources or the environment are pushed to their limits to find ways of learning and still in the end most of the time fall behind the others.

Born into a family where education was not known, where my father dropped out of grade school to work and my mother dropped high school to have me, I was always a mile behind all of my  peers. Literacy was not something that was of much importance to my family throughout my early years. When I was three years old, my mom and I were brought over to the United States where we moved to Winnsboro, Texas, a little country town that does not have much. My dad worked on a dairy when we first arrived. Our home was small but it was all we could really manage to have at the time. My dad worked really early in the morning and at times I had to help my dad feed the baby calves. As I became a little older I began the Head Start program at the school district there where I was not so much of a smart kid. I was put in an ESL class for my ignorance of the English language. This is where literacy began to take a toll on me as a young four year old kid. As the year went on I continued to struggle with the concepts of English and my teachers were not too supportive so I did not really feel comfortable in the environment I was set in from the get go. As the year came to a close, my dad was offered a job at “Tammolly’s Mexican Restaurant.” My father was reluctant to accept this job as it would provide a better means of income for the family of four at the time which consisted of my father, my uncle, my mother, and me. This was great news to us all. I was particularly excited because I would be getting to go into totally new school district. This being because the restaurant my father was hired into was located in Sulphur Springs Texas, a town about half an hour from our previous establishment. As we made the transition, I saw right off the bat that I would like this new town a lot better than my previous town. As we drove around the town I could see the friendly environment that the town set. It was something I found quite pleasant as the old town did not set the same type of environment. I felt I was going to be a little more comfortable here then in Winnsboro.

As I began my march into the new schoo, I could feel that I was important because every teacher I saw would come up to me and ask my name and where I was from. My new teachers I distinctly remember were an older lady by the name Mrs. Godbolt and a younger looking Hispanic teacher that went by the name Alma. I never knew her last name as she became a close friend and a literacy sponsor for my first chapters in a life that was full of obstacles. Alma was also my ESL teacher where she made reading and learning the English language something I liked to do instead of something I dreaded to do everyday. She encouraged me to continue studying and learning cause she could see something that I couldn’t see. She always thought I was meant to be different and so I took her dream and for lack of a better phrase, I ran with it. So the years past and I found myself in first grade where the first day I went to ESL and they gave us a test. This test was to test your English, both speaking and understanding. I came out of the test very confident I had done well because I had felt I was well prepared for it from my previous years with an ESL teacher I had loved. I was not too far off, when the results came in, I had scored the highest on the test, not only that but I had scored high enough to not have to attend ESL any more. I sat in Mrs. Diamond’s room, my next sponsor, learning for the first time at the same pace as the rest of the students. I quickly took interest in the math and science parts of all our learning and Mrs. Diamond soon was finding me to sit me down and talk. She sat down and looked me in the eye and said “Eduardo, I think you may have something special in store for you down the road if you just keep trying your best in my class.” Once again, the words that were previously my encouragement were there again; maybe there was a better plan for me where I may make a difference. Maybe I was not meant to work like my father did, maybe I was different. These thoughts all ran through my head as I did not know what to make of the words that my teacher had spoken to me sitting in a classroom. I proceeded through the first and second grade, each year learning bits and pieces more until I found myself at a milestone. When in the third grade, I was elected to go to a special math and science after school group, where they only took two kids from every elementary school around. I found myself starting to achieve things that only a few years ago, my parents and even I did not think possible. So I continued to excel in my literacy and began to establish that I was not just another kid like my father, I had a choice  and whatever that was going to be, I had total control of the outcome of my effort that I would input into whatever my choice may be.

So there it was, I continued to take interest in literacy as the years went by, not so much english class because that was probably my least of all classes, but math and science improved my understanding, my vocabulary and my reading comprehension. My teachers were all very supportive but I was still missing something, I was still empty inside. My eight grade year rolled around and I did not change anything until we were closing in on the end of the first semester of school. I had recently started to attend church at First Baptist Sulphur Springs and I was really convicted on many things in my life. I reached what I believe was my most important part of my life, accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. When accepting him, my youth minister served as my literacy sponsor as he encouraged me to read the bible more and more so I would learn more about Jesus. So I did just that, I read and read until it just became part of who I was, Ty Musser my literacy sponsor is still a big part of my literacy as I still continue to read the bible on a constant basis. As my middle school years ended, this was the start of all the bigger obstacles that came in my life.

