Volunteering blog session 3&4

Today I volunteered for 2 hours. For the first hour, I helped the kids with their homework. The one boy I was helping with math seemed to be focused on anything but his homework, so it took almost a full hour to do 15 problems on his worksheet. I helped another girl with the same worksheet and she breezed right through it. For the boy, I had to spend 15 minutes trying to explain just one problem. He seemed frustrated but I think in the end he got it.

During the second hour, I went and sat outside and watched the kids play for a little bit. It is interesting to see how they interact with each other. After sitting outside for 15 minutes, I went back inside and some of the older kids were in the homework room so I went in to help them. One boy needed help with math and I made an attempt to help him. Another girl needed help with her biology so I helped her with that. They started asking me questions about Belmont and college in general so we talked about that while they did their homework. They seemed really interested in college, which was a cool thing to see.

Wesbites for project

I found 2 websites useful for my project:

http://www.gleeforum.com/forums.html
http://ontd-glee.livejournal.com/

Glee Forum was the more active of the 2 communities. When I was on Glee Forum there was over 700 users logged in at that period in time. They have many many subsections of the forum, which makes it easier to find people talking about a certain subject. They have threads for every episode ever aired and also a thread for every character.

Ontd-glee is more a community strictly where news related articles are posted. So it's only active when there is a lot of news going on with the show. I'm a member of this community, so I know the period of times in which it is more active. This community is more sarcastic than most Glee communities. Members have inside jokes related to certain characters on the show and those jokes stay relevant for awhile in the community. There aren't as many members as Glee Forum, but the ones on ontd-glee are active a lot within the community.

Glossary

• Gleek - Someone who is a fan of Glee
• Klaine - The pairing/shipping of Kurt and Blaine
• Hummelberry - The pairing/shipping of kurt and Rachel
• Finchel - The pairing/shipping of Finn and Rachel
• Slushie facial - Getting a slushie thrown in your face
• Gleerios - Glee members that are Cheerios
• The Muckraker - The newspaper featured on Glee
• Fondue For Two - The webshow that Brittany has on the show
• Brittiana - The shipping/pairing of Brittany and Santana
• Puckleberry - The shipping/pairing of Puck and Rachel
• Quick - The shipping/pairing of Quinn and Puck
• Dalton - The school where Kurt transfers to after being harrassed by Karfosky
• Breadstix - The restaurant often gone to by the characters on the show
• Bartie - The pairing/shipping of Brittany and Artie
• Tike - The pairing/shipping of Tina and Mike
• HeMo - The nickname of Heather Morris (Brittany)
• Diva - off - When two characters, typically Rachel, Merecdes, or Kurt fight for a solo.

 

Cohesion and Coherence - October 7th

I'm connected to my project because I am a fan of Glee. I may not be the craziest Gleek out there, but I do have a love for the show. I look forward to every Tuesday that the show is on and talk to my friends about it after it airs. I check out the forums/message boards/communities to see what other Glee fans think about the episode. I feel that having a love for the show will help me in my project because I will be able to understand other Glee fans' passion about the show. Unlike an outsider who has no idea about the show, I'm able to understand where they are coming from.

Volunteering blog session 1&2

Today I volunteered for 2.5 hours at Easley. For the first half hour, I helped one student with their social studies homework. I had been told since it was Friday most of the kids don't have homework so they tend to play most of the time. For the rest of the time, I played different games with the kids. We played marbles, foose ball, and then we finally went outside. One of the girls said I needed to go outside but that she needed to beat me at foose ball first. So once she did that, we went outside to the playground. A few of the younger girls took a liking to me and one in particular would stand pretty much on top of me as if I was her security blanket or something. I noticed the older kids were really self sufficient and didn't need help from me or anyone else from the center. One of the little girls I was with set up the cones and ran around the perimeter of the playground a few times. After about a half hour outside, we had to go back inside since it was 5. I went back inside and played a few rounds of marbles with one of the girls before I left.

Interview

I interviewed someone I know through the Glee fandom, Nedum. She's 18 and lives in the Chicago area. We did the interview via email.

1. Why do you watch Glee?
well at first i watched it because i really like musicals and it seemed funny but i think i continue to watch it because of the cast

2. What makes someone a Gleek?
probably when they follow the show religiously and become so invested in the characters' development that they basically want to write the show....

3. Why does Glee have such a cult following?
i think it's because most people that watch glee realize it's a dumb show so why not bond over our dumbness. or because it made such a huge impact in such a short amount of time, who knows.

4. Who is your favorite character and why?
THIS IS HARD. ok favorite male is blaine because he's hot and i think when his character was added the show had a new depth what with kurt's gayness and all. favorite girl is between britanny and rachel... britanny because heather morris is an amazing dancer and rachel ebcause her voice is fabulous and her character speaks to my soul

5. What part of the fandom is the scariest/most outrageous?
when people ship EVERYONE WITH EVERYONE . it's annoying. and klainers can be a little too invested. idk.