Sarah Stockman
COMP 106
Professor Yerks
27 April 2009
The Changing Face of Communication in a Digital World: A Look at How Coupland’s Microserfs Is a Reflection of Life in a High Tech World
Douglas Coupland’s Microserfs is an intriguing look into the high-tech corporate culture of the mid-1990’s. The novel is written as a compilation of computer journal entries written by the main character Daniel, a self-described techie. We meet Coupland’s core group of characters while they are coders at Microsoft. They eventually move on to work on a new computer game start-up company and begin to look for lives outside of their work. The characters are interesting and the story is captivating, but the truly unique aspect of Coupland’s work is in the way Daniel’s computer journal reflects the changing face of written communication in this digital age.
“What if machines do have a subconscious of their own…to this end, I’m creating a file of random words that pop into my head, and am feeding these words into a desktop file labeled SUBCONSCIOUS.” (Coupland 44-45) It is with this statement that Daniel begins his computer’s “subconscious” file and fills it with his own random thoughts. An original thought on its own, but even more unique is the visual aspect of these journal entries. There is everything from random numbers to food products, to quotes, and pages of symbols – all typed in different sizes fonts, aligned differently and placed randomly on the journal’s electronic page. The entries occur throughout the novel and are a reminder of the fact that Daniel’s is a laptop journal. In 1995, keeping a computer journal was quite high tech, and Daniel interspersed his with a lot of really high tech (for the time) things like emoticons – symbols like : ) that represent emotions. However, even Coupland’s cutting edge tech world seems dated when compared with the digital communication that many people now use on a day to day basis.
Microserfs was published in 1995, as the age of the Internet and e-mail was just beginning. In the nearly fifteen years that have passed since Microserfs was published, the digital age has come upon us full force. In addition to the ever-present Internet and e-mail, we now have text messaging (which has almost completely replaced the hand-written note and, to some extent, phone calls), blogs (which are taking the place of diaries and journals, and, in some cases, even newspaper columns), message boards and comment posting (replacing newspaper editorials), and social networking sites (keeping us up-to-date more than ever before on the goings on of others’ lives).
While Daniel was simply keeping a traditional diary stored on his hard drive rather than on paper, nowadays people are turning to blogging as a way to record their personal thoughts and life occurrences. According to a 2004 Washington Times Article, “For millions of Internet users, Web logs also are places to keep personal journals or diaries ultimately at the disposal and in plain view of the Web-surfing public. Although diaries traditionally are considered personal and for the writer's eyes only, authors of online diaries don't seem to care that Internet users all over the world can see what they write.” (Doolittle, “Blogs used as diaries,” par. 2) So, not only are people using their computers to type their diary entries, they are using online blogs to publish them for the world to see. Blogs oftentimes seem to have the same type of content as a traditional diary, but according to the same article, many people who post to blogs also keep a handwritten journal when they are writing about things that they are truly private. It seems that bloggers “want to tell the world a certain percentage of their life and their feelings, but that sharing only goes so far…you get down to the second or third level of feelings and those are intensely personal; [people] aren't ready to share that online so they... keep a paper journal." (Doolittle, “Blogs used as diaries,” par. 14) Many decry the digital age as being impersonal, but it seems that the interactivity of being online is a main reason that many blog rather than keep their thoughts to themselves. In addition, many communication experts see blogs as the natural progression of communication in this day and age. “Everyone has a story to tell…Thousands of years ago, people gathered around campfires in caves and talked about what was interesting to them. Twenty years ago, people told it around the water cooler at work. ... That has all been transplanted to the Web. It's just another outlet for human beings to do something they have been doing for millenniums.” (Doolittle, “Blogs used as diaries,” par. 16) There are those, however, who worry that “an important source for future historians will be lost unless the best examples of online logs are saved.” (“Dear blog, I have a secret”, par.2 )
E-mail is another form of communication highlighted by Coupland. Daniel includes his e-mail communications with his friend Abe in some of his journal entries. Early in the novel, he talks about how e-mail use is being “pioneered” (Coupland 21) at Microsoft and says he is an “e-mail addict. Everyone at Microsoft is an e-mail addict.” (21) He goes on to say that the average amount of e-mail received per day is 60 pieces, but only about 40% of it is worth reading. (22) It seems that these types of descriptions of e-mail are included to inform the reader about e-mail in 1995, whereas today, it seems almost unimaginable that someone would not be familiar with e-mail. It is interesting, however, that in Microserfs, when Michael gets the news that his father has been fired from IBM, he talks about telling his friend Susan and says, “The news about Dad was too important for e-mail, and we had lunch together.”(21) I find this statement to be important, because it shows the somewhat casual and unofficial nature of e-mail, especially when it was first appearing as a form of communication. However, e-mail has now evolved and is now almost taking the place of many other forms of written communication. Whereas handwritten signatures were once needed for contracts, electronic signatures are now acceptable. E-mail and other electronic sources of communication are now on par or even preferred to traditionally produced communication. In 1993, The Albany Times Union published an article touting the popularity of e-mail and its advantages. According to the article, “Some sociologists think that e-mail may mark the end of the decline in written communication that began with the invention of the telephone,” however, “while conversations on telephones are lost forever for historians, e-mail, like personal mail, leaves a ‘paper trail’ marking a person's life.” (Brandon, “E-mails is message of future”, par. 14-15) The article goes on to say that e-mail is so fascinating because one person can send a message to 1,000 people as easily as they can to one person and mentions how posting messages to online bulletin boards can produce dramatic results when seeking advice about something, such as how to fix your car. (Brandon) In 1993, these characteristics of e-mail seemed new and amazing. But now it is the usual, everyday, almost mundane experience of most Americans to send and receive e-mail, to log on to the Internet, and to participate in the digital world.
