Blog 8: Final Reflection

This year in WRD 110 I faced a lot of challenges but also had some success. First, what I found challenging is that I had to open up a little bit and express my self more than I have done before. That was hard for me because I never really opened up to anyone else let alone in a class setting. That really surprised me because I thought I wouldn't open up to a whole class like i ended up doing. Other challenges I had was sometimes expressing the different elements of writing, and creating the storyboard and documentary because i have never did one of those projects. Those types of projects are so unique that some people haven't made anything like that so it was just a different experience. I found success in expressing myself after I did it a couple times. I now know that to have success in writing I have to put more of my feelings and emotion and maybe include personal things to get a certain point across.

Storyboard

            In the first scene of my documentary I want to have different pictures of my community transitioning with each other in the background with some beginning credits along with the music bringing it all together. The background music I chose to use is the instrumental version of Kanye West’s song, Runaway. The song starts off very slow and is a piano hitting one note every two seconds. I chose this song because it allows the viewer to get engaged by the piano notes while watching what my community looks like but after the plain piano a beat is added creating a more upbeat feeling. When this upbeat feeling begins to happen in the song, it is a perfect time to state the problem in my community. With voice over I will say, “Joliet, Illinois has a deep past, and that has slapped a negative label on the town. I’m here to figure out why these negative labels have stuck with the city and have never been given the thought of being lifted.” While I say that statement, the pictures of my community will be finishing up. The first scene with the transitioning pictures allows the viewers to catch a glimpse of what the city looks like and also the feel of being there before. After those pictures finish up, three pictures will pop up on the screen. Those three pictures will represent the three main reasons why the problem of labeling exist upon Joliet. While the three pictures appear on the screen one by one, I will construct a voice over telling the viewers what these reasons are. I will say “Joliet receives these negative label because of its location, money, high minority rates among the high school and city as a whole, and the fact that the past never it left behind.” This scene will help emphasize what is yet to come in the documentary and give the viewers an insight of why the negative labels are given to Joliet. At this point, the background music of the song “Runaway” will stop and a transition will occur. For this transition, the screen will go black and the documentary will be silent for a good three seconds before another background song starts to play. This kind of transition will create a type of suspense for the viewer that makes them wonder what will come next. The song that will start is “No Church in the World” by Jay-Z and Kanye West. The reason I chose this song is because it creates more suspense to the viewers and especially with the next scenes explaining why location and money, high minorities, and the past affect the views on Joliet, this song creates interest to viewers to know why those three reasons have

made an impact. like After the song plays for a little bit a picture will show up. This picture will be a picture of the high school in a nearby town. This school is located in Bolingbrook which is on one side of Joliet and on the opposite side is a town called New Lenox, which has a school that looks just like Bolingbrook’s. This will represent the location of Joliet is at. Since Joliet is located between two wealthier towns, Joliet gets the short end of the compliments. The two cities, New Lenox and Bolingbrook, pay a lot for their students to get a good education but they go above and beyond because they have the money so of course Joliet looks like a bad school. With the music volume decreasing I will have a voice over saying, “Due to the location of Joliet, having to be between two wealthier towns, they obviously look and get a bad look upon them. Joliet doesn’t have

