Blog Reflection

 Examining Diverse Perceptions of Space and Place

    I generally enjoyed the blogging aspect of the class in which I spent a lot of time working on posts and reflecting on the course texts. It also gave me a chance to think creatively while engaging concepts of inquiry in concert with colleagues. I think the blog element prepared me for discussions by giving me time to practice my responses to the texts before open discussions in the classroom, gave me new perspectives to think about by reading and commenting on other colleagues' posts, and it gave me opportunities to make connections outside of class with other texts, especially digital ones.

     Considering the posts about the weekly readings, I thought these were particularly useful and gave us opportunities to open our discussions, write as a community, think collectively, and think critically within the texts and concepts. It also expanded the context of eco-discourse and allowed me to step back and see each of our unique contributions to the study of ecology and writing. Such examples include Craig's post titled "Green Culture, or Not" where he referenced a wonderful political cartoon titled "Like Oil and Water" which was very close to the BP Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Craig also had great videos on that post (and others) that enriched the Herndl and Brown discussion. Sam's comment in her post titled, "Food?" where she said she made an assignment in her class where "I had my English 151 class read an essay about the role corporations play in American obesity." Although it seemed to get a harsh reaction in Sam's class, I thought it was something worth considering for use in my classes and students could debate if it was set-up the right way. Finally, I really liked reading Si Yang's post "Localize the Uprooted Ones." I thought she made some valuable connections between Heise and Hooks and how the mind/body split has an effect on eco-discourse.

The peer review comments for the place pieces were helpful, unhelpful, and in one case served the person leaving the comment more than my work. To say the least, I had mixed feelings about the usefulness of this activity. The most useful comments were about the order of my place piece, making connections throughout to Cedar Falls, and adding more multi-modal elements to my discourse. Unhelpful comments on the place piece consisted of complaints about taking liberty with colored alpha fonts and referred to my reflective argument/exposition as a non-academic rant. First, I used colored fonts rhetorically to emphasize argument and reflection. Second, while certainly leaning to more radical elements of eco-discourse, I do not think my work ever advocated eco-terror or failed to open the discussion between anthropogenic and eco-centric exigencies. Strong discourse as it was, I think this reader missed the connections with Wendell Berry and toxic discourse and likely failed to even read the entire piece as they commented, "I already knew what you were going to say." Furthermore, this respondent failed to add useful comments about the overall theme of connecting the place of energy to places we are sentimental for and places we neglect. This person's effort was counterproductive to my work. However, others suggested they valued the use of color in the fonts and gave me useful approaches to making stronger connections with my material. Their comments also gave me reassurance to go out and shoot video at Cedar Falls, which added some more texture to the piece.

Considering reading my colleagues' posts, they gave me inspiration for posting both the place piece and weekly assignments, but they also helped me by revisiting sections and thinking about them again, or keying in on quotes I overlooked. For example, I liked how one student referenced Sanders when we read each others' place pieces, so I went back and revisited that text and used it in my own work and also thought about how to use it in my final. I also generally benefitted from the exposure to everyone's narratives because I worked to develop that more and make it more front and center in my place piece.

Finally, I thought the quality of my posting and commenting went above and beyond what was expected of me. I worked hard to make connections outside of the course texts with other media and discourse on ecology, and I spent a lot of time both writing and formatting the delivery of my posts. As for the comments, I tried to spend most of my time giving examples of what I thought was effective, then finishing up with an area or two that could be developed more, decreased or removed, and what I thought would be the advantage of making such change(s). I worked really hard to both post and comment something useful to my peers and myself every week.