What activities in your life feel like ice cream or broccoli? This was different in our beginning of class check in. Ice cream represented something good, and broccoli represented something you didn’t particularly like. We all expressed our feelings on ice cream and broccoli. It was great to hear what everyone’s differences were.

After our check in, I asked Dr. Zamora if we could go on another writer’s walk. The weather was beautiful. Dr. Zamora took a vote of hands who wanted to go, and those who didn’t want to go. To my surprise, we all went. It wasn’t as long as the first writer’s walk, but it was still great.

After our walk, we were handed an orange and purple piece of paper. Instead of shout outs, we used the pieces of paper to ask questions and compliment each other’s blogs from the week before readings. That was a different approach as well as interesting. It was interesting to hear some of the compliments and questions about our blogs.

Presentation time: CJ presented his presentation on Queer Composition(s). I think his presentation was very good. I learned a lot about the games that I have purchased for my son. The gaming experience is way over my head. I am just not into it. My son, on the other hand, loves his gaming.

In reading this article, one question caught my attention. What is it about trauma that influences health? Traumatic experiences can affect a person’s health, well-being, and mental health. People go through life experiencing unanticipated circumstances that can affect them in different ways. Psychologically, dealing with emotional changes, Socially, becoming withdrawn from others, and behaviorally, that can lead to lifestyle changes developing unhealthy habits. The article states “that they are associated with a host of biological changes including elevations in cortisol, immune disruptions, cardiovascular changes, and a cascade of neurotransmitter changes”.

Some traumatic experiences lead to PTSD, depending on how extreme the traumatic experience is and how you respond to it. People who suffer from depression are most likely to suffer from PTSD as well.

As I continued reading the article, I noticed that the case studies placed individuals into different groups. Some groups that didn’t show any signs of sickness after a traumatic experience, and other groups that showed PTSD as a result of their traumatic experience they’ve encountered.

Personally, I would place myself in the group of people who experienced trauma, but did not develop PTSD. For example, one of my closest brothers passed away from kidney failure. We were close in age, and wherever you saw me, you saw him, and vice versa. We were closer than two peas in a pod. Losing him was a painful experience. I suffered with pain for a while, but I didn’t let that pain consume me. I had to move on. I had children who depended on me.

This brings me to four questions in this article: Why is it that some people seem to deal with major or upheavals better than others? What is the profile of healthy coping? If such coping strategies exist, can they be trained? If such techniques are available, how do they work?

Personally, I believe that my way of coping with difficult experiences come from the Power of Prayer, Faith, and the support of Prayer partners. I was brought up in the church. My family and I stood firmly on the Word of God. The verse: Mathew 19:26 states: “With God, All Things Are possible”. This scripture is a reminder, that no matter what challenges I face in life, I put my trust in God. My father, Edward Boyd, was a Reverend, and my mother served ‘as First Lady. We have a powerful prayer group. Prayer and Faith is a major part of our lives. We believe in putting our trust in God’s hands. Our belief is that the battle is not yours, it’s the Lords. Yolanda Adams (is an American Gospel Singer), who wrote the gospel song “The Battle Is Not Yours”, reminds me of the faith I was raised with, and the belief that we do not have to hold on to burdens on our own. We turn our burdens to God and put our faith and trust in Him, to carry us through our times of struggles. Our faith and prayer helps us cope with any traumatic experiences we face in life. As for me and my household, we believe in the “Power of Prayer”.

However, I realize that not everyone is raised in the church, share the same beliefs, or depend on faith to lean on during difficult times of struggles that life brings. My faith in God is my source of strength and comfort during all of my traumatic experiences.

I understand that other individuals may rely on different methods and resources to help them cope with traumatic experiences. This leads me to consider how researchers use case studies on individuals’s to see how language and writing can help them cope.

