Expectations vs. Reality

*Preface: I couldn't help but make the comparison I do. I adore Jeff, and would take his class a million times over. That being said, he really set me up.*

Reading W/D Ch. 2 and then shifting to the student-made videos really felt like the expectations vs. reality activity we did in class. The word "fit" in the prompt for this blog post seemed more applicable to how these videos related to our classroom activity more so than what Ch. 2 said, because these videos were...interesting. Surely not what I was anticipating after the chapter was so thorough in discussing intent and execution. The videos made me think of this:

Expectations (above) vs. Reality (below)

Now, these videos were much more laboring than Jeff's syllabus. These were brutal. I went in with so much hope, but surely it was crushed. These videos don't fit expectations, unless your expectations are super vague, seemingly pointless videos.

Let's start with Dànielle DeVoss, shall we? She begins with several shots of a transparent computer screen over her many worried faces. Nothing is said to describe these screens, ranging from Facebook to conference notes, but there is so very charming techno music blasting in the background. Then, for the last 25 seconds, we get to watch her stare at a screen. I am reminded of a line from W/D regarding contrast: "the page is not too busy, and the audience can easily find what they're looking for" (33). Well, for the last 25 seconds, DeVoss's screen was super not busy, and I still have no idea what was going on. She delivered very little content, her audience was not clear (Facebook AND conference notes?), and her purpose was vague at best.

Another painful one for me to watch was Jessica's. My goodness, was that boring. Of the 4:16, I had to stop watching around 1:42. Videos can be fun!! She read her script as if she were bored with every new word, so monotone with emphasis on words that were not the most important. I felt silly reading the emphasis portion of Ch. 2, but after seeing Jessica's video, I'm not so sure it is as obvious as I thought. Another point from Ch. 2 that seemed to fit the needs of this video was right at the beginning of the chapter: "Understanding the situation in which an author composed a text can help us better understand a text's meaning and make judgments about its effectiveness" (22). I believe she said she had surgery on her dominant hand a few days before making the video. So, I'm trying not to be too hard on it. She allowed me to understand why her video was the way it was, and so credit can be thrown her way for that.

There were some that were fine. Rick's was pretty good, though he mentioned that 1. he was getting his doctorate in rhetoric and composition and then 2. there were over 20 seconds of dead space as he sat at a computer and narrated. Michelle's was pretty good; hers to me was the best balance of complex and simple, easy to take in. So, to answer the question: "How do these videos fit expectations of academic composing?" I have to say they do not fit the genre expectations, but they do fit the type of composition we might actually see in our classroom. They're not all perfect, they all need revision, and they all need to revise for many different reasons.

This could be a great way to start showing writing as a process. I know we all try to do that already, but this could have been a step in the process; their videos are far from finished. Students could present them to you and then meet you for conferences. Y'all could talk about choices, work on effectiveness. You could have a rubric there and ask them to grade themselves on things like active airtime, visual components like spacing and contrast, audience, etc. These are messy, but they're stepping stones. The writing process is never over. This could be a great example of that.

Expectations vs. Reality

*Preface: I couldn't help but make the comparison I do. I adore Jeff, and would take his class a million times over. That being said, he really set me up.*

Reading W/D Ch. 2 and then shifting to the student-made videos really felt like the expectations vs. reality activity we did in class. The word "fit" in the prompt for this blog post seemed more applicable to how these videos related to our classroom activity more so than what Ch. 2 said, because these videos were...interesting. Surely not what I was anticipating after the chapter was so thorough in discussing intent and execution. The videos made me think of this:

Expectations (above) vs. Reality (below)

Now, these videos were much more laboring than Jeff's syllabus. These were brutal. I went in with so much hope, but surely it was crushed. These videos don't fit expectations, unless your expectations are super vague, seemingly pointless videos.

Let's start with Dànielle DeVoss, shall we? She begins with several shots of a transparent computer screen over her many worried faces. Nothing is said to describe these screens, ranging from Facebook to conference notes, but there is so very charming techno music blasting in the background. Then, for the last 25 seconds, we get to watch her stare at a screen. I am reminded of a line from W/D regarding contrast: "the page is not too busy, and the audience can easily find what they're looking for" (33). Well, for the last 25 seconds, DeVoss's screen was super not busy, and I still have no idea what was going on. She delivered very little content, her audience was not clear (Facebook AND conference notes?), and her purpose was vague at best.

Another painful one for me to watch was Jessica's. My goodness, was that boring. Of the 4:16, I had to stop watching around 1:42. Videos can be fun!! She read her script as if she were bored with every new word, so monotone with emphasis on words that were not the most important. I felt silly reading the emphasis portion of Ch. 2, but after seeing Jessica's video, I'm not so sure it is as obvious as I thought. Another point from Ch. 2 that seemed to fit the needs of this video was right at the beginning of the chapter: "Understanding the situation in which an author composed a text can help us better understand a text's meaning and make judgments about its effectiveness" (22). I believe she said she had surgery on her dominant hand a few days before making the video. So, I'm trying not to be too hard on it. She allowed me to understand why her video was the way it was, and so credit can be thrown her way for that.

There were some that were fine. Rick's was pretty good, though he mentioned that 1. he was getting his doctorate in rhetoric and composition and then 2. there were over 20 seconds of dead space as he sat at a computer and narrated. Michelle's was pretty good; hers to me was the best balance of complex and simple, easy to take in. So, to answer the question: "How do these videos fit expectations of academic composing?" I have to say they do not fit the genre expectations, but they do fit the type of composition we might actually see in our classroom. They're not all perfect, they all need revision, and they all need to revise for many different reasons.

This could be a great way to start showing writing as a process. I know we all try to do that already, but this could have been a step in the process; their videos are far from finished. Students could present them to you and then meet you for conferences. Y'all could talk about choices, work on effectiveness. You could have a rubric there and ask them to grade themselves on things like active airtime, visual components like spacing and contrast, audience, etc. These are messy, but they're stepping stones. The writing process is never over. This could be a great example of that.