Category Archives: Uncategorized

Jan 24 2016

A Texan’s Bridge Project

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“The American Dream through the eyes of a Texan”
Being a girl that was raised in Texas, home to a distinct and unique culture, I feel that my perception of the American Dream differs from those of other states and cultures. Throughout this list, I hope to relay how the “Texas Things” are influential on the larger picture, The American Dream.

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  1. You drive a truck…or at least your daddy does

Whether you’re at the grocery store, school or shopping mall, you can’t park without witnessing ten to twenty people jumping in/out of a pick-up truck. It has been something that Texas men and women have found to be important to own. In relation to the American Dream, I can’t help but realize how materialistic Americans are. The pick-up truck, with all the bells and whistles, is a Texas version of a luxury.  Americans claim to have the freedom to be who they want, but in reality they all try to fit in to a mold that society sets.

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  1. The Bigger the Better

The common statement, “Everything’s bigger in Texas” is beyond true. For us Texas girls, we like our hair to be voluminous and teased. We live by the thought that the higher the hair, the closer to heaven. To me, I feel that this relates directly to how we view the American Dream. We Texans feel the American Dream is big and endless. Being surrounded by this culture, I believe that to be an American you can and must dream big. If you truly take advantage of this opportunity, you can achieve anything your imagination engineers.

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  1. Mexican food (Tex-mex) is only good in Texas

First things first, it’s called Queso, not cheese dip. For any true Texan, hearing something so delicious be called cheese dip is borderline disgraceful. I’m a firm believer that Texas has the best Mexican food. In opposition, many people think their state’s food is better. There is one thing neither of us can deny; most Americans’ appetites have moved to eating for pleasure, not just for sustaining life. Part of the American dream, in my opinion, is finding joy in what this country has to offer. Whether its food or other things, it’s our privilege as Americans to indulge ourselves.

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  1. Road construction is inevitable

When I drive home from school, the second I cross the state line, I see nothing but construction signs and cones. No matter where I am in Texas, you have to add extra time to your travel plans for construction traffic. I feel that Texas road construction compares exactly to the fact that Americans are always expanding and moving in their desire for something new. I believe that Americans are constantly taking what they have, finding new paths to broaden their horizons, while fighting through the obstacles in the way of their final destination or desire.

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  1. Texas =  Cowboys

If you were born and raised in Texas, someone in your genealogy is a Cowboy. Much like a cowboy, The American Dream is simple, yet complex. I think many Texans disagree on what it means to be an American. Nothing sums up this argument better than America allowing states to decide if the right to openly carry weapons is legal or not. Representing the “cowboy” way, Texas recently passed laws allowing individuals with the proper license to carry weapons openly.  There has been nothing but arguments on this decision. This is a prime example of how something simple becomes complex.

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  1. Family is the most important thing

Family trumps all American rights…even the right to privacy! Texans put family first in all circumstances. To me, Americans should work together for a common good and protect each other, while understanding even family has differences. Instead, in my opinion, America has moved away from considering ourselves one big family. For example, other nations fight us and pose threats, but we fight amongst ourselves which is an even greater threat. I think to call yourself an American, you must demonstrate nothing but love and respect for your fellow Americans.

  1. Texans have one volume…LOUD

If it were possible, I would write a letter to Thomas Jefferson thanking him for granting us the freedom of speech. In Texas, if we have an opinion, we say it loud so everyone hears!  I think it’s safe to say this “Texas Thing” is an “American Thing”. When something is on debate, state or nationwide, you can count on Americans to express their opinions. Respectfully, I think Americans are slowly degrading the American Dream by abusing their freedoms. I don’t think outside nations see that “fresh start” in America anymore, because Americans excuse hateful actions or behaviors by claiming them as freedoms.

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  1. High schools could easily be mistaken for a community college

My high school graduating class was close to 800 kids. At graduation, I was shocked at the amount of people I didn’t know. But on Friday nights in Texas, students around the state are seen hugging each other when their football team scores. This really points out how populated America is becoming and even with its diversity and impossibility to know everyone closely, we are capable of being united when necessary.

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  1. Everyday is the 4th of July

Right when you walk into a Texan’s house, you are met with three colors: red, white and blue. The saying “God Bless Texas” is an understatement for the pride Texans have for America. The state flag boldly uses these three colors and includes one star.  I think the most important part of being an American is the pride each citizen shows. Whether it’s by the flags we wave or the decorations in our house, we Americans have a piece of our heart for America. For Texans, its half our heart; because without America, Texas wouldn’t be Texas.

 

 

Dec 4 2015

Learning Through The Eyes Of a College Student

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I feel that my Commonplace blog is a good representation of my academic learning in regards to my writing. Many of the daily post reflect what I have learned from my previous mistakes and their ending result. In addition, I feel that it represents the realization that my writing is improving as the semester continues. To be more specific, my commonplace book shows the improvement in many skills to compose my paper. For example, I had several posts that discussed the importance of having a better structure and the use of examples. These two component were the areas in which I had made a goal to improve by the end of the semester. I think that while I was focusing solely on trying to be better in these areas, I gained some additional knowledge. With this being said, I feel that my commonplace book is mainly about these two topics with small assertions of additional learning moments. Every once and a while there will be a post about the significance of peer review and the different modes of writing accompanied with my personal opinions. I have really relied on the idea of peer review more this semester than I ever had in the past. I found myself learning from others work and their comment on my own work. I believe that the more I had my papers reviewed, the better my grade got. Also, I realized that I had been exposed to several writing modes when trying to better structure and use examples. It is not until now reading through my commonplace book that I truly realized how much learning I have been exposed to.

