Process+Journal

Character Development Character traits || Today I worked on my third FQI sheet. So far I have on website resource that talks about PTSD in children and teens. I think this is what I am going to focus my project on. This interests me much more that PTSD in general, like those who returning from war. I have started thinking about my character. I think I want them to be younger, around 5 or 6. I usually write from the point of view of a girl so i think I want this character to be a young boy. || Character’s personality Traumatic event || I have 4 of my FQI sheets done. I found a resource about Iraqi children who are suffering from PTSD. I found this really interesting because usually the focus is on the soldiers who are in Iraq, it’s easy to forget the children who are most effected by it. The podcast talked about how many still suffer from nightmares and how kids with PTSD are likely to remove themselves from social situations. I think this would fit my character well. I have started to come up with a scenario for my character, it is based roughly on a true story but i wanted to tone it down a bit for school. One thing I am worried about is how I am going to write the traumatic event. I want to get the point across that it was very traumatic but at the same time I don’t want excessive detail. || Brainstormed repetend || Now that i have completed the poem analysis I have started to think about how my topic could relate to the poem. The poem is all about making difficult decisions and how those decisions impact your life. With my narrative I think the decision would be the boy hiding under the bed and not saying or doing anything. The impact it has had on his life is the guilt he feels. In addition to this, I also need to have one unifying element throughout my project. I think I want to do some sort of image to tie everything together as opposed to lyrics or a phrase. I recently figured out how to take a picture from the internet and use it as a background of the wiki page. Using that, I think I will be able to have a repetend that way. || have all genres decided || I have started to work on my poem. I have chosen to focus my poem on someone who has PTSD and is worried/anxious about things that they used to enjoy. Rain is the example I used. After she got in a car crash, she no longer liked to drive in the rain and would become really anxious. The next genre I will work on next is a letter || I chose my topic because it was something that really interested me. My Dad works with a lot of children who are suffering from PTSD and he always says how it really makes you realize how fortunate you are. After researching and writing about people who suffer from PTSD I understand what he means by this. It opened my eyes to all the things that kids even younger than me have seen so early in their lives. Overall, I am still happy that I chose to research this topic and I pleased on how my project came out. However, there were many times throughout my writing when wished I had chosen a topic that was easier to write about and more fun to read. In my narrative especially, it was a bit depressing to have to write a story about a little boy witnessing that murder, especially because the story is true. I discovered new strengths as a writer especially while writing my narrative. I was really concerned about writing the murder scene. I needed to make it traumatic and scary because that’s how a real murder is. At the same time, I didn’t want to include gory details because I thought it would take away from my writing and it wouldn’t be school appropriate. After writing the paragraph several times, I think I was able to get across how horrific the scene was and how awful it was to see it without going into vivid details. Although I don’t know how much I will need this strength in the future, I am proud of the fact that I was able to accomplish it. **3) How much information did you collect? How easy or hard was it to find information?** The collected a good amount of information about PTSD. I found a few government sponsored websites for helping people who were suffering from it. Finding facts regarding PTSD was fairly simple. However, if you just typed PTSD in google the only pages that came up were those concerning soldiers returning from war. I decided to go in a different direction with my project. I wanted to focus on PTSD in children and adolescents. Once I typed that into the search bar, I was provided with a plethora of resources. I really enjoyed peer editing on this project and I found it very helpful. Because I researched the topic, I had a lot of background knowledge about it. When I got a friend to read it over, they could tell me what things were unclear or the facts that I didn’t get across right. This was probably the most helpful thing that I got from peer editing because it really helped me improve my writing and make it easier for everyone to understand. I also really enjoyed reading the writing of my peers. I peer edited Kate's project and, being a fan of Ed Sheeran, really liked it! ||
 * **Date ** || **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">List the **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">items you **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">worked on **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">and/or **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">completed **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">each day. ** || **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">What road did you choose? **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Thoughts **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Reflections **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Concerns **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Inspirations **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Contemplations ** ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/7/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today we got the assignment and read over the instructions || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">I think i may do my project on a person and how the choices they have made in their life changed their future. However, I also think it would be interesting to do some sort of physiological condition and how it affects certain people in different ways. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/8/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Chose a topic, worked on FQI Sheet cited a source || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The topic I chose was PTSD. I am thinking of showing how people who have PTSD sort of have two possible outcomes. Many become depressed and scared and have many issues come up. However, this gives some the strength to do really well and school and the PTSD actually helps them achieve goals and they eventually outgrow it. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/10/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">FQI Sheet 2 - citing another source || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today I found another source to use on my FQI. I have chosen to focus my topic mostly on PTSD in children and teens although I am concerned it may be too narrow. If need be, I will try to incorporate PTSD in returning military personnel because that is a very popular topic. For my writing formats I’m thinking of doing journal entries and drawings and poems. I really want to focus on the emotional side of PTSD and the struggles and achievements they overcome. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/16/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">FQI Sheet 3
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/18/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">FQI Sheet 4
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/22/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Work on narrative || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Today in class I worked on my narrative. I started writing the beginning and the end. I wrote a bit at home too so I think I will have both of those done by the end of class tomorrow. I am a bit worried about the length of my narrative. I want to write enough so I can get my point across but I don’t know how long it will end up being. I think I might have to stray from my original idea and include another part to make it longer. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/28/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Brainstormed poem analysis || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">At this point I have completed my narrative. Although it did end up going onto three pages, I wasn’t able to elaborate any further. I think with my narrative going into too much detail might not have been the best thing. Overall, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out, now I need to think about my other four pieces and the poem analysis. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">5/30/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Poem analysis completed
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">6/1/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">brainstormed first genre || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">My first genre, excluding my narrative, is going to be a poem. One thing i am worried about is what new facts I am going to include. In my narrative i talked about how people with PTSD have flashbacks and bad memories. In my poem I want to focus on how teens with PTSD cope with the pain. Many turn to drugs and alcohol. Another idea I had for the poem was to focus of the first visit to the psychologists office and what they would be thinking and feeling. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">6/5/12 || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">worked on first genre
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">6/7/12 ||  || **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">1) Why did you choose your topic? Are you still happy with your choice? **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">2) What strengths did you use as a writer in this project? What new strengths did you discover? **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">4) What did you learn by working with your peers on revising and editing? Did they give you helpful advice? What was most helpful to you? What kinds of things did you learn from reading their pieces? **

