Reflection Time!
Class Life: Today in class, we split into groups and used our Reverse Outlines to examine and critique each others' work, and to help us revise our room for debate assignments. Group number three consisted of Qin, Marquee, and myself. Qin based her essay off her belief that China's one-child policy deserved to be abolished, and she offered her solutions for fixing the economy after being botched by the one-child policy. Marquee decided to write his assignment so that it would revolve around the entertainment industry. He argued that even though video games are great, movies are being ruined because Hollywood is trying to make movies using video game graphics. He also gave the example of The Amazing Spider-Man having the graphics of a game called Mirror's Edge, and linked to a video showing how the movements and graphics style were almost exactly the same. We did a bit of brainstorming, and we tried to rearrange some sentences with clarity as our main focus. I was surprised with how comfortable I was working in a group like that because I am used to being really independent with my work. I tend to work in my bed or on the couch, and I tend to get the most done when nobody is in the room and I have the TV making noise behind me. I usually just leave the TV on enough that it isn't dead silent in the room, but it's still quiet enough that it doesn't become a distraction. Overall, I really enjoyed what we did in class today. Home Life: I have to be honest, I feel like I have been getting lazy with my blogs, thankfully, I have a lot to say in this reflection, so I don't feel all that bad. I promise to get better with it though. I am going to be at a retreat this weekend, so I won't have internet for a few days, but when I come back, there will be plenty to blog about. This past week was crazy busy with planning and trying to figure out all of the details, and I'm not even a leader, I'm just a student helping out with the Prayer Experience. The Prayer Experience is basically a tent we set up in the main hall, that we use as an extension of the speaker's messages. It usually is set up as a redemption story that as you walk through, you realize the love and mercy and grace God has towards us. I don't want to reveal too much yet, because I don't want to explain everything and ruin it for all of my friends on the retreat, but the four main rooms in relation to the messages, are Grace, Devotion, Love and Life. We will also have what is going to be known as the psycho room at the very beginning. The winter retreat is one of my favorite events of the year, and I have to go pack everything tonight when I go home. I finished one of my main projects about an hour ago, and I am trying to keep it safe until then. I had to write up a scroll with the lyrics to Let it Happen by United Pursuit , we also have Kind by Amanda Cook, and one other song that I can't remember the name of. I am so excited to see how this all turns out, and I can't wait to tell you all about it soon. Bye for now! Reverse Outline
Title: The Technology of this Generation Thesis Statement: Technology, I've concluded, is of great use to America's teens, allowing for much productivity and communication, it seemingly has more benefits than anything else. Topic Sentences: Though our cell phones and computers harbor many distractions, they are also what help us to learn the most. Apart from productivity, communication is an amazing benefit from the constant use of technology. Source Material: Room for Debate Article YouTube Video with Dr. Amanda Third from the University of Western Sydney Web Site Matches Ready Teens and Willing Employers Rebuttal: Now, Many people argue that teens should not have access to technology because there are so many distractions, I understand that, I do. But the bigger issue is that our society no longer allows for failure, they are looking for perfection in an imperfect world. Yes our devices offer distractions, yes there are many who are willing to take advantage of the entertainment provided, and use it to help them procrastinate, to put off their work until later. I also understand that could cause teens to flunk an assignment, to forget something important, or lose sleep. But after that happens, it becomes an instant wake-up call, people learn the most from failure. You can never stand up without having fallen down. We had to fall down a few times before we could even learn how to walk. Of course we’re going to fall down a few times with harder things like high school, or college, or sports, or relationships, or anything else for that matter. We’re allowed to fall every once in awhile, and if it’s not caused by distractions offered by our phones, then it will be from board games, a hobby, playing with the springy doorstops, if we are being distracted, it is because we already wanted to be distracted. Argument Summary: Altogether, I believe I wrote a very convincing argument. I feel that I did a great job of acknowledging and responding to another viewpoint. I know that I need to shorten the length of the assignment, and I definitely feel that there are some parts I could strengthen, but apart from that, I feel as though my argument was very convincing to the general audience, and that I had some great supporting points. Many argue that teenagers are addicted to today's technology, and that it is a major concern for both their health and mentality, but it could actually be the thing that sparks the most creativity. Whether its due to homework, being grounded, or parents wanting to keep their children safe, America's teens are constantly stuck indoors; this makes it difficult to connect with their peers. Whereas previous generations stayed at the park from dawn to dusk with their friends, most teenagers feel that they never have a chance to see their friends, one of the things that inspires the most creativity, storytelling, and causes development of the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that allows for decision making.. Technology allows a bridge to be built, allowing communication between friends even while stuck inside. It allows for friends to share opinions, gain support, or share stories of events someone might have missed out on. Technology is also vital for learning, and education. Maybe a teen's favorite video game showed them their love for programming, maybe a smartphone is the only opportunity a person has to learn an instrument, plus, there's always just the enjoyable and beneficial communication of a friend who lives far away. Technology, I've concluded, is of great use to America's teens, allowing for much productivity and communication, it seemingly has more benefits than anything else.
