Journal+Four

Meagan Blanchette March 2nd 2012 Zenion Internship The discoveries of a writing intern. One man show

This week Wrt. 104 met three times. I worked closely with Ms. Zenion to design an attention grabbing lesson plan to make the analysis paper seem less intimidating. Any profession involving an audience calls for audience appeal; in writing it is called the //rhetorical situation.// The cliché "less is more" is true once you are in the classroom. On Wednesday 2/29 we went to the computer lab for the students to collaborate and make some sense out of the twenty pages of text. Between their planning and hunting for literary devices, I presented my portfolio. My portfolio focuses on the transformation of writing. I the progress of the literacy narrative, which the students already completed. In my presentation, I stated that my first paper was revised at least ten times. All of the students looked at me, then thought for a second. Many put their shoulders back and thought “Okay, maybe my first draft wasn’t so good, but if I revise then…” I wanted the students to realize a perfect first draft is far and few between. After I finished presenting my portfolio, I went over how to use the Wiki. For any group paper, Ms. Zenion stresses that students use Wikispaces to store work. I have adopted the Wikispaces and built upon the original instruction. The navigation system has became second nature. I wanted to make a wikispace that didn’t intimidate the students. I made a FAQ page with all general instruction as a resource to utilize when not in class. I thought I was cool. My plan was to monitor the student’s responses of the Wiki using more technology. Ms. Zenion told me that I shouldn’t. I didn’t listen. Before I went over the “how to” wiki I had them log onto a website entitled //soapbox//. They all typed in the access code and were logged on. The page presented a //confusometer// and a question page. The real questions started rolling in when I had them all switch over to the Wikispaces page. The students either became distracted or too confused to press the button “I’m confused”. They thought //soapbox// was //wikispaces.// I failed. Ms. Zenion was right. The following class, Ms. Zenion left to go to a brief meeting a few seconds after the bell. It was the sub, eighteen confused kids, and me. The heart of the analysis paper is logos, ethos, and pathos. The students needed clarification on how to analyze a passage and match the devices and sentences. I soon became very popular in the classroom. The students utilized me as a resource. Luckily, I had a sidekick. His name was “Meagan’s Identification Article of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.” I came prepared. This was a worksheet I made to “show” the devices instead of “tell.” The students gave all positive feedback. The thirty minutes without Ms. Zenion left me to showcase my true ability. I must have been asked the same question a bunch of times, so I decided to go public. I requested attention of every student. I drew a piece of paper on the white board. I listed all of the main components, like the picture below. The graphic organizer satisfied the type A personalities like myself. However, my organizer was critiqued. Ms. Zenion told me after I collected each groups mini paper, that she doesn’t want them bogged down to certain appeals. She said, “One person may carry more weight than another, and there is nothing we can do, so I do not know how fond I am of this.” I got served. I was an over-achieving intern that had no lesson plan, no answers, and no interner. I had to make due with what I had. When I panic I say, “When in doubt, write it out” and that is what I did.

Name: Zenion Wrt. 104 Spring 2012

Intro: Logos: Ethos: Pathos: Fallacies: Metaphors/Similes: Conclusion: Group # ________