Reflection…

Before this assignment, I think I skipped most of the stages we went through. I would pick a topic without much thought and plow through the resources. There was no Watching or Wondering and really there was probably no real Weaving either. I can see where some of my projects in the past have been more a quilt of information that was merely thrown together. It was certainly not a fine well woven object. In fact, and I hate to admit this, I think some of my projects, especially in high school, fell more in the copy and paste area.

This assignment has really changed how I think about research. I see the importance now of slowing down and taking the time to work through each step. I really enjoyed being able to think the my topic in depth about what it meant to me and what I wanted to bring out of it. I think it helped deepen the scope of the project quite a bit. I hope to be able to use this process again, if not with school than in my own personal projects. I also hope that someday I’ll be able to pass the ideas along to students and help them better understand what they are doing…and create a better project overall.

Curriculum Connections

The Curriculum Connections took a little wiggling on my part. I though Social Studies would be a good place to look, but it was a little harder than I though because the Indiana Standard focus on a certain region/topic each year. However, I do believe I have found some that could work

Grade 7: Social Studies

Historical Knowledge

7.1.2 Describe the achievements of ancient Egypt in art, architecture, religion and government and the development of the concept of theocracy*. (Individuals, Society and Culture)

Connection:

Have students explore hieroglyphics and pottery from ancient Egypt. What kind of forms of tattoos have been found? There are debates on what the tattoos stand for, does looking at the art help at all? What are your opinions on what they mean?

High School – World Geography and History

World Religion

GHW.2.1 Map the spread over time of world religions from their points of origin and identify those that exhibit a high degree of local and/or international concentration. (Origins, Change over Time, Diffusion, Spatial Organization, Spatial Distribution)

GHW.2.2 Differentiate among selected countries in terms of how their identities, cultural and physical environments, and functions and forms of government* are affected by world religions. (Spatial Interaction, Spatial Variation, Change over Time, Cultural Landscape, National Character, Physical Systems)

GHW.2.3 Compare and contrast different religions in terms of perspectives on the environment and attitudes toward resource use, both today and in the past. (Human Environment Interactions, Change over Time, Physical Systems)

Connection: As students study religion, have them see if there are any connections to tattoos. What religions accepted them? What religions did not? Were there any cultures that stopped practicing tattoos because a new religion entered their area?

Wishing…

Wishing coincides with the last step of the I-Search Method which is to analyze your project. Overall, I really like my project. I picked something to me that was a lot of fun and did the best I could with limited resources. There are a lot of different materials out there on tattoos, but not a lot of it covers women or goes into details. I think that was my biggest frustration. Not being able to find as many resources as I wished.

I wish I would have narrowed in on my focus a little sooner. If I had, I may have had time to get my hands on out of print books through ILL or by buying them. I also wish I would have had more time to track down experts and talk to them. I didn’t really stumble about anyone that had knowledge until it was too late. I could have still emailed them, but I didn’t want to put any pressure on them and I didn’t think I would get any responses back. Over this past weekend, I also was told about a couple of female tattoo artists in the area. Once again, this weekend was already jammed full and there was just no time left. Also, I didn’t want to intrude upon what I’m sure is a busy life for them.

The other thing I thought I could do differently is focus more on modern women than on the past. Talking with friends and co-workers who have tattoos, I was fascinated by their stories and decisions to get their tattoo(s). I think if I wanted to take a different approach, it would have been fun to focus the topic on more on interviews and stories. It certainly would have put a different spin on things.

In many ways, I think my experiences are like those of a child/young adult. Looking through the ISP model I had many of the same feelings that they would. I could easily see where throughout the process they could get frustrated or overwhelmed by the project. When lacking in resources that are needed, sometimes you just want to through everything out the window. However, I think I had enough patient and skills, to rework my searching and find additional resources I hadn’t before. Some child/young adults may not have enough experience or knowledge to do that. Of course, many may just rush to get the project done. I know in many instances I wanted to do that myself, but I forced myself to stop and work slowly through each step. If they’re feeling the pressure of a due date, getting done is their only concern and they loose the introspective feeling that the process can offer.

Wrapping and Waving

So I’ve finally entered the last stage if the I-Search model, which is Developing a Final Project. I played with a lot of ways to present my information, but thought the best way would be through a slide show presentation. I wanted the information to be easily accessed, but I also wanted to include pictures. Since I didn’t want to do a full out paper, but just lay out quick facts, I thought the slide show would be interesting and fun. I decided to play around with new technology while I was at it and decided to use the new slide show/powerpoint via Google Docs. Using my previous map and outline, the slide show was easy to create.

Another reason why I wanted to use Google Docs it I wanted it to be easily accessed by anyone. Being able to create and present this information online with a few clicks of a button was great. I really enjoyed working on this project. I never knew how extensive the history of women tattoos was and now that it is finally done I do feel a real sense of accomplishment.

