At 165 page views with what I have been posting, I wasn't expecting that many in such a short period of time. Since the class that I initially made this blog for is over, would you as the reader like me to continue it? It would be full of fun stuff, videos, more stuff about me and probably mostly stuff about Sailor Moon. So please like and / or comment to acknowledge that you wish for me to continue with this blog.
Thanks for being amazingly awesome people,
~<3Alexis
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
Grading A Presentation
Ken Robertson presented about how education kills creativity. I enjoyed his presentation very much because he kept the audience engaged with humorous stories that related to the topic he was talking about. His strength throughout the presentation was keeping the audience engaged. Usually during long presentations like this one I tend to fall asleep, but his jokes and the audience's laughter kept me awake and engaged. He could improve on his transitions and organization though. The way he would transition from the topic to an engaging joke and back to the topic from time to time was a little confusing and hard to follow. According to the rubric that I was handed in class, I gave him an overall grade of 90. I gave him this grade because he did keep the audience engaged, but lacked in organization, talked a little too fast and was kind of hard to follow at times.
I do agree with what he was saying about how education kills creativity. In his presentation he states that "We are born with creativity, but education takes it away as we move up." And its true, just like if you don't practice a sport, instrument, math or writing- you'll lose that skill later on in life. Education is just as important as a child's creativity.
I do agree with what he was saying about how education kills creativity. In his presentation he states that "We are born with creativity, but education takes it away as we move up." And its true, just like if you don't practice a sport, instrument, math or writing- you'll lose that skill later on in life. Education is just as important as a child's creativity.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Do You Need A Virtual Break?
Mark Bittman wrote "I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really" where he talks about his addiction to technology and how he needs a break from all of it. He also points out the downside of unplugging from technology, because there are so many people that depend on him, he is worried that there would be an emergency before the 24 hour unplug ends.
I think that others should take the initiative to unplug for 24 hours. There's more to life than hiding behind a screen. There may be people out there who don't think they can do it, but then just think if you were forced to unplug. If every device in the world just stopped working, the people who don't use their devices often will be fine, but others who depend on those same devices would be freaking out. This is the reason that everyone should unplug for 24 hours once a week, or even once a month.
I think that others should take the initiative to unplug for 24 hours. There's more to life than hiding behind a screen. There may be people out there who don't think they can do it, but then just think if you were forced to unplug. If every device in the world just stopped working, the people who don't use their devices often will be fine, but others who depend on those same devices would be freaking out. This is the reason that everyone should unplug for 24 hours once a week, or even once a month.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up In Cyberspace
Thanks to e-mail, online chat rooms and instant messages- which permit private, real-time conversations- adolescents have at last succeeded in shielding their social lives from adult security. Now instead of that good old fashion phone call worrying about an adult answering the phone, walking to the person's house and having to talk to the person's parent who opens the door, the adolescent can by-pass all of that and talk to whoever it is they want to talk to though the World Wide Web. But in doing so, they are isolating themselves from real-world interactions. They can shop online, browse the web, play games over the internet, chat and so on- so why go out with our friends to do those things? Its not necessary anymore.
"Mr. Lewis illustrated a point with Marcus Arnold, who, as a 15-year-old, adopted a pseudonym and posed as a 25-year-old legal expert for an Internet information service. Marcus did not feel guilty, and wasn't deterred, but when real-world lawyers discovered his secret and accused him of being a fraud, he simply responded that he found all of the books boring, leaving us to conclude he had learned all he knows from the internet and watching his family's bis screen TV."
-Brent Staples "What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace"
I do agree with Staples that if we allow adolescents to grow up on the internet that they will not develop the social skills that they need to be successful when they reach adulthood but, I also believe that the use of social media to communicate with distant friends and relatives is needed.
"Mr. Lewis illustrated a point with Marcus Arnold, who, as a 15-year-old, adopted a pseudonym and posed as a 25-year-old legal expert for an Internet information service. Marcus did not feel guilty, and wasn't deterred, but when real-world lawyers discovered his secret and accused him of being a fraud, he simply responded that he found all of the books boring, leaving us to conclude he had learned all he knows from the internet and watching his family's bis screen TV."
-Brent Staples "What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace"
I do agree with Staples that if we allow adolescents to grow up on the internet that they will not develop the social skills that they need to be successful when they reach adulthood but, I also believe that the use of social media to communicate with distant friends and relatives is needed.
