Grow Up!
1
Purpose: Organization
I think the purpose of the daily write is a way for us to organize our thoughts. It also allows us to see how well we have improved in our writing.
Accordion Families
Should adult children move back home with their parents after they have graduated college? One of my sources says that it is not our generation that has become lazy, but rather we have changed the definition of adulthood. Another source says that we should not blame our generation but learn to accept it. I feel that after you have reached a certain age, you should move out of the house and start your own life. You should not depend on your parents to feed you or take care of you. You are a grown person, and you should act like it. You wanted freedom when you were younger, and now that you are of age, you do not want it???
Discussion
I think we should discuss how we feel about racism. Is it something everybody has ever dealt with. If you have, how did it make you feel. If not, why do you think it is still so prevalent in a world that claims to moving forward? Is racism still an issue in the United States or are we making progression? Will racism ever really be gone or will it linger on forever?
Gatto’s Proposal School
The ideas that appealed to me the most on the new school PowerPoints were incorporating everyday life skills in high schools in order to better prepare students for the real world. I also liked that children would be able to choose their own schedule. At the high school that I went to, our schedule was already made out for us. We had no say so in what we wanted to take. I also liked how kids would work in groups to better their social skills which I believe is very important. Even though group work can be difficult at times, because you have to work on other people’s time, the experience is great. It gives you a chance to work with new people and maybe establish new friendships. The time schedule was nice too. A few groups wrote there would be fifty minute classes and an hour lunch which I think is needed for high school students. At my schools we only had twenty-five minutes for lunch which everyone absolutely hated. We had to rush out of class, fight for microwaves, and be done eating all within twenty-five minutes. Being able to leave freely is also something that I really liked. I still think you should be respectful to the teacher and not try to leave when they are teaching. One of the ways we could try to incorporate more group work in our class is by not only allowing the students to pick the groups, but also having the teacher pick for us. Maybe we could also work with some of the people from the 10:00 class so that we could get new perspectives on things.
Bridge Project
My family is very important to me. My parents are the ones who push me to do my best. They have taught me everything I know, and have been with me every step of the way. Family relates to American values in the way of showing love. Everybody wants love, and parents should be there to give unconditional love. Some might disagree with family as being an American Dream, because they are not shown love by their family. Even though some are not as fortunate to have family who show love towards them, loving parents who care and are there for me will always be my American Dream.
My spiritual live is very important to me. My church relates to my American values in the way of giving me something to hold on to when I start to feel weary. I can only reach my American Dreams with the help of God. I know everybody does not believe in God, and some believe in other gods, but being an American to me, is believing in my God. A lot of people would disagree with this being an American Dream, because either they do not believe or they just do not understand religion. Believing in God will always be my American Dream.
College has always been an American Dream of mine. Since I was a little girl, I knew that I wanted to go to college. Going to college not only helps you make something out of yourself, but it also opens you up to new experiences. College relates to the American Dream in helping people succeed in pursuing their passions in life. Even the people who cannot afford college, it is still an American Dream. College is currently my American Dream.
Being a pediatrician has been my American Dream for about ten years now. I want to be able to help people in any way that I can, and I believe that I can do that by helping children. The values that come with being a doctor is saving someone’s life. Being a doctor does not mean someone has to be an American, it just means that person wants to help. Being a pediatrician is my future American Dream.
Weight has always been a struggle for me. One of my hardest American Dreams that I have tried and am still trying to achieve is loosing weight. Not only do I want to loose weight, but I also want to be healthy. How can I try to take care of patients when I am struggling to take care of myself? This dream relates to American values, because most of the world is struggling with obesity. According to Reuters, “2.1 billion people in the world are obese or overweight.” Being healthy, not overweight is my American Dream.
Shopping has always been an American Dream for me. I love to be able to dress up and represent myself to others. Shopping represents the American Dream, because shopping is a way to bring people together, help someone feel better about themselves, and is fun. Being wealthy and able to shop for yourself is something that everybody likes or wants to do. Shopping is my American Dream.
Basketball has been a passion of mine since I was in the sixth grade. Not only did I love to play it, but I also loved to watch it. Like shopping, basketball relates to American values by bringing people together. It is a really fun sport to watch, and it allows us to see other people living out their American Dream of playing basketball. It’s a win-win situation. Basketball is not only mine but many people’s American Dream.
