Journal writing
This is the beginning of the ’30 minutes’ of daily writing that is recommended on the course materials. Graff (n.d.) makes several points that will need closer consideration as I begin this journalling journey. Point 7 in the document Some do’s and don’ts for academic writers, “remember that readers can process only one claim at a time” speaks to my journal entry work. Keep it focused on one item and write it clearly. The course syllabus also led me to the book They say/I say by Birkenstein & Graff (a new edition will be released June 11, 2018) where the formula for writing is described as simply an argument of ‘they say’ followed by ‘I say’. In my search for more information, I came across some supplementary resources and templates that may be helpful (see resources section below).
This quickly led me to a realization that the Adobe PDF reader that I downloaded yesterday, setting it to my default for use in the upcoming coursework, will not allow me to easily include the URL link for item’s I’ve downloaded. So, I’ll go back to using the Preview app to ensure that URLs are incorporated into each item I download to allow for easier access and referencing. So I’ll need to use two tools to manage reading and annotations in PDF files.
As I begin this writing and reading spiral, I’m also aware of how I may be able to build community and collaboration among the others in my cohort through the use of Hypothes.is as a shared annotation tool. I’ll set up a space and begin this work, particularly with articles that are openly published and accessible for layered, web annotation. Another way to combine strategies and build understanding for course work.
With this journal, I’ll begin by exploring and making sense of the topics, readings and insights for the Doctoral Seminar 1: Research, theories and issues course. This journal will continue throughout my work towards completion of the PhD. The journal entries will be tagged #Journal along with additional tags relevant to the topic(s) being explored.
The final item I need to share in this journal post is the four sentence method that I’ll use to create a summary statement for each of the articles I’ll read for this course. I’m comparing this to the BINS process that Jenni Hayman shared and I’ll try to balance the use of both as a methodology to manage the content, topics, references and ideas from the readings that are may be relevant to my research and questions.
Resources
Birkenstein, C. & Graff, G. (2010). “They say/ I say” The moves that matter in academic writing. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Retrieved from https://www.iss.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01000579/Centricity/Domain/2741/They%20Say%20I%20Say%20Full%20Text.pdf
Brock. A. (2016, Jan 16). Tips for writing: ‘They say, I say”. [blog post]. Retrieved from https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/tips-for-writing-they-say-i-say/2598428.html
Hiner, ? (n.d.) Strategies for successful academic writing: Tips from They say, I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. [pdf] Retrieved from http://www2.winthrop.edu/login/uc/hmxp/AcademicWriting.pdf
They say/ I say templates. Retrieved from https://www.csub.edu/eap-riap/theysay.pdf