Summary of a Newspaper Article
More than half a century ago, 80 Korean laborers died of abuse and malnutrition as they built an airfield for the Japanese military in World War II. Koichi Mizuguchi helped to find the graves and also helped to build a six-foot memorial at the site to honor those Koreans who were buried there. It has never been easy for Japan to come to terms with their militarist past, and tried to set aside the issues raised by war as it rebuilt itself into the peaceful nation it is today. Pressure to erase the darker episodes of its wartime history has intensified recently with the rise of a small, aggressive online movement known as the Net Right. The Net Right are organized cyber activists who were once dismissed as radicals on the far margins of the Japanese political landscape, but they have gained outside influence with officials who share their goal of ending negative portrayals of Japanese history.
A shift in Japanese political culture which has emboldened the ultra-naturalists to target the acts of historical contrition that Japanese society previously embraced has been one result of the events that have taken place according to Sakaguchi and other experts.
Fackler, Martin "Pressure in Japan to Forget Sins of War" New York Times 29 October 2014: A4, A9. Print.
A shift in Japanese political culture which has emboldened the ultra-naturalists to target the acts of historical contrition that Japanese society previously embraced has been one result of the events that have taken place according to Sakaguchi and other experts.
Fackler, Martin "Pressure in Japan to Forget Sins of War" New York Times 29 October 2014: A4, A9. Print.
Monday, October 6, 2014
A Summary
Today in class, we read Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy by Robert Applebaum published in The Norton MIX 2013.
This piece was all about eliminating student debt completely so that the money can go elsewhere and help stimulate the economy. Applebaum goes on to talk about the trillions and trillions of dollars that go into student loans, and the trillions that don't get paid back on time each year. This money also goes into "funding banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and other industries of greed that are responsible for the current economic crisis", as stated by Applebaum. There's really not much else to say about this piece because that's all it was about. It was interesting to read, and it included a lot of statistics to prove his point. I thought it was funny at one part where he stated "outstanding student loan debt totaling approximately $550 billion (that's billion with a "b", not a "t")".
I suppose this is it for this entry, until next time.
This piece was all about eliminating student debt completely so that the money can go elsewhere and help stimulate the economy. Applebaum goes on to talk about the trillions and trillions of dollars that go into student loans, and the trillions that don't get paid back on time each year. This money also goes into "funding banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and other industries of greed that are responsible for the current economic crisis", as stated by Applebaum. There's really not much else to say about this piece because that's all it was about. It was interesting to read, and it included a lot of statistics to prove his point. I thought it was funny at one part where he stated "outstanding student loan debt totaling approximately $550 billion (that's billion with a "b", not a "t")".
I suppose this is it for this entry, until next time.
Monday, September 29, 2014
About the Internet
Today in class I read "Web of Risks" by Brad Stone, which was published in 2006. The article, which was originally published in Newsweek talks about how our profiles on social media aren't really private. Though there are settings to protect against this, there are still ways for our boss, professor, parent, police, or complete stranger can get in to our profiles to see what we post and how we act.
Facebook as we know, was created by Marc Zuckerberg, who originally intended it to be used for college students to communicate. Soon it exploded and opened to the public, and now more than eight million people have profiles on Facebook. These social media sites have their pros and their cons. For example, in the reading it mentions a college student by the name of Jason Johnson who created a MySpace page. People from his school could hear his favorite song, learn his birthday, or find out that he was gay. The school he went to was none other than the University of Cumberland's, a Southwest Baptist School. The handbook for the school states that all students must uphold a "Christian Lifestyle" which the school president explained included a ban on homosexuality. Jason was expelled from the school, but hired a lawyer and took the school to court, so he could transfer to a new school with a clean record.
Using social media in this way, I believe, is wrong. Sure its okay to check up on someone's profile, but with good reason. Like this other example of a college applicant who had a picture of himself with a bottle of vodka. He ended up not being able to get into that college, because he was demonstrating illegal behavior.
/!\ EDIT: This is going to be a response to the above paragraph, written as an edit instead of a new post as instructed by the professor. This response is about agreeing or disagreeing with what I said above, and what I think about the author for writing "Web of Risks".
~The author, Brad Stone did portray his opinion about the web in this writing, and I agree with him in some ways. I agree that the web is a dangerous place and that posting personal information could come back to haunt someone in the future, but I also believe that someone should be able to do as they wish.
