Class Wiki's

Oh, how I love the class wiki.  It allows me to stay on task, even if I am not able to attend class.  Having the ability to know my assignments weeks in advance is a benefit.  When I have down time I can review the upcoming assignments. The Wiki also keeps me connected to the class blogs.  I think that using wiki's are beneficial to students and professors because the student cannot use the excuse that they "didn't know" and the professor doesn't have to repeat what the assignments are or when they are due.

The Driving Force

Google Drive has become one of my favorite things. I was always searching for flash drives and worrying that one day it would fail. With Google Drive I can work on an assignment anywhere I have access to the internet. It allows me to review previous versions without losing what I have currently. Being able to share a document with others to review or to make contributions has made my life much easier and efficient.  I have recommended Google Drive to many of my friends a co-workers. Most of them did not know that it was available to them. I love Google Drive and will continue to recommend it to others.

Flipping Out

My first experience with a flipped class was quiet overwhelming.  I was accustomed to the typical teaching style, teacher lectures and students listen. Then you go home with hours of homework, hoping you remembered enough to get the work done.  Flipped classes are just the opposite. You watch lectures or informational videos and complete your reading at home, while interacting with the teacher and classmates in class. This style of teaching can be difficult for some students to adjust to, mostly because most of us tend to fight change. When we are comfortable doing things a certain way, change can be an unwelcome visitor. I actually prefer this style of teaching and wish that other professors could acclimate this concept into the future classes. Life is full of changes and learning to flip your learning style makes it easier.

Numbers don't lie...do they?

If you are speaking about statitistics the answer may not always be what it seems. Depending on who is providing the statistic and where the statistic orginated from could give you drastically different results.  If one were to say that 40 % of students are struggling with ADD or ADHD, where did they recieve their data? Was it just a number that they through out or is there an actual case study to back up the data?  If it is a study, who was included in the study? Is it elementary, middle school, high school, or college students? Then ask yourself, is it really possible that all students have been tested for ADD or ADHD?  Anyone can give you numbers, it is where the information orginated from and what was included. Do not just take a number for face value, it could be an illusion.

View from inside

The first paper that I was able to peer review gave me a new understanding of what it means to think like the reader. The paper was written well and was complete. I did have a difficult time determining who the reader was.  It could have been written to two different audiences. If written to one it was written very well, if written for the other the language would have need to be more relaxed. I loved reading the paper overall, and I must say...I AGREE!

Ethos - Credibility

My doc 2 is written the members of the US government to legalize marijuana to economically benefit our country.  It is absolutely necessary that I use multiple credible resources to provide them with indisputeable evidence. For example, using a source that states the amount of money that is used to fight to keep it illegal. By showing the amount used to keep it illegal, I can that by legalizing marijuana you will now have that much more funds to apply to other resources, like education and state and local police. I can also use resources that show how much money has already been generated by the legalization in certain states, and show how much money the government lost because they do not recognize it as legal. By combinging these resources it will increase my personal credibility.

Pathos - emotional persuasion

Pathos, which means to persuade by appealing to the audience's emotions. This method is used regularly in marketing today. You will see bandaid commercial shows a small child crying as a mother rushes to nurse the boo boo. As a mother, this plays to my motherly instincts.

Biased (poor) evidence

If you read my last blog, then you know that I am writing my second paper on how the legalization of marijuana can drastically benefit our country.  In researching the arguments against the legalization I discovered an article that truly defined the use of poor evidence in support of their argument. It was completely unsupported and was based on pure personal bias.  The author says "potheads are almost universally recognized as unmotivated, low class, degenerate - and, yes, smelly failures (Hawkins, 2004)."  I believe his justification his completely biased. 

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2014/01/21/5-reasons-marijuana-should-remain-illegal-n1782086/page/full

I would love some feedback!

Foundation of my arguement

There is a vast amount of information for and against my second document regarding the legalization of marijuana to economically benefit our country. After watching many of my friends, relatives, co-workers, and fellow students struggle with our current economy, I felt it was time to stop complaining about the problem and create a solution. Many people become defensive as soon as they hear my topic because they are not aware of the many ways marijuana can help financially. Increased taxes, creation of jobs that will increase spending, creation of textiles that can be used to reduce dependency on foreign countries and create a stronger financial foundation within our own country, all while reducing the expenses on our judicial system are some of my main focuses.

I would appreciate feedback from you, my classmates, to help with my paper.

