In class Quick Writing

How did writing go this week? (quick write) Your schedule? How is writing site working out? How did your conversations about writing go this week? How is the documentation thing going? How much time did you "log in"? etc. etc.
I can honestly say, not great in some respects and great in other respects. I find that actually writing stuff down in my calendar is difficult when I am engaging in DOING things on my to do list. I have to go back and fill in vs. fill in ahead of time. I guess this means I am more of a reflective person vs. a planner. Makes sense to me and I think it does fit my M.O. I did a lot of writing on other things outside of my abstract as I prepare for my guidance committee meeting and thinking about items for comps as well as my practicum proposal. I have also done some work on my webspiration site...I do a lot of thinking there. I also started a new document titled "Ideas". I've had a lot of ideas pop into my head that are connected to my dissertation questions, but are beyond the scope of my dissertation. These ideas are also very much connected to the theories foundational to the article I am writing for this course, so not I don't view this as a distraction. It is more of a grounding.

This weeks activities made me realize how uncomfortable I feel talking about my work. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that it is only during my MSU hours that I actually get to talk about my work. This is not a topic that is really discussed in my home, or personal life, I think that might be problematic for me. But, that is another blog entirely. With that in mind, I have started to create talking spaces for myself.

This week, I was able to sit down with Kevin J. and talk about my ideas and how I am thinking about the teaching philosophy statement and socio-cultural perspectives, issues of power and privilege. He challenges my thinking and as a white male he said he knows that the argument is not lost on him as he is very much grounded in the ally movement and historical contexts of critical race issues, but he gets tired of being viewed as the target. So, we have to think beyond this. It made me look at my writing differently, including my abstract. I wonder about my language. I use rather direct language at times and wonder if it is not institutionalized language actually. What do I mean by power and privilege, whiteness... can I use these terms? Will they turn off my reader? Should I care and in what way should I care? How do I scaffold this?