In my opinion, I think there are pros and cons to writing about traumatic experiences. Writing can be difficult for some people when they revisit traumas that they’ve tried to bury deep in their subconscious memory. Then there are some individuals who believe writing helps them with their emotions and begin to heal, by putting their traumatic experiences into words, and expressing those feelings. The power of writing becomes a way of coping that allows them to tell their stories in their own words.

Either way, I strongly believe that individuals should release problems one way or another. Keeping problems, stress, or traumatic feelings inside most likely lead to health problems. It begins to eat away at you, opposed to speaking or writing about them. I connect this to the three “R’s”. Relax, Relate, and Release.

The article mentions “Studies show that writing resulted in less visits to the doctor or physician, and are more beneficial to males than females”. “Case studies were determined that there were not sufficient evidence to warrant adopting the writing method as part of clinical practice (more theory-oriented)”.

I think writing is a great therapeutic tool to use to help some individuals write about their traumatic experiences. I commend the researchers for their case studies on individual traumas. Support groups are very helpful. Writing may not help everyone. I believe that if it works for you, that that is a good thing. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. We’ve all been through some type of traumatic experience or situation in our lives. What matters is finding what helps you cope, and what healing methods work best for you.

Today was the best class so far this entire semester. Wow! I don’t even know where to begin. I think if I start at the beginning of class, that will start the path to the journey of excitement that Dr. Zamora presented to us, and took us on. “The Magic School Bus”.

First, we had Weather Check In. Question of the day, How do you feel about the weather? Give some sort of description how your feeling. My description was I was feeling gloomy, gray and I turned it into a joke making everybody laugh. I piggy backed off of Itana’s big announcement. You had to be there to hear the announcement. I won’t repeat it. lol.

Here comes the big surprise. Dr. Zamora said we were going on a Writer’s Walk. She wanted us to use our senses. Sense of touch, sight, hear, and smell. We had to meditate (no talking) and focus on the senses that came to us in a sensory sense. Take notice about the world around us. Dr. Zamora was AMAZING!!! She walked us around the campus. This was good for me, because I had never seen the entire campus. I usually just park my car and go to my class. I never noticed any of the surrounding beauty that this campus sits on. This campus has a lot to offer the students and faculty here at Kean.

On my walk, (which I enjoyed), I noticed and heard the babbling brook. The water was calm and serene. I heard students laughing and enjoying themselves. The change of the leaves color were spectacular. They screamed fall is here!

The most interesting thing I saw/noticed, was the “Big Clock”. Time was 6:05 p.m. Time waits for no man! Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and make the most of your time. I didn’t know we had a Star Bucks on campus. I wanted to use some of that time to get coffee. Wow!

The most precious thing I noticed on my walk was a mother and baby deer. They weren’t even scared of us passing by. The baby deer was kind of wild like a puppy playing in the grass.

I had to thank Dr. Zamora for this exciting opportunity to go on a Writer’s Walk. It gave me my “Thunder Back”. I started walking in the park. Walking clears my mind. I stopped for a little while because I had hernia surgery, and I feared to get back out there to walk again because of the pain I suffered. Thanks to Dr. Zamora, she helped me get past my fear.

Upon returning back to class, we had to free write about everything we noticed through our senses, and share them with the class. Everyone had great memorable things to share.

We had another walk. This time it was in the classroom. “The Gallery Walk”, Dr. Zamora created four posters that included titles: Writing is a technology, Writing is Social, Writing is embodied, and Writing is a form of power. We were given markers, and how to visit each posted sign and write something about what that title meant to us. After everyone wrote something on the posts, we discussed what we wrote. There were very interesting comments.

I wonder what surprise Dr. Zamora had install for us next week.

Building my vocabulary while finding my voice is a work in progress. Truth be told, I am guilty of writing better than I speak. When I speak, whether its giving a presentation, or giving feedback on a reflection piece in front of the class, my words change, and I experience a brain fog and sometimes forget the words I want to say. I know what I want to say in my mind, but when I speak, my words don’t come out the way I want them to.