Facebook as we know, was created by Marc Zuckerberg, who originally intended it to be used for college students to communicate. Soon it exploded and opened to the public, and now more than eight million people have profiles on Facebook. These social media sites have their pros and their cons. For example, in the reading it mentions a college student by the name of Jason Johnson who created a MySpace page. People from his school could hear his favorite song, learn his birthday, or find out that he was gay. The school he went to was none other than the University of Cumberland's, a Southwest Baptist School. The handbook for the school states that all students must uphold a "Christian Lifestyle" which the school president explained included a ban on homosexuality. Jason was expelled from the school, but hired a lawyer and took the school to court, so he could transfer to a new school with a clean record.
Using social media in this way, I believe, is wrong. Sure its okay to check up on someone's profile, but with good reason. Like this other example of a college applicant who had a picture of himself with a bottle of vodka. He ended up not being able to get into that college, because he was demonstrating illegal behavior.
/!\ EDIT: This is going to be a response to the above paragraph, written as an edit instead of a new post as instructed by the professor. This response is about agreeing or disagreeing with what I said above, and what I think about the author for writing "Web of Risks".
~The author, Brad Stone did portray his opinion about the web in this writing, and I agree with him in some ways. I agree that the web is a dangerous place and that posting personal information could come back to haunt someone in the future, but I also believe that someone should be able to do as they wish.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Language Environments
Do you ever find yourself speaking differently to your friends than you do with your teachers, parents or at work? That's because there are different language environments in which we change our speech to meet the standards of who we are talking to. Its the same when we are writing an e-mail, or texting.
When I'm with my family, I don't use any slang or vulgar speech because I know that if i do, they'll yell or ground me. When I'm with my friends though, I'll let the F-bombs fly no problem. At work during the day, or on shift helping customers I use proper English and grammar when I speak. After though; depending who the manager on shift is, and depending if they say something vulgar first, then I swear back and talk about customers.
Language we use really depends on who we are with, and who is around at the time. If I'm out in public with my friends I'll be swearing up a storm, but with my mom I'm usually quiet and don't talk much at all. When texting, unless I'm in a hurry i type out all of my words and swear to whoever I'm sending the message to. E-mails are different, since I'm currently e-mailing a middle school teacher about interning with her and a few other teachers.
-Comment below on what language you use with your parents, friends, work, or other places and if you think our language changes depending on who we are with.
When I'm with my family, I don't use any slang or vulgar speech because I know that if i do, they'll yell or ground me. When I'm with my friends though, I'll let the F-bombs fly no problem. At work during the day, or on shift helping customers I use proper English and grammar when I speak. After though; depending who the manager on shift is, and depending if they say something vulgar first, then I swear back and talk about customers.
Language we use really depends on who we are with, and who is around at the time. If I'm out in public with my friends I'll be swearing up a storm, but with my mom I'm usually quiet and don't talk much at all. When texting, unless I'm in a hurry i type out all of my words and swear to whoever I'm sending the message to. E-mails are different, since I'm currently e-mailing a middle school teacher about interning with her and a few other teachers.
-Comment below on what language you use with your parents, friends, work, or other places and if you think our language changes depending on who we are with.
Learning Styles
Learning Style is the way an individual learns weather it be through Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic. I am a very visual learner myself. Being a Visual learner means that I learn by viewing charts, diagrams or pictures more easily than listening. I'm also a hands-on or Kinesthetic learner, which means I like to watch someone demonstrate and then try it for myself. Being an Auditory learner means that someone has a better time learning if something is explained in detail to them, or if they read directions.
Most people are all three learning styles in different situations. For example, if there are pictures to go along with a lecture, I would be listening while looking at the pictures. At that moment, I would be considered an Auditory and Visual learner. During a different class; such as Art, I would be considered a Visual and Kinesthetic learner because I would watch the teacher draw something, and then draw it myself.
Please post your results in the Comments!
My results:
- Visual: 14
- Aural: 3
- Read/Write: 5
- Kinesthetic: 8
Monday, September 15, 2014
Effects Of Technology On Everyday Life
Everyone in the world is aware of the latest technology, from the new Iphone 6, to the Surface Pro 3. The next generation of children say they can't live without their Galaxy Note 3's, Ipads, and other gadgets. The kids today will never know what the 90's kids had to go through, with our Motorola flip phones, GameBoy Advance SP's, and poorly animated TV shows. Technology has greatly impacted the lives of the next generation, but it has also made this generation dependent on things that we would have never thought we would be dependent on.