This issue was debated by five experts on the New York Times' Room for Debate page, the article, Is Internet Addiction a Health Threat for Teenagers? used five different viewpoints and decided to let the reader decide. Danah Boyd, author of "It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens." explained that we should blame the society we live in, and not the screens themselves. Chris Bergman, founder and chief executive of ChoreMonster, followed a similar line of thought and went on about how we shouldn't limit the amount of time teenagers are allowed on technology, because it affects their behavior once they're out of their parents sight. After that, Brendesha Tynes, professor of education and psychology at University of Southern California, took her debate article in a totally different direction, and decided to share how she feels that Cyberbullying is the bigger issue. Yale professor of psychiatry, child study, and neurobiology, Marc Potenza, tells us that although more research is needed, he believes it to truly be a problem for America's youth. Finally, Kimberly Young, author of "Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction — and a Winning Strategy for Recovery," "Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide for Evaluation and Treatment" and other books. shares her tips for regulating the amount of time your child or teenager spends on technology. Though our cell phones and computers harbor many distractions, they are also what help us to learn the most. My free time is spent on websites such as Wikihow, Wikia, and BeeACoder.com, not to mention countless hours spent learning random trivia. It's the only way I have access to sheet music to continue studying piano, and it's how I complete any and all of my homework, not to mention more than half of my studies. My friends use their laptops to mix and edit their music, design with CAD, and share their latest paintings. More often then not, my teenage bother spends his time using YouTube to learn as much as he possibly can about the mysteries of science. We have access to the world through our phones and our computers, that's why the majority of us our stuck to them. We can learn anything we want from the comfort and safety of our own homes. Teenagers are given the opportunity to skip through years of school online, when entering into a cyber school setting, so long as you have the ability to keep up with the work, you're in whatever grade you want to be in. Our technology is one of the greatest resources we have, without it, we could never have made as much progress as we have today. Apart from productivity, communication is an amazing benefit of the constant use of technology. Recently, millions of teens moved around the world to begin their college experience, they left behind the people they knew, the things they were accustomed to, and the places they grew up. Without their social media and SMS capabilities, they might never talk to some of their friends or family again. With sites such as Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and so many others, there's no end to the possibilities of how you can keep in touch with your loved ones. You can keep them up to date with the latest things going on in your life, or just enjoy looking through old memories on your friends' pages. Even high school students reap the benefits of having these social media sites. If you're away from friends on holiday, or if you cannot find a way to meet up, you can call, text, or chat with them almost all the time. You always have a friend nearby, without actually having to have a friend nearby. In my life, technology is vital for communication. My grandparents live in Florida half the year, my mom's side of the family lives over an hour away, the best friends anyone could ever have either live over an hour away, or in California, and as a homeschooler, I tend to see my friends Sunday mornings at church, or Wednesday and Saturday evenings at youth group. So when something insane happens and I need to talk to someone, it may be a few days before I even have a chance to talk to them. Although with messenger, it only takes until the time their phone dings, after that, we can chat on for hours with ever having to make an extensive commute. I personally find this to be one of the greatest benefits technology has to offer. Communication and Productivity are great things that come out of a teen's use of technology. Without the usage of technology, teenagers would never have had the ability to learn as much as they do, they wouldn't easily be able to follow after their passions, and they would have an extremely difficult time connecting with their friends and families. It has become such a major part of each teenager's life, that I believe they would be much worse off without it. It is the reason for so many of our advances, although the are a few distractions and issues that come with it, I truly believe technology makes up for them every step of the way. I also believe that the most important benefit of technology is the communication it provides us with. Technology shapes the way teenagers think, and how they act, it helps them to learn and to grow, and without it, I think our generation would look very different. Reflection Time!