Writing on the other hand, gives me the chance to slow down, organize my thoughts, and find words that I want to express that connects to what I am trying to say. When I come across words that I do not understand, I write them down and look them up so I can understand their meanings. I do this to enhance and build my vocabulary, so I can become a better writer and find my voice.

Hubert writes, “I always thought I should sound different, smarter, more complex, more restrained”. I used to think that way as well. I thought that if I used smarter, or more complex words, it would make my writing stand out and appear to be stronger. I’ve come to realize that using big words doesn’t make my writing stronger. I use my own words and my own voice to express my thoughts so that my writing can flow smoothly, and allow my own voice to be heard through my writing.

As I read the article, two questions caught my attention. Hubert writes, “If a writer happens upon-that so-called authentic voice, does that mean the previous voices were false or imposters?” “Would that authentic voice then, once discovered, stay constant and reliable, even a the writer’s life affects changes and perspective evolve?” I don’t think they are false or imposters. I do believe that previous voices is the beginning of your writing journey. A writer’s voice can change depending on what topic your writing about. Your authentic voice should remain constant and reliable. Your authentic voice shows your real style and expression and emotions. Your authentic voice should create your writing to be personal, sincere, and meaningful. When I use my authentic voice, I use my own personal real life situations and experiences. I have to stay true to my own personal beliefs.

Hubert wrote an emotional and personal truth about her personal experience with her sickness. She named that voice “Pain Woman” She continues to name her voices. I have quite a few voices myself. I am still building on my rhetorical and persuasive speaking and writing style. As I become stronger and more confident in my voice, I will continue building my vocabulary so my writing can become less of a struggle.

I could have persued my Graduate studies in Science and Education, but after I taught one year in English and Language Arts, I developed a love for writing. As a (Newbie) graduate student entering English Writing Studies, from my former background of science and education, I am trying hard to adjust to this new world of writing.

At times, I feel like I am in an unfamiliar territory. Many of the grad students around me have been English Majors since their undergrad school years, and continuing their English Writing Studies at the Grad level. For me, this is a new beginning. My starting point from ground zero.

As I read other student blogs, I see the words they choose. I feel like my words are too small compared to theirs. When I first started to write my blogs, I thought I should use bigger, more complex words to make my writing stronger. I thought if I used bigger words, it would make my writing sound more educated.

After reading this article, I no longer feel that way. I have come to realize that if I use my own voice, my own words, and my own style, my writing can be just as effective. I just have to trust the process, and trust my voice while staying true to myself. I believe the building of my vocabulary will help assist me to write stronger, without losing my voice. I don’t have to sound like anyone else. I will just trust my own voice and allow my own words to speak my truth.

I enjoyed reading this article. It shed a brighter light for me on my Academic Journey in English Writing Studies.

“On Students’ Rights To Their Own Texts: A Model of Teacher Response”

As I read this article, I connected it to Donald Murray’s Teaching Writing As A Process Not A Product, in the way teachers’ methods are used to the teaching of writing. I also connected to “If Your Struggling To Write, Lead With Your Voice”.

Writing can be challenging for some students. It becomes even more challenging when they feel that their writing has to meet the teachers requirements rather than reflect on their own thoughts, and personal experiences, by being true to their own voice.

When teachers give students writing assignments, they expect students to follow their ideas about “How” and “What” they should write, rather than allowing them to use their voice and develop their own ideas, as well as allowing them to take ownership of their writing. If a teacher allows students to write their own ideas, I strongly believe this can help them become better writers by managing to stay focused on the topic instead of becoming frustrated.

Lil Brannon and C.H. Knoblauch writes ” the dynamic connection between a writer’s authority and the quality of readers attention is altered because of peculiar relationship between teacher and student”. In a classroom, the teacher is the authoritative figure. The students will try to follow the teachers lead. The students will pay attention and try to write according to the teacher’s directions. As the students begin to write, they take the teachers directions while developing their own ideas.

I think this starts a peculiar relationship (as mentioned above) between teachers and students, because the teacher is expecting one outcome of their writing assignment, but the students may go in different directions, developing their own ideas.