Now we anticipate the next release of an Iphone, 3DS, Tablet, and so on. We crave for the next contract upgrade to get a bigger and better phone, but what happened to the good old days where technology was still at its infancy? Where we weren't so dependent on it to do the simple daily things like exercise, eat right, remember a birthday, or spell something correctly? What ever happened to writing everything down on a post-it note or looking something up in a physical dictionary?
Today, technology reminds us. Facebook notifies us when someone has a birthday, Iphones or Smartphones remind us to do things that we forget to do, and we can look up the spelling of a word on Microsoft or just type it into Google. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong time, I would be completely fine with going back to the basic technology. I would rather go play with Linkin' Logs than play with a game on a Smartophone or Tablet.
Well then, What do you think about today's Technology? Submit your answer in the comments, I'd love to know what you think.
Now we anticipate the next release of an Iphone, 3DS, Tablet, and so on. We crave for the next contract upgrade to get a bigger and better phone, but what happened to the good old days where technology was still at its infancy? Where we weren't so dependent on it to do the simple daily things like exercise, eat right, remember a birthday, or spell something correctly? What ever happened to writing everything down on a post-it note or looking something up in a physical dictionary?
Today, technology reminds us. Facebook notifies us when someone has a birthday, Iphones or Smartphones remind us to do things that we forget to do, and we can look up the spelling of a word on Microsoft or just type it into Google. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong time, I would be completely fine with going back to the basic technology. I would rather go play with Linkin' Logs than play with a game on a Smartophone or Tablet.
Well then, What do you think about today's Technology? Submit your answer in the comments, I'd love to know what you think.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
How It Feels To Be A College Student
Its always weird moving up to the next grade level, and I mean going from second grade to third grade, fifth grade to sixth, and then senior to freshman in college. Its like going to an entirely new school, even though the district is the same. Transitioning from high school into college was a huge eye opener for me.
Honestly, I thought it was going to be a whole lot harder than it was. The only thing that I find weird is that I have classes that don't start until eleven in the morning, so I don't need to wake up at six every morning like I'm use to. Other days I start at nine in the morning and I'm home by noon. Mondays are really weird because I have a class in the morning, a seven hour break, and another class from six to nine at night.
Something that bothers me about college is that I know most of my friends from high school are going to the same college for different things, and we are at school at the same time, but their classes are at different times and I never get to see them. I suppose that's a sign for me to make new friends, but I'm not a very social person.
Though, college isn't all that bad. Its actually been fun, and I've actually been talking to people in my classes. I can say that I'm already looking forward to next semester and the new classes, teachers, and students I'll get to meet.
Honestly, I thought it was going to be a whole lot harder than it was. The only thing that I find weird is that I have classes that don't start until eleven in the morning, so I don't need to wake up at six every morning like I'm use to. Other days I start at nine in the morning and I'm home by noon. Mondays are really weird because I have a class in the morning, a seven hour break, and another class from six to nine at night.
Something that bothers me about college is that I know most of my friends from high school are going to the same college for different things, and we are at school at the same time, but their classes are at different times and I never get to see them. I suppose that's a sign for me to make new friends, but I'm not a very social person.
Though, college isn't all that bad. Its actually been fun, and I've actually been talking to people in my classes. I can say that I'm already looking forward to next semester and the new classes, teachers, and students I'll get to meet.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Introduction!
Hi there, my name is Alexis. For my first blog entry, I’ll be introducing myself, so here’s a little bit about me;
My hobbies are writing, drawing and gaming. My favorite games to play are Pokèmon, Legend of Zelda and Sonic. My favorite TV shows are Supernatural, Doctor Who, Haven, Extant, Chicago Fire, Warehouse 13, Charmed, NCIS, Law & Order, Criminal Minds and Ghost Whisperer. My favorite Anime/Cartoons are Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, Mermaid Melody, Digimon, Pokèmon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Vampire Knight, Rosario+Vampire, Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Fairy Tail, InuYasha, Naruto, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend Of Korra, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. My Favorite movies are Frozen, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, The Secret World of Arrietty, Treasure Planet, Brave Little Toaster, Balto Wolf Quest, and The Land Before Time.The purpose of this blog is for my College Composition class to write responses to events in class, readings or projects. By the end of the course I hope to have a better understanding of writing and a better writing process so that I can write better essays and fan fictions.
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