Football is a fun sport to watch. Even though I am not a big fan and do not understand a thing that is going on, I still loved going to the game. Football brings people together to watch a pastime favorite which is why it is, in my opinion, an American Dream. The American Dream for most people is to be with the people who bring you joy and love. It is a time to fellowship with people you do not know and become friends. Football does just these things. Football is becoming an American Dream for me.
WORKS CITED
Dunham, Will. Weight of the World: 2.1 Billion People Obese or Overweight. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-obesity-idUSKBN0E82HX20140528. (accessed January 18, 2016).
A Raw Reflection on My College Experience
The commonplace blog is a raw representation of how my learning has improved during this first semester. It showcases my weaknesses and strengths. I really enjoyed doing the reflections, because I realized what I could have done different in my papers. I hate not realizing it before, but I know how to make my papers better the next time. The one thing that is discussed most in my commonplace blog is my writing. After being in this class for one semester, I am more confident in my writing. I do not feel like I am an awful writer anymore. Even though some of my papers have not been amazing, knowing that I did my best is one of the greatest rewards. Besides my new found confidence in writing, the commonplace blog tells of my new found love for sociology. I did not know much about sociology, but I knew I had to take it. After taking it, I wish I could take it again next semester. Analyzing has become more of a strong suit for me. Analyzing is when someone does a detailed examination of something for discussion or interpretation. I used to hate to analyze, but after being in sociology and writing, it is not bad. It is interesting to look deeper into something to see how I would interpret it. The blog also shows how much I have grown as a writer. Even though I still struggle with redundancy, I am not as bad as I used to be. My writing has also improved by the use of transitions words. I know which transition word to put with each sentence. I also know how to transition from paragraph to paragraph better.
Furthermore, my commonplace blog reflects not only my academic learning, but it also showcases what concepts I have learned. As I said before, analyzing is the biggest concept captured in my blog. Analyzing can still be a struggle sometimes, but I am learning how to do it. My biggest problem with analyzing is knowing if I am actually understanding what I am reading or watching. It is not really the concept that trips me up, but the fear of not knowing if I am doing it right. The second concept captured in my commonplace blog, although not as detailed, is rhetoric. I did not know what rhetoric was until I came to college. When the unfamiliar concept was introduced to me, I panicked. Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively and persuasively which was unknown to me.
One thing that is missing from the blog is a more in depth discussion on rhetoric. Rhetoric was the biggest part of our writing experience this semester. However, I do not feel as though I discussed it thoroughly. I wish I would have had a more in depth discussion on how much I learned about rhetoric. Now that I understand what rhetoric means, it is not a bad concept.
The five final tags in the commonplace book are a true representation of my current understanding of what it means for me to be a college-educated person. The first two tags go hand-in-hand with insight. The first is “thorough.” This tag means asking questions to make sure that you understand what you are doing; being thorough in every part of the assignment; doing the research required; and making sure everything is organized correctly. The second tag related to insight is “depth.” This tag represents digging deeper into subjects through analysis and interpretation. Analyzing allows for more information, because of the in depth research on the topic. Interpretation allows for me to discover new ways to look at the topic. The next two tags express my emotion during my writing process. The tag “fear” is the emotion that troubles me the most. The fear of the unknown, meaning what did I receive on that paper or is the audience going to understand what I am trying to convey. The fear of failing because of the unknown, and the fear of inexperience on a concept I have never heard of before are also troubling. In the midst of “fear,” which leads into my fourth tag, I do receive some “confidence.” Throughout my last two years of high school, my teacher told me that I was not a very good writer which made my confidence level decline. After having a college professor tell me that I am a pretty decent writer, my confidence elevated. Confidence is something that I know I will continue to struggle with when it comes to writing. The peer reviews were nerve wrecking at first, but I have really grown to like them. Going to the conferences have helped the most, because there is no sugar coating on how my paper is. My final tag is “perfection.” This tag is a true representation of who I am. It represents my need to be perfect in everything I do which happens rarely. I will always make careless mistakes which might lead to fear, but that is the beauty of college. College is the place to grow and find out who I am as a person. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I will continue to be perfectly imperfect.
