GRAF #7 I-Search Brainstorm

GRAF #7

isearch brainstorm

Since I somehow missed this assignment, I will try to reconstruct how I came upon my I-Search topic:

Something that interests me

Something personal

Something I would like to do

Something I would like to understand

What events have impacted my life?

Where do my interests lie?

Church

Faith

Family

Friends

Housebuilding

Outdoors

Adventure

Nature

Family – parents

Blessings of my particular parents

How I miss them…

Their sicknesses and deaths

The misery of mom’s particular, long-term disease

How awful it was

How I don’t want to go through that, nor have my kids have to deal with it

What can be done to prevent it, for me, my 4 siblings, and kids

That’s my topic.

GRAF #8

Reaction to Isearches

I-search, who ever came up with this idea?  Is it because we in America are so self-centered, even a research paper has to revolve around us?  Or perhaps teachers are getting so bored reading scholarly research papers that they are attempting to find a way to stay awake while reading them.   Or maybe it’s because most schools of higher learning are so big with so many students that this is one way that the educator can get to know his or her students.  Or possibly it’s just a way to get students to actually write about something that interests them in hopes that they will see writing as something more than just an assignment in a required class and will begin to see it as a way of investigating a problem and coming up with a solution in an orderly, logical manner.  Whatever the reason or rationale, it is an assignment, and for better or for worse, we all have to do it.  Whether or not we enjoy doing it isn’t going to change that fact.  So… we might as well make the best of it and look for a subject that is of interest to us, and see it as an opportunity to do some research we might not otherwise take the time to do.  That’s the way I’ve decided to look at it, and that’s what I personally plan to do. 

GRAF #6 Unique

Who am I?  Definitely food for thought…  Am I what I do?  What I think?  Where I live? How I look?  I guess the answer to all but the first question is yes.  Everything about me contributes to who I am.  And so, I am… a city-born, woods-living, old-time hippie who came to Maine long ago as part of the back-to-the-land movement.  “Do-it-yourself” was and is still the motto, from homebirths and homeschool, to homebuilding and homemaking.  I’m a mom who takes that job very seriously, though the kids are mostly “grown up” (as if anyone ever qualifies for that description.)  I love adventure and see all of life as such.    I’m active physically, teaching martial arts, digging in the garden, working on finishing my own house and renovating another, hiking, and enjoying the outdoors.  And I’m active mentally, learning, exploring, and delving into the unknown.  Loving people, and wanting to help others, I’m presently hoping to pursue a nursing degree.  With 4 cats, 2 dogs, 1 horse, and a few chickens, you could say that I like animals, too.  But who am I really… inside?  For that we must dig deeper, and that’s where faith and family reside.  To me, my faith in God and in Jesus Christ, is the most important part of me, and without that, nothing else matters.  He changed my life and made me who I am today.  Next is family, each of whom I love deeply, from my parents who are no longer with us, to those siblings I left behind when I moved to Maine, to my own little family here that is now spreading its wings and scattering to build new homes and new lives, of which I will still be a part.  Yet, all these things are still but little pieces of who I am.  Every thought, dream, desire, and experience continues to add to my description.  Those around me influence who I am and who I am becoming.  In fact… you, too, may be helping to shape me and my future.  Now isn’t that food for thought…

GRAF #5

GRAF #5

Brainstorming an I-Search topic reaction

Every person processes information and experiences creativity differently. Developing a plan of attack for an I-Search topic is one such example.  One method is to brainstorm a variety of possible topics by listing individual words as they come to mind, looking for a pattern to develop, then focusing on the details (in the form of questions)  of what might be included in the final I-search.  This is a valid and useful way to get creative juices flowing, opening the mind to hidden possibilities.  Though, personally, I tend to think in more broad and varied terms to help me decide what subject I would like to explore, allowing them to mull for a time within my brain, mixing with my life’s experiences and curiosities, seeing what eventually emerges, then refining them as to the exact details of a particular topic that I might want to explore.  Questions may never consciously come to mind, but answers will eventually be discovered in the process.  Who is to say that one method is better than another?  Each of us is unique, which is part of what makes life so interesting.  And so, while I may never use your exact method, it definitely has merit and parts may be incorporated into my own method as I progress with this course.

