Chapter 1: I think therefore I am.
"Individually, we are one drop.
Together, we are an ocean."
- Ryunosuke Satoro
Together, we are an ocean."
- Ryunosuke Satoro
I just finished reading the first eleven pages and thought to myself, what the $#@% does this have to do with writing? Sure, now I know how to have a conversation with other college graduates, but how in the world is that going to help me write collaboratively? That's my problem. I jump to conclusions.
"Not all writing is collaborative, but collaboration is the heart of all writing." (11)
I'm going to state my opinion before I continue to read just to make sure that my idea was anywhere in the ballpark. In Introduction to Writing Arts, or any other writing arts course, we have in some way came to the conclusion that ALL writing comes from somewhere else. It is so very rare to have your own ideas about something because somewhere out there in the intellectual world, someone has already come up with this idea. So it may not necessarily mean that we "collaboratively" write like we are for this collaborative research project where we sit down with our group-mates and "collaborate" but we had to find this information from somewhere right? We all learned from someone else who learned from someone else who read it in a book and that person wrote the book but when it comes down to it we are all COLLABORATING. Whether it be conversation or a written work, somewhere in there we got those ideas from somewhere else. Okay, enough with the rant, if I'm wrong you'll read about it shortly. If I am in anyway correct, this will be the end of this blog post. But for now I will save and post this so I can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the family!
"Not all writing is collaborative, but collaboration is the heart of all writing." (11)
I'm going to state my opinion before I continue to read just to make sure that my idea was anywhere in the ballpark. In Introduction to Writing Arts, or any other writing arts course, we have in some way came to the conclusion that ALL writing comes from somewhere else. It is so very rare to have your own ideas about something because somewhere out there in the intellectual world, someone has already come up with this idea. So it may not necessarily mean that we "collaboratively" write like we are for this collaborative research project where we sit down with our group-mates and "collaborate" but we had to find this information from somewhere right? We all learned from someone else who learned from someone else who read it in a book and that person wrote the book but when it comes down to it we are all COLLABORATING. Whether it be conversation or a written work, somewhere in there we got those ideas from somewhere else. Okay, enough with the rant, if I'm wrong you'll read about it shortly. If I am in anyway correct, this will be the end of this blog post. But for now I will save and post this so I can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the family!
Ding Ding Ding! Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
(Both phrases came from somewhere else. See??)
(Both phrases came from somewhere else. See??)
Chapter 3: 1+1 does not = 6? Since when?
I had a second grader once tell me, "I don't like to work with the other kids. I'm always doing all of the work." Is this the same as you get older?
This class is an exception to any rule or experience ever experienced in my time in school. This class is a family. We have learned about each other, we discuss, we are friends, we genuinely care about each other and the well being of each other's lives. So keep that in mind.
Any other class that I have ever been in that had over 25 students in it and was not a requirement for my major, just a general education class, had the typical group project experience. One person took control and had to make sure that everyone else did their part. We aren't broken up into any specific level of knowledge or perhaps laziness but usually only by group. This. Does. Not. Work. I don't know the person sitting next to me nor do I care, to be honest. I don't know where they are from, what they do for a living, their major, or even their last name. I know that they are in my class two days a week for an hour and fifteen minutes or one day a week for two and a half hours. Other than that I have no interest in meeting up with them in the library on "me" time to work on a project with them. I am 100% positive that they feel the same about me and this is no problem except the fact that we just got assigned a semester long project to do in a week and each group member has a full time job, is a full time student and somehow has a full time family to take care of. WHAT DO WE DO? Not this.
I'm not saying I don't agree with collaboration. I think it is the most important aspect of writing but it has to be done in a friendly manner. This class is a perfect example. I genuinely care about the people sitting around me. I care about what their opinion is and I know that they will pull their weight to finish this. If the class is "raised" to appreciate each other, it is easier to work together and understand that we all have specific needs. But enough rambling, back to collaboration. Seriously, if I equal One, Tricia equals one, Amanda equals one, and Allison equals one and you put us all together, I can tell you right now that we equal twelve. Want to know why we equal twelve? I'll tell you. Allison has ideas. Amanda has ideas. Tricia has ideas. I have ideas. If I bounce off of each person in the group, it's like I have three more ideas other than my own. So now that mathematical equation progresses to 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12. So 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12. Make sense? Perfect. Collaboration = good. Group projects in an disconnected classroom = bad. You do the math.
This class is an exception to any rule or experience ever experienced in my time in school. This class is a family. We have learned about each other, we discuss, we are friends, we genuinely care about each other and the well being of each other's lives. So keep that in mind.
Any other class that I have ever been in that had over 25 students in it and was not a requirement for my major, just a general education class, had the typical group project experience. One person took control and had to make sure that everyone else did their part. We aren't broken up into any specific level of knowledge or perhaps laziness but usually only by group. This. Does. Not. Work. I don't know the person sitting next to me nor do I care, to be honest. I don't know where they are from, what they do for a living, their major, or even their last name. I know that they are in my class two days a week for an hour and fifteen minutes or one day a week for two and a half hours. Other than that I have no interest in meeting up with them in the library on "me" time to work on a project with them. I am 100% positive that they feel the same about me and this is no problem except the fact that we just got assigned a semester long project to do in a week and each group member has a full time job, is a full time student and somehow has a full time family to take care of. WHAT DO WE DO? Not this.
I'm not saying I don't agree with collaboration. I think it is the most important aspect of writing but it has to be done in a friendly manner. This class is a perfect example. I genuinely care about the people sitting around me. I care about what their opinion is and I know that they will pull their weight to finish this. If the class is "raised" to appreciate each other, it is easier to work together and understand that we all have specific needs. But enough rambling, back to collaboration. Seriously, if I equal One, Tricia equals one, Amanda equals one, and Allison equals one and you put us all together, I can tell you right now that we equal twelve. Want to know why we equal twelve? I'll tell you. Allison has ideas. Amanda has ideas. Tricia has ideas. I have ideas. If I bounce off of each person in the group, it's like I have three more ideas other than my own. So now that mathematical equation progresses to 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12. So 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12. Make sense? Perfect. Collaboration = good. Group projects in an disconnected classroom = bad. You do the math.
RSS Feed