Technology is invading our lives more and more each day. From blogs and e-mails to text messages and Facebook, we communicate with one another electronically nearly as much as we do face to face. Text messaging has even brought about a whole new aspect of the English language. Universities are incorporating the study of text speak into English courses. We get our music, news, and much more from the Internet; and although digitized communication may have become the norm and has nearly taken the place of many written forms of communication, I think the overall theme of Coupland’s Microserfs provides us with some perspective. In the midst of the characters’ completely high tech world, all they really want is relationships with other people – friends, family, and lovers. When Daniel’s mother, who has become a mother to everyone in his group of friends, suffers a stroke, everyone is affected. Finally, one of Daniel’s friends discovers a way that she can use a computer to communicate since she has lost the ability to talk. It is a truly touching moment in the novel, and it is poignant in that this super high tech world that they are living in is being used to do what humans have done since the beginning of time – connect with one another. It is just another tool we can use to accomplish it.
Works Cited
Brandon, Craig. “E-MAIL IS THE MESSAGE OF THE FUTURE.(MAIN)." Albany Times Union (Albany,
NY). Thomson Scientific, Inc. 1993. HighBeam Research. 28 Apr. 2009 <http://www.highbeam.com>.
Coupland, Douglas. Microserfs. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
"Dear blog, I have a big secret." Evening Standard - London. Associated Newspapers Ltd. 2007.
HighBeam Research. 28 Apr. 2009 <http://www.highbeam.com>.
Doolittle, Amy. “Blogs used as diaries; Writers ditch paper, pencils for interaction. (NATION)
(CULTURE, ET CETERA).” The Washingon Tmes. News World Communications, Inc. 2004. Highbeam Research. 26Apr. 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Facebook Quiz
What kind of athlete are you?
1. It’s the first warm, sunny day all year, you
a. Go for a run outdoors
b. Go for a leisurely bike ride
c. Get some friends and play football at the park
d. Think to yourself, man I gotta close the blinds, the glare on the TV is making my eyes hurt.
2. In high school you -
a. Lettered in three sports
b. Loved sports, but never made the team
c. Went to every game and cheered on the jocks
d. Fine tuned your video gaming skills
3. In gym class -
a. You were always the first one picked for the team.
b. Went somewhere in the middle.
c. Don’t remember, you were just glad to be out of “real” class!
d. Gym class? I always got out of it with a doctor’s note.
4. In ten years you will -
a. still be involved in competitive sports or just retiring from my pro career.
b. keep in shape by finding some soccer, basketball, and softball rec leagues.
c. be cheering for my kids at all their sporting events.
d. be sitting in front of my 60-inch plasma catching up on all my DVR’d shows.
5. To you, “the big game” means -
a. you’re getting ready to face off in the championship.
b. you’re buying stuff for a big SuperBowl party at your house.
c. you’re deciding where to watch the NHL championship.
d. the newest version of your favorite video game is coming out - gotta line up at midnight!
6. When you buy athletic shoes, you
a. buy the shoe that will make you jump the highest and run the fastest.
b. find a shoe with good arch support, gotta be comfortable.
c. buy what’s on sale.
d. athletic shoes? You mean Skechers?
7. When it comes to the Olympics,
a. You are still in training.
b. You can’t wait to watch - that coulda been you if you had wanted it badly enough.
c. You can’t wait to cheer on the U.S.A.
d. You hate when all your favorite shows are pre-empted by track and field.
8. You most likely would need a knee brace because
a. you hyperextended your knee diving for the ball.
b. you fell when you took the kids on a nature hike.
c. too much mall walking.
d. you twisted it playing Dance Dance Revolution.
If you answered mostly a’s -- You’re a varsity athlete. Playing sports is your top priority.
If you answered mostly b’s -- You’re an intramural athlete. You’re competitive, but you’ve got other priorities.
If you answered mostly c’s -- You’re a club athlete. You play to stay in shape and to have fun.
If you answered mostly d’s -- You’re no athlete - you’re a couch potato!
