Tag: participant observation

bethdarby, July 24, 2002 at 5:23:50 AM CEST

Class Journal 7/22/

Writing Project Class Journal 22 July 2002 Beth Darby

Exploring Social Action

Produced by: Writing Project Independent Films

Cast List of Writing Project characters (in order of appearance): Amy
Beth
Toodie
Martha
Betty Gail
Jeanette
Tonda Marlene Vicki Diane Doug Bethana (final scene)

Set design: A university classroom has been transformed into a learning co-op. A chalk board, once scrawled over with theorems to be memorized for exams and forgotten, is now the backdrop for bold posters exhorting: “Writing Is Learning” and “Trust the Process”. The straight rows of desks, once all turned toward the front of the room, have been engaged as props in the fight for fairness, equality, justice, and have now been arranged in a power equalizing circle. In addition to current inequities in the classroom, this screenplay seeks to redress academic inequity throughout history. This is why the participants include 10 women, but only 1 man. The theoretical basis for this? If modern classrooms include 10 females for every male, then the same number of women as men should receive public education just before the next catastrophic asteroid hits. The lighting is soft… very soft… because to enhance writing mood Amy has turned out the lights on (in what less egalitarian groups would be) the front of the room. No-one in what (in traditional classrooms) would be the back of the room is grateful that the light still shines on their side, because this would be unfair, inequitable, and unjust. Director’s note: There are no lines for characters in this play. As you would expect in a social action writing project drama, all voices are welcome so actors should read the script and write their own lines. This script is merely a model to help you think about what lines would best express your character’s understanding of social action.

Lights! Camera! Social Action!

Scene 1:

Camera: unfocused shot of the blackboard, gradually becoming more focused, culminating in close up of the day’s schedule written on the board: 8:30-9:30 Sacred Writing. Wide sweep of circle showing participants bent over their desks, pens poised. Cut to sacred flame of candle burning on the tiles in the center of the circle. Close up of flame. The scratching sound of a single pen across rough paper is joined by another and another until it reaches crescendo almost completely drowning out the chatter from the International Painter’s Union which is meeting down the hall.

 Close up of Beth who shares her musings on the connections between her own writing and social action.  How might completing assignments along with her students promote community in the classroom? 
 Shift to Toodie who engages in social action through awareness of her students’ needs, wants, and considerately monitors her assignment loads during Homecoming week.  Toodie suggests that following the Writing Project model in her classroom would mean “letting go of teacher power and letting in student power”. 
 Shot of Martha, sharing a poem entitled “Research” which addresses how research is manipulated, and the questionable validity of results.  Martha suggests much data does not enter into the equation.  For example, if a student takes a test on a day she has been vomiting, her illness will not show up in the data to explain low test scores.
 The camera focuses on Betty Gail who speaks of the “Immigrant unit” she uses when teaching tolerance.  She searches for reasons behind the intolerance exhibited in her mult-cultural classroom, and wonders that “the worst offender made the best responses” to the discussion of tolerance, and then continued his “catty” comments.
 Thanks to soft lighting, the circles under Jeanette’s eyes are not visible to the camera.  But after a rough night with computer hogging youngsters, she is reluctant to address the topic from the social action handout: “changing your mind”.   In doing so she might reconsider the day’s plans and “return home to a warm bed.”  She does address the broader issue of social action, stating, “students should be able to work at their own levels, at their own paces.”
 Tonda presents a play within a play and the camera records the reels running through the participants’ heads as they imagine a mock trial.  Students are dressed in the black robe and business suits of a judge, prosecuting attorney, and the defense.  It is a utopian play in which all students are fully engaged, the outcome being that the plaintiff and defendant both win.  An equitable decision.
 Cut to Marlene who is “all indecision”, having changed her mind about her demo twice.  Marlene has also switched her social action focus from more students availing themselves of opportunities such as essay contests… to her students’ lack of self-esteem, and how this may be related to their dislike of reading and writing.   Marlene seems to think the other characters know what they’re doing here, but Tonda breaks in to assure her she is not alone in her indecision.  Other murmurs around the room echo this sentiment.
  Close up of sign on blackboard: Trust the Process.
  Shift to Toodie… a frame of her ankle.  The lens moves up her calf to just below the knee.  Close up of red bump.  A hive!  And there are more of them.  Toodie goes into a tirade over the hive-raising evils of air conditioning.  Next to her, Beth is quick to realize the social differentiation that Toodie might experience because her hives make her look different.  Social action to the rescue, Beth promises that during break, she will borrow an allen wrench, so windows can be opened and Toodie’s suffering can be allayed.  
   Voice Over of Vicki, speaking of several pages of ideas for her social action plan.  The camera swings to catch the phenomenon.  Vicki shares her experience in a multi-cultural workshop and proposes that having students learn about the history of prejudice might address intolerance in the classroom.  
   To Vicki’s “melting pot” metaphor, Diane adds that of “salad bowl” which illustrates all of the different ingredients that make up one great dish.  She speaks of the life changing experiences of the deaths of two students which prompts her weekend admonition to her class: Be safe.
    Amy tries the patience of the other characters by bringing up, again, the subject of “I.P” but redeems herself with a broadening definition equating “intellectual patience” with stepping stones.  She speaks of modeling her own “I.P.” by looking up words in the dictionary in full view of students, and making apparent her expectation that students will teach her and she is not afraid of this.”

