Daybook Entries


A collection of some of my best daybook entries this year
Screenshot of my digital daybook

Defamiliarization

Selling an apple
It's not easy to do
It's every apple seller's dream
To earn a buck or two

That's why my strategy
Is an infusion of sorts
It's a little illegal
But my profits will soar

People will pay a lot for another
But the fact that I'm a drug dealer is a bit of a bother
I chose this daybook entry because I thought it was pretty funny. This was my found poem, that I based on my entry about selling an apple.

Intertextuality

In Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie says "I learned to read with a Superman comic book." I think that I learned to read in a similar way; my sister was shoving harry potter books on me before I was even in kindergarten. Although that sounds a little silly to say, I think that getting kids to read early is crucial to making sure they are literate later on in life. Reading really helps you understand the English language; it unintentionally teaches you to write and speak well while making you learn new vocabulary. The great thing is that those benefits come without you even realizing it, because you are spending the time lost in the universe and story of the book without even knowing the benefit you are getting.

The problem with all of that is that the most illiterate places tend to be impoverished, which makes it much more difficult to get kids hooked on reading early. This means that they will read on a much lower level, and they will struggle with any form of writing because they won't understand how to properly construct sentences and essays. I think that if we could overcome the barriers that prevent people from reading at an early age, we could greatly improve people's literacy and writing ability. Even those people who typically struggle with reading can learn how to do it if they spend enough time practicing, especially at a young age where it is easier for your mind to adapt and learn new things.

I chose this blog post of mine because it shows several interwoven examples of intertextuality. First of all, I consistently reference an article "Superman and Me" and use bits of it in my explanation. Better than that though, is that the source article reuses bits from Superman comics with his analogies and explanations.

Big Question

I think it is better to be an expert in one thing rather than literate in many things. The best way to understand why I feel this way is to think about the problem at scale; if everyone was just "ok" at everything, we would never have the Einstein's or Shakespeare's. In order to have skillful people like those, you need to put all of your energy and focus on one topic and get really good at it. — September 8, 2015
I chose this daybook entry because it really made me think. Previously, I had always sought to be good at everything, but sitting down and thinking it through I realized that might not be the best option and I formed my response.s

To Be Continued

Yes, I think you can have an original thought; in fact, I think all thoughts are original. There are not enough people in the world for one of them to have had the exact same experiences as you which will cause them to think differently
I would like to continue this daybook because as it stands it is very basic. I think I must have written under time constraints, because I really like the topic and would like to look more think more about it and get my thoughts down.

Collaboration

Inquiry projects can be vey different than research projects. Their values include:
  • Asking questions that might not be answerable
  • More "what" and "how", less "why"
    • (you decide "why" by yourself with you own inquiry)
  • A lot of questions vs. one specific, testable one — October 15, 2015
I chose this daybook entry because I was very confused about the differences betwen inquiry and research papers. I had to talk to and collaborate with the other students around me to get a better understanding of the difference.

My Favorite

I wonder why we exist I wonder how I did on my calc test I wonder if I passed that test I wonder about what other math classes I will have to take
I picked this entry as my favorite because it exemplifies a common human struggle of existentialism vs. worrying about small things in your life. This was for the I wonder [word] [response] daybook prompt.