1. It’s the first warm, sunny day all year, you
a. Go for a run outdoors
b. Go for a leisurely bike ride
c. Get some friends and play football at the park
d. Think to yourself, man I gotta close the blinds, the glare on the TV is making my eyes hurt.
2. In high school you -
a. Lettered in three sports
b. Loved sports, but never made the team
c. Went to every game and cheered on the jocks
d. Fine tuned your video gaming skills
3. In gym class -
a. You were always the first one picked for the team.
b. Went somewhere in the middle.
c. Don’t remember, you were just glad to be out of “real” class!
d. Gym class? I always got out of it with a doctor’s note.
4. In ten years you will -
a. still be involved in competitive sports or just retiring from my pro career.
b. keep in shape by finding some soccer, basketball, and softball rec leagues.
c. be cheering for my kids at all their sporting events.
d. be sitting in front of my 60-inch plasma catching up on all my DVR’d shows.
5. To you, “the big game” means -
a. you’re getting ready to face off in the championship.
b. you’re buying stuff for a big SuperBowl party at your house.
c. you’re deciding where to watch the NHL championship.
d. the newest version of your favorite video game is coming out - gotta line up at midnight!
6. When you buy athletic shoes, you
a. buy the shoe that will make you jump the highest and run the fastest.
b. find a shoe with good arch support, gotta be comfortable.
c. buy what’s on sale.
d. athletic shoes? You mean Skechers?
7. When it comes to the Olympics,
a. You are still in training.
b. You can’t wait to watch - that coulda been you if you had wanted it badly enough.
c. You can’t wait to cheer on the U.S.A.
d. You hate when all your favorite shows are pre-empted by track and field.
8. You most likely would need a knee brace because
a. you hyperextended your knee diving for the ball.
b. you fell when you took the kids on a nature hike.
c. too much mall walking.
d. you twisted it playing Dance Dance Revolution.
If you answered mostly a’s -- You’re a varsity athlete. Playing sports is your top priority.
If you answered mostly b’s -- You’re an intramural athlete. You’re competitive, but you’ve got other priorities.
If you answered mostly c’s -- You’re a club athlete. You play to stay in shape and to have fun.
If you answered mostly d’s -- You’re no athlete - you’re a couch potato!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Podcast script and photos
SCRIPT TEMPLATE
Name of Show – Stock Tips
Complete Show Length in minutes: 5:37
Episode 1: Topic – Bi-Polar Awareness
Intro Music Clip: Title: L’Edition Speciale (Francis Cabrel) Minutes – 0:15
Intro: Bipolar Disorder Awareness Minutes – 1:22
Welcome to Stock Tips and thank you for joining me today. I am Sarah Stockman, and here on Stock Tips I aim to bring you information on relevant, important, and interesting subjects in our world. Today, we will be talking about bi-polar disorder, a devastating mental illness. Why do you need to become aware of Bi-polar Disorder? It is estimated that nearly six million Americans are affected by BPD, which means someone you know and care about could be one of them. In addition, nearly 1 in 5 of those diagnosed with BPD completes suicide – a stunning statistic. Today we will talk about what BPD is, what it isn’t, and how to recognize symptoms in someone you care about. Finally, I will be sharing with you the story of Waltraud (Wally) Prechter, the wife of the late Heinz Prechter, who committed suicide in 2001 after a long struggle with BPD. Ms. Prechter founded the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund in memory of her husband, and has been instrumental in promoting awareness of the disorder. She played a key role in establishing the Depression Center at the University of Michigan, and was appointed to President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Prechter about her story and her commitment to finding a way to give sufferers of BPD hope for a better life.
Segment Music Clip: Title: Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix) Minutes – 0:20
Segment: What is BPD? Minutes – 2:55
What is Bipolar Disorder? Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness characterized by highs and lows. You may have also heard it called manic depression. BPD sufferers experience extreme mood swings, alternating between the two “poles” of their personality – depressive lows, and wired highs. These states can be experienced for hours, days, weeks, or even months. BPD is not the same as depression, but when someone who has it is experiencing a low, they experience many of the same symptoms as someone with depression. During a high, someone can seem anxious, restless, hyper, and out-of-control. Bipolar disorder usually shows up after adolescence, but can start out as severe depression in the teen years. It is sometimes surprising to find out that someone you know is suffering from BPD, because many sufferers isolate themselves in down times, and many people may perceive someone with BPD as just being driven or very active during a manic episode. BPD affects people from all ages and classes, and although, as I told you just a bit ago, that BPD onset most often occurs just after adolescence, even young children can be affected by the disorder. How can you know if someone you love is suffering from BPD? According to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, you should look for the following symptoms: prolonged sadness or unexplained crying spells; significant changes in appetite and sleep patterns; irritability, anger, worry, agitation, or anxiety; pessimism or indifference; loss of energy; feelings of guilt or worthlessness; an inability to concentrate; social withdrawal; unexplained aches and pains; or recurring thoughts of death or suicide. In fact, if you suspect you may suffer from bipolar disorder, you can go to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance website at http://www.dbsalliance.org/ and take a confidential online mood disorder screening.