I really think that wrapping and waving go hand in hand. Now that I’m done, I can’t wait to show others my work. With it being OL I can simply email the link to my family and friends. I’ve been talking this project up for weeks with friends and co-works and hope that everyone else enjoys it as much as I did. With the many women that I know who have tattoos, I think they may fine it as interesting as I do. We should no longer be afraid of the stigmas attached to tattoos, but have fun in having something done that use to mainly belong to women; a way of reclaiming our heritage, so to speak.

My final project can be found in the below link.

Women And Tattoos

Weaving…

This has to be one of the hardest stages for me. I can fully understand when Dr. Lamb says that students “rather than weaving a fine fabric, they create a quilt of unrelated pieces of information.” Looking over my own notes I could see how this could easily happen. I felt overwhelmed by all the information I had and how to connect it all together. I wanted to rush into working on my final project and working on an order as I went, but I knew that would defeat the purpose. Instead, I had to sit and think hard about what information would be useful and what would not. I thought a concept map may help me analyze what would information I really want to focus on. Below is my brainstorming map made using bubbl.us.

As I created it I thought about the questions I wanted to ask from my last post. I wanted to be sure that while I was drawing a connection, I also wanted to answer those questions. I’m usually not a visually learner, but I have to say that creating the map really helped me bring all my information to focus.  It even helps me determine my order for my final product. Here’s what I’m thinking for the order/layout

Discuss General History

• Definition of Tattoo
• Origin of Word
• Oldest Tattoo

Discuss Women Tattoos History

• Discuss Cultures one at a time; Egypt , Maori, Kayan/Borneo, Marshall Island, Papua New Guinea, China Li
• Why did Women get tattoos? Protection, Marriage Status/Reached Puberty, Careers/Accomplishments, Beauty Enhancements
• What designs did they were and where? Each culture had a different area, most focused on arms, legs, and hands. Some did full body tattoos as well
• Who created the tattoos and how? Usually the women were in charge of this

Discuss how the view of outcast/fringe of society image was created

Discuss modern day women w/Tattoos

• Ideas/Thoughts that came up while talking to women w/tattoos: Almost all the women I talked to chose a tattoo because of a deeper meaning to them. Each one was unique.

Update on Websites

I thought I’d give an update on Websites that ended up being my favorite:

Overall Brief History of Tattoos

Great overall History of Tattoos

Article on the Egyptian Mummies/Tattoos

Northern Borneo Women Tattoos

Borneo Women Tattoos for Weavers

Kayan Women Tattoos

Arctic/Eskimo Tattoos

Papua New Guinea Tattoos

Buried in Resources

I am beginning to understand how non-linear research/inquiry is. Over the past couple of days I have been going back and forth between stages. Right now, if looking at the ISP model, I’m stuck in the Exploring Information-Formulating Focus-Collection Information stage. My, oh my, what a flurry of emotions I have been going through as well! (Most following the ISP emotions) After my last post, as I began to really look at my sources, I was confident in my focus and in the information I had. However, once I really got into it, I realized how broad the topic really was. There is no single starting point for tattoos. They appeared in a variety of regions all over the world at various times. It’s hard to wrap ones head around it all. So now, I’m frustrated and overwhelmed will all the information being offered. And then, a topic popped out at me that fascinated me. Women and tattoos. Did you know that in Egypt only women were tattooed? All mummies that have been found were women. Bingo! There’s my topic. My emotion gauge goes back to optimism and increased interest. But then I run into another problem. While there is a lot of history on tattoos, none of it is in depth and I worry about there not being enough information. I’m still doing a lot of wiggling (and webbing) to gather everything that I need. Every time I find a new culture/clan/region that had tattooed women I go out to search for new material as well.

As I continue my wiggling, I try to evaulate the sources as I go. I look at things such as authors, relability, correct information (do they match everything else I am reading?), and if they contain useful information. Some of the questions I’m looking to answer are….

1) Where does the word tattoo mean?
2) Where does the name/word come from?
3) When was the very first tattoo? Man? Woman?
4) What cultures had tattooed women?
5) Are there beliefs/reasons connected to tattoos?
6) Who created the tattoos?

I’ve found I need to be careful when looking at information as well. I can see how students could get distracted easily, because I know I can! The subject/history is fascinating and I find myself exploring things that have nothing to do with my focus. So now I’m taking the strictly skimming/scanning approach and only stop when I notice a mention of women.

I’m not a highly visually learning, so layout maps don’t seem to help me much. I do have my top questions written out though and am taking notes on the different cultures as I go along. It is really helping me stay on track. It is also showing me area where I need to find more information. For example, if a clan is briefly mentioned in one article I write the name down and the limited facts. Looking over the list of facts, I can see that that area is low on details and that I need to do some more webbing!