The other side of the fence

Have you heard the saying "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence?" Well, I used to think illogically about people that had a lot of money. I believed that they were happier in their lives than people with out money. These feelings would overwhelm me as I struggled to provide for two beautiful young girls. It took a while before opportunities presented themselves to me that allowed me to see that their lives were more happy than my own. They stressed about money, family, friends, and jobs just like I did. I realized that I had been thinking illogically about the wealthy. Coming to this realization was an eye opening experience and helped to change the way I viewed other groups of people with out having the opportunity to know them.

Collaborative Thoughts on Paper

Our document is finally finished! It was a wonderful experience! The ladies in my group and myself collaborated this paper. Together we introduced new ideas and perspective into our document. I do not believe I could have written this paper as well if I had done it alone. To the ladies in my group...THANK YOU! I would also like to say thank you to all of you that made suggestions on our paper. You brought new vision to this paper. As John Maxwell said "one is too small of a number to achieve greatness. Greatness is achieved by collaboration."

Looking In and Looking Out

I have noticed, that for many of my classmates, peer reviewing can be very stressful. They get very offended by anther students suggestions. At first, I felt the same way. It took a little while to grasp how beneficial this process truely is.  I got very frustrated that someone did not like my ideas the way I saw them. After writing and re-writing with the recommended suggestions I realized that I need to look at my paper differently.  For all my classmates, I hope you come to find this process useful in your writings today and in the future.

Constant authority

Sometimes I feel like I am constantly in a position of authority. Some people feed off of having that responsibility. I, however, do not. I enjoy being a mother and with that comes with the most important position of authority. You use that authority to help guide your children. In addition to being a mother I have worked as an office manager for the last ten years. This position requires me to have a great deal of authority, most of which is over other employees. At the end of the day I look forward to that moment when I can just sit down and relax. For me, the constant authority can become overwhelming. Does anyone else feel this way?

My favorite network

My family, friends, classmates, and professors make up my favorite personal learning network. Within this network I recieve, love, encouragement, and knowledge. The knowledge that I get from my professors and classmates challenges me on a scholastic level. The knowledge that I receive from my family and friends challenges me on personal level. My network empowers me! With this network combination I cannot fail any challenge that presents itself.

Networking my business

In addition to working a full time job, being a mom to teenagers, and being a full time student, I have a small, but growing, business. I have found that networking is imperative for the success of my business. Having little time to get out and meet people, networking has become a life line of sorts. Some have heard about it in magazines, it has even been highlighted on some major news shows, but mostly it is heard through friends or family. I use Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest as a means to let people know about my company and products. It is a very useful tool because I can reach people in other states and in other countries. My business would not survive with my very on personal network.

Blogging for Education

At first, the concept of blogging frightened me. I hated the idea that perfect strangers would read my personal thoughts and opinions and then make comments.  Sometimes I tend to care too much of water other people think and then I learned something powerful. Because I did not have a personal relationship, most of the time, with the readers of my blog, their responses helped me to see from a different perspective.
I used the feedback to write more descriptively or to tone it down. Sometimes what I thought I was expressing was not what was interpreted. I believe that this is the whole point of Professor Hamon's teaching style.

Exhausted

Arguing with people is something I dread. I recently had an argument with my fiance that took an emotional and physical toll on me. I was deeply affected by the choice of words that he used. Those words had more of an impact than the actual argument itself. This argument left us distant for many days. A week later the same circumstances that started the original argument repeated itself, only this time it was me with grievance. I chose to stay silent. My reaction confused him. He said that he was expecting the same response from me that I had received from him. I pointed out the cause and effect of our first argument and told him that I learned from it. I had realized that by repeating the first response would only create a larger divide between us. I hope that he also learned from my reaction to prevent unnecessary distress in the future.

Writing about Personal Learning Networks as a group

I am intrigued by our first writing assignment in English Composition II. Understanding the pros and cons of having a personal learning network. Once mastered, I believe that they are quite beneficial. 

Working on a paper with others can be an interesting learning experience. I have had both good and bad experiences; however, there is no hiding your contribution or lack there of when using this format.

Learning the proper writing techniques is something I am looking forward to.

Happy to be back

I am ecstatic to be back in Professor Hamon's class! I am ready to learn more about my writing style. My future is in the legal field and I feel that this class and its focus on persuasive writing will make a huge impact on my future writing.