Class Life: This week in class, Dr. Mangini switched to more of a Lecture style setting. It was really hard to wrap my mind around this and focus in his class, because I'm not used to that setting. I guess I have to use some of that neuroplasticity we've learned about. But I totally get the lecture thing, he's teaching according to the style of the major assignment. The last assignment was the Adaptive Mindset Assignment, so he used some crazy teaching techniques to give us an idea of what adapting looks like in our lives. Now, we are doing a more formal essay, known as the Room for Debate Assignment, so he is using a more formal teaching style. Where he had given more of an overall look at our last assignment, this time he plans to give us more nuts and bolts, grammar related feedback. So, it's actually really interesting to see the class change with the assignments, but it will take a while to wrap my mind around the changes. Home Life: October 31st, Halloween. My sister Emma felt like changing up the routine a bit, it's been ages since we all went out to dinner, so she wanted to eat out like a normal family. But, if you haven't realized yet, my family is anything but normal. She asked my mom, who initially said no, but realized that even though it may be expensive, it's not like eating out is something we do often. "Go ask your dad." the usual reply. Emma then shot up the stairs and back into our bedroom. She begged me to ask dad because she didn't want him to say no, and she didn't want to upset him. I thought she was being ridiculous, so I walked into my parents bedroom and told him how Emma didn't want to ask him, but she wanted to know if we could go out to eat. "What did your mother say?" They always ask the same questions. "She told us to ask you." I replied. He was just making we weren't searching around to find the answer we wanted. I don't know" was all he said. I suggested we go somewhere like the Burger King up the road to save money, just so long as we didn't have to make dinner, or even worse, do dishes. I left it at that and went back into my room. Dad left for work, and I started on my math homework. time went by, I had finished my chores and completed some math. When he finally finished up and arrived home, he found mom and I at the computer. He never said hi or anything, he just strutted up to us and said that he had two conditions. "What?" Questioned mom having been given no context whatsoever. "The kids said they wanted to go out to dinner, so I have some conditions," He started laughing, which kind of concerned us, yet at the same time we were suddenly very intrigued. "One, you all need to dress up. All!" "Really?" I almost jumped out of my seat. "Really. everyone is going to dress up, and you have an hour to do so." "That's awesome!" I exclaimed as I darted up the stairs. I rushed to mom's dresser, looking around for her olive colored shirt, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I went back into my room and grabbed the October issue of Seventeen Magazine, and looked at the makeup ideas they gave. I loved the comic book superhero idea, but I didn't have the right makeup to created that look. Then I saw the mermaid costume idea, and knowing I had heaps of beach related items, I thought that would be a good idea. But I had nothing for the tail. Eventually, my mom mentioned her and dad's old karate uniforms, she said that maybe I could wear the karate uniform, and she could wear my nursing scrubs. Then I felt like a total idiot because I forgot about my scrubs. I said that she should wear the karate uniform, because it was hers and because she still wore the same size clothes as she did when she took karate. Plus, the scrubs were my size because I need them if I become a nurse Eventually, I threw on my scrubs, wrapped my stethoscope around my neck, placed some pens in my pocket and threw on the closest things I had to tennis shoes. I was ready to go. I also slipped my phone into the pocket of my scrubs instead of my jacket so it would look like I had something in my pocket. My dad never told us where we were going, but we took turns guessing, and I found out I was right as we pulled into Applebee's, and we were pleasantly surprised to see all of the waiters and waitresses in costume. They absolutely loved our costumes, and we were seated immediately. My dad dressed up in his dad's old clothes from the seventies, my mom wore her old karate uniform, I wore my scrubs, Sam wore his hunting outfit, Emma wore her everyday clothes but with a cowgirl hat and a pair of cowboy boots, and Zachary dressed up as a lamb using a costume we had to make for his pre-school's harvest party. It was actually a really great idea, and it's a great story to share. Last night, Wednesday October 28th, was the third Republican Debate, and the candidates made a very valid point. The Democrats have the ultimate super PAC going for them; the media. It drives me insane, Hillary sent out confidential information on her own personal secure server, yet the media idolizes her and says how everything she does is amazing. Here's what Marco Rubio had to say about this: Last week, Hillary Clinton went before a committee. She admitted sending emails to her family saying, "Hey, this attack on Benghazi was caused by Al Qaeda-like elements." She spent over a week telling the families of those victims that it was because of a video. And yet, the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton's campaign... It was the week she got exposed as a liar. It was the week that she got exposed as a liar. But she has her super PAC helping her out. The American mainstream media. Before that, Donald Trump said: Super PAC's, are a disaster, they're a scam, they cause dishonesty, and you better get rid of them. Because they are causing a lot of bad decisions to be made by some very good people... You better get rid of the super PAC's, because they're causing a big problem with this country. Not only in dishonesty, and what's going on, but also in a lot of bad decisions that are being made. In the benefit of lobbyists and special interests "The questions that have been asked so far in this debate, illustrate why the people don't trust the media." Said Ted Cruz, "This is not a cage match, and, if you look at the questions... How about talking about the substantive issues people care about?"