On the other hand, I feel that my commonplace book doesn’t represent my learning outside of my writing. As a student, I have changed in regards to things academically outside of the writing classroom. For example, I have become a much smarter studier for exams. Instead of studying the night before, I space out my study time. This also links to how I’ve become better with my time management. With joining a sorority and being involved in the Teachers of Tomorrow organization on campus, I have learned the necessity of an organized life.  In addition, I have learned to take advantage of the things on campus that are free and could benefit me in return. More particularly, going to the writing center with my papers has been something that I’ve really valued this semester. I have seen my papers improving in organization after having it reviewed by someone at the writing center. Also, going to the library to study. At the beginning of the semester, I studied in my dorm where there were tons of distractions. By using the library, I am more focused and tend to get things done more efficiently. None of the learning moments discussed above were reflected in my commonplace book. While I feel like it was a good representation of my learning experiences in my writing, I feel it lacked the other areas, subjects and elements of my learning this semester.

My final five tags within my commonplace book highlight my personal experiences and understanding of being a learner in college. The three tags that represent my writing experience is “struggles”, “composition” and “listening”. The tags “struggles” represents the value of learning from my mistakes and there being no shame in starting over or rewriting. In reaction to this, I feel that one of my struggles this semester is composing. The tag “composition” really highlights the many learning moments that focus on building, organizing, and developing ideas into a cohesive paper. Lastly, I feel my “listening” tag really shows how I have valued the thoughts of others. Through out the peer edit comments and use of the writing center, I understand the importance of listening to what others have to say. A part from my learning moments within writing a paper, I have two tags that demonstrate my further learning this semester. The first tag is “different modes”. This tag really explains my experiences where I was open minded, went out of my “comfort zone”, and not being afraid to try something new. The second tag is “analysis” which defines how I have drawn connections between each subject, used examples from my life to relate to topics I have learned, and being able to better explain myself in a more efficient, less repetitive way. Overall, my tags have reflected my learning not only in my writing, but in my general first semester of college.

Nov 19 2015

PowToon Unit Reflection

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While composing my PowToon, I succeeded and was challenged in many aspects. One of these aspects are the sound and images within the PowToon. The first thing I realized was how different composing the cartoon was in comparison to the academic paper. More particularly, there were so many elements that make up a single second in the PowToon. When writing my paper, I had a complete lay out of what was to be said/written for every sentence. With the PowToon, in one second you must think of the timing of the audio, music, visual and what/how the visual would appear. With this being said, I was not the most comfortable with the voice over at first. I felt my voice was too high pitched and too fast. I couldn’t get myself to take the necessary brakes when reading the script. At this point, I decided to record my voice in Garage Band in order to add “fake” pauses. I feel this was a large learning moment for me and one of my strengths. I was able to really problem solve and get creative with each individual slide. I loved creating my academic paper into an entertaining video. At the same time, I feel that initial attempt to record and time the slides with the voice over was my weaknesses. Even though the sound track was not my strength, my favorite part was the clever remarks. I think these remarks really added the personality of my PowToon. On the other hand, my favorite part of the visual track was all the blank slides where I got to really be creative. Overall, I feel I really learned a lot about me as a writer through many different modes.

Prior to this PowToon, I had very little experience in designing a visual presentation. With this being said, many of the designing process was enjoyable and difficult. I really enjoyed creating the blank screens. It felt like it was an empty canvas where I could create whatever I wanted. I was able to choose the colors and the location of each picture as to where with the templet screens I was more limited. In opposition, the hardest part was having the images appear in sync with the sound track. Therefore, there were several decisions that I had to make that I was not initially anticipating. I had drawn out on paper what I originally wanted with the script, but once I got on the website I realized that my character and visual options were limited. I had to rethink several ideas but I believe in the end it worked out for the best. For example, I really wanted to have younger and teenaged students at one point in my slides. The only issue was there wasn’t teenage aged animations in PowToon. On the other hand, I think that my favorite design choice was choosing the classroom theme. It really helped create and further express the topic of my argument. In conclusion, I found that I liked using the electronic environment more than I anticipated.

I believe that remixing my initial paper into a cartoon was both good and bad. For starters, by having a written paper I already had my actual argument planned out for me. The down side to this advantage was that some of the academic evidence that I had used in my paper was harder to express through visuals. Therefore, in reaction, I prefer the essay over the PowToon to express my argument. I think that I liked the essay better for the sole purpose of being able to build strong creditability to my argument. Yes, it was possible to add creditability with the PowToon, but I was able to analyze and expand on my sources more with the written paper. In opposition, I feel that with my topic being standardized testing, taken by children and young adults, the animated visual was more effected in reaching the audience the topic refers to. The students that take these test addressed in my paper, are more inclined to watch a cartoon than read a lengthy essay. In addition, I feel that one of the advantages to using the visual animation was that the words were easier to compose because they were short and more relaxed. On the contrary, I couldn’t use many of the credible quotes from my original paper. At the end of the day, I enjoyed composing the visual medium but I could better explain my argument through the academic paper.

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Sep 25 2015

Collaborative Thinking and Writing Response

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I think collaborative thinking and writing is very useful when analyzing something. Most of the time, the ideas others have will spark something I personally had not thought about. In addition to this, I think the more perspective and unique thoughts of other people enrich the material of your analysis. Overall, I like working together when it comes to understanding a piece of text.