the money the neighboring schools do, so they look poor.” After showing a picture of the school, a picture of high school football game between Bolingbrook and Joliet. I chose this picture to represent location and money as well. Again I will have a voice over in the documentary and state, “Since the schools are near each other, they are put into the same conference and have to play against one another.” I will continue by saying, “Bolingbrook has the money to support their sport programs and give them the opportunities to do different camps and learn different skills unlike Joliet. The results of these games give a clear indication that Bolingbrook’s wealth contributes to the reaction people give Joliet.” After I have stated that I will transition into the next reason why Joliet gets the negative labels. To transition from the location and money to high minority rates I will connect the two reasons using the high school. To do so, I will say, “Even though Joliet is not as wealthy as the other schools, they have a higher minority rate.” While saying that I will bring in another picture. The picture will help represent not all of the population in Joliet but a sample of how diverse the city is and also shows that the high school in Joliet is very diverse. Because diversity is so high, the school is seen as a bad school. I will have a scene where a statistic is presented about the diversity in the high school. The scene will be a black screen with the statistic “Diversity in the High School in Joliet: White- 21.7%; Black- 23.1%; Hispanic- 51.4%; Other- 3.8%” (JTHS 1). This statistic will show the viewers that the school really does have a high minority rate. After that statistic is shown I will say, “Because of the diversity in the high school, it is seen as a bad school. It is seen as a bad school because the wealthier towns give this assumption that being diverse makes you bad at school, that being white will make you look better as a school. The school is made up of mostly Hispanics and African Americans, and with the language barriers in some cases or different ways of living, it’s hard to teach. Unlike the wealthy schools, that are predominantly white, Joliet has a hard time sending students to a secondary institution because not everyone has the same learning style as the other schools may have and since the school cannot send as many to college, they get seen as a horrible school to attend..” To go further into the secondary education I will bring in a secondary source I found. In the article, “Stories of Success: High Minority, High Poverty Public School Graduate Narratives on Accessing Higher Education” by Richard Reddick is about the worrisome among schools that have high minority rates and high poverty rates. Joliet fits into this article because of the high minority rate in the school and continuing to come into the high school and the problems with money the school can’t get out of. The article further explains how it is harder for these kids to continue into a secondary education (Reddick). Reddick says it is harder for these students to get a higher education because of the school environments affect motivation and the attitudes of students. Due to this, and just the location Joliet is at being between two successful schools that make sending kids to college look easy, gives Joliet a bad look to everybody. Throughout the article, Reddick talks about how hard it is for these schools with higher minorities than others that do not have to deal with high minorities. But in the article, it also gives studies that were revealed in a school that helps the minority school’s become more successful at helping students further their education. I will use this article in the documentary by explaining how one of Richard Reddick’s tests can help the High School in Joliet more successful in sending students to get a secondary education. After I finish explaining one of Reddick’s test, I will transition from the high minority rates to the past simply being not able to be forgotten. I will use a transition such as, “Joliet has always been a city with a high minority rate but they have also been a city with a bad reputation.” After that transition the next scene will be a picture of a cop car. The picture represents the violence that happens in the city of Joliet. Unlike the neighboring cities, Joliet has a lot of violence and crime. In the past, a lot of gangs had started to have activity in Joliet, and it happened to stick there. People talked about Joliet and how violent it was. In the school, security is a high priority with metal detectors and stricter rules than both of the wealthier schools. With that information, I will say, “Because of Joliet being the home to a lot of gangs in the past, and the heightened security and law enforcement has put the city in a view of others as a dangerous and unsafe place.” I will back this claim up that the past never gets let go and always sticks by your side by using another secondary source. In a newspaper in Australia there was article called, "Some Crimes Should Not Be Forever." The article talks about a woman's crime and if it should be held on her for the rest of her life. She was convicted of drunk driving one time and it began to affect her life completely. She was labeled a "criminal"; where she is from, the city and the people take speeding as a crime. The newspaper just talks about how the lady's case went about when she took action to court and what happened to her after she had to pay the ticket and take punishment. She was rejected a telephone operator job with the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority because the offense was put on her record and her record caused her to get negative stereotypes so no other job wanted her services (Hugh). This helps back up the reason that the past never leaves you because the lady only committed the offence one time and she was punished because her past followed her. The same goes for Joliet because at one point in time, it was a violent place to live in and even if the violence calmed down, people still remember and act like it is bad. The stereotype has just followed Joliet and caused them to look like a horrible place. After I am finished explaining my reasons and why Joliet gets these negative labels, I am going to transition to how these problems can be resolved. I will use another song and a black screen to transition to a conclusion. The instrumental version of the song “One Man Can Change the World” by Big Sean creates a certain optimism that things will get better. It this situation, it is pretty clear that the problem with Joliet may not have a solution to get better because we cannot change how people look at the city. In an article, “The Effects of Labels and Behavior on Teacher Expectations", it talks about the effects of labels given to people and how their behaviors may be. In this case in the article, it is about special education students. The article says that when special education students are given negative labels, that student's expectations may decrease because how the label is put on them. In the film after bringing in this article, I will say “It is the same for Joliet, if students and people hear these labels put on them and the city, they feel like they cannot do anything about it so why try if they will never be lifted.” For instance, Joliet gets these negative labels like being poor or minorities cannot go to college as much as white people, which can affect the people that live in the city and ultimately affect how they react or move on from the labels, they can either accept them and fail or accept them and use them for motivation (Algozzine 131). For the problem going on in the city of Joliet, there’s no clear resolution because people think what they want to think based on what their living situations are and what they see but also it relies on how the city reacts to these labels and if they want them to be lifted off of them, they may need to change some things. I will have a final voice over bring all the reasons together and how the problem can be resolved and it cannot be resolved, there is no simple way to say that the problem will be solved. Even the problem cannot be solved, if Joliet comes together as a city and takes on these labels as motivation, they grow past the labels. Maybe it would not be a fast transition but if they work past them it can happen relatively quickly. The song will create this feeling that anything can happen which will have viewers believe that both sides can be at fault. At the end the song will fade slowly and the documentary will go into the ending credits.    