Another aspect of BPD that is devastating to many is that it is believed to be genetic. Many people find this frightening, because they may see symptoms in more than one loved one, such as a spouse and a child. This is one of the reasons that Wally Prechter is so driven to find effective treatment for the disorder. In fact, the research fund established in her late husband’s memory is dedicated to pinpointing the link between genetics, stress, and bipolar disorder. The fund has begun a gene repository at the University of Michigan Depression Center that will study 1,000 bipolar sufferers and 1,000 people without the disorder. Ms. Prechter considers this research to be of the utmost importance in discovering how to better treat BPD sufferers and prevent other families from the pain of suicide that her family experienced. Ms. Prechter is not concerned with being associated with finding effective treatment, her only concern is that it is found, which is why the Prechter fund is making all the sampling and research associated with the study available to scientists worldwide. One of the biggest obstacles in the research is,of course, funding. The Prechter fund continually works to raise money to continue the study, and is currently working on a fashion show benefit with Saks Fifth Avenue. If you would like information on the benefit, you can e-mail leslye@wepholdings.org, that’s L-E-S-L-Y-E at w-e-p holdings dot com.
End Segment Music Clip: Title: Message in a Bottle (The Police) Minutes: 0:10
Ending: Hope and Help Minutes: 0:40
While a diagnosis of BPD may seem devastating, many find some solace in the fact that at least they know what they are dealing with. BPD does not just affect those who are diagnosed, but also their friends and family. If you or someone you know have been diagnosed or have shown symptoms of BPD, remember there is hope. There are medications available that work for many, and with the dedication of people like Wally Prechter, better treatments will hopefully be found in the near future. For more information and to find out what you can do to help, visit http://www.dbsalliabce.org/. To find out more about the gene study, visit www.prechterfund.org/research. Thanks for being with me for this episode of Stock Tips, and I hope you join me again. Goodbye.
Ending Music Clip: Title: Hope of Deliverance (Paul McCartney) Minutes: 0:15
Name of Show – Stock Tips
Complete Show Length in minutes: 5:37
Episode 1: Topic – Bi-Polar Awareness
Intro Music Clip: Title: L’Edition Speciale (Francis Cabrel) Minutes – 0:15
Intro: Bipolar Disorder Awareness Minutes – 1:22
Welcome to Stock Tips and thank you for joining me today. I am Sarah Stockman, and here on Stock Tips I aim to bring you information on relevant, important, and interesting subjects in our world. Today, we will be talking about bi-polar disorder, a devastating mental illness. Why do you need to become aware of Bi-polar Disorder? It is estimated that nearly six million Americans are affected by BPD, which means someone you know and care about could be one of them. In addition, nearly 1 in 5 of those diagnosed with BPD completes suicide – a stunning statistic. Today we will talk about what BPD is, what it isn’t, and how to recognize symptoms in someone you care about. Finally, I will be sharing with you the story of Waltraud (Wally) Prechter, the wife of the late Heinz Prechter, who committed suicide in 2001 after a long struggle with BPD. Ms. Prechter founded the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund in memory of her husband, and has been instrumental in promoting awareness of the disorder. She played a key role in establishing the Depression Center at the University of Michigan, and was appointed to President Bush’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Prechter about her story and her commitment to finding a way to give sufferers of BPD hope for a better life.
Segment Music Clip: Title: Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix) Minutes – 0:20
Segment: What is BPD? Minutes – 2:55
What is Bipolar Disorder? Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness characterized by highs and lows. You may have also heard it called manic depression. BPD sufferers experience extreme mood swings, alternating between the two “poles” of their personality – depressive lows, and wired highs. These states can be experienced for hours, days, weeks, or even months. BPD is not the same as depression, but when someone who has it is experiencing a low, they experience many of the same symptoms as someone with depression. During a high, someone can seem anxious, restless, hyper, and out-of-control. Bipolar disorder usually shows up after adolescence, but can start out as severe depression in the teen years. It is sometimes surprising to find out that someone you know is suffering from BPD, because many sufferers isolate themselves in down times, and many people may perceive someone with BPD as just being driven or very active during a manic episode. BPD affects people from all ages and classes, and although, as I told you just a bit ago, that BPD onset most often occurs just after adolescence, even young children can be affected by the disorder. How can you know if someone you love is suffering from BPD? According to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, you should look for the following symptoms: prolonged sadness or unexplained crying spells; significant changes in appetite and sleep patterns; irritability, anger, worry, agitation, or anxiety; pessimism or indifference; loss of energy; feelings of guilt or worthlessness; an inability to concentrate; social withdrawal; unexplained aches and pains; or recurring thoughts of death or suicide. In fact, if you suspect you may suffer from bipolar disorder, you can go to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance website at http://www.dbsalliance.org/ and take a confidential online mood disorder screening.