This is when teachers (Power of The Pen) start changing their ideas, changing their words, and students start losing their voice and ownership over their writing. To me, its like having a voice and not being heard through your writing.

I think this creates a problem between student and teacher. At this point, students may accept what the teacher is correcting on their writing just to make the teacher satisfied (giving in to authority) just to receive a passing grade, and be finished with the assignment. Getting the annoying teacher out of their hair.

But where does that leave the students? How is that student left feeling? I know this feeling all too well. This happened to me. When I was in high school, I wrote a piece from my heart, using my own voice and personal experience. I included a Spiritual connection in my writing. I was given some ideas about changing my title, and add more Spiritual text throughout my writing piece. As I watched my paper being marked up with “The Red Pen”, I felt that it wasn’t right or fair, because that wasn’t what I wanted my writing piece to say. Instead of expressing how I felt, I agreed to the changes. I thought to myself, all of this, just to please the teacher and get a passing grade.

That experience didn’t sit right with my feelings. To keep my peace within myself, I kept my original writing piece, and submitted my revised writing for a grade. To this day, I often read it sometimes and think about how that experience connects to me surrendering my voice for a passing grade.

As an educator, when I assigned a writing task, I didn’t markup my students writing assignments with corrections. Instead, I made a photocopy of their writing rough draft and placed a sticky note on it that said “See Me”. I would sit down with the student’s one-on-one and guide them through their writing piece, rather then tell them what they should have written, or re-write their ideas or thoughts. I helped them connect and bridge their ideas of the topic, while allowing them to keep their thoughts, personal experiences, and their voice in tact!

This article helped me realize that one’s authentic voice matters.

Today was special. We didn’t have a lot of students, but we still had a good experience. We talked about what is an unexpected thing that has brought you peace or joy recently? To my surprise, everyone talked about how fall came in so quickly. We all shared our fall experiences, and what fall meant to us.

My love for fall was cold weather “Sweater Weather”. The enjoyment of crawling up to watch “The Goonies” while drinking hot chocolate. I enjoyed listening to everyone’s love for fall experiences as well.

We passed the egg and covered the two readings: Murray and Bell. as we made shout outs to each other.

We also did free writing, which I always enjoy.

We watched a video “The Danger of a Single Story: In what ways are stories and narratives related to empathy and bias.

We also talked about the presentations coming up. C.J. will be the first presenter

In reading Queer Theory in the Writing Classroom, I found an immediate connection to Donald Murray’s article “Idea that writing should be taught as a process rather than a product”.

One question in this article sparked my interest. “Can an esoteric theory such as queer theory really have an impact on daily interactions with first year writing students? Before this question could be answered, students must have a clear understanding of what Queer Theory means.

As I read the article, I found it to be important to the pedagogical writing process. Creating a framework to assist educators to produce a step by step journey of writing as a process rather than a product. It allows students to think, research, and understand the meaning of what they’re writing about. Generating ideas, brainstorming, building background knowledge, planning and organizing, draft writing, revising, editing and proofreading, and reflecting.

As an educator, I think these practices enhances the pedagogical strategies of scaffolding each step in the writing process, by using organizers, charts, and other instructional strategies that can help students connect and organize their thoughts.

Jonathan Alexander an Michelle Gibson’s writes that their goal was to create a curriculum that challenged students to think critically about how personal stories are told, how complex issues are represented, and how compelling lives are mediated through the process of writing about dramatic, traumatic, and transformative experiences, and how a master writers explores difficult issues through narration and exposition, and how, in the process of writing, the writer comes to empowering insights about herself, the nature of family, and the construction of identities in the interaction between the two.

To approach this goal, they incorporated Dorothy Allison’s “Bastard Out of Carolina, as a primary text for both discussion and writing assignments. I strongly believe that this approach can open up students minds to critical thinking. The idea of this was to show dramatic trauma, using a narrator’s voice. I think this is an excellent teaching approach. I think it will allow students to think and write about their own personal experiences to practice writing exposition so readers can understand their story.

