Portfolio Progress

From 4/28/2011
-As of right now I have the basic outline of what I would like my Final portfolio section to look like. I still have yet to link any of the images I have chosen, to the pages I have created. My introduction paragraphs are already written out and I have the blogs and in-class writing assignments I would like to feature, picked out as well. I am working setting my pages up so that there is a phrase "click here to go on to...." linked to the next page making it easier for others to navigate through my website. That is where I am at right now I just have to link the pages/images I want together, finish writing descriptions for why I chose the blogs/in-class writing assignments and upload my pieces of writing.

Final Portfolio

After all of this years hard work, the year is finally coming to a close. Along with the year ending is the completion of my ethnography work based off of the BSU Safety Escort. Below you will find the link to my final portfolio.

http://jessrodrigues.weebly.com/

Daycare Center Lay of the Land

I really felt that Chantelle’s paper was well written and contained great information regarding the structured schedule of a daycare, children that attend and the physical set up of the day care. Her paper was flowy in that everything she wrote about was set up well and led into the proceeding paragraphs. One thing that I found distracting was her grammatical spelling errors and will act as another reason for my double proofreading of my final draft because although it takes minimal effort it does have a large impact on the writers credibility. I also enjoyed how she used oral histories which were mentioned in the field working book and make the story more personal and realistic. It actually felt like I was with the writer watching the little girl with the Uggs and pink vest dart over to the closet to get her pony stuffed animal to nap with. She also did a good job creating a setting because she described the area with the pictures of children or pictures drawn with children as well as including a time so we could better understand where the writer was in her day. She did a great job creating a piece that will mesh better with the other essays for a final ethnography essay.

I Can Read and I Can Write

After reading the interview conducted by Jennette Edwards I found myself surprised by how well she incorporated material from her interview into her essay. Although she did not include her questions to the interviewee, the answers she received from Lee flowed well giving the essay an easier to read and story-like feel. What I enjoyed most out of her writing was her use of scene indicators which described the interviewee’s actions and made the reader feel like they were actually there with her.
In the interview section “Learning How To Ask” the interviewer provided readers with very useful information on what kinds of questions to ask, how to listen and how to learn. In teaching us about questions the author used great examples of what open and closed questions are useful to information the interviewer is trying to receive. Closed questions are short answered and require additional research to use such properly whereas open questions tend to be longer and more interactive with the interviewer listening and interviewee speaking. Open ended questions allow the material to be turned into oral histories which is an example of Jennette’s “I Can Read and I Can Write” essay. The author also gave us some reminders regarding proper interview etiquette about listening which many students may forget during their chaotic lives in college. Some I found simple to remember but easy to forget included: no fiddling, no watch-checking show the interviewee you’re interested by maintaining eye contact and using verbal acknowledgments.
I found all the reading useful and am now better prepared for my upcoming interviews.

Bowling Interview Response

I thought the interview of the Hanover Bowladrome was an excellent example for students to follow. Although Nicole Williams' writing was based off of interviews with different members of the bowling leagues and employees it didn't feel strictly set up like a Q&A interview. The writer did an excellent job with incorporating information from her interviewees into her writing through use of direct quotes and very elaborate descriptions of surroundings. She described how different members of leagues came across the bowladrome, how the bowladrome came under its current ownership and how the bowlers came in contact with the hobby of bowling in the first place.
I found it interesting, as well as a good idea, that the writer incorporated a research section on her topic in the beginning. The research section allowed the reader to see the growth and development of her topic over the course of the century. It provided readers with a preview about how bowling came to be what it is in America today; a sport most often played indoors for fun with family and friends.
Included is a link to a power point created by students which contains very general yet useful information on how to conduct a successful interview. I believe this will be a helpful reminder to many students when it comes time for them to conduct interviews.
http://www.public.asu.edu/~kroel/www500/Interview%20Fri.pdf

Blog on Group Presentation

I feel confident in my group and our anticipated outcome. Thus far we have made a great amount of progress as we were researching through websites for additional help. We also found some good general information in the book that we will incorporate into our presentation on Friday
My specific area in the project is to discuss the structure and content for the powerpoint slideshow.
Our groups goal is to answer any last minutes questions and fill in in some empty spots on Friday during class. We are hoping and are confident that we will be productive in class in order to finish our presentation and to practice individually over the weekend.

Midterm Portfolio

Included is the link to my website.

http://jessrodrigues.weebly.com/