Works Cited

Algozzine, Bob, Cecil D. Merger, and Terry Countermine. "The Effects Of Labels And Behavior On Teacher Expectations." Exceptional Children 44.2 (1977): 131-132. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=e27565dd- 495a-4b58-8e91-8a3e555b193a%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4205&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=20878378&db=a9h

Bautista, Michael. “Various pictures” Joliet, Illinois. 2015

Big Sean. One Man Can Change the World. Big Sean. Amaire Johnson, 2014. YouTube. Web.15 Nov. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6PwNS7OmvY.

HUGH de, KRETSER. "Some Crimes Should Not Be Forever." Herald Sun (Melbourne) Newspaper Source. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=33&sid=19253947- 16c5-42bd-9f2a-dacb8a31b883%40sessionmgr110&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=200608241021634121&db=nfh

Jay-Z, and Kanye West. No Church in the Wild. Jay-Z. Kanye West, 2011. YouTube. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PVQU0UaZGc.

Reddick, Richard J., et al. "Stories Of Success: High Minority, High Poverty Public School      Graduate Narratives On Accessing Higher Education." Journal of Advanced Academics               22.4 (2011): 594-618. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.                          http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=8552e1fb-8644-4717-935f-2f04e0ae16eb%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=76247535&db=a9h

West, Kanye. Runaway. Kanye West. Kanye West, 2010. YouTube. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.               https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDh_IpDtARQ.

  

Blog 7: Reflection on process

The process of creating a documentary has been challenging so far. At first, I had no clue how to start because I have never done a project like this so it was hard to find out where to start but after finding a starting place it has gotten easier. I've learned more about  my community as well. From talking to people back home and to the staff in the high school, they see the same thing that I have made my problem about my community. But creating a documentary about my community is a little difficult because creating a balance between primary and secondary sources. Challenges I faced is finding statistical information and having to many primary sources so finding a way to incorporate interviews from my community. Successes I have faced is being connected with my community in a way where I know both sides of the problem so putting it in the documentary is a easier way to get my point across.  

Blog 6: Secondary Source 2

Algozzine, Bob, Cecil D. Merger, and Terry Countermine. "The Effects Of Labels And Behavior On Teacher Expectations." Exceptional Children 44.2 (1977): 131-132. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=e27565dd-495a-4b58-8e91-8a3e555b193a%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4205&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=20878378&db=a9h

 This article is about the effects of labels given to people and how their behaviors may be. In this case, it is about special education students. The article says that when special education students are given negative labels, that student's expectations may decrease because how the label is put on them. It also states test that have been performed with this situation. Along with the negative labels, behaviors have been becoming disturbing to their expectations which leads to believe the labels affect a person. This source is useful to my project because it brings in the negative labels. Even though the labels were put on special education students, they were still affected by them and it can happen to any group. For instance, Joliet gets these negative labels which can affect the people that live in the city and ultimately affect how they react or move on from the labels, they can either accept them or move on from them. This source provides a test of how the students took the labels they were given.     

Blog 5: Secondary Source 1

HUGH de, KRETSER. "Some Crimes Should Not Be Forever." Herald Sun (Melbourne) (n.d.): Newspaper Source. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=33&sid=19253947-16c5-42bd-9f2a-dacb8a31b883%40sessionmgr110&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=200608241021634121&db=nfh

My source is a newspaper from Australia and the article in the paper is called, "Some Crimes Should Not Be Forever." The article talks about a woman's crime and if it should be held on her for the rest of her life. She was convicted of drunk driving one time and it began to affect her life. She was labeled "criminal" and where she is from, people take speeding as a crime. The newspaper just talks about how the lady's case went about and what happened to her. She was rejected a telephone operator job with the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority because the offense was put on her record and her record caused her to get negative stereotypes so no other job wanted her services.This source is useful to my project because it is an example of someone's past putting a label on them. Because my community is about labels on the city of Joliet and some of those labels are because of the city's past, this source will provide a way that the past will come back or never leave you at all.