GRAF # 4

GRAF #4

Reaction to advice to writers

Having never taught a College Comp course, and having never taken the time to analyze  the details of how thoughts go from the cerebrum to a piece of paper, the questions listed seem to be good advice.  Of course, I must admit that following that advice is difficult in creating a graf reacting to advice on how to write.  But hopefully, in the coming weeks and months, the grafs will become more interesting and the advice will become more applicable.

GRAF #3

Inventory’s Inventory:

In the area surrounding the bed:

Bibles: King James, New King James, New American Standard, New International Version, Bible Concordance, Bible Commentary, Bible Topics

School books: Anatomy & Physiology, Developmental Psychology, Medical Dictionary

Sleep aids: melatonin, valerian, calcium, homeopathic sleep remedy

Hand lotion (3 types)

Huggies blanket with arms

Daily Journal, Prayer & Praise Journal, Thoughts-on-Paper Journal, Notebook

MP3 player with Bible commentary recorded

Exercise weights for arms and legs

Inventory’s Graf:

Bibles, books, writing material, MP3, sleep aids, blanket, lotion and weights.  What do these things have in common and what do they tell about the person who inhabits this bed?  The insertion of a variety of sleep aids definitely shows that insomnia plays a significant role in this person’s night life.  The abundance of books and writing materials indicates an affinity for the written word.  The choice of books indicates a quest for knowledge and the truth, both earthly and divine.  Balancing the academic is the addition of exercise weights, which points toward the desire to excel physically, as well as mentally and spiritually.  On the whole, I would have to say that this person suffers from dry skin (hence the hand lotion) and has problems sleeping.  She likes to make the best use of every available moment, and so spends the hours between sleep learning and exercising, not wanting to waste any opportunity to grow and improve.  She’s a type-A personality – driven, motivated, desiring to excel in all she does, realizing that time is precious and not to be wasted.  And so she realizes that even insomnia can be a gift in disguise.

GRAF #2

GRAF #2

How well I remember my Trigonometry class – not for anything I learned there about Math, but for the lesson I learned about compassion, tolerance, and helpfulness.  The teacher was not the role model.  But in a way, she was the object lesson.  She was dictatorial, aloof, pompous.  Head high, body erect, she seemed to tower over her students, spewing forth technical mathematical terms without any attempt to interpret her foreign language into words we could comprehend.  A good student, I attempted to follow her lessons, but I, as well as the rest of the class, failed miserably.  One brave student plucked up the courage to ask if this teacher would possibly speak in a way that we could all understand.  Instead, the instructor haughtily replied, “I will not lower myself to words you can understand; you must raise your vocabulary to understand mine.”    At that point, I learned that no matter how much knowledge I attained, it was more important to reach out to others and to lift them up, not to stand before them on a pedestal.  I gave up asking that teacher any questions, but I learned what not to do to others.  Instead of following the lead of that insensitive teacher, I learned to be more compassionate, more tolerant toward those who may struggle with something I might find easy to do, and I’m now more willing to help others who are struggling, if I can.

GRAF #1

GRAF #1

Wrinkled.  I first noticed my hands were wrinkled when I took my kids on a tour of the dentist’s office and the assistant made a cast of one of my fingers.  I was surprised.  Age had crept up on me without my noticing.  Now the wrinkles are more noticeable.  Time and hard work has roughened the fingers.  Nails are kept sensibly short, beauty no longer a priority, but practicality high on the list.   Even the wedding ring is simple – a silver band fashioned from a Canadian quarter long ago.  These hands have stood the test of time.  They have tilled the ground, caressed babies’ soft skin, hammered nails, typed on keyboards, washed dishes, stroked kittens’ fur.  They have been useful.  They are good.  They are mine.

Testing, testing, 1,2,3...