Possibilities, Restrictions, & Values: Assignment One

Discourse Observation Analysis

Understanding how to break down an assignment sheet that has a lot of
components can sometimes be difficult, and it can certainly make a fairly simple
task appear rather tedious. Reading and breaking down assignment sheets is a
valuable skill both in and outside of our class, and to help us practice these
skills, I have created an activity in which you will ask three questions of the
assignment sheet that will help you assess the possibilities, restrictions, and
values for Assignment One. In small groups, I would like for you all to work
together to address the questions/prompts below. You want to be sure that you
can point to explicit textual evidence, and when you find that something is not
expressly stated, you may find that this is an area in which you can go above and
beyond the guidelines. Be sure to list your group members names next to your
contributions. Not listing your name means that I cannot justify giving you credit
for your work, so please do list your names.
Possibilities: What are the possibilities for Assignment One? What are some
specific, concrete ideas for how to do more than what the assignment guidelines
require? How can you add to the assignment guidelines? What freedoms do you
have to develop other aspects of this assignment?

You can do more than one interview, the guidelines say to conduct at least
one. (Stephen D. Jared Y. Zach D)
As a part of your reflection you can look back and think about what you
have learned in your observations. (Stephen D. Jared Y. Zach D.)
Notice how various things affect your figured world during your
observation, (i.e. weather or mood of people). (Stephen D. Zach D. Jared Y.)
You can add pictures from the characters point of view. You could ask
interview questions from a different point of view. (Abigail, Victoria, Young)
You can observe the inside of your figured world, but also what is
happening on the outside. Say you are observing a classroom, you can
also see what other kinds of student are coming into the building to further
learn more about your figured world. (Abigail, Victoria, Young)
We can do more than three points in time to observe your chosen world.
(Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
500 words is not the required amount, we are allowed to write as much as
we want. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
If we address all of the elements, then we can get as much information out
of the figured world as possible. Do the assignment, reflect about what
you just typed, think of anyways that you can improve what you just wrote,
and do it. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
We can observe any moment we chose in our figured world, we arent
limited to any times of the day. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
In your reflection, show how youve done more than just fulfilling the basic
requirements of the assignment. Express what makes your work better and

make connections between different aspects of the assignment (Marshall

Thompson, Gabe Little, Sam Nicholson)
You could write more than 250 words to more adequately describe the
rules and conventions of your figured world (Marshall Thompson, Gabe
Little, Sam Nicholson)
You could conduct and record multiple interviews. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
You could ask more than five interview questions. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
You could take pictures of peoples reactions to other people breaking
social norms. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
You could observe your figured world for longer than just thirty minutes.
(Jackson, Jacob, Emily)

Restrictions: What are the restrictions for Assignment One? What are the nonnegotiable parts of this assignment? As in, what do you absolutely have to do at
a bare minimum in order to pass (i.e. make a C).

Your writings can not be inappropriate. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
It also has to be 12 pt, Times New Roman Font, Single-Spaced, Saved and
Uploaded in a Microsoft Word Document. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
A 250 word summary of the rules and conventions for the appropriate
behavior of the setting. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
Once we have an idea of our figured world, we select three different points
in time that we will observe. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
We must have at least one interview with a person in the place that I am
observing. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
You must take detailed notes of your observations that everyone can
understand. (Brenden O., Zach E., Xzavier S.)
You must observe your figured world at three different points in time.
These observations must show different people, different activities, etc.
(Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
Your reflection should showcase your work & show that you have an active
interest & effort in your figured world of choice. It should be qualitative &
contain specific textual examples (Marshall Thompson, Gabe Little, Sam
Nicholson)
You have to conduct at least one interview with someone that has
experience in your figured world (Marshall Thompson, Gabe Little, Sam
Nicholson)
Your interview with someone who has experience in your figured world
should reflect that persons expertise in that field. (Marshall Thompson,
Gabe Little, Sam Nicholson)
You must conduct an interview with an individual in your figured world or a
person that watches your show/game. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
Observe 30-45 minutes of your figured world and take detailed observation
notes. These notes should be 12 pt, Times New Roman font, single-spaced,
and uploaded in a Microsoft Word Document. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)

You have to write a 500 word reflection that describes your strengths and
weaknesses, beneficial peer reflections, and how you went beyond the
guidelines using examples from your text. This reflection should be 12 pt,
Times New Roman font, single-spaced, and uploaded in a Microsoft Word
Document. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
You cant observe the figured world less than what you are supposed to.
(Abigail, Victoria, Young)
You have to know and describe the basic key terms by showing your
understanding in your interview questions. (Abigail, Victoria, Young)
You must observe your figured world at three different times and should
have differing traffic. (Stephen D. Zach D. Jared Y.)
You have to do a minimum of one interview. (Stephen D. Zach D. Jared Y.)
After the assignment you have to do a reflection describing your
weaknesses and strengths, saying what peer reviews were helpful and
unhelpful and how you have done more than what was required. (Stephen
D. Zach D. Jared Y.)
Documents and reflections need to be 12 pt. Times New Roman, and
single-spaced. (Stephen D. Zach D. Jared Y.)

Values: What do you see me valuing as the teacher? More specifically, what do
you believe is important to me that I want you to learn? What do you think I want
you to learn from doing this assignment? (Point to specific textual examples
from the assignment sheet to make your case).
you
I think you want us to understand the different communities of practice that
we come in contact with daily. Also,I think as a teacher work ethic is
something that would be valued. (Abigail, Victoria, Young)
I think that you want to see a complete and detailed assignment that does
not look like it was done last minute. (Stephen D. Zach D. Jared Y.)
You want to see that we are not doing the bare minimum. (Stephen D. Zach
D. Jared Y.)
You want us to improve our observation skills. (Stephen D. Zach D. Jared
Y.)
I believe that you value working hard for your grade as an important asset.
(Brenden O., Xzavier S., Zachary E.)
I think we should see this assignment as a way to learn about different
aspects of different societies, instead of a letter grade. (Brenden O., Zach
E., Xzavier S.)
Address all questions completely, but make sure to use your own words to
avoid overlapping answers. (Brenden O. Zach E. Xzavier S.)
I think you want to see an assignment done that shows that we really
understood what was going on and didnt just BS something. (Abigail,
Victoria, Young)
I think you want to be able to see that we used all the resources available to
us to complete the assignment. (Abigail, Victoria, Young)

We think Ashlyn wants us to see our strengths and weaknesses and what
we need to work/spend more time on for the next assignment. (Jackson,
Jacob, Emily)
We think Ashlyn values hard work and creativity in going beyond the
guidelines to get a better grade. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
We think that Ashlyn wants us to learn how to make our assignments
interesting to ourselves so that we arent bored by the assignments that we
are given. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
We think that Ashlyn values effective time management and therefore
wants us not to procrastinate on our assignment. (Jackson, Jacob, Emily)
We are supposed to pick something that we are passionate about and that
we can grow in and learn more about and maybe learn why were
passionate about it. (Marshall Thompson, Gabe Little, Samuel Nicholson)
We see you as a teacher valuing