I believe this is a great strategy to introduce Queer Theory in the writing process to challenge students to think critically how personal stories are told about themselves, family issues, and their own identities.

This article connects to my own personal experience. I started a girls club in the after school program. We talked about hygiene, responsibilities, and boys. I had a total of eight girls. To my surprise, six out of the eight girls were all gay. I would have never knew. Because I formed a personal group, we became very close and developed a sense of trust. As the girls became more comfortable with me and with one another, they began to open up and share their personal stories and experiences. Some learned to accept their sexual identity, while the others were still hiding. Some shared why and how they chose to be gay. Some were molested, some were engaged through their own community and upbringing. The list goes on. I asked them if their parents knew. Some parents knew, and some suspected. I didn’t know how to handle this situation.

This article has given me a greater insight. It helped me develop a better understanding of how to teach the writing process of “Queer Theory” .

I love writing my reflection after we meet. Our topic of the day was : If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be and why? I chose the Toucan Sam bird because of its bright colors and how it was flying over the water falls in the rainforest. It seemed so peaceful. I spoke about the music of nature that the animals make. They’re in a class by themselves. If you close your eyes and envision your standing in the middle of a rainforest, the sounds from different animals make their own music.

We also covered which topic and date we will do our presentation.

Dr. Zamora had us go on the course website and write in the boxes that our names were in. The topic was: How Did I Really Learn To Write.

As usual, it was an enjoyment listening to our class responses.

Can’t wait till next week! I wonder what Dr. Zamora has for us this time. lol

In reading Donald Murray’s Teach Writing as a Process Not Product, I connected the difference between writing as a process rather than focusing on the final product. During my first year teaching English Language Arts, the curriculum was designed to place a strong emphasis on writing. I noticed that writing could be frustrating for some students. They were expected to know what to write about. I noticed that some students would become discouraged because they struggled to write their thoughts on paper. Some students would write something quickly just to turn their papers in as a finished assignment.

Murray points out that students’ writing does not necessarily improve simply because they move from one grade level or teacher to the next. I strongly agree with his point because students can continue to struggle when each teacher has been trained to teach writing in the same way. Instead of the teachers helping students develop as writers through practice, the same approaches seem to be repeated year after year. This became my pet peeve.

As I taught ELA, I witnessed that students have different writing needs and abilities. I wanted every student to become better writers. I asked myself, “How am I going to reach students who are at different levels?” I realized that I could not teach writing the same way to every student and expect everyone to grow at the same pace. I needed to find a way to meet students where they were and provide the support they needed.

I came up with the idea of grouping my students into low, medium, and high groups. This allowed me to scaffold the students based on where each student was in their writing process. This worked out very well, especially with state testing coming up.

I started an after-school writing club. To my surprise, Just about all of my students joined. We met for one hour each day after school. This made sense to me because What I wanted to teach my students about writing I couldn’t do during the school day because of the demands of the curriculum and instructional time. By helping my students after school, I was able to focus on strengthening their writing skills.

When we first began the after-school writing club, I gave my students one word. “neighborhood”. I wanted them to begin with something familiar and meaningful to their own lives, rather than giving them a topic or telling them what to write. I encouraged them to use their own language and write down everything they knew about their neighborhood. Some of the students were from rough territories in Newark. Neither here nor there, this activity helped students begin to see that they had ideas and experiences worth writing about. It also engaged them in the thinking process that comes before writing. It helped them understand the three stages of the writing process (Pre-writing, Writing, Re-writing), without becoming frustrated or developing a negative attitude about having to revise their work over and over again. Instead, they began to see revision as an important part of writing and understood that good writing does not happen perfectly the first time. My extra help, helped my students to become better writers.According to Murray, this process of discovery through language we call writing can be introduced to your classroom by teaching the process, not the product.

