A Tribute To Barb

Thanks to Barbara D'Angelo of Arizona State University at the Polytechnic Campus for sharing her presentation "Learning From Our Stakeholders: Using Research To Redesign A Business Writing Course" as I can see her ideas helping shape not only my dissertation topic (of the moment?) "What should we teach in FYC?" but also my work with the Morehead Writing Project.

Back To Life...Back To Reality

Now that I am back home and trying to swing back into a routine (probably will have more success with that next week) I'm setting up my goals and plans.

This summer I will be taking "Discourse and Technology: Computers and Writing" which should be interesting due to my interest in that intersection of knowledge.

I also plan to do more reading about composition theory and pedagogy as well as research basics this summer to help me think about and plan future research. I really want to develop a better understanding (and support) for what I think about discourse community awareness.

Understanding The Discourse Community and Its Implications For The Teaching Of Writing

My other self directed reading project will be developing a better understanding of the Writing Project so I can do a better job as Morehead Writing Project Site Director.

I hope that will lead into some research about the population we serve and how best to meet their needs.

That should keep me busy for the summer and equip me to better make decisions about where I want to go in the Fall.

Oh, and I plan to work up my reading list and my personal web site, Deanna Mascle, to reflect my work and research interests.

Last Day

We finished up our project for better worse and now are done with Usability Testing.

What an experience!

We finished up the May Seminar with dinner at a Japanese Steak House. It was fun and delicious.

We called it an early night as Julie has an early flight Sunday morning.

I am so excited to be going home but sad to say good-bye as well.

Presentation Day

My presentation "What Should We Be Teaching In Freshman Composition?" went well and I received some nice response. So glad that is over.

Lunch Dr. Rice shared some interesting work he is doing with chess and connecting it to reading and writing. Quite interesting.

The Quadrophonics rolled out their new name to tremendous applause. I think we were a big hit.

Usability was just brutal. This is hard work and we are not working well as a team.

Handed off our part late but done for now. Can't face salads (again!) for supper. A nice dinner at a little family restaurant away from campus.

Went for a walk when we got back and then some time chatting with others before calling it an early night.

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day -- well I can because I'm exhausted but it has flown by as well.

The Slough of Exhaustion

Today was just grueling.

Up early to attend presentations. Lunch speaker (interesting presentation from Dr. Barker about his planned research project -- made a lot of notes about activity theory which I found interesting). Class was just brutal. Trying to write. Trying to crunch numbers. Our group not working particularly well together.

When time for the drop off dinner of wraps (again!) came around we ditched it and went off campus. Bar food. Greasy hamburgers. Heaven just to escape campus and the grind.

A late night polishing my presentation but lots of fun just chatting and socializing with folks. Everyone must be feeling the same need to let off steam as people seem to be out and about everywhere -- shouting from balcony to balcony and hanging out in the laundry room. Actually a pretty fun night to cap off a not so fun day.

My birthday

My birthday today. I'm still weak from yesterday but feeling better. I wasn't up for breakfast though. Lunch was OK but dinner was a mistake (burrito?). It stayed down -- barely.

Had a great talk with Dr. Still and I'm OK even though I missed class (a big deal when there are only 12!). He says it might be a good thing that I can look at the data with fresh eyes.

Dr. Rickly did a great lunch talk today about the lessons (and successes) that can come out of failure.

Affinity diagramming today in usability!?!

Very hard to only get a happy birthday from my son on the phone. I miss him so much.

Julie took me out for ice cream for my birthday which was nice.

Elvira to the rescue

I was so sick today. I woke up just terribly sick. No classes. No workshops. Just being sick and laying down trying not to be sick again. This is test day for usability. I hope my cohort doesn't hate me!

In the afternoon housekeeping arrives to tell me that the water has been turned off. Oh no! This is not the day for me not to have water. This sickness is bad enough without being able to wash up!

Elvira calls someone and gets the water issue addressed. She is so nice and sympathetic. Very nice when I feel so sick and alone with everyone else gone for the day.

Annual Review

Whew! Annual review over!

I was nervous about the whole review. After all, there is a spot on the form about the student's fitness to continue with the program. I stayed up late slaving over my degree plan and then stopped by the computer lab early to print off the documents. As I'm printing I share my worries with Lennie and Pete (Frodos) and they tell me they have the same worries every year. That didn't allay my fears.

Then as I'm walking down the hall Dr. Still tells me that Dr. Kemp has a conflict (ironically with Pete) so he (Brian) will try to bring in Dr. Carter.

They both indicated they were pleased with my progress in the program and were interested in my discourse community research idea. They revised the fall schedule I had planned and indicated I should be done with course work next fall. Wow.