Photo Essay

Have you ever been given a label? Not a nice label though, for example, best friend, girlfriend/boyfriend, or anything like that but something mean. You may not mind at first, but after a while it can get to you and affect everything you do. My community is my hometown of Joliet, Illinois and the home of my old high school. The problem I am looking into is why my hometown being labeled, I have always known it was not the best place to live or go to school, but the labels have stuck. I want to know why these labels have not been lifted from the city I live in.  

The first picture here is a picture of a nearby town’s high school. The high school is located in the town, Bolingbrook, which is known as a wealthier town. Joliet is located between Bolingbrook and another city named New Lenox, also a city that is wealthy. The two cities have always looked down upon the city of Joliet when it comes to school and sports. First, Bolingbrook showed they care about their students by building this school, that makes it seem like Joliet does not care about where their students study and how it looks so it gives a negative impact on the city. The two cities, New Lenox and Bolingbrook, pay a lot for their students to get a good education but they go above and beyond because they have the money so of course Joliet looks like a bad school. When it comes to sports, New Lenox and Bolingbrook, but especially Bolingbrook pays a lot when it comes to sports. Being that sports are a big part of high schools, the better you are makes everyone else look like they are horrible and in this case Joliet would be the horrible team since they are stuck between the two better schools.

This house in Joliet may look like a normal, but a very affordable home. But honestly, only a little bit of the population of Joliet can afford this home. Like it was stated before, the two cities that surround Joliet are much wealthier, so in those cities the houses are huge and sell for a lot more but Joliet tries to sell for the similar prices. By doing this, some people cannot afford homes all together or live in an apartment and when you come to Joliet from one of those two rich towns, it’ll make you question what’s wrong with this city. Trying to compete with the rich towns put a label on Joliet that they are poor and incapable to house families.  

This picture represents the violence in Joliet. Unlike New Lenox and Bolingbrook, Joliet has a lot of violence and crime. In the past, a lot of gangs had started to have activity in Joliet, and it happened to stick there. People talked about Joliet and how violent it was. In the school, security is a high priority with metal detectors and stricter rules than both of the wealthier schools. From listening to other people from both Joliet and New Lenox and the person from Joliet says it is not fair to go after the whole city for a group of people that messed up in the past. The person from New Lenox resident said that they have not seen so much security in any other school than Joliet’s school.

This secondary picture shows the diversity in Joliet. It is not all of the population of Joliet but it is a sample of what the high school is like. Because of the diversity in the high school, it is seen as a bad school. The school is made up of mostly Hispanics and African Americans, and with the language barriers in some cases, it’s hard to teach. In the wealthier towns, it’s primarily Caucasian, it easier to get money for college and pay for schooling. In Joliet, a lot of these families don’t have the money to send students to college, and the school does all it can but it cannot send everyone to get a secondary education, so the school looks horrible in everyone’s eyes.    

My second secondary resource is an article. The article is named, “Stories of Success: High Minority, High Poverty Public School Graduate Narratives on Accessing Higher Education” by Richard Reddick is about the worrisome among schools that have high minority rates and high poverty rates. Joliet fits into this article because of the high minority rate in the school and continuing to come into the high school and the problems with money the school can’t get out of. The article further explains how it is harder for these kids to continue into a secondary education. Due to this, and just the location Joliet is at being between two successful schools that make sending kids to college look easy, gives Joliet a bad look to everybody. Throughout the article, Reddick talks about how hard it is for these schools with higher minorities than others that do not have to deal with high minorities. But in the article, it also gives studies that were revealed in a school that helps the minority school’s become more successful at helping students further their education.

Not only is Joliet my hometown but it has always held labels given by other people, especially people that have not lived in the city. Joliet looks to be getting better but the names have not been lifted and I want to know why they continue to see this city as a bad place.

Work Cited

Reddick, Richard J., et al. "Stories Of Success: High Minority, High Poverty Public School          Graduate Narratives On Accessing Higher Education." Journal of Advanced Academics       22.4 (2011): 594-618. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.                                          http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uky.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=8552e1fb-8644-4717-935f-2f04e0ae16eb%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=76247535&db=a9h

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