¨When I die, let my team members lower me in the grave so that they can let me down one more time¨. I smiled knowingly to myself as I read the posting on Blackboard. It was posted by my English 309 lecturer, and fittingly described how I felt after a powerpoint presentation with my other team members. It was 3 months prior that I was recommended for this class by my advisor and I felt that I would never catch up. I remember the first time I heard the word multi-modal and wondered what on earth was a multi-modal. I felt apprehensive as words like meaning­-making, inclusion, and social justice were thrown at me. I felt excluded, so I hurriedly googled the words that were unfamiliar in an effort to meet the challenges that already existed for me due to my late registration for the class. I was already 3 classes behind and had missed out on the first assignment on Blackboard. As the class progressed, I began to relax and I submitted the required assignments in a timely manner. The reading material was varied and intense as well as being informative and topically relevant to the English 309 level.

I took a special interest in the article on ´Fences¨. and I find it rather disturbing that Troy paid $10 monthly for fifteen years for furniture without even raising concern as to the extent of the payment.

The sad irony in this article is that the father, Troy, had been a former baseball player but was passed over for the team and now objects to the fact that his son desires to pursue a career in baseball, fearing that he too will suffer the same fate as he had. The article also highlights the conflict that can develop in a family between father and son as a result of a father who is set in his domineering ways and refuses to recognize his own limitations and embrace change and as a result a conflict was created in that relationship.

The literary terms we had to memorize as a test was administered in order to reflect our understanding of the terms. The book of poems by Curtis Crisler, ¨Tough Boy Sonatas", was one of particular interest because prior to entering college, I was of the belief that poetry in general followed a rhyming pattern. I took an interest in the poem ¨The Black of Gray,¨ as it addressed the social justice issue of racial discrimination. The depth of knowledge chart proved to be useful and instructional as a reference guide as we developed our lesson plans, as were the article on tips for writing analytical paper and the article on effective thesis construction. These all proved to be invaluable tools that served as a reference guide for developing our literary and educational analysis papers.

The poetry analysis proved to be the most challenging paper, in my opinion, to write due to it being repetitive in nature, as well as the essay assignment for ¨Tough Boy Sonatas". The moment arrived when it was necessary for us to sign into a group in order to present our powerpoint lesson on the book of our choice. I chose "Zahrah the Windseeker" and 2 other students did as well. The Professor stressed the importance of teamwork and collaborative effort on behalf of each member. The team contract that we signed did not prove to be binding however, as I was both the administrator and major contributor to the project. I depended on one member to fulfill his part of the contract by preparing the work in a timely manner and contribute to the success of the project, but on the day we presented, our powerpoint proved to be the least creative. So much for teamwork.

The first time I heard the word digital gaming, I expected that we were going to play a literal game. The toolwire game based learning proved to be much more than a game, but rather a highly innovative instructional educational learning program that incorporates real life scenarios structured around the English writing skills. I particularly enjoyed playing the DGBL, as it was both educational and engaging with each level structured to challenge as it delivered meaningful and relevant topics. Its completely user friendly and allows correction of past mistakes and so refine the learning experience.

Overall, my English 309 class provided a wealth of information and access to valuable articles that were relevant to the topics covered in the curriculum. The Professor delivered an intense and informative lesson plan that both challenged and encouraged us to develop our critical thinking skills. The class operated in a diverse setting and inclusion was embraced and taught. Through the structure of lessons centered around multi-modal and meaning-­making concepts, we were all encouraged to participate and the professor engaged us as students with multiple intelligence learning patterns. The Professor challenged us to think as young adult English educators and executed each lesson in a non­biased, respectful, and professional manner.