Writers Notebook Pieces

I chose my Sponsors of Literacy zero draft, my proposal for the Problem project, and a memo I
wrote for the Narrative on Learning. I chose these three as they are all from different time
periods of the class. These were not chosen at random, but I do feel they are good random
samples. As I stated in my introduction, all these assignments came to completion in a similar
fashion as I work on my bicycle. These each were edited multiple times, until I felt I had
conveyed my statements accurately to what I felt.

Sponsors of Literacy Zero Draft

Deborah Brandts essay on the Sponsors of Literacy explains how and where literacy is
transmitted, and what it is transmitted through. Our parents, teachers, and employers, are all in
some way sponsors of our literacy. We are granted further access to literacy from those who
invite us and teach us how to teach ourselves.
Within our groups, sponsors of literacy were made apparent multiple times. In Brandts
essay, she presents three systems through which sponsors of literacy make learners capable of
attaining literacy. They are Standards, Access, and Sponsorship. One of the members of my
group, Nick, had all three of these systems present in his venture to understanding the literacy of
airplanes. Nick was sponsored by his parents, granted access by flight instructors, and held to
standards by those who create the criteria which must be met.
Sponsorship is a fairly easy concept to digest. When I think of a sponsor, I think of
someones support; the backing of anothers goal. Our elementary school teachers were likely
most peoples first sponsors, aside from their parents. They gave us the ability to read, and too
turn an image into a word. In Nicks narrative, his parents were his sponsors. They made the
opportunity for him to fly planes available to him. Without the initial opportunity, any of his
other feats that lead to him learning to fly would never have happened.
A second of the three concepts, Access, is very similar to sponsorship. Through
sponsorship, access is granted. Sponsorship is the support, access is the action of giving the
metaphorical literacy. Jarod, one of the other partners in my group, was granted access to
learning color guard techniques by one of his instructors. When his instructor leant him a silk
flag and pole to practice with, he was granted the ability, or the access, to achieving the

techniques and skills that he wanted to achieve. We are granted access when we are handed the
ability to teach ourselves, instead of to be taught by someone.
The concepts outlined by Brandt are definitive and employable in multitudes of venues,
when they are applied to the idea of how you come to accomplish something. When we are
granted access, we are given the ability to teach ourselves. When we are sponsored, we are given
the opportunity to be taught. And the standards we are held to is what pushes to achieve greater
literacy in the goals we choose to aspire too.
Free Public College: The United States and The World

Summary: This paper is about why free public college works in other countries, and why it
would or would not work in the United States. I feel like this paper is important to people my
age, as it directly affects them and their finances, as many college students pay for their tuition
and housing on their owns.

Preconceptions: My initial thought is that free public college works in other countries because
they are smaller and therefore have smaller populations, making it easy for tax payers to make
free public college available. I also think that it wont work in the United States, because in the
current generation, it is a common conception that everyone should go to college, and this was
not the case for past generations. In past generations, only those who were fit for college and
were accepted into universities attended them. Now that more people feel that college is a
necessity for a better life which it almost always is- more people feel that college should be
made available to all, regardless of whether or not they could do anything with the degree they
aspire to claim.

Audience: As stated in my summary, I feel my main audience for this essay would be people my
age, but also could be directed towards those who are involved with politics and the tax revenue
services, and who direct where tax payers money goes. The other members of my group felt this
was an interesting question and was worth investigating.
The Playing Field: At the moment, I have no specific resources available to me, besides the
internet and the library. There are likely studies and statistics, as well as records of what finances

are required to make this idea a reality. The majority of countries that offer free public college
are European countries, so that will be my main location of information.

Resources: As Stated above, the majority of my resources will come from the internet and
library, and they will likely all pertain to European countries. I think the largest challenge I will
face is finding a way to translate the information I can find about European countries and relate it
to Americas current financial and higher education status.

Qualifications: At the moment, the qualifications of my group are unknown to me.

Project Needs: I think my greatest need will be finding information that I can accurately relate
to Americas situation, and it accurately represent the differences between European countries
which offer free public college, and the United States. My goals for my writing will be to again,
accurately represent the differences between the two sides of public education.

My Narrative about Learning

I found it difficult to pinpoint a time where I could definitively say that I learned something. I
dont believe that we ever learn anything (outside of factual information) in a single event. I
think that we come to understand things over time. Because of this, I wrote about the way I
learned that I wanted to be an educator. Without the people that influenced me, I would not be
where I am. Of course, there were many events that added together, to push me to find that I
wanted to teach. But for me to recall on those times is nearly impossible. Because it was things
like small compliments, or short instances where I could appreciate a teachable moment. The
sum of these instances is what brought me to the conclusion of what I wanted to be.