Another aspect of BPD that is devastating to many is that it is believed to be genetic. Many people find this frightening, because they may see symptoms in more than one loved one, such as a spouse and a child. This is one of the reasons that Wally Prechter is so driven to find effective treatment for the disorder. In fact, the research fund established in her late husband’s memory is dedicated to pinpointing the link between genetics, stress, and bipolar disorder. The fund has begun a gene repository at the University of Michigan Depression Center that will study 1,000 bipolar sufferers and 1,000 people without the disorder. Ms. Prechter considers this research to be of the utmost importance in discovering how to better treat BPD sufferers and prevent other families from the pain of suicide that her family experienced. Ms. Prechter is not concerned with being associated with finding effective treatment, her only concern is that it is found, which is why the Prechter fund is making all the sampling and research associated with the study available to scientists worldwide. One of the biggest obstacles in the research is,of course, funding. The Prechter fund continually works to raise money to continue the study, and is currently working on a fashion show benefit with Saks Fifth Avenue. If you would like information on the benefit, you can e-mail leslye@wepholdings.org, that’s L-E-S-L-Y-E at w-e-p holdings dot com.
End Segment Music Clip: Title: Message in a Bottle (The Police) Minutes: 0:10
Ending: Hope and Help Minutes: 0:40
While a diagnosis of BPD may seem devastating, many find some solace in the fact that at least they know what they are dealing with. BPD does not just affect those who are diagnosed, but also their friends and family. If you or someone you know have been diagnosed or have shown symptoms of BPD, remember there is hope. There are medications available that work for many, and with the dedication of people like Wally Prechter, better treatments will hopefully be found in the near future. For more information and to find out what you can do to help, visit http://www.dbsalliabce.org/. To find out more about the gene study, visit www.prechterfund.org/research. Thanks for being with me for this episode of Stock Tips, and I hope you join me again. Goodbye.
Ending Music Clip: Title: Hope of Deliverance (Paul McCartney) Minutes: 0:15
Photo caption: Bipolar most often shows up after adolescence, however teens may begin experiencing BPD with symptoms of severe depression.
Photo caption: Even young children can experience bipolar disorder, although the manic cycles in a child may be accompanied by irritability, aggressiveness, and crankiness.
Although some bipolar disorder sufferers respond well to antidepressants and other prescription medication, over half do not.
Photo caption: Even young children can experience bipolar disorder, although the manic cycles in a child may be accompanied by irritability, aggressiveness, and crankiness.
Although some bipolar disorder sufferers respond well to antidepressants and other prescription medication, over half do not.
Project II Revisions
I did not change all that much from my first draft of the article summaries to the final draft. I did fix a few grammatical and typing errors, as well as some parenthetical citations that, for some reason I had included inside the quotation marks throughout the paper. In addition, I added quite a bit in my conclusion about what I personally learned and found interesting in the articles. I always hesitate when writing to include my first person perspective, as I have had quite a few professors who have discouraged this when writing research papers. I understand, however, that there are differences between a research paper and article summaries. That being said, I wanted to make sure I wrote about the articles from a first person persepective. Other than that, I just changed a few sentences that I felt had some awkward wording, and that's about it.
Project II First Draft
Sarah Stockman
Professor A. Yerks
COMP 106
Parental Involvement in Education: A Summary of Scholarly Articles
The need for parental involvement in a child’s schooling is a vital part of the educational process. As educational standards have been raised in an era of high-stakes testing and the requirements of No Child Left Behind legislation, everyone involved in the educational process is working to find out what types of things aid in a successful school experience. One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that parental involvement is necessary in order to give a child the best odds of high academic achievement. School administrators, teachers, parents, and even the students themselves seem to realize that involved parents can make a difference in a child’s education. In this essay, three articles regarding different aspects of parent involvement in the educational process will be summarized.
In their article "Parental Involvement, Parenting Behaviors, and Children's Cognitive Development in Low-Income and Minority Families,” Mido Chang, Boyoung Park, Kusum Singh, and Yougnji Y. Sung assert that “encouraging positive parental involvement is especially important for children from low-income, ethnic-minority, and language-minority backgrounds (310).” Chang, Park, Kusum, Singh, and Sung claim that the positive effects of parental involvement in the academic achievement of their children is well-documented, and they studied data from Head Start programs, which aim to “increase parental involvement and parental skills so that parents can better stimulate their children's linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional growth order to show the correlation that exists between parental involvement and children’s cognitive development”(310) in preschool age children, especially for low-income and minority families. The authors’ purpose lies in wanting to show that there is evidence that development in preschool children is also affected by parental behavior, in that although their formal education has not begun, their learning processes are well underway. Their study is convincing and relevant for those in the educational community, especially those involved in early childhood development and early elementary education, as would be the intended audience for an article appearing in The Journal of Childhood Education.