Close up of schedule on board: 9:45-10:00 Break

(At this point the camera should be placed, still rolling, on the floor where it can capture exiting feet. Jeanette’s and Amy’s feet do not exit but move past the camera. Voice over of Jeanette expressing her desire to write in the little house of the daycare play center which can be seen from the classroom window. In a true show of tolerance, Amy does not say, “I saw it first” but opts to give Jeanette her space and write in the tunnel instead.

Scene 2: Real Time After having broken into response groups in various quarters of the building to review each other’s works in progress for an hour, the participants are scheduled to return to the set for the Showing vs. Telling Scene. However, disturbances in the hallway and stairwell distract them from their schedule. Cut to corner of Hal Greer and 5th where a terrible accident involving two cars and a pedestrian has occurred. Stunned bystanders are congregated to the west of Corbly Hall. An elderly man lies on the ground. His shirt is being cut from his body. He is given heart massage but does not respond. A young woman sits under a tree surrounded by paramedics who are putting her neck in a brace. A woman is being removed from what is left of a car. The three are put on stretchers and taken to St. Mary’s hospital. People continue to mill around noting the crushed hood and windshield of the car, skid marks on 5th Avenue, a pair of broken sunglasses on the sidewalk. They can’t make sense of what has happened. Are they changed by what they have seen? Camera fades.

Scene 3: Computer Lab. The schedule has been altered. The group postpones the scheduled workshop and takes an early lunch break in order to recover somewhat from the scenes of the accident. After the break, the participants convene in the computer lab. Some post to the E-Anthology, others check out the Social Action website. The group is quieter than they were in earlier scenes.

Scene 4: Showing Versus Telling. Or Lights! Camera! Action Verbs! (and don’t forget strong nouns). The scene opens with Toodie handing out excerpts of Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down The Bones. Rumor is, Natalie’s a bitch… but does she know her writing stuff! Toodie also hands out non-specific, passive voice sentences and the participants turn these into “showing” sentences with lots of concrete, specific images and details such as:

Beth’s “tiny particles of disturbed dust which floated gently”.
Amy’s dad in an apron making “animal pancakes”
Diane’s and Vicki’s “blaring car horn” and waiting friends.
Marlene’s and Doug’s fireworks and a barrel for the ride of a lifetime over Niagara. 5). Tonda’s and Jeanette’s “luscious picnic” 6). Betty Gail’s orange surfboard with a double red fin. 7). Martha’s “neon worms” and dead Dave with tongue protruding.

Toodie moves to another activity, handing out “telling sentences” which need to be transformed into paragraphs that “show”. Each participant is to write a description, without using any of the words from the “telling sentence,” and will then try to guess what each other’s “telling” sentence might have been. Doug, for example, might describe, in vivid detail, kids goofing off on the parking lot just outside of Border’s. Participants then might guess the original sentence as being: Kids are hanging out at the mall. Or, they might come up with a vast list of guesses that don’t have any relationship to the original sentence at all.

There is a noise from the hallway and the camera searches for, but cannot find the source of the “huge belch”. Cut to Amy, who hates the sound of a belch and only engages in such displays herself when: with her left hand, she pulls her long brown hair into one thick strand at the nape of her neck and bends, poising herself over the porcelain basin in the powder room in hopes that whatever she ate to make her so sick will not also stain the delft floor tiles after making its way back up. (Director’s note: When this film is produced on DVD, one of the bonuses will be the interactive game which allows audience members to try to guess the telling sentences from which this showy segment evolved.)

(It is near the close of the final scene when a new participant, Bethana, enters the room. She hears Diane talking about a salty house with shuddering bookcases, Betty Gail speaking of engineers playing with Legos and launch pads, Tonda describing an exhausting day of breakfast, whining children, laundry, whining children, baseball, and whining children. Amy explains that this weirdness is part of the “showing versus telling” activity, adding further explanation, “It has been the strangest day.” The scene closes as the morning accident enters into the discussion. Bethana relays that on her way to WP this day, she also witnessed an accident, on the Tolsia Highway, in which a fatality occurred. Diane mentions explosions in Guyandotte that destroyed two homes.

Tragedy surfaces, the details and examples too specific, too concrete. The participants continue to discuss the days events. It is obvious from their tired expressions it has been an emotionally trying day. They randomly exit at intervals, heading for home to write and process.