As a member of the band, football, and other various sports my parents were not always too happy with the times we had to practice till late hours of the day. They began the questioning of why I was in both, why I couldn’t just pick one, and why I wanted to do so much knowing that my literacy skills were needed at home for reasons that would be beneficial to the family instead of personal gain.  I was the translator for my family when it came to any kind of negotiation or business that would require that you need to know English, as my dad knew very little and my mother knew none. It did not help any that I had two younger siblings that made the income of the family insuficcient and therefore my father had to find outside ways to making an extra dollar or two just so he could keep us in school. Because I was an illegal immigrant, my dad cared more about my two siblings’s education then mine because he did not think I would ever go anywhere because I was not an American citizen. I struggled and wrestled with my father’s logic of school being worthless for me.I was not expected to go through school, on the other hand, my dad always encouraged dropping school so I could work like he did when he was a young teenager. My father always had it in his mind that I would grow up to be like him and school, as in his case, was not in my future. But with some encouragement to make something of myself, I was able to make an effort to continue through my barriers and make it through school even when the odds were against me.

My band instructor Charles McCauley and my head football coach Gregg Owens were constantly there to help me through all my struggles and they treated me like their own son. Gregg Owens once told me, “In order to achieve, YOU must first believe,” those words sunk in and I finally realized that they were all right, I could make something of literacy skills that I had gained if only I exerted myself to my fullest potential. I had made up my mind that I was going to finish high school and pursue education on the higher level which was college. Not only were my parents a barrier but the lack of money was something that always was a hard thing. My parents at times would not have money for certain events or camps that I wanted to go to for improvement of my own gain such as church camps to better my knowledge of the bible or football camps where my understanding of the game of football grew. But like always, God provided a sponsor for that as well. In my church there were many people that were ecstatic to know that I needed finincial help and they would pay for most of my stuff. Their sponsorship of money helped me buy the things I needed to further my knowledge. Finally it came time for graduation and even though my life may have not been set up to succeed, I was in the top 10 people of my graduating class of around 300. For the first time I could feel that much closer to the dream that I had chased for so long. I could taste the first step. I was ready to graduate. As I walked across the stage and looked in the bleachers, I saw my parents and for the first time I knew they finally believed in my dream. As I saw dropplets of water running down their brown complexions, I had my own water come down mine in happiness that I knew that deep down my dad was always proud of me and that he just did not want me to set my dreams to high to where I could not reach them.

Though many sponsors were involved in my life, it is safe to say that it does not matter what your circumstances are, if you are seeking to be someone, literacy is the first and most important thing you need to have a passion for. Without the passion for literacy of any kind, you will not exceed very far in any goal you may have. For all the sponsors that encouraged me on the way up, I am forever grateful of them but I also know that literacy is not something I will learn just once, I will have to continue to seek it out to learn more and with that I know there will be more sponsors on the way. But for now, here I am today, a college student at the Honors College of Texas A&M Universtiy- Commerce, where I am majoring in Biology (pre-med). Something that is not simple but if it is accomplished I know I will be that somebody I always dreamed of being.

RJ 13

Fieldworking 4

Karen Downing shows us some great ways on how we can capture a better understanding by just being able to choose the right setting to observe. In my research, I will not be using this very much as my research is based upon interviews and only that. The settings for those all depend on the interviewee and I do not think I will be putting in practice any of the methods that Downing mentioned. Also as Downing shows us how we treat ourselves to transient things such as flowers and such we are able to draw deeper into an understanding of how her fieldworking methods truly work.

Barton

In this passage, I found us regressing back to the basics of literacy. Although at first I was not amused, I was able to learn a lot through going back to the basics. They do a great job in making you understand that literacy comes in many different forms and that is not not something that will stay the same. It is constantly molding and rearanging to keep up with the modern times. As time progresses, so does literacy. As we went from getting very specific to opening back up to broader terms, I was able to learn things that otherwise I would have missed if I would have not gone back to the basics. That idea alone is somewhat of an encouraging thought.

As for my fieldnotes, I was unable to obtain any that would regard in my research as mine will all be interview based and until then I will not know who I could possibly observe in order to benefit from it.

RJ 12

Response to Essay

Dee in this passage seems to be the one that the writer wants us to focus our attention on. As she views all the small things as important, we as researchers should do the same. We often go out in search of something big and spectacular that is going to impress someone when at the same time, we often miss the important things that may be small. If we took time to view every item as an important artifact towards the community we are studying i think we will be surprised to see that most of the time, it is the small things that attribut the most to our projects. There are many great things to be found in simple items such as the quilt in the story.