Erika A Patall, Harris Cooper, and Jorgianne Civey Robinson argue that parents can improve the “academic performance among elementary school children” (1039) by being “involved in their children’s homework” (1039), in their article “Parent Involvement in Homework: A Research Synthesis.” The authors found that parental involvement in their children’s homework can take many forms and claim that the involvement can “accelerate learning by increasing the amount of time students spend studying and making homework study more efficient, effective, and focused.” (1041) Patall, Cooper, and Robinson aim to pinpoint the strategies of parental involvement that achieve the best results for children and to discover how such parental involvement should change throughout the child’s educational experience. The authors provide a detailed analysis of the evidence and provide suggestions for the types of parental involvement that they found to be most effective, which is very beneficial for their intended audience of educators, who will be able to pass the research and tips on to the parents of their students.
Marya Grande, an assistant professor of special education at Canisius College asserts that schools need to find ways to teach parents what they need to do to help their children succeed in school and focuses on one such strategy in her article for Intervention in School and Clinic, entitled “Increasing Parent Participation and Knowledge Using Home Literacy Bags.” Grande details a low-cost program in which schools create “literacy bags” (120) to be sent home with each child in the first through third grades for at least one week of the school year in order to “make parents aware of grade-level expectations and activities, materials, and ideas that may help prepare all young learners to meet literacy standards” (120); and she claims that the program is very effective (125). Grande’s goal is to provide detailed methodology and anecdotal evidence about the literacy bag program, in order to provide a framework that can be adopted by other schools, especially in low-income minority districts, where parents are not always aware of the learning benchmarks that their children should be reaching at each grade level. To this end, Grande’s article is useful, informative, plainly written, and convincing, and should be well-received by anyone interested in finding new ways to help parents become more involved with their children’s learning.
In summarizing these three articles, I am able to clearly see that there are many aspects to be looked at when discussing parental involvement and education. I learned that not only is parental involvement necessary, but that there are certain skills and strategies parents must learn and use when it comes to their children’s education. I especially found the Head Start article interesting, because of the fact that it highlighted the need for parents to be involved in their children’s education even before they actually enter public school. In addition, I really enjoyed the article about the literacy bags. I found it so encouraging that a program that cost less than $1,000 to start up can have such an impact. Many times I think teachers assume the parents of their students are as interested in their education as the teacher’s parents were, but this is not always the case. I think the literacy bags could be an excellent tool in informing parents of the things that are expected from their child, and in teaching them ways to help their students in school.
These are just a few of the many, many articles that have been written regarding parental involvement in education. From studies proving the benefits of such involvement to tips on how schools can train parents to be involved and how parents can best help their children, the information is available and useful and should be looked at by anyone who is interested in providing students with the best odds for achieving academic success.
Works Cited
Chang, Mido, Park, Boyoung, Singh, Kusum, and Sung, Youngju Y. "Parental Involvement,
Parenting Behaviors, and Children's Cognitive Development in Low-Income and Minority Families." Journal of Research in Childhood Education 23.3 (2009): 309-324. Research Library. ProQuest. University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI. 26 Apr. 2009
Cooper, Harris, Patall, Erika A., Robinson, Jorgianne Civey. "Parent Involvement in
Homework: A Research Synthesis." Review of Educational Research 78.4 (2008): 1039-1101. Research Library. ProQuest. University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI. 26 Apr. 2009
Marya Grande. (2004). Increasing Parent Participation and Knowledge Using Home
Literacy Bags. Intervention in School and Clinic, 40(2), 120-126. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 726730961).
Professor A. Yerks
COMP 106
Parental Involvement in Education: A Summary of Scholarly Articles
The need for parental involvement in a child’s schooling is a vital part of the educational process. As educational standards have been raised in an era of high-stakes testing and the requirements of No Child Left Behind legislation, everyone involved in the educational process is working to find out what types of things aid in a successful school experience. One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that parental involvement is necessary in order to give a child the best odds of high academic achievement. School administrators, teachers, parents, and even the students themselves seem to realize that involved parents can make a difference in a child’s education. In this essay, three articles regarding different aspects of parent involvement in the educational process will be summarized.
In their article "Parental Involvement, Parenting Behaviors, and Children's Cognitive Development in Low-Income and Minority Families,” Mido Chang, Boyoung Park, Kusum Singh, and Yougnji Y. Sung assert that “encouraging positive parental involvement is especially important for children from low-income, ethnic-minority, and language-minority backgrounds (310).” Chang, Park, Kusum, Singh, and Sung claim that the positive effects of parental involvement in the academic achievement of their children is well-documented, and they studied data from Head Start programs, which aim to “increase parental involvement and parental skills so that parents can better stimulate their children's linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional growth order to show the correlation that exists between parental involvement and children’s cognitive development”(310) in preschool age children, especially for low-income and minority families. The authors’ purpose lies in wanting to show that there is evidence that development in preschool children is also affected by parental behavior, in that although their formal education has not begun, their learning processes are well underway. Their study is convincing and relevant for those in the educational community, especially those involved in early childhood development and early elementary education, as would be the intended audience for an article appearing in The Journal of Childhood Education.
