What an incredibly hectic couple days it has been! On Monday, the infamous Adam Maksl and Sue Skalicky jokingly told the 35 journalism institute attendees that there would be 2-4 hours of homework every night. Granted, I knew there would be assignments that we needed to work on during our time here, but they unfortunately weren't kidding about the workload. Well, I guess I should say fortunately, too. Journalism is truly a subject where one has to learn by doing; there is no other way of teaching it without authentic experiences, which I learned a year too late.
Nevertheless, I plow on and am more optimistic about the coming school year than I thought. I don't have any concrete plans for either of my classes, and I'm not sure if I'll have an extra prep this year. But this experience has truly made me more fearless, daring, and open to failure.
I think what sparked my surge of confidence is the success I felt with my first assignment. Very much like what I've had my students do (to my relief), we found partners to interview and write personality profiles. While I still struggle with being too verbose and unsure about diction, I was able to move my subject to tears. It's also a comfort to know that I haven't entirely lost my writing edge, even after years of absence from the field.
Yesterday, to my chagrin, I learned that practically the rest of our assignments were group projects. As a student and teacher, I've always hated group projects--everything from doing them and even assigning them. However, my group and I have somehow found our grooves and have been working smoothly along the same wavelength.
Our first assignment was a collaborative feature article about the increasing graffiti in Austin. As we were exploring the Drag at UT Austin, one of my colleagues spotted a very detailed picture of a woman's vagina, which naturally shocked us. The further down the road we progressed, the more egregious tags and sketches we found that defaced public spaces--from simple trash cans to elaborate murals and store fronts. This discovery inspired our topic, and the writing eventually commenced.
Today, we learned about video and photojournalism and obviously, had to apply it. Our topic focused on a church located on the UT Austin campus that hosts weekly breakfast and dinner on Wednesdays. One of my other colleagues befriended a homeless man yesterday, so he invited her to this church for dinner. He claimed that this church has always been incredibly warm, welcoming, and supportive, and he proved himself more than correct. As lengthy and tedious these projects seemed to be initially, I've come to really appreciate culture and as cliche as it sounds, the simple things I have in my life.
It's unbelievable that tomorrow is Thursday, and I leave Saturday. I know I'll be able to go back and use the things I've learned for my classes this year; I'm just worried about time. I only have 2 weeks left of vacation after all!
To find the work that my colleagues and I have been working (and will continue to work on even after this week is over), visit the site below:
Austin Adviser
Nevertheless, I plow on and am more optimistic about the coming school year than I thought. I don't have any concrete plans for either of my classes, and I'm not sure if I'll have an extra prep this year. But this experience has truly made me more fearless, daring, and open to failure.
I think what sparked my surge of confidence is the success I felt with my first assignment. Very much like what I've had my students do (to my relief), we found partners to interview and write personality profiles. While I still struggle with being too verbose and unsure about diction, I was able to move my subject to tears. It's also a comfort to know that I haven't entirely lost my writing edge, even after years of absence from the field.
Yesterday, to my chagrin, I learned that practically the rest of our assignments were group projects. As a student and teacher, I've always hated group projects--everything from doing them and even assigning them. However, my group and I have somehow found our grooves and have been working smoothly along the same wavelength.
Our first assignment was a collaborative feature article about the increasing graffiti in Austin. As we were exploring the Drag at UT Austin, one of my colleagues spotted a very detailed picture of a woman's vagina, which naturally shocked us. The further down the road we progressed, the more egregious tags and sketches we found that defaced public spaces--from simple trash cans to elaborate murals and store fronts. This discovery inspired our topic, and the writing eventually commenced.
Today, we learned about video and photojournalism and obviously, had to apply it. Our topic focused on a church located on the UT Austin campus that hosts weekly breakfast and dinner on Wednesdays. One of my other colleagues befriended a homeless man yesterday, so he invited her to this church for dinner. He claimed that this church has always been incredibly warm, welcoming, and supportive, and he proved himself more than correct. As lengthy and tedious these projects seemed to be initially, I've come to really appreciate culture and as cliche as it sounds, the simple things I have in my life.
It's unbelievable that tomorrow is Thursday, and I leave Saturday. I know I'll be able to go back and use the things I've learned for my classes this year; I'm just worried about time. I only have 2 weeks left of vacation after all!
To find the work that my colleagues and I have been working (and will continue to work on even after this week is over), visit the site below:
Austin Adviser