Assignment Assignment Reflection
I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this class.  At first I was terrified because it dealt with technology, and I’m still not quite literate in that area.  However, what I learned from this class has helped me tremendously to understand how I can incorporate new technologies and multimodal means of composing in my classroom.  There are so many resources available to us as instructors that most of don’t even use.  For instance, before taking this class, I required my composition students to write a journal for the entire semester.  I provide them journal prompts to respond to, but they can also write beyond journal entries without without prompts as well. In the past, I’ve required them to either type these entries in a word processing software such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word, or a notebook in which they could hand write journal entries. Â
However, there is a problem with having my students type or hand write their journals; they aren’t multimodal, and my kids aren’t focusing on the process of writing or creating.  I give them a prompt, and they respond to the prompt.  They may think about their answers to the prompt, but are they thinking about the process of writing said answers to prompt? Â
At first I was frustrated with how I was going to solve this, and I was also at a loss about what my Assignment Assignment was going to be for this class.  I was still so very much stuck in the mindset of traditional Comp studies; writing, typing, pen, pencil, paper, five paragraphs, Times New Roman, size twelve font!  It didn’t really hit home for me until I saw Jody Shipka’s website, remediatethis.com.  Seriously, though!  It was one thing reading Toward a Composition Made Whole, but it was lightbulb moment for me when I started digging into her website.  We can talk and read all we want about multimodal composition, but until we actually implement it or see someone actually teaching and using it in their classroom, did it really happen?  Her website is considerably older (her latest blog entry is from 2013), but it holds up.  Pictures of drawings, crafted presentations (ballet shoes covered in the written word, paper dolls, an actual portfolio project comprised of half-eaten cake!  These student projects seemed to tell me that as a teacher I didn’t and shouldn’t have to teach my students only one way of composing.  My students can respond to prompts with more than just words. Â
Now, I do think that Peter Elbow’s idea of freewriting hold some ground in composition theory.  If we just start writing without a goal in mind, and write down whatever we have floating in our heads in the moment, one thing will lead to another and we may end up with a good idea or two.  If I were to apply that same principle to my students’ Tumblr Journal blog, they may actually think about the process of composing more.  They have to pick a picture, video, meme, audio file that ties into and relates somehow to the prompt that I assign them for that day.  When they are looking for a particular picture or item to include in their journal, they are thinking about their process, whether they know it or not. They have to think about which item will work, and which one won’t and why it won’t work.  They are, in a way, picking out pieces of a puzzle that once completed, will convey a message to their audience.
