After reviewing the grading contract to refresh my memory, and a careful consideration of my work ethic, assignments, absences, and projects, I believe my grade should be somewhere around an A-. I knew that this course was one where I would have to buckle down and put in my all, not because the work was difficult or the subject demanding, but because both you and my classmates demanded a higher level of thinking and performance. If that sounds negative, let me assure you that I was excited to be in an environment that took writing and learning seriously, where the students were a community that pushed each other to go above and beyond the assignment outlines, and where I felt that I could challenge myself to see just what I could produce. This class has given me not only the skills for future classes and my career, but it has built up my network of writers and of friends. I feel more prepared because of this class (and the Professions class) than from any other course I have yet to take, and I attribute that to you and your teaching. I have worked hard to produce high quality work, written extensively on all blog assignments, and did my best to give my classmates the best aid and most helpful responses that I could. I worked to make my blog functional and included photos, a home page, and personalized information to give it both a professional and inviting feel. I have participated in class discussions, did not miss class except for illness, and always gave every

Rosen's second article talks about the kind of information researches can gather about an idvidual just from looking at their Facebook, and I have to say, it's taken them this long to notice that? For years, my friends and I have combed the profiles of would-be boy interests, possible new friends, roommates, and even family members. From likes, music interests, pictures, and text posts, we would extrapolate how these people might be in real life and how their personality, as it was presented online, might mix with our own.

Just recently I went through this process with a new roommate my friends and I recieved for next year. As soon as her name went up on our housing forms, we clicked right over to Facebook and typed her in. I won't say her name, but on her page we could discover key things about her personality. She is a devout follower in her church, she is a singer, she has many friends, likes to go on trips, and has a large family with whom she stays in consistant contact with online. All this, and she had much of her profile listed as 'private.' 

While finding this information and being able to determin so much about another person was not difficult, I do not find it troubling. At least, not when those of my generation use the information this way, as a means of learning about another potential human connection so as to aid in the trasition from strangers to maybe-friends. 

I was curious, after going on her page, to see what my own profile said about me. I had no doubt that she was Facebooking my roommates and I as well. 

Recently, I changed my provacy settings to be much more stringent on what the public can see, due to nosey family and a paranoia about future job prospects. While it removed any chance of my Aunt and mother keeping tabs on my every cyber-move, it had the effect of limiting what aspects of my online personality others could see. I had not made my pictures private, and since the majority of my recent pictures are from going out with my friends and boyfriend, I discovered my page now seemed extremely boyfriend-centric. 

Literaly, all it is is pictures of the two of us, news articles I have writen and posted, and links that I have shared, which were mostly news-based. So I like news and my boyfriend. According to my profile, that's it. 

Even typing this now, I feel the need to defend myself. I'm not centered around the boy! And while the new job has become a main aspect of my daily life, it is still just one aspect. Once the new roommate and I become actual Facebook friends, she will have access to a lot more information about me and I about her, but for right now we hover on the edge of generalities. She's a bible thumper and I'm a boy-crazy reporter, 

It might be because of our limited public profiles, but exploring this has made me think about how Facebooking a person without having full access to everything they do online can lead to some very general and very wrong assumptions. It makes me question the validity of the study and just what people could truly figure out. 

It's interesting, the things I considered when thinking about the first question. My mind immediately went to my recent use of Facebook, which was to "stalk," as the current term is, or find information about my new roommate for next year.  If she had not had a Facebook, my first instinct would have been that there was something wrong. Why? I'm not entirely sure I can answer that question fully, mostly because it seems illogical to me that not having your personal information out where everyone can see it is a sign of something negative. In reality, this probably is a smart choice, but it makes me believe that a person is either completely lacking in a social life, or makes so many bad decsions that they cannot risk having a place where others can post them. 

My group has been a very good experience in collaboration mostly because we are consistent with communication. No one is shy about sending an email or message asking a question or updating the others about what they've worked on and what the rest of the members need to help with. I don't feel that this group has held me back in any way, mostly because the amount of work that each of us has tackled is about even and has significantly eased the work load on the others. Also, because this group is positive  I feel pushed to do my work sooner and in a more thorough way so as not to be considered the slacker of the bunch. 

I can't imagine having to work alone on a project of this magnitude. Possibly, if this was the only class I was taking, I would be able to do it and do it well, but add on four other classes and a job? Near impossible. I appreciate the help and the ability to distribute the work so that it is of the best quality we can. I hate having to rush through an assignment or work so long on it that I feel my brain going numb, and with a project this size both of those things would inevitably happen. I'm happy with my group and with the work we've done so far. Hopefully this feeling sticks around. 

Our group, so far, has been working very well. We met once during what would have been class time last week and created our plan for the project, as well as found all the sources we plan to use. Afterwards we each agreed to pick different links and create an annotation for them, thus breaking up the work and allowing everyone to get to know the information we were dealing with. I think that we have worked together well and will no doubt be able to finish everything without burdening one member too much over any other. We still haven't finished the annotated, but it's just a matter of writing it out, no more information or sources need to be found. We have created the blog page and shared it with all members, we have developed a plan, and organized our ideas to be more central to the idea of crossfitness over traditional gym membership.

Collaboration is when a group works together in a way that evenly distributes work, and each member is assigned the work that they are best able to handle. In this way, the entire group can play on their strengths and cover their weaknesses, give each other feedback, work through ideas, and generally build something better than what could have been made alone. At least, that's what I believe collaboration SHOULD be like, but my experience is that I, and possibly one other group member, inevitably ends up doing 90% of the project. The reasons the slackers cite are too-full schedules, family needs, and even readily saying they are incompetent and cannot be trusted. It's a point of hatred for group projects for me, because blast it all, I have a full schedule, too! The difference is that I actually care about getting something done and doing it right, and my academic nature prevents me from letting others pick up any slack. The only thing group projects has taught me is how much I can hate other people.