Erika A Patall, Harris Cooper, and Jorgianne Civey Robinson argue that parents can improve the “academic performance among elementary school children” (1039) by being “involved in their children’s homework” (1039), in their article “Parent Involvement in Homework: A Research Synthesis.” The authors found that parental involvement in their children’s homework can take many forms and claim that the involvement can “accelerate learning by increasing the amount of time students spend studying and making homework study more efficient, effective, and focused.” (1041) Patall, Cooper, and Robinson aim to pinpoint the strategies of parental involvement that achieve the best results for children and to discover how such parental involvement should change throughout the child’s educational experience. The authors provide a detailed analysis of the evidence and provide suggestions for the types of parental involvement that they found to be most effective, which is very beneficial for their intended audience of educators, who will be able to pass the research and tips on to the parents of their students.
Marya Grande, an assistant professor of special education at Canisius College asserts that schools need to find ways to teach parents what they need to do to help their children succeed in school and focuses on one such strategy in her article for Intervention in School and Clinic, entitled “Increasing Parent Participation and Knowledge Using Home Literacy Bags.” Grande details a low-cost program in which schools create “literacy bags” (120) to be sent home with each child in the first through third grades for at least one week of the school year in order to “make parents aware of grade-level expectations and activities, materials, and ideas that may help prepare all young learners to meet literacy standards” (120); and she claims that the program is very effective (125). Grande’s goal is to provide detailed methodology and anecdotal evidence about the literacy bag program, in order to provide a framework that can be adopted by other schools, especially in low-income minority districts, where parents are not always aware of the learning benchmarks that their children should be reaching at each grade level. To this end, Grande’s article is useful, informative, plainly written, and convincing, and should be well-received by anyone interested in finding new ways to help parents become more involved with their children’s learning.
In summarizing these three articles, I am able to clearly see that there are many aspects to be looked at when discussing parental involvement and education. I learned that not only is parental involvement necessary, but that there are certain skills and strategies parents must learn and use when it comes to their children’s education. I especially found the Head Start article interesting, because of the fact that it highlighted the need for parents to be involved in their children’s education even before they actually enter public school. In addition, I really enjoyed the article about the literacy bags. I found it so encouraging that a program that cost less than $1,000 to start up can have such an impact. Many times I think teachers assume the parents of their students are as interested in their education as the teacher’s parents were, but this is not always the case. I think the literacy bags could be an excellent tool in informing parents of the things that are expected from their child, and in teaching them ways to help their students in school.
These are just a few of the many, many articles that have been written regarding parental involvement in education. From studies proving the benefits of such involvement to tips on how schools can train parents to be involved and how parents can best help their children, the information is available and useful and should be looked at by anyone who is interested in providing students with the best odds for achieving academic success.
Works Cited
Chang, Mido, Park, Boyoung, Singh, Kusum, and Sung, Youngju Y. "Parental Involvement,
Parenting Behaviors, and Children's Cognitive Development in Low-Income and Minority Families." Journal of Research in Childhood Education 23.3 (2009): 309-324. Research Library. ProQuest. University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI. 26 Apr. 2009
Cooper, Harris, Patall, Erika A., Robinson, Jorgianne Civey. "Parent Involvement in
Homework: A Research Synthesis." Review of Educational Research 78.4 (2008): 1039-1101. Research Library. ProQuest. University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI. 26 Apr. 2009
Marya Grande. (2004). Increasing Parent Participation and Knowledge Using Home
Literacy Bags. Intervention in School and Clinic, 40(2), 120-126. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 726730961).
Shape poem
This is a screen capture of my shape poem. I chose the poem "Toucan" by Bernard Harrie, because I just really like it. It's kind of a quirky poem, and I thought it lent itself to the project because I could use the toucan shape for the poem. It turned out okay. I think it looks better from a distance than up close. I had to play around with font size in order to make it work, and I used an orange-yellow color to highlight the toucan's beak. It was sometimes hard to get the lines close enough, so I had to make the font really small in some places and larger in others, but I think that aspect of it ended up looking cool. It was a fun activity, but a little challenging, whcih is a good thing!
Reflection on My Visual Composition
In my visual composition, I advocated taking small steps to go green - meaning doing things that are better for the environment. I chose to do a PowerPoint slide show, and I feel it turned out really well. During the time that I was gathering photos I could use for the project, I realize that I already has some pictures I could use; and it was pretty easy to get the rest of the shots I needed. Also, because of my message, I was able to use a lot of outdoor shots which alsays seem to turn out the best.