Box 13

There are many things that may serve as artifacts. In my research I have found in my own case that simple things such as my football jersey from last year has a lot more meaning to it then what meets the simple eye. If someone would take time to ask why I have it still hung up on my wall they would get an answer that they would not all expect. People merely think that beacuse it is a football jersy, that is the only thing that it could possibly pertain too, in which they are wrong. The jersey has a value of motivation as well as other things that i could list but this just comes to prove that any given item can serve as a catalyst in making your research. These types of things are the things that I will look for as I do my research from now on.

Groundwork:

1. As I do my research I will have to be very carefull as to which subjects I put a lot of emphasis on. Some people’s histories are much more graphic than others and I do not want to make my interviewee feel uncomfortable in any way so I will try my best to watch out for those situations. All of the people I plan to interview share the one thing in common and I believe because of that, the communication will be that much greater. The expetations of the way I will conduct my experiment I hope are in the same manner as they would do it themselves to make them feel more comfortable asnsering all my questions.

2.

1. What all activities were you involved in as a High School Student?
2. Would you consider yourself well off, average, or below average economically?
3. What was your favorite subject in school?
4. How many hours did you put in to extra curricular activities during the average week?
5. Why were you involved in the extra curricular activities?
6. Did you parents support your studies?
7. Did you work?
8. What grades did you maintain yearly?
9. Did anyone outside of the family encourage you?
10. What is the one thing you believe helped you succeed?

3.An outsider would find it very interesting to find out what the code is for the success in those students that did not have the perfect set up for success. To be able to fit in this culture that I am doing research upon, they must first come from a setting of failure to which they excelled and succeeded anyway.

African American Churches:

Although this was a long reading, I find that this plays into what we have been saying about ethnography. It is biased. Although she looked at a variety of churches, she failed to do one thing. That is to understand all of the people involved in that community. Even though she did observe the minister and says a lot about the congregation, she never once goes in to detail about any single member of the congregation. She seems to have not interviewed them seperately and just associated their thoughts and actions through the minister that she did study. This causes the bias where she gets the results she wants by not interviewing the congregation and potentially getting different data then if she would have interviewed even a few of them. Therefore in her conclusions about them, I do not think she understood them well enough to be able to draw upon any realisic conclusions over their true self.

RJ 11

Moss

A I read through Moss’s paper I began to see something that I did not exactly agree on. The part about ethnography being very biased made me tinge inside. I do not see why anyone would choose to basically lie on thier research just because they do not want to offend anyone of the community that they conducted studies on. I think that if your research shows something, even if bad, it should be brought out. If you really care about the communitiy that you studied you would bring out anything negative that was happening so that maybe that community could fix it and no longer have that as a negative. By hiding it, you only hinder the community from flourishing in the right direction if you did not conduct all your studies in an honest manner.

Mama Day:

This excerpt just helped reinforce what i had in mind from Moss’s paper about being honest. This excerpt helped show that it is important to not only take observations from your own research question but to also just take notice of the community as a whole. Honesty is very important to a research so that others are able to get a true perspective on the community that was studied.

RJ 10

A. Interviews that took place all across the United States

B.Raymond Branch- well off parents, very successful/ Dora Lopez- Not so well off parents, not so successful. People from between the 1900 and 1980′s that had interesting literacy histories

C.Education and Literacy through Sponsorship

D. Dora Lopez took interest in bilingual teaching so that may be an activity that took place

E.They both used books and computes although each one was different due to economic standings at the time.

F.They both had a big interest in a field and they took whatever measure to be able to get closer to that certain goal whether through reading, writing, or anything along those lines.

G.All these events occur at many times during each ones life and each process takes hours at the minimum to accomplish

H.They wanted to become what they dreamed of. One a bilingual teacher the other a computer person. Summing it up, they both wanted to succeed and have an easier life with a degree of some sort and an education that would suffice for their plan.

I.They most likely felt good about it. They both knew it would take time to accomplish their goals and so that leads me to believe that they were happy through it all. They may have at times felt down but in the big scene of things, they were mainly happy.

 

Summary:

As I went through this asignment, I was able to find that a lot of the questions that the activity asked, were in turn questions i should be able to answer about my selected personel as well. I should be able to put them together with common things such as the activities they participated in and stuff of that field. For my setting, I should, as Brandt did, go in the convenience of the interviewee not at my commodity. In fact, all these questions actually helped me think of many things that I can do to tie my project together when I go to finally analyze the data that I colected.

 

Research

A.How does someone’s personal history affect their pursuit of the “model student?”

B.As of now I do not have a specific site on to which I am going to use. my own personal history serves as the background and layout for this project.

C.They are all around and I have a few friends that would help me out that I know fall into this field.

D. I will conduct it on the student body starting on kids from the honors college and then moving on to my friends that attend different universities. I will get permission from Dr. Green and then the individual person as well.