PowToon
Composing through sound and image versus composing the argument on paper was terrifying. I thought it would be really fun at first, but then started to work on it and was completely lost. I did not know how to work PowToon, and I had a heavy subject. I did not know how to make my topic, physician-assisted suicide, fun without taking away from the seriousness of the subject. I was very uncomfortable composing the sound track. I felt like I sounded like a man, and it was too choppy. It also sounded like I was talking too fast, but then at times was talking too slow. I was more comfortable when it came to composing the images, because I knew what I was trying to convey. At times, I would get frustrated, because it looked like my images were too childish. However, this project revealed my creative side. I tried to do images that would appeal to an easily bored audience. My favorite part from the soundtrack is in my closing paragraph, “Physician-assisted suicide is a killer (pun intended).” My favorite part of the visual track is the cat saying hallelujah and the picture asking if you are drunk. I love these because they bring joy. They also fit very well with my soundtrack. My least favorite image is probably the check mark agreeing with Byock on the cures. It goes with the point being made, but I wish I could have found a better picture.
I had no experience when is came to designing a visual presentation. The most enjoyable part was interpreting which pictures went best with what was being said. I loved finding the fun pictures. The hard part was making sure that each picture was timed with what was being said. One decision that I did not anticipate when doing this project was the use of emoji faces. I love emoji faces and feel like they make people happy. I did not think I would use them, because, again, I did not want my video to seem childish. After using them, I am really happy with my decision. It makes my video lively. My favorite design choice in the essay is the color scheme for the background. I knew I wanted it to be colorful in order to grasp the attention of my viewers, but did not want the video to be bombarded with too many colors. If the background would have been bombarded with colors, the viewer would not pay attention to the topic. I chose red, green, blue, and purple, and am very happy with that design style. My least favorite design choice would be the pictures. At the start of this project, the use of animated characters appealed to me. After playing around with the characters, I did not really like it. The video would have been more of a lecture which would not have made it fun. After deciding to use pictures, I was on the right track. I believe that they represent my subject best. I like the pictures, I just hope I did not use too many of them.
The advantages of already having a written version for this project were that I did not have to come up with another topic to discuss, and I understood the topic a whole lot more. When I did the written version, I knew what physician-assisted suicide was, but did not believe that I could have a discussion about it. After doing this project, I have a better understanding of physician-assisted suicide. The disadvantage was making a six-page paper into less than half a page. I had so much information in the formal paper, and it was a struggle condensing it. In which video website was best for me, I chose PowToon, because I never went to the website Alphabetic Essay. I am pretty sure Powtoon still would have been my favorite, because alphabetic essay sounds harder. Once I learned how to work PowToon, it was really fun. I prefer to use animated visual presentation, because it was a whole lot more fun than writing a paper. It gave me a new way to present a topic. It even made the subject more enjoyable. The advantage of composing for a different audience was not having to be so formal. When doing a project for a younger audience, you do not have to use words that are hard to understand. I used words that everybody should understand. The disadvantage was not knowing what was too childish for a younger audience. Even though most 18-24 year olds are immature, I still did not want to take away from their intelligence. The video needed to be entertaining but also serious. Even though working for a younger audience is easier, I actually prefer an older audience. An older audience will be truthful no matter what. Sometimes, younger people try to be too gentle. With an older audience, I try harder, because I know they will critique it more. An older audiences will honestly tell me how good or bad my project was.
New Medium
When we first started working on this project, I thought it was going to be fun. Once I started to use powtoons, I thought, “Oh my goodness! I have no idea what I am doing!!!” I honestly wanted to kill powtoons and throw my computer against the wall. Not only did I not know how to work the visuals, but I hated the way I sounded on my voiceover. I went to my professor, Mrs. Forgette, and she told me that my voiceover was better than the paper I had written, and that it was artful. I felt like I could actually do this project now. She also showed me how to work the visuals which help the process a whole lot. My peer reviews also helped me. They all told me that my visuals were good which also made me feel good, because at one time I felt like my visuals were cheesy and childish. I am thankful for the feedback that I have received and hope that I follow all of it.
Op-Docs Animation
I learned that I need to have more sources in my voiceover. I also learned how layer can make an animation really effective. Negative Space was something that I had never heard of until today, and I learned how to put that into my presentation. The most important thing that I learned was to have fun with the topic, but still add emphasis on the importance and seriousness of the topic. Do not take away so much from the topic so much that it dumbs it down.