In advocating going green, I decided to open and close my slide show with beautiful landscape scenes. I felt this would encourage people to consider the information, in that there is no guarantee that such beaurty will be preserved, unless many of us begin to change some of our environmentally dangerous habits. After opening with a beautiful photograph, I contrasted bad or wasteful environmental behavior with behavior that would help to improve the environment. Then, I used pictures and a little bit of text to advocate the message or feuse, recycle, and reduce.
First, I looked at the overuse of plastic grocery bags, and I encouraged the use of reusable shopping bags. I was really happy with the way the pictures turned out for these two slides. The lighting was good, and I was able to get several good shots. In addition, I formatted the PowerPoint background in order to promote a "green" feel. I feel like everything went together very well. The PowerPoint layouts and soft text complemented the photographs and the overall message of my composition.
Secondly, I used a photo of a pop bottle and can on the side of the road to point out the benefits of recycling. I used the picture of the littered can and bottle as the entire backgroud of the slide, and inserted a picture of some shoppers utilizing the recycling center of a grocery store. Once again, I felt the pictures turned out great. The photo of the littered can and bottle was probably one of my favorites, because it contrasted the beauty of the outdoors and the ugliness of the trash that was cluttering up the area.
Finally, I encouraged my audience to reduce their use of energy by forgoing their vehicle in favor of bike riding for short trips. Once again, I used a picture of a bike outdoors as the background of my slide, and inserted a small picture of a vehicle in the upper right hand area. I felt this worked well, because in the text box, I used the wording "try making your vehicle a smaller part of your life..." So, I felt the small picture of the vehicle sort of reiterated this message.
All in all, I really enjoyed putting this visual composition together. I had a difficult time coming up with my proposal, but once I got started I felt it came together quite well and turned out to be an effective way to convey my message.
In advocating going green, I decided to open and close my slide show with beautiful landscape scenes. I felt this would encourage people to consider the information, in that there is no guarantee that such beaurty will be preserved, unless many of us begin to change some of our environmentally dangerous habits. After opening with a beautiful photograph, I contrasted bad or wasteful environmental behavior with behavior that would help to improve the environment. Then, I used pictures and a little bit of text to advocate the message or feuse, recycle, and reduce.
First, I looked at the overuse of plastic grocery bags, and I encouraged the use of reusable shopping bags. I was really happy with the way the pictures turned out for these two slides. The lighting was good, and I was able to get several good shots. In addition, I formatted the PowerPoint background in order to promote a "green" feel. I feel like everything went together very well. The PowerPoint layouts and soft text complemented the photographs and the overall message of my composition.
Secondly, I used a photo of a pop bottle and can on the side of the road to point out the benefits of recycling. I used the picture of the littered can and bottle as the entire backgroud of the slide, and inserted a picture of some shoppers utilizing the recycling center of a grocery store. Once again, I felt the pictures turned out great. The photo of the littered can and bottle was probably one of my favorites, because it contrasted the beauty of the outdoors and the ugliness of the trash that was cluttering up the area.
Finally, I encouraged my audience to reduce their use of energy by forgoing their vehicle in favor of bike riding for short trips. Once again, I used a picture of a bike outdoors as the background of my slide, and inserted a small picture of a vehicle in the upper right hand area. I felt this worked well, because in the text box, I used the wording "try making your vehicle a smaller part of your life..." So, I felt the small picture of the vehicle sort of reiterated this message.
All in all, I really enjoyed putting this visual composition together. I had a difficult time coming up with my proposal, but once I got started I felt it came together quite well and turned out to be an effective way to convey my message.
Visual Composition Proposal
For my visual composition, I propose to advocate going green - taking small steps to help cure and prevent damage to our environment. In order to do this, I will include pictures of bad habits and contrast them with the pictures of the small steps anyone can take that will make a difference in caring for the earth. I plan to use the them reuse, recycle, and reduce. I plan to include beautiful landscape pictures that will make the viewer appreciate the earth's beauty.
My goal for this project would be to convince people that the earth's beauty is worth a little sacrifice. Also, I would like to show people that while sacrifice may be necessary to reverse and prevent damage to the earth, taking small, relatively painless steps to begin "going green" is better than not doing anything at all. If I can accomplish this, then I believe this will get the ball rolling, and people will become aware of the types of things they can do to protect our environment.
I hope to make my visual composition interesting, informative, and convincing. My goal is that it advocates the cooperation of everyone in making our earth healthy for generations to come.
My goal for this project would be to convince people that the earth's beauty is worth a little sacrifice. Also, I would like to show people that while sacrifice may be necessary to reverse and prevent damage to the earth, taking small, relatively painless steps to begin "going green" is better than not doing anything at all. If I can accomplish this, then I believe this will get the ball rolling, and people will become aware of the types of things they can do to protect our environment.
I hope to make my visual composition interesting, informative, and convincing. My goal is that it advocates the cooperation of everyone in making our earth healthy for generations to come.
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