E.I will set up a meeting with Dr. Green and explain to him what I am doing and ask permission to interview some HC students. I will also just approach the kids I will be using and out of casual conversation if they would be interested in participating in my study and if they say yes, I will get them to sign a permission slip that I will have at that time.

RJ 9

Extended Field Notes

As I took part in the intramural soccer team for the Honors College I took it upon myself to examine one of the games starting from before, during, and after the actual game. As took note, I realized that everyone on the team had lots of things to do. One of which was very common within the group, homework. Before the game While time was approaching and everyone was texting each other, many of the replies were, “I will be right over, I have to finish my homework.” Homework is a big part of literacy because without homework your individual thinking does not function to its fullest. While in the game, i paid close attention to both sides of the field listening to every call and word that each team would make. For the other team it was mainly one guy always wanting the ball. For our side on the other hand, we would strategize as we moved the ball forward thinking up every step as we approached the opponents goal in hopes that our chances of scoring would increase. As Honors students, that did not surprise me at all as it seemed we were the more organized team with a good strategy. After the game many people were happy and emotional from a well played game. Some wanted to go eat ice cream, some wanted to go get food, but the most common of all were those who not wanted to but needed to go do homework. By observing the intramural soccer team I was able to tell where their priorities are as every thing they do invloves a form of thinking, therefore their priorities were upon their success in school.

 

Fieldworking 3

This chapter is full of great ways to be abel to read and intrepret things but it also shows us how to find and use artifacts in an advantageous way. It tends to tell us that when you find an artifact, you should study and analyze it contemplating of what other questions that artifact could lead you to. By doing this your questions will become well drawn out and in turn, your research will be that much more effective. Not only that but it will put in your hands some really valuable information that otherwise you would not have had if you did not take time to analyze any type of artifact. For my final ethnography project I believe analyzing my information well is going to make a big difference in my results.

RJ8

 Fieldworking

Before this reading of the two fieldworking chapters, I did not really know much about the concept of fieldworking. I found these chapters very helpful as they served to fill me in on all that is part of fieldworking. The example of homeless people actually being a subculture I found to be very interesting. Another thing that i really learned about fieldworking is that all the information that you gather whether it is relevant to your project or not, serves as research for your portfolio. Their explanations of points of view are very helpful as to know all the different sets of them. I am not exactly sure on what part of the fieldworking will help in my research quite yet but I am sure that I will use more than one way that now know.

My pictures were taken at the Hall of Languages on the inside and out. Two of the pictures were actually taken by the book of knowledge. I chose these to help in my point that environment and background should not and does not matter on how well someone does on their literacy. Some of the pictures were there to help support my points that were made my Gold regarding Mayo. Reinforcing these points made it easier to get across the ideas that I had. I tried to relate my WA2 to my final project and in a way it was helpful and beneficial as I have now made some good ideas on the route I want to take with my final project.

RJ7

I find that the oral history that we can come into access is by far the most useful to the students of TAMUC. These histories provide us with so much information that could be vital to what we may be researching as we try to find the roots of which this foundation came to be.

As for the maps, I saw many similarities about the buildings but I also saw how the maps have changed over time. Not only did the number of buildings go up but also the quality of the maps improved as the years went by. I saw that the literacy of being able to draw out maps has increases over the years. I also saw the addition of the new student buildings which means that the number of students attending the school has gradually been going up steadily.

Reading the transcripts gave me a littel more insight on who Mayo was and that is basically all I liked from the excerpts. As for helping out with my research question, I would be interested to see if it would be possible to pull people’s backgrounds from the archives and if so, how many there are available for me to read and analyze.

 

 

Fieldworking

1.First Baptist Church Faculty and Staff.  Hopkins County Leadership team. FCA Leaders. Missionaries

2.FBC Staff- In- Really dig into their history as the oldest churh found in Sulphur Springs Texas

out- Be in the community and see what others perspectives are towards them.

FCA leaders- In- Find each individual background

out- Agian step into the community to see their views on them

Missionaries- in- Ask their background and what motivated them to take that path

 out- see what they have to go through in the outside world as they are hiding out most of the time as a member of that certain society

3. The drawbacks that I may encounter in doing my project is people not being totally sincere about what they are saying which would give me false information. Another one would just be people just simply not wanting to participate in my interviews.

4. I have done little of anything towards my final project as of yet. The journal entries have been the only thing I have really had time for due to haveing homework in all of my other classes as well. I think as soon as we start focusing more on the final project i will be able to pull together and find more time as the journals decrease.