Another exhausting day planning working on our test plan for usability. Up late to finish my portion and I just can't do any more. I'm tired and I just don't feel well.

The Plan

Tomorrow I have my annual review and I have spent a lot of time planning and thinking about my future in academia.

Where do I want to be in five years?

What do I want to do with my life?

How do I want to define myself as an academic?

Where do I want my research to take me?

Those are big questions and I don't need all the answers tomorrow but I need to think about them as they shape the future of my experience in this program and my professional life.

Scrutinizing the required course work it appears I could be done with classes by next summer or fall. Then I'll need another 1 to 1-1/2 years to wrap up my comps and dissertation (theoretically) so I could be Dr. Mascle within the next 3 years. Wow.

But maybe tomorrow my committee will shoot my plan out of the water...

How do I define myself?

I'm definitely interested in writing studies. Not sure the term composition studies really defines who I am.

I'm interested in three areas beneath the larger umbrella:

* What do students need to know to succeed in academic and professional writing
* What do teachers need to know to be more effective writing teachers
* What is the impact of technology (computers, internet, etc.) on writing and the teaching of writing

A Day Of Rest

Sunday is truly a day of rest for us. Nothing scheduled. No events, meals, or deadlines. We slept in and then walked to Starbucks. As it was already late morning by the time we were done we picked up a lunch and brought it back with us. Today is Julie's birthday so we plan to take her out tonight.

Today is just about recuperating from our first stressful, action-packed week and preparing for the week to come.

Part of me hates the idea that we are already halfway done but part of me will be so glad to get home again.

Changing Faces

While four members of our cohort went to their annual reviews, Julie Davis, Chris Ryan, and myself went to Ihop for breakfast and worked on pulling together our project plan. It was a nice break.

At lunch Dr. Carter talked about Gender Identity Disorder and internal arguments for making decisions about how to live with it (or not). It was a very interesting look into future research plans as well as personal struggles.

The afternoon started out well as we pulled together our plan and worked to finalize our project plan but in the afternoon as we grew more tired and the pressure mounted we had some group tension. We managed to work through it though.

We got done much later with the project than we expected. Then I called home to discover Noah had been sick. It is so hard to be away from him and even more so when I know he is sick and I'm not there to take care of him.

Although we were dragging and tired when we got back we decided to take advantage of Joyce and Becky's invitation to an informal party at their home. It was a good choice to get away and relax as well as enjoy a beer, music, food, and conversation. Just a reminder there is life after the May Seminar.

Exhaustion Sets In

The day started out rather relaxed with a bit of fun.

No morning program as annual reviews are scheduled. But we met up with M2 Alec Hosterman to shoot some photographs of our cohort that we can use for our big name rollout. We decided to go with a "rock band" album concept and it was a lot of fun and the pictures turned out pretty cool. See Quadrophonics!

At lunch Dr. Angela Eaton talked to us about IRB protocol for research. Not exciting but interesting and important to know. Then off to class when it became clear we had a lot of work ahead of us to get our project plan in place.

After class most students gathered for a casual pizza dinner in the English Dept. and then off to our various pursuits. During dinner I had a few moments when I really missed Noah. It is so hard being away from him. But I did have a great conversation with Rich Rice about teacher research.

Our cohort decided to gather to do laundry and work on our project plan. We brainstormed some important info for our blog an then focused on the plan. After a couple of productive hours we split up to deal with our assigned tasks. Christine and I worked on the script for our test and that was actually kind of fun.

Looking into the crystal ball

More great presentations and then our Keynote Lunch Speaker Mary Sue MacNealy shared her inspiring and informative advice for career and research.

Also had a great talk with Dr. Fred Kemp and Dr. Rich Rice about my research plans.

I can see my research and my future coming together.

Coming Together

More amazing presentations from our peers that taught important lessons about their research as well as the process involved. Again, so impressive how willing people are to share their experience and lessons.

At lunch Dr. Fred Kemp shared his research plans with us.

After dinner our cohort took an off-campus break to get to know each other better, plan our project, and work on our all-import cohort designation.

Kicking It Up

Today I really started to feel my research agenda (and hence program planning) coming together.

Dr. Fred Kemp and Dr. Angela Eaton led a session discussing research questions in preparation for the dissertation. Then Dr. Sean Zdenek led a session about assembling a reading list for qualifying exams.

Their explanations of how this process works together made these daunting tasks seem much more reasonable and actually rather excited me to think about what I want to do.

At lunch Dr. Craig Baehr shared his research plans for the upcoming year.

A day filled with learning and advice and a whole lot of thinking!