Camera fades.

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bethdarby, July 21, 2002 at 12:11:16 AM CEST

Participant Observation 7/19

I'm still thinking of who I might want to "follow" through this project and there are several good candidates. Jeannette spoke today of "shock therapy" for her students, culture shock therapy, that is. And I'm not sure exactly what she meant, but think it involves teaching tolerance, or motivating students, expanding awareness. Tonda spoke of "students as community". It is clear that the "social action" theme is threaded through our class discourse. Vicki still appeals to me because the theme runs through all her pieces. But, I am seriously considering Marlene. When Marlene began talking about critical incidents, she brought up the self-esteem issues of her students, and how sad it is to see those who received A's in former classes in developmental classes because of low scores on profiency exams. I think she has also spoken of some of the dysfunctional and impoverished backgrounds. Then, in yesterday's class, Marlene shared her morning writing, a beautiful excerpt of memoir about her his sister Ruth's first teaching experience in a one room school. I told Marlene that I will bring her a book I have on "life story writing". It wasn't till after class that I saw some possible connection between her writing and her criticial incident. Doesn't writing about our lives address self-esteem issues? Writing about what has happened to us and getting respectful feedback address self-esteem. Looking at your heritage addresses self-esteem. Isolating challenges and problems, seeing how these have been or can be worked through, can reveal respect for oneself and one's abilities, especially when supportive feedback is available. So, I am wondering if life story writing might be something that would benefit her students. She certainly has a knack for it herself, so it is quite possible it is a project she could really become engaged in.
I was too busy netting the butterflies in my stomach, the ones that kept flitting up to remind me my demo was upcoming, to notice a tremendous amount about Friday's class. Also, we only went half day. The supportive social interaction and feedback I received afterwards was very encouraging. Comments helped me think of how I can revise to make the assignment clearer. How to get this kind of feedback from students? Marlene, for example, said she did the assignment "wrong". She didn't, but... she also said she hadn't understood the assignment. I don't know if this was because her response was different than other responses. Her response was just fine. I realize, however, that I can expand my explanation.
There were a couple of participants who wrote for 5 of the 20 minutes reserved for the writing portion of my demo and then stopped. It bothered me. I noticed that during and after the demo this non-participation, rather than the full participation of others, was in the forefront of my mind. Do I expect everyone in my class to participate enthusiastically? (Well, I guess so!) Later, I had to remind myself that these two have both expressed insecurities about their writing. They're also very busy in the evening and could have been tired. Who knows? I tend to look on it as failure unless everyone in my class seems to be having fun. Gotta stop that, huh? But I do see more participation and input from students as a way to even up classroom power a bit. I'm thinking about ways to do this with the multi-genre approach. Nothing else much to report. I did get a new taperecorder in preparation for interviews (I was hoping my old one was under warranty). I need one for my interviews of family members (thesis) and this seemed like a good time.

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bethdarby, July 19, 2002 at 3:43:58 AM CEST

Participant Observation 7/18

A short set of field notes because I present my demo tomorrow!!!! One thing I noticed is that participants seemed much more patient with one member of the more unique group members. I feel sure I observed kinder attitudes and attribute this to the example of our instructors who give respect to every comment. For example, Amy gave instructions for morning writing and the "read-around" share time. If anyone had comments or questions about anything shared, Amy suggested writing them down and asking later. One participant had difficulty remembering this suggestion. But when she commented, Amy very kindly reminded her to write down what she wanted to return to for discussion adding that she too found it difficult not to jump right in and discuss. I noticed a couple of people who, in previous sessions, had just glanced at each other when the unique participant comment, speaking to her during break. This participant asks many questions and, as Amy says, asks some good ones. She seems to take longer to grasp some concepts that others get immediately. On the other hand, she asks clarifying questions as well. So... I'm thinking about how this relates to community building in the classroom and teacher response and attitude toward students with behaviors and learning needs that may be considered outside the norm. Today's sessions were very supportive. I looked up from my own peer response group to witness other groups engaged in serious discussion about each other's works. In our sharing too, the responses were supportive. Asking others to repeat a phrase, taking notes as others speak... these actions indicate attention and respect for what is being shared.

Now.. the poem I posted to the E-Anthology today with an additional line or two. For me, this poem (a found poem from morning writing... jotted down minutes before I posted it actually...with input from Doug) relates to my critical incident which concerns the power structure in the classroom and how to encourage more student input, and involvement. So, it might end up in revised form in my portfolio.

Alpha Leaderless

Heel! With three heads He drags and growls and rips Cerebus with a choke chain.

I lock legs steel my gaze jerk Heel!

A tug of war unleashed by a leash push-me-pull-you going nowhere Hell!

Canines don't fail obedience school only their master do. But who can learn with such inequity in the classroom? Loose the choke and chain. Heal.

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