Score A Date 5/29/12 9 points _10 points Student is up to date with her/his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is apparent. There is evidence of thoughtful reflection about the components of the project. The reader is not distracted by grammar/spelling errors.

_8-9 points Student is almost up to date with her/his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is visible. There is evidence of some reflection about the components of the project, but the journal is more of a list than a reflection at times. While there are some grammar/spelling errors, the reader is not distracted. _5-6 points Student has fallen behind in his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is inconsistent; work needs to ramp up. The entries report rather than reflect Reader is distracted by grammar/spelling errors. _ 4 points There were no journal entries at the time of scoring. Score B _ Date 6/5

_10 points Student is up to date with her/his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is apparent. There is evidence of thoughtful reflection about the components of the project. The reader is not distracted by grammar/spelling errors.

_8-9 points Student is almost up to date with her/his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is visible. There is evidence of some reflection about the components of the project, but the journal is more of a list than a reflection at times. While there are some grammar/spelling errors, the reader is not distracted. _5-6 points Student has fallen behind in his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is inconsistent; work needs to ramp up. The entries report rather than reflect. Reader is distracted by grammar/spelling errors. _ 4 points There were no new journal entries at the time of scoring.

Score C _30 points Date 6/9 29oints _ 10 points Student is up to date with her/his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is apparent. There is evidence of thoughtful reflection about the components of the project. The reader is not distracted by grammar/spelling errors.

_8-9 points Student is almost up to date with her/his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is visible. There is evidence of some reflection about the components of the project, but the journal is more of a list than a reflection at times. While there are some grammar/spelling errors, the reader is not distracted. _5-6 points Student has fallen behind in his journal entries. Progress toward the final collection is inconsistent; work needs to ramp up. The entries report rather than reflect. Reader is distracted by grammar/spelling errors. _ 4 points There were no new journal entries at the time of scoring. Plus _10 points Student answered more than four of the final reflection questions with thoughtful and thorough responses. _8-9 points Student answered four of the final reflection questions with thoughtful and thorough responses. _5-6 points Students answered some of the final reflection questions. The responses answered the questions with little elaboration or insight. _ 4 points Student did not answer any of the reflection questions.