I'm starting to really think about my own research agenda. I think I really want to focus on writing studies (I just don't feel that composition studies defines what I do and what interests me). Dr. Eaton stresses that you should really have 3 research areas to strengthen your position in the job market.

Writing Studies

* What do our students need to know to successfully negotiate college and professional discourse communities
* What do writing teachers need to know to effectively teach writing
* What impact does technology have on the teaching, development, and sharing of writing

We ended the day by taking a walk around campus. This really is a beautiful campus. The exercise and break was a great way to relieve the stress and refocus.

Information Overload

That is the only description for my first day in the May Workshop.

Overwhelming, awe inspiring, amazing, full -- very, very full.

We kicked off at 8 a.m. with brief meet and greet over breakfast and then launched into talks by the Director of Graduate Studies in TCR, Dr. Joyce Joyce Locke Carter, and Dr. Sam Dragga, English Department Chair.

Dr. Carter told us more about the history of the program and its ongoing development as well as how closely we had been vetted before admission. More than 75% of program applicants are rejected. Dr. Carter emphasized how much the faculty wanted the program as well as the individual students to thrive and succeed.

Dr. Dragga emphasized how closely we were being scrutinized as the pioneers in this new type of program and that how important it is that we represent TTU well now and in the future.

We then moved on to hear Dr. Ryan Boettger's dissertation defense.

Lunch included informal conversations with faculty and fellow students and concluded with Dr. Dragga sharing his research project involving the ethics of graphical images.

The afternoon was filled with Usability testing (four hours worth!)

Then dinner and more information from Dr. Carter followed by Dr. Susan Lang, Director of Composition, presenting about her research with the composition database.

This cannot even begin to convey all the tidbits of information shared by faculty and the other cohorts about classes, research, and the job market.

By the day's end we were completely overwhelmed with information.

Poor planning on my part. I didn't bring my phone and so didn't get to talk with Noah before bedtime. I miss him so much!

The Arrival

I arrived in Lubbock and am already overwhelmed by how warm and welcoming everyone is to the "newbies".

The trip was terrible. I hated leaving my boy on Mother's Day and I miss him terribly. I cried much of the flight. Usability reading got me through it (you can't stay emotional when reading that material). The connection in Dallas was nerve-wracking at best. I was on the ground about 15 minutes and ran from one terminal to the next afraid I would miss my connection. I made it but only just.

Sue Henson collected Marc Dimaggio and myself at the airport. They are both in the second cohort and were so nice and welcoming. The introductions came fast and furious after arriving on campus. Then I got to meet my roommates. I quickly bonded with Lora Arduser of the University of Cincinnati, Julie Davis of Clarkson University, and Christine Hubbell of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs over dinner and Wal-Mart shopping. We stayed up late chatting, worrying, and planning.

The Care and Feeding of a PhD Student

My name is Deana Mascle.

I grew up in Williamson, New York, and now live in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. I am married and have a 7-year-old son. I am active in the First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Sterling (I serve on the session, am a youth leader, teach Sunday School, and sing in the choir).

For as long as I can remember I have always loved writing and words. I can't actually remember a time when I wasn't writing. I am a voracious reader and possess an avid curiosity.

All these things were a great help to me in my first career as a reporter and editor for both newspapers and magazines.

If writing is my first love then teaching follows as a close second. When I completed my Master's in Secondary Education/English I truly was torn. I loved teaching high school but hated the school system organization and missed writing. I was able to fulfill my need to teach by teaching G.E.D. for years both in New York and Kentucky but it wasn't until I returned to school and earned my MA in English from Eastern Kentucky University that I truly realized I had found my niche in life. I could teach writing. I cannot imagine more fun than spending my days filled with writing, talking about writing with other writers, helping other writers find their way, and learning more about writing and the teaching of writing.

I am still able to fulfill my writing urge by working as a freelance writer. I have now transitioned from working for magazines and print publications to writing entirely for my own online publications from Squidoo to web sites to articles.

After teaching at EKU for a while, I have settled in at Morehead State University where I teach mostly Writing I and II but have also taught sections of creative writing and technical composition. I will start a new gig as the Site Director for the Morehead Writing Project this summer. I started our online general education writing classes which has given me tremendous flexibility for my schedule.

It became increasingly clear to me that to reach my professional goals I would need to pursue a PhD however my program options were limited due to the fact my job and family rooted me in Kentucky. However the Texas Tech Online PhD Program in Technical Communication and Rhetoric seemed a good fit.

Now that I am one semester in I can truly say this was a great choice. I am impressed with the faculty as well as the level of the students in the program. I am confirmed in my choice many times over.

And now we are into the May Seminar...