Things are going well. asdffffffffff



Okay, sorry. That was my dog, who is an 80-pound Golden Retriever, deciding to sit on my lap. And my shoulders. And my hands, which I couldn't get off the keyboard before he jumped up here. Anyway, as I was saying, things are going well. This whole practicum business has made things a little more exciting - I remember to go to school in the morning and forget to meet my boss at Housing when I'm supposed to - but I'm thinking I'll get used to it, just like I was really getting a handle on the general grad school thang. It's fun, though; the readings are mostly very cool, the discussions are not un-academic or lacking in rigor, and our instructors are excellent. (Well, except for Allan... ;-) I'm loving it.
Thinking a little about Dr. Townsend's class, it only makes sense that having more than one way to speak is advantageous. You get a lot more versatility, a better chance at saying what you want to say exactly how you want to say it - which I think is one of the biggest and most interesting challenges in writing. So why would we want to coerce kids into using Standard Written English with pronouncement about power structures? Isn't it nicer, more personal, and less adversarial to talk about it the other way? I can't picture myself telling kids, hey, the best reason for learning this kind of English is to be able to use the power language - but I can definitely see telling them, listen, you have a lot to say, and the more words and structures you have to choose from the better you'll be able to do it. Much less divisive, and I'd bet more effective.