Looking back, I realized that this experience taught me the importance of seeing students as individual writers rather than expecting one approach to work for everyone. It also helped me understand that effective writing instruction requires flexibility, patience, and a willingness to adjust to help every student grow. Writing should be taught as a process, and product.

As I embarked on reading Bell Hook’s Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, I was overwhelmed by her work, the impact she has had, and the many hats she wore. She was a Philosopher, Educator, Author, Social Critic, and a Professor. She was known for her compassionate personality. She was a fierce individual. This book is considered one of the most influential works in Contemporary Educational Theory, feminist thought and critical pedagogy.

What stood out to me most is how Hook’s main focus in writing Teaching to Transgress is “the classroom”. Hook believed the classroom should be a safe place, where students should be valued, loved and feel free to learn and express themselves. A place where they can build confidence, discover their own voice, and know who they are, instead of being marginalized and silenced, and that a classroom should not create fear or alienation, but encourage students to cross boundaries related to race gender, culture and beliefs. Hook reflects on her own personal alienated experience as a student being marginalized and silenced when schools became racially integrated.

After schools became racially integrated, Hook lost her love for school she once had. What stood out to me most was how she felt the loss of her black teachers who nurtured her and made her feel valued as a student. She lost the sense of belonging and purpose. This changed the way she viewed education.

I can relate to Hooks’s experience through my own childhood educational journey. Before kindergarten, I attended a Head Start program at an all Black school. At a young age, I remember feeling wanted and loved. I felt like I belonged. Although I was young I didn’t feel the social differences. I just knew I was around teachers and students who looked like me. Black. Once I started kindergarten, I was bused to an all-White school where I was one of only three Black students in a classroom filled with White students. I remember feeling the difference. Looking back now, I understand how important community, love, and a sense of belonging is important to a student. This part of Hook’s story made me reflect on how my experience shaped the way I see education today. It also makes me think about the kind of teacher I want to be, creating a classroom community where every student will feel seen, valued, welcomed loved and capable of learning.

Hooks became a teacher, but she was not happy until she discovered the work of Paulo Freire (Brazillian Educator), before having the opportunity and pleasure of meeting him. His ideas opened her mind to new ways of thinking about education, freedom, and social reality. She expresses her approach is influenced by his ideas on Critical Pedagogy, and the impact that his work had on her thinking. She gives him credit for helping and encouraging her to think more critically about education and society. This in fact opened my eyes that teaching is not just about delivering information, but creating meaningful connections with students by incorporating one of her methods Engaged Pedagogy. It also helps me to think about the kind of educator I want to become and the impact I want to have on my students.

Hook was a renowned scholar. Her works have had a meaningful influence on educators. Reading Teaching To Transgress has helped me to rethink what it truly means to teach and learn. It has reshaped my way of thinking about education and the classroom.

I enjoyed what we covered in class today. Dr. Zamora had us do free writing for five minutes. That was engaging, as well as relaxing. It felt good to hear other students thoughts as we group shared our free writing.

We looked at some pictures and had to pick one picture that stood out to us, and relate its meaning to our thoughts of the picture. I chose the pottery wheel because it took me back to my undergraduate years where it all started. I remembered taking pottery as an elective. Out of all of my rigorous classes, pottery was relaxing. Feeling the cool, wet mud between my fingers. It gave me a minute to slow down my everyday stress, and enjoy it without the pressure from my other classes, especially since I was seven months pregnant with my first child.

My mind was blown away at some of the reactions that other students discussed about the picture they chose to talk about. Everyone had different stories to tell. That was amazing.

Dr. Zamora handed each of us a piece of construction paper. We had to fold it into four. Then we had to draw a small bullseye circle about the size of a dime in the middle of the paper. We had to write about four different topics in those four boxes and group share.

This entire lesson, the free writing, the pictures, the bullseye writing was absolutely amazing. It allowed us to form a small community together, and shared our personal feelings. I wonder what Dr. Zamora has planned for us next week.