I did try to look for some expert help on my topic, but my search fell flat. All the tattoo experts are focused on getting tattoos and tattoo care. I tried to look for experts on a certain culture, such as Egypt, but no one has any expertise in this area. I’m a little sadden by this, but can understand why. There are not many who have turned their focus on the history of tattoos past or present and knowledge is very limited.

Ok, time to go back to the webbing/wiggling! Hopefully, I’ll be moving onto the Weaving in the next day or so!

More Webbing and Wiggling…

My trip from the library produced 3 books:

Tattoo by Dale Rio and Eva Bianchini
Tattoos & Body Piercings by Leanne K. Currie-McGhee
Tattoo: Secrets of a Strange Art by Albert Parry

Here are also some of the websites I found:

http://www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo#Procedure
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_museum/index.html
http://www.tattoo.co.uk/history.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4230674

I’m still doing some Webbing, but I’m moving into the Wiggling as I begin to go through and analyze what I have. Or if looking at the I-Search Model, I’m finishing up the Finding Information stage and now sliding into Using Information. I already finding that some of the resources, while interesting, don’t offer what I need. I’m also realizing that the history of tattoos are much larger than I realized. Unfortunately, at the same time, there is not much known in depth about it either . I had hoped I could narrow the topic down even further, but I’m think that may be impossible.

Focusing on A Topic/Finding Resources

I decided that my focus would be tying some of my “I don’t know” questions together. I really want to really know when, where, and why tattoos originated. Are there different cultural ties, if so what? I’m a little apprehensive, but overall very excited about this topic. I don’t know a whole lot and figure I may have to narrow down my topic a little more, but time will time. Research isn’t supposed to be linear though, which I guess is a good thing! There needs to be wiggle room for change and growth!

Now that I know my main focus I’ve been thinking of a search plan. Where should my information come from? I did a quick search of my local libraries catalog and came up with a couple of promising looking books on tattoos. Once I got there I found even a couple more and brought them home with me to start sorting through later.

I also decided to see what Google would pop up. I tried a couple of different strategies by changing around my key word/phrases. For example, I did one search using just “tattoo”, one using “history of tattoos”, and then another using “origin of tattoos”. I came up with some interesting hits including a tattoo museum. I haven’t had a chance to look over it completely yet, but they looked very promising.

I can say I have a slight apprehensive feeling though. I never realized how many different cultures used tattoos! And they all have their own point of origin. I think today and tomorrow I’m going to focus on my attention to really looking at the resources I have and starting shifting through the information. Let the fun begin!

Wondering: What I know, Don’t Know, & Want to know

So after writing my last post, I realized that there is a LOT of stuff I could do on tattoos. Can I narrow down this topic even more? Looking at the I-Search method for my last trailblazer, there was a part in Bowen’s The I-Search Process With Grade 5: They Learn! that I really liked. She had them stop and think/record everything that they knew about the subject before they started any research. I sort of explored what I knew and what I wanted to know last time, but I thought I could take the time to explore it even more. I’m hoping that not only help me realize what I already know, but spark an interest in a certain area that will help me narrow down my topic

What I Know

• Most tattoos are done with tattoo guns that have needles with vibrate really fast.
• Many states require professional tattoo artists to be licensed.
• I have seen tattoos that were done by tapping the needles along the design.
• Tattoos equipment can be expensive. Most use one time inks and needles so that infections/diseases are not spread.
• Tattoos are generally connected with the “wild child”. Although, nowadays, almost everyone has a tattoo and can been seen as a fad.
• Flash is what you call pre-made/on the wall designs. You can also have custom designs where the tattoo artist will draw the design for you.
• Tylenol can be used to dull the pain. However, you don’t want to use aspirin or alcohol as they thin the blood and can promote excessive bleeding.
• There are popular reality shows that focus on tattooing, such as Miami Ink.

In Connecting Writing and Research through the I-search Paper it is mentioned that Joyce & Martin have students continue on this pre-note taking process and create additional lists on what they didn’t know and what they wanted to know. I can already see some things that are sparking my interest for further research, but I want to see if I can come up with anything else.

What I don’t know

• Where did tattoos originate from?
• How for back into history can they be found?
• What materials were first used?
• Why are tattoos associated with the “wild child/crowd”?
• How many different ways can tattoos be created?
• What exactly are the safety precautions demanded by states?
• How do you get your tattoo license?

What I would like to know

• The history of tattoos. Where did they start? Who first thought of them?
• How many ways are there to do tattoos? Are they tied to certain cultures?
• What cultures use tattoos as tribe symbols/other meanings besides body art?
• How do you get a tattoo licenses/what skills do you need to possess?

I think I’ve given myself quite a bit to think on.  This exercise has definitely helped me though. There are several ideas that popped up that I can easily tie together and use as my main focus. I’m going to think on it a little more tonight/tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll have another post up tomorrow stating what my focus is and why.