Monday, March 2, 2009

English Cohort 2009 is the BEST!!!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Wow!! All I have to say is Wow! I just spent the past few hours reminiscing about all the adventures we've had together throughout this program. How am I going to survive without you guys?! I freakin love all of you! Anyway, back to the purpose of this blog, which was an abbreviated version of a visual assignment.
I have never really explored the concept of “visual literacy,” until this article; I always knew what the idea of it was, but I never thought to give it a title. Making this project was very enjoyable, as I got to reminisce on all the wonderful, sometimes painful cohort memories. I guess my project would be considered a visual argument, due to the fact that my images are defending my stance, which is that the English Cohort 2009 is the best! I wish I could have used actual pictures of some of my points (blog of the week, list server, Jessie, Rodgerson), but I had to settle with images pulled from the internet....hence the Rodgerson look-alike.
I think that visual literacy projects offer affordances much like the multigenre paper; it allows students to be creative and discover their own interpretations of people, places, or ideas. It ties together creativity and (depending on the topic/theme) thinking critically.
As for the visual impact, I think that is obvious. My audience is the English Cohort, and members within the cohort will be able to interpret and relate to the special meanings of these images. I feel that my project expresses visual coherence, but I wish I could have put the images in a circular formation (but I don't know how to do that). Every single one of these photos has prominence. There are many others that I could have chose, but it isn’t the image that’s most important; it is what those images represent. To make everything a little bit clearer, I have assigned descriptions for each image to further your understandings about what they mean..AKA why our cohort is the best:
1. We are the most attractive English cohort yet!
2. We’ve become a family, a community. We support one another through the tough times
(Mary and Susan’s class) and praise each other for the things we have accomplished over the
year.
3. We have our own listserv (thanks to Rick) that allows us to communicate with each other at all
times.
4 & 5. We’ve had amazing Professors that help us develop our own recipe for teaching (Jessie
and Rodgerson). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a lookalike for Jessie, but I did find a
photo that slightly resembles Rodgerson.
6. We have the best method of stress relief: cohort + alcoholic drinks + Thursdays + Kitty Cat
Klub = refreshed future teachers with clearer thoughts (or fuzzier thoughts).
7.We have a great dynamic…with certain students (Rick and Jen to name a few) that push us
constantly to stay on top of things, and others (Brittany, Erin and Patrick to name a few) that
know how to manage their time, making sure to take a breath outside of our studies. Then,
we have those certain students who always find ways to make us laugh (Kubsch, Josh, and Joe)
by adding grotesque or inappropriate comments before, during, or after class.
8. We have a trophy for “Blog of the Week” thanks to Sam. Seriously...how freakin sweet are
we?!
9. Goes along with #2. To extrapolate...we will always be there for one another.
Cheers to the classrooms ahead of us!

8 comments:

  1. Great post Jamie.
    Let it be known that my only contribution to this great group of people was my twisted sense of humor!

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  2. I can't believe we're almost done (actually, it feels like we've been at this for YEARS!), but it was really fun for me to look at your visual essay and relive all of our memories. I was talking to a teacher at Richfield that did her masters at Hamline, and I asked her about the cohort experience. She had no idea what I was talking about. I spent about twenty minutes explaining our group, the experiences, and the support I've gained from each of you. We've bitched about this program a lot, to say the least. But when you average it out, the interactions we've had with each of our cohort members has cost us about 1,000.00 a person. To me, that in itself has paid for this program. Cudos to everyone, and best of luck in our student teaching experiences. I have a feeling the stories at bartime can only get better from here!

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  3. I have such adoration for you. And it's totally flattering that you think I know how to manage my time. Ha. What a joke. I love you.

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  4. This post has made me really happy. I feel the exact same way. Your pictures help to capture the vibe of the cohort. I see love oozing out of the photos!

    Great post.

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  5. That was me by the way,

    - Kelly

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  6. Jamie I love this. Thank you for putting some unnecessary stress into perspective--it's funny, sometimes it takes me awhile to get to know a group of people, but I couldn't be more thankful for the friendships I have from this cohort. Love it.

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  7. What a beautiful tribute to the 'hort! Great idea! I loved your exploration of audience, too, because you took on the idea that there would be inside jokes and ran with it. Love it.

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  8. geissler.... pretty low if this is your last ditch effort to win blog o the week :) haha no i love this.... and any friend who gives a shoutout to rodgerson is a friend of mine. Alright, #9 is getting me a little choked up. chort rules. I'm out.

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