Marshall University SI Ethnography
July 2, 2009
I was introduced to the I-Search form of writing today. I find it very interesting so I am composing this ethnography report in the form of an I-Search paper.
The topic I chose to research is the Summer Institute of the National Writing Project at Marshall University. In doing my research I found that this is a group of teachers who are spending some of their time off during the summer to improve themselves and, in turn, improve their students. I find this very admirable. The students that will be having these teachers in the fall are incredibly lucky. I wonder what made them come here in the first place?
The day started at 9:00 in the small conference room with all the fellows gathered around a long table. They appear to have pens and paper ready for their first task of the day. Someone makes note of a member who has returned after a three day absence. I ask someone and find out that that person is Amy. Everyone is happy that she’s back.
The head honcho put a writing prompt on the board: My “mother” once told me…. Peggy, the head honcho, tells the group that it doesn’t have to be what your mother told you. It could be your father, an aunt, your best friend. I guess there has been some confusion about writing topics in the past because she also mentions that you can write about anything you want-there are no rules.
Jill, one of the fellows, asks, “How long do we have to write?” Peggy didn’t tell her how much time because she doesn’t want the fellows looking at the clock. As I observed Jill, she seems content with this answer. Maybe I will research more about the time thing in another paper.
The fellows wrote for 30 minutes. When Peggy called time, everyones head popped up. There were mumbles and murmurs of discontent from some of the writers when this time was up. One of them even said, “I have to keep going.” This writing must be powerful stuff. There is a discussion between Peggy and Beth, another leader, about Frank Lloyd Wright. I think he might be something I need to research further also.
There were lots of pieces about moms. The fellows wrote that their mothers had said things like look with your eyes and not your hands, don’t eat food on the toilet, breakfast is the most important meal, watch how you treat a man, turn the crock pot on at 2-no make that 7. Mom’s also said wise things like don’t depend on a man, don’t pluck out that first gray hair because you’ll regret it, chores first, play second, and I love you. There was one mom who is a nut job and one mom who is probably rewriting his paper as we spoke.
There was the father who told stories and used great voices for the characters. Somebody’s dad told horrible stories about a fire and dogs who had been put to sleep. I do not want to research that topic any further.
There was one person who took Peggy’s advice and changed the prompt a little. She wrote about a terrible teacher who told her not to be a teacher because she would hate it. From all the research I’ve done, I think it is safe to assume that person’s teacher did not attend SI.
There was some high level discussion about the art of tattooing and the safe practices that should be noted before getting one. I think I will definitely need to research that much more.
The next part happened at 10:15. Shuang read the Ethnography from July 1, 2009. She did a fabulous job and it was written as a story about all the fellows and their doings in Queen Peggy’s court. Very well done, Shuang!
The group took a break. It was now 10:30 and my research led me to learn that Megan was getting ready to do her demo. A demo is when one of these fabulous teachers presents some of their research about a particular topic to the other teachers in the group. I was excited to learn all that Megan had to say.
Megan began her demo at 10:40. Her topic was the I-Search paper, the very reason I wrote this the way I did. We started off by learning about the history of Megan’s research papers- the one about the cross-stitch seemed interesting. We had to do a writing about one of two choices- a research paper we remember doing or one that the teachers had assigned to their students. Everyone who wrote about the papers they did agreed that not much was learned by doing them. Some of the teachers wrote about papers they had assigned and their frustrations with these papers.
Megan showed the fellows the theories and research behind these papers. One of her statements from research was very interesting. She said that Ken Macrorie, the inventor of I-Search, had said that all the years of making his students do the typical research papers had “contributed to the killing of human curiosity…”. I agree with that statement. When Megan had finished her demo, she was able to get some helpful advice from group members. Great job Megan.
Twelve o’clock was lunchtime. Those teachers were very hungry. Bethany’s mom made the delicious barbecue. It was heated to the perfect temperature so her mother would be proud that she followed the directions for proper crock pot usage. The cookies were a wonderful way to wrap up the meal. Thank you Bethany!
Writing groups were formed at 12:45. Each group went to their respective rooms for some talk about pieces they were working on for their portfolio. I sat in on the group with Shuang, Beth, Mary Frances, and Anne. They talked about some deep revision pieces and a variety of other topics. They seem like a fun group. I can see how the work they do together is of great benefit to them.
Another break was taken at 1:45. Most of the fellows went back to their computers to enter some pieces into their blogs. Once again, I am amazed at their dedication and hard work.
Ian led the group in some technology things at 2:00. This is a very sharp bunch of teachers. They followed his presentation created on HYPERLINK “http://www.prezio.com” www.prezio.com and then uploaded their digital stories to the Vimeo website. He explained that he chose Vimeo over YouTube or TeacherTube because it was pretty and blue. Not really. He wanted to learn more about it and he couldn’t get YouTube to work. So this one worked and it was easy. Those are two very important criteria.
Each fellow created a free account on Vimeo and uploaded their digital story to the website. Once the videos were successfully uploaded, a link to each video was placed in the creator’s blog. Ian’s plan is to collect them all and put them on one page.
Ian then reminded the fellows of their need to publish something to the eAnthology along with doing the exit slip for the day, and check to see if anyone posts comments about the pieces that are posted to the eAnthology.
Peggy reminded all the fellows to bring $10.00 for the field trip to the Tea Room tomorrow. They are going on a field trip-now that is some authentic learning. Each person is to bring an artifact from their home. It can be big or small or if it’s too big, a picture of this item can be brought.
The videos slowly became available on Vimeo and the noise level in the room increased. People were watching the videos made by the other fellows. There was laughter and talk. It showed the great bond that was forming between these teachers.
The red SI tshirts were passed out. They have a nice quote from Laura Treacy Bentley on them. It says “In the becoming, I am transformed”. There is a nice bridge on the back that represents the 3 states that come together to form the Marshall University Writing Project. It’s a very nice shirt.
The day ended at 3:30. The fellows slowly made their way out of the computer room. Talking and laughing continued. Some people stayed late to work. I think the most important thing I have learned by doing this research is that a good teacher never stops learning. I now know what drew them here in the first place. It is the one thing they all have in common- the desire to be the best for their students. What lucky students!
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