Language Investigation #2

In primary schooling, I remember lots of emphasis placed on reading short stories and simple articles. Then, we would have to respond to the article or answer questions to show our understanding of the content. We read short children’s novels and had to do book reports or projects afterward. When teachers graded, I think they looked for key words in our responses or projects that eluded to our basic understanding of the subject. I remember doing spelling tests and filling out venn diagrams. I think these age-old ways of learning were sometimes easy for the teachers to administer and grade. The worksheets with the “KWL” format or Venn diagram circles were all too easy for them to copy off and hand out. Some of my teachers were downright unimaginative when creating lesson plans. Around 3rd grade, I remember a basic unit on grammar. After we learned the rules on commas and other punctuation, we were expected to know it. The teacher’s harsh red pen let us know each time we broke a grammar rule in each and every one of our assignments from that grammar lesson on. Looking back on it, I think this method helped me learn the basic rules. I always paid special attention to every mark or comment the teachers wrote on my papers and diligently fixed the mistake in the next assignment. Maybe my teacher figured that grammar was one of those things that you just need to throw out to your students and let them learn as time goes on. In my case, her method worked. By the time I hit high school, my grammar was improving, as well as my writing. Most of my grammar was correct, however I was always confused by the abbreviations that plagued my graded papers. The “CS” and “R-O” written in the margins confused me. What did they mean exactly? Probably in my sophomore year, these mysterious abbreviations were finally revealed to me. I had great teachers who sat me down and showed me how to make a run-on sentence better. My junior and senior years of high school, I was on the school newspaper staff. The picky style and precise AP style punctuation rules taught me how to better my writing and also how to grade my fellow staffer’s articles. My senior year, I was voted editor-in-chief of the paper. Each week, countless articles passed before my eyes and my grading pen. I learned the common mistakes of my peers and was able to correct them in my own writing. My knowledge of content and voice in writing improved, but my grammar was still lagging. The rules of a “comma-splice” remained a bit foggy, however, until I read the Kohlln chapter for class this Monday. She presented them in a way that made them simple, precise, and easy to follow. Her chapters are very overwhelming with a plethora of rules, so I would like to take the time to reread and fully comprehend the chapters. In college, the rules of grammar seem to better sink in. Through professor guidance, I learned to step outside my own writing and read it from the audience’s perspective. I now know that I need to formulate my sentences not according to how they form in my head, but in a more descriptive way that an audience can comprehend. Today, I almost always go in for office hours to run a tentative thesis by my professors. My grade school teachers showed me the importance of their feedback on my writing; that continued on with me into college.

Language Investigation #1

“Did you sell that ECP before you took a lunch and sized your opto huts?”

Working at Sports Authority, sometimes we use particular words that outsiders would consider weird. Those of us working in retail jobs can tell you the names of fixtures that clothes go on, like an opto hut. Back in the footwear department, opto huts are metal fixtures that are free standing and hold boxes of shoes. They need to be sized correctly according to the shoe size on the box. Periodically, the shoes on the opto huts are exchanged with different styles/brands of shoes to display. Then, you would ask a co-worker to “size the opto huts” to get the new boxes in numerical order. “Lunch” at Sports Authority can be taken in the morning or over dinner time. Anytime you take a break, it is considered “taking lunch” no matter what time of day it is. You would use the word “lunch” when asking a manager if you can go on break or inquiring weather a co-worker has taken a break yet. An ECP, short for Extended Coverage Plan, is quite a big deal at work. Each time a customer purchases certain products, you are required to offer them the Extended Coverage Plan. An ECP is extra insurance on that product. They purchase the ECP, which is basically a brochure, then, their new product is covered for one or two years. Within those years, if something goes wrong or breaks on their product, they are eligible for a refund through their ECP, or can get the product fixed. Treadmills, for example, often break or malfunction within the first year or two of purchase. Thus, it is wise for the customer to buy the ECP, when they are buying the treadmill, and ensure that satisfaction is guaranteed within the first one or two years. ECP’s can be purchased on snowboard bindings, goggle lenses, footwear, exercise equipment, and sports balls. It is Sports Authority’s way of making a little extra money up front, but in the event that the product malfunctions, we are providing an extra warranty for our customers.

Memory Vignette Assignment

“Error marks the place where education begins” –Rose in Lives on the Boundary

Today was the day that would decide my fate, or so it felt in the world of the 16-year-old junior that I was. Early in the morning someone posted the list of basketball players that made this year’s team. I walked down the hall to the bulletin board outside of the gym. My lungs involuntarily held in my breath, as my eyes quickly scanned the list for my name. No Katie Trenda on the list, I checked again, nope. My knees felt weak. My thoughts shattered into pieces then flew away like birds. The only thing I knew, as moisture collected in my eye sockets, was that I had to convince Dad to pick me up from school. I couldn’t even bear to walk down the hall towards the parking lot, let alone look at my former teammate’s faces. In the days following my rejection by the basketball program at Ponderosa High School, I learned something about myself. I was not an aggressive person. I couldn’t harness and execute anger towards the girl on the opposing team or towards that stupid orange piece of inflated rubber, also called a basketball. I wasn’t even sure I possessed anger that could be harnessed. I discovered that I am a passive and non-competitive person; better suited for individual sports like track. I also learned that I needed to trust God with the plans He had for my life. As much as I wanted to control my own destiny, I learned that it is in someone else’s hands. And that someone knew me better than anyone ever would. The helplessness I felt was so humbling. I learned to take my future plans and hopes and place them in God’s hands to deal with. This process was liberating and a great weight was taken off my shoulders. Today, I look back on this day and laugh because I can now see why God allowed this miserable day to happen. He didn’t want me to be on the basketball team, instead He taught me about myself and how to trust in Him.