itsjohnhoffman-blog

[itsjohnhoffman-blog]

In what ways do we consciously and unconsciously use our outside reading/writing experiences to enhance or adapt for our academic reading/writing?

[itsjohnhoffman-blog]

Bridging Literacy & Learning: From the Personal to Academic

Dear Boise State English Teachers, 

On this blog I will be talking about how I embed my outside reading and writing experiences to enhance the quality of my work in terms of academic reading and writing.

The stance that I will be presenting is one’s literacy on topics outside of the classroom can easily translate well into a classroom environment under the proper circumstances because if a teacher assigns work that really allows students to show off their unconventional forms of intellectualism and knowledge it really helps them apply their outside knowledge in an academic way.

Intellectualism is sometimes viewed as a black and white topic, when in a reality, it is a topic that has a kaleidoscope of possibilities. “Hidden Intellectualism”, by Gerald Graff talks about how intellectualism comes in many shapes and sizes, it cannot be reduced to the black and white idea that intellectualism can only come from the world of Academia. Graff states on the topic of street smarts, “the fact that we associate those street smarts with anti-intellectual concerns” (969). I dabble in the unconventional and conventional forms of intellectualism, I could go on and on about political philosophy or I could talk to you about all the different types of donuts at Krispy Kreme. We as humans need to broaden our overall understanding that true intelligence can show up with any topic and not just the typical subject matter that you learn about in school. For example, I have a vast knowledge about the NBA, particularly in the area of a player and team statistics and just about any other random detail one would like to know about the National Basketball Association, but there’s no real solid way to show that off to the world as something to be proud of. Saying I am really good at quantum physics gets a lot more attention than saying I know everything there is to know about the NBA simply because in our society, we have all been ingrained with the idea that true intellectuals can only come from the areas of philosophy, math, and science. There are many kinds of smart and Graff does everything in his power to make sure that that statement in undoubtedly proven to be true. Let’s not be so hard on people that are smart in unconventional areas, they have just as much of a right to celebrate their expertise as anyone else does. Hidden knowledge can totally be bridged into your everyday academics, if you think critically about any unconventional topic, that could easily translate over to any common school subject if you just put your mind to it.

No subject is off limits to real intellectuals. Another deeply thoughtful quote from Graff is his own definition of what a real intellectual is, “Real intellectuals turn any subject, … into grist for their mill through the thoughtful questions that they bring to it,” (970). A real intellectual does not let a particular topic hinder his or her critical thinking skills, they always find a way to think deeper and engage in some solid discourse with their fellow real intellectuals. I think this applies to many students today at all levels of education, we all are assigned to think deeper about certain topics that we don’t enjoy researching much. The good students put on a happy face in order to get the job done in the best manner possible and dive deep into the research and they develop somewhat of a passion for it when at first they did not think that it would be possible. Thinking deeper about everything life can help one grow a greater appreciation and understanding to the fact that everything truly does happen for a reason. Only scratching the surface does not get you half as far in life and that lack of curiosity can leave many people ignorant to the beauties and pains of life. I mean, if you are not curious about anything in life, what could help replace that to make you feel like your own life is worth living? I think it is a great win for the education system to strive to ensure that every student has a burning desire to think much deeper about every and any form of subject matter put in front of them. For 12 years now, us freshman in college have gotten so used to being told exactly what to do for every assignment, so this particular assignment really tests my overall creative and critical thinking skills. I am so by the book in many way, so when there are not exact, concrete instructions for an assignment, I sometimes struggle to recover from that original shock of the spontaneity from the teacher. The test of a great learner is one that can put their critical thinking skills to good use in order to adjust to any form of an academic challenge, putting forward the best work that they possibly can.

A beating the odds story always inspires a reader to believe that maybe, just maybe, they can beat their own life challenges. In this passage titled, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, by Sherman Alexie, he discusses how he beat the odds as a young Native American child with his passion for his writing and reading. One thing Alexie brings up in his argument is that the alternative way his father was raised really opened up the floodgates for Sherman to break away from the type of expectation his fellow Indians and non Indians had for him. “My father, who is one of the few Indians who went to Catholic school on purpose,” (129).  Breaking the mold is something that can work out very well for people, I am always myself no matter what and that seems to open up opportunities for me that I never would have had if I did not choose to break free from the typical social scene expectations. A specific example of this is when I would voice my opinion in my contemporary issues and public policy class in high school even when my opinion was not very popular with my classmates, my additional perspective on things led to people understanding my point of view better and it simply created a really good environment for civil discourse in the classroom. It was basically seen as a sin for Alexie to not play dumb in school, but he did not let that stand in his way to pursue his passion of reading and writing engaging piece.

Alexie realized the beauty of the paragraph in writing, “a paragraph was a fence that held words. The words inside a paragraph work together for a common purpose,” (130). He was already so far ahead of everyone else his class due to his desire to learn all there was to know through reading and writing, he was soaring ahead while everyone else in his class would intentionally slug along far behind him. Understanding those subtle nuances in reading and writing really helps you gain a greater appreciation toward what it really takes to become a truly great reader and writer. If you just neglect those nuances, you will not make any progress toward bridging the gap between literacy and learning, which is key to becoming a better student. Alexie’s personal account of his life as a Native American student at a Native American school really opened up my eyes to this seemingly widespread crazy idea in his culture that it is better to be coming off as dumb instead of being very bright. I truly admire his passion for reading and for trying to inspire future generations in his community to be genuinely interested with their schoolwork. If we can light that fire under many more people, the sky's the limit for using our outside writing and reading experiences to enhance our academic reading and writing. We need to make school seem like fun to people; how many people really give it their all with something that they do not like to do?

If students are not mindful of themselves, it will have a negative effect on their learning potential. In the article, “Why Teaching Mindfulness Benefits Students’ Learning”, by Patricia Broderick, she clearly lays out to the reader why teaching mindfulness can enhance learning for so many students. Mindfulness does not get a lot of attention in the world of Academia and she’s really bringing that into the limelight. If we are not vigilant in looking out for ourselves in all areas of life, we could end up in a very undesirable place. Broderick starts off by acknowledging, “the fundamental role that social and emotional well-being play in the attainment of academic outcomes”, (Paragraph 3). From my own personal experience, I know very well that if I am not in a good or happy state of mind, my highest potential quality of work will not be displayed in this situation. For example, when I was not in a good mood to study hard for a big, bad math test, it often ended with myself getting a grade on that test that I usually was not very happy with. If we focus on being mindful of our own mental health, that can improve our quality of academic work and our lives in general tenfold.

Neuroscience too states that we need to take a more holistic approach when it comes to academic success and prosperity in our education system. “The prefrontal cortex, the center of higher-level cognition in the brain, also plays a dramatically important role in emotion processing and regulation”, (Paragraph 6). The prefrontal cortex is a jack of all trades and it is important to nourish it and enhance its potential to improve your life, intellectually and emotionally. The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child added an interesting perspective to enhance Broderick’s argument, “when feelings are not well managed, thinking can be impaired”, (Paragraph 7). If you’re not in a good space emotionally, there is no way you can have a clear mind to think properly about whatever subject you’re addressing, academic or not. In my high school psychology class, my teacher, Mrs Allen, put a strong emphasis on caring about its well being and that really opened the eyes of many high school seniors to remain mindful of themselves. Her words have been put to good use for me here at Boise State, I get my work done fairly efficiently, while taking time to just relax also. For years, it has been considered taboo to make sure you are doing ok mentally, but now more and more people are stepping out and making sure that their mental health is an absolute priority, which I think is a really great thing.