Somehow, I still have some hope for group work, because I can see the benefits in it. When working with invested, eager people who understand how collaboration is supposed to work, the amount of work and ideas generated is amazing. In a few short hours a productive group can build and refine working theories, come up with details, and even have some time left over for finishing touches. The more people, the more ideas, and when people are willing to listen to each other and be gracious with praise and criticism, then I love working in that environment.

The obstacles, or obstacle, that I seem to always run into is that most of the group just doesn't care enough about the project to get anything done. I dislike having to pull ideas out of people the way dentists pull teeth, and it causes the friction the article talks about, when one or two people just won't put aside what they WANT for what NEEDS to be done. This can lead to explosions within the group, or me throwing up my hands and saying, "FINE! I'll do it, be there when we hand it in, and email me how to spell your names." Not the best track record or response, but anything directed towards forcing collaboration has never succeeded. 

I knew that to be an advocate for something, it meant that you supported it and tried to explain to others why they should support it, too. That was the general definition anyway, but after reading I realize that it is a little bit more complicated than that. To advocate is to express a position and then assert your power so that others will respect your choice and be influenced to look into why it gives you such authority. That sort of sounds misleading, though, because I see being an advocate not as a forceful thing. Like I said, it's about explaining why you think something is worthwhile to others, giving your opinion and reasoning, and then allowing them to look at the facts and be free to draw their own conclusions. The tricky part is explaining that advocacy also has an element of influence, meaning you want the people you are trying to gain support of to look at the facts in the best way for your cause. 

http://www.stillad.com/samsung-mp3-player-1354.htm

The link above is to an ad for Samsung headphones, and I'm focusing on the one with a rapper hanging from a teen's ear. Clearly they want people my age to know that using these headphones is like listening to a live artist shouting into your eardrums. That has an influence in it, meaning that they want us to think "Listening to music is fun, listening to concerts is better, so this combines the two, meaning I need it!" There are facts there, but they are skewed in favor of what is being advocated. 

It's so hard to pick from the presentations today, all of them were so emotional and so easy to connect with that picking one out seems impossible. I thought Katelyn's was so well done, both in the written aspect and in her visual presentation. Shelby's was adorable, and I related to her love of her blanket since I, too, have a tendency to sleep with my childhood stuffed animals. Currently I sleep with a bear, who I've named Cuddles, given to me by my long-time boyfriend,  A lot of the presentations today were about accepting ourselves and about choosing what makes us happy. I feel that is the point of the This I Believe essays, to make a connection with people to say, "Hey, you're not alone, you're not weird, and you don't need to change." 

Thank you for that being over! I don't know why I get so anxious about presentations, especially this one where I wasn't even speaking, just playing audio. As you can imagine, public speaking class was Hell on Earth for me. That all said, I'm really pleased with how everything worked out. The response to my essay was amazing and every giggle made more of the tension leave my body. I appreciate every paper that says encouragement and has suggestions for improvement, because they let me know that I'm on the right track with this project. What I discovered while presenting is that the conflict between my mother and I, a sore point in my life for so long, has become a funny story that simply was. It no longer has the sting or negative feeling it used to, just a 

My favorite part about these presentations is that I get a chance to learn about my classmates and peers in an open forum, so that they become people instead of faces in a crowd. It also makes the atmosphere of classes more welcoming, not that this class was in any way cold, but it just adds that layer of comfort that allows for people to speak up, to smile, and to build a stronger community of students. 

Is it clear right away what the argument is? Meaning: Is it clear what she/he believes in? How is it indicated clearly? Write what you believe to be the thesis of this project in one sentence. (I believe in __________________). 

Yes and no, the essay says that "technology control daily human life," which is explained in the first paragraph, but the personal story that is used speaks about how technology ruins/strains friendship. I think talking about "human life" is too broad, and that the story of the friendship should be the main focus. It seems more like the title should be, "I believe Technology Has Taken Over Friendship." The first paragraph is also a bit long, explaining the same basic concept over and over, that social media is easy to access and distracting. That needs two, maybe three sentences to explain, but then you should jump right into the story of how your friend could not tear herself away from her technology, and then lengthen the story, explaining how this has affected/damaged/changed your relationship, especially if it was in a negative way. Basically, you should start your essay at the last sentence of your first paragraph.


Sources: Are sources indicated for photos/visuals? How many sources are included for photos? Are they in correct MLA or APA format? Is the works cited present somewhere within the project? In alphabetical order? Was proper in-text citation used throughout the paper? 

I can't seem to find your photo essay and no sources/citations are needed in your written essay. 


Aesthetics: Is the project visually appealing? Is something lacking? Comment on any modes that are difficult to read, hear, see, or understand.


No photo essay or audio available to view.

Mechanics: Comment on any glaring or distracting errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling (also tense, voice, etc.). 


Document in Link: 

Content: Comment on the quality of the content. Consider arrangement, font, colors, sound, volume, accessibility, etc.


Font is normal and easy to read, no odd colors or formatting that gets in the way. It looks clean and professional.

Organization: Comment on the placement of the written essay portion with the visual/mulitmodal portion. Are they integrated together effectively? Is it awkward?

None of the elements are presented together.

Originality: Comment on originality. Is this something you already knew? Did the person/group try anything new and exciting? 

Most people think technology is the greatest thing ever invented, but we have all had that moment of annoyance and anger when it interferes with our personal relationships. We want our friends and loved ones to give us their full attention, and anything less just seems rude. 


Unifying Elements: Comment on the presence of a theme throughout all related works. What ties all of it together? Is it disjointed? 


No extra elements visible.