The media has a clear bias, we know the media wants a democrat, just like we know everything else it wants. The American mainstream media just puts out one bias after another, and they never give you both sides. You know what they want, and seeing as they're such big influencers, you know what we're going to get. That's what I chose to take out of the debate, because it was one of the biggest truths there. Oh my gosh!!! We got a cat!
Wednesday, October 21st, Grammy (My grandmother on my mom's side, the one who owns a traveling carnival) went in for knee surgery. Almost everyday since, my mom has made the commute of about an hour or so, to go out and help her. Last night, my mom and my sister went out to visit her, and when they came home, Emma came through the door screaming. "We have a cat! We have a cat!" she screamed. I believed her, but I didn't. I saw the carrier in her hand and I figured we were just taking care of it for a few days while Grammy recovered, but my mom said otherwise. I was totally surprised, we've had cats in the past, but after the last one being eaten (it was either a bird or a raccoon that did it), I figured we'd never get to have any pets again. In the past, we've had 2 cats, 4 kittens, 20+ fish, a field mouse, and 3 pet rocks. Obviously, we were bored of the rocks pretty quickly, so that didn't last long, the field mouse ran away the night we caught it, the 5 of the fish lasted for a few years, 6 lasted for a few months, and the rest were killed by my mom shortly after we bought them. She has a knack for killing goldfish. Once, while we were staying at a trailer park, she set my brand new goldfish, Rose, behind the wheel of a trailer. "Mom! Don't put it under a tire, what if they run over it?" I said indignantly. "They're not going to move," my mom argued. I woke up the next morning to a broken fishbowl and a dead fish.. "I told you!" I shouted "Well. maybe they will move" was all my mom said. After that I never let her near another one of my fish. Before my brother Zach was born, we had 4 kittens, Samantha was mine, Beans, was Sam's, Emma belonged to Emma.. and my parent's had the runt of the pack, so they decided to name it runt. My mom decided to sell them when they were only a few months old, so they weren't with us for very long anyway. Plus, you already know what happened to my cat Schootch, she was older then me, so I guess it was her time anyway, and our other cat Snips died of age back in 2009, and my dad had her back in the early 90's so she was definitely getting old as well. So all that said, Scrunchy, a dark colored, striped, 8 week old kitten, who is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. She has been sleeping on my tummy this entire time I've typed this, and she only weights a few pounds. Seeing as almost my entire family is allergic to pets, my mom has asthma, and we were almost completely clear of any pet residue, well, that and my mom's constant refusal to let us get a pet, I figured we'd never have a pet again... Well, maybe some fish, but that's about it. Anyway, all that to say: We have a kitten! Reflection Time!
Class Life: This week in class, more people gave their AMA presentations, and we scheduled our midterm conferences. Basically, we are going to try and convince our professor to give us the grade we want. We already sent in our pitch, a one page double spaced paper, and now we are just waiting for our conferences to talk about it. So I took a slot for 2:30 pm on Thursday, and my professor and I discuss the grading or 'elevator' pitch, he also said we can talk about publishing a post I wrote. In class, I found out that my AMA still hadn't been due even though I thought it was. I had rushed around like crazy trying to create my video and do the life of a homeschooler section that took forever to write. I'm actually still editing and cutting that down, because I realized that it doesn't truly reflect every week as much as it does one single day that I remembered. More often then not, I used to have very hectic mornings, and I was so busy that my sister had to make my lunches for me. So finding they weren't due yet was a bit of a relief. Home Life: Sunday, was my last work day for the carnival season. We went up to Cacoosing, which to give you a general area, is near Reading. I worked in the cotton candy trailer, which is kind of out of my element. Like I've said in the past, I'm used to working in the sausage trailer. It's a really cute fair. It is very family friendly, with a cute craft show, about five rides, pony rides, and a street fair over the bridge. It's about five hours long, and by the time we're done, its way past dark. Today (October 20th), is my baby brother's fifth birthday. He is obsessed with Spiderman, so we used cray paper to create a giant spider web on the ceiling, then we placed a giant fuzzy, purple spider inside the web and just have it hanging there. We also have a cake covered in frosting and sprinkles with Spiderman's colors. Plus, we have a bunch of Spiderman plates, cups, and stuff like that. We have a tradition the each kid gets to pick out their birthday dinner, so Zach picked both kinds of pigs in a blanket, hot dogs wrapped in bacon on one tray, and hot dogs baked in bread on the other tray. We're just waiting for my father to come home so we can begin the festivities. Hey guys! Sorry I haven't done a troubleshoot in a while, but I'm back and planning to do more soon. Here it is:
Remember a while ago when Dr. Mangini told us we could change the dates on our blogs? I had a bit of trouble figuring it out at first. I was looking for some sort of an 'options' button. I couldn't find one anywhere, and it looked as though the date was plastered on there. I really wanted to change one of my blog dates so it didn't look like I was flooding my blog with posts when I first started blogging. I now know that three posts is not enough to count as flooding, but still, I didn't like posting them all up there at once. I looked everyplace I knew of, I went through general blog settings, I checked the tops and bottoms of the blog pages (blog itself, and individual blog posts), and I even looked through Weebly's inspiration center. I just could not find it anywhere. Then it hit me. Maybe the obvious answer is the best answer. So I went back to the editor for the individual blog post, and I clicked on the date, right under the title; a calendar appeared, and I clicked on the date I wanted to use for my post. Easy as that. If you caught the first democratic debate on CNN last night, you may have seen Bernie Sander's views on tuition-free college. He said "If our economy is to be strong, we need the best-educated work force in the world." Although this fact is true, I disagree with him when he says that public college's will be free. One, he wants to pay for it with tax payer money. Two, There are too many questions that need answering. Can everyone get into college? Or is it just free for those who can be accepted in to the college. Will going to college become something that is solely based off of a person's grades? After tax dollars, will the government have to pay for it all, or will people have to pay for college once again?
Personally, I don't see how the government could even think of spending any more money. When will they realize that nothing in this world is truly free? I am against a free college. Bernie Sanders says he will only be forcing the rich to pay. But is that really true? How can we know for sure? Eventually, the government would boost everyone's taxes, and we would be paying for millions of people to go to college. That's great for them, but can we seriously afford to pay those taxes ourselves? If they do actually care, then they shouldn't be trying to make colleges free, but instead they should be trying to reduce tuition. Maybe cut it in half. They would still be using tax payer dollars, but it wouldn't be as big of a blow when we have to start paying. That's my honest opinion. What about you? What solutions do you have? What crazy ideas do you have that could change the way we look at a free college system? Say whatever you'd like in the comments, good, bad, or anything in between, I want to hear what you have to say on this matter. A day in the life of a college student involves class lectures, fun in-class games, homework that is much easier than expected, and time hanging out with some of my favorite people. I wake up around 7ish, take a shower and get dressed, get some lunch money from mom, and have her drop me off. I head in and go straight for the computers in the STEM center. After signing in, I immediately check my website stats and go write or edit another blog post. One of my friends is in class, and the other hasn’t even woken up yet. I decide to get on facebook for a bit, and then move up to the library. It’s usually pretty easy to run into someone you know in the library, so I like to wait up there until a workshop starts. Then, I go to a workshop, where someone reads a powerpoint about a specific topic that’s supposed to help us in school. After that it’s straight to Psychology 140 with Dr. Nelson, she gives a lecture and tells some stories, after that we’re good to go, if we’ve taken good notes, then we can write in our online journals and we should be ready for our quiz. I have ten minutes to fill up my water bottle, go to the bathroom, and climb two flights of stairs to get to my class. English Composition 100 comes and Dr. Mangini is his crazy self. His class is mainly based off conversation, we do lots of planned activities, and most of our time is spent talking in groups or with him directly. The class involves a lot of collaboration, and he manages to create some awesome life or writing lesson throughout all of the organized chaos of the classroom. Coming out of his classroom, it’s just after 3. I meet up with Matt and/or Jon and we hang out until my next class at 6. I try to force Jon to do some sort of physical activity, and I tutor Matt before we head to Statistical Mathematics 210. Dr. Gidelew lectures us for an hour and fifteen minutes, and the last fifteen minutes are spent doing as many practice problems as we have time to do. One of my parents picks me up at 7:30, and I’ve officially spent over twelve hours on college. Once I get home I start on my work, and I mainly just end up watching television. After that, it’s off to bed. Homework is mainly just homework. I write my blog, I do some math, I journal for psychology, and I work on my English paper. Most other time is spent watching television, babysitting, or working on my voice lessons, the rest of my time is spent on photography.
|
Rebekah W
Here I will blog about the word, and the world we live in. Archives
February 2017
Categories
All
|