Category Archives: wip

To be quite frank, I haven’t really thought about my e-portfolio yet. I know for sure I want to include my persuasive paper. I didn’t proofread it before submitting it and probably shouldn’t have done that. I’ll probably also focus a lot on my work from the first semester because if I remember correctly it was sad. I guess for my cover letter I’ll talk about how through my blogs I slowly became more myself. At the beginning I tried to be all proper and stuff, but as the semester went on I got more relaxed. I had a bad habit of including my dry, sarcastic humor within my blogs (which might not have always been evident). Maybe it wasn’t such a bad habit, I’ll probably end up exploring that in my cover letter. And to demonstrate the differences in my blog I’ll probably include my first passion blog and compare it with my last passion blog. Hopefully this weekend I’ll be able to sit down and work on my e-portfolio. Surprisingly I have more ideas than I thought I did and that makes me feel better.

I’ve officially decided to stick with a poster board. I feel that it is relatively simple and I won’t have to worry about not being able to leave it there all day. I was thinking about a traditional three-fold poster, like the ones you may have used for a science fair. In the center, since my topic was about shortening the workweek, I figured I’d put how people can take action to implement such a thing. I considered talking about OSHA and education boards and how a person could very easily create a petition in order to bring light to the situation. On one of the outside flaps, I was considering getting interviews from students, teachers, and parents/adults on their thoughts about shortening the workweek or leaving it as it is. And then on the last flap I was going to just list the pros of shortening the workweek. I would use this as a push to get the audience thinking about why they might want a shorter work week. Surprisingly enough, there is a method to my madness. The pros list will be on the left, so hopefully people will see that first. This will get them thinking. Then they should (I’ll try to make it evident with the poster that there is a process to follow on looking at the board) look to the right flap and see their peers opinions on it,again to stimulate some thoughts on the issue. And then in the middle, they will see that they actually can make a difference if they put their minds to it! I was also considering doing like, mini-handouts with information on how to reach out to employers or school boards, with some tips (from me of course) on how to go about changing the length of their work week. This might sound confusing, but it makes sense in my head. So hopefully I can get some neat crafts to make the poster stand out. And what will be on it will be interesting to draw people in and get them thinking. If anyone has any more ideas they’d be greatly appreciated!

As of right now, I’m definitely leaning towards a poster board for my advocacy project. I feel like that isn’t really enough, but I imagine I’ll find something else to go along with. I was considering having a mini pamphlet on how to get a shorter week implemented, but I’m not 100% sure on that idea yet. As for what I’m advocating, I was going to get a threefold poster. One side would include student’s ideas/opinions on shortening the week. And maybe also include ideas of parents/professors. I think this will create some sort of personal attachment to the audience. My second side would probably talk about the pros and cons of shortening the work week. I’ll definitely make the list of pros outweigh the cons, this may help my case. And in the middle I’ll make my call to action. It’s kind of a radical idea, to go and abruptly change the duration of the work week, but I think this will add to the interest factor of my argument. My only problem here is finding support. I’m considering just creating my own solution for it, possibly investing ways to go about implementing such a change, i.e. policy implementations through OSHA and the education systems of various states (possibly starting on a small scale to test it to see if it will work). So as of now, my poster will contain student’s views on a shorter work week, the pros and cons of it, and how to go about implementing such a thing. If anyone has any ideas of an additional supplement to go along with it that would be greatly appreciated. I’m also considering making a quick PowerPoint to go along with my poster, that just gives random facts that might pull a person in, but again I’m not too sure about this idea.

For my persuasive essay I’ve changed my mind again. This time though I’m pretty sure I won’t be changing again. I’ve finally decided to write about why the work week should be shortened. I felt that this would incorporate some sarcasm, but also it would have the serious aspect to it as well.

As for the advocacy project I’m not totally sure what I want to do. I would really like to do a podcast, but I feel like I’d have to bring a stereo to play it for everyone. And I’m pretty sure that that would just be flat out weird. I was also considering doing some sort of poster. I would use it to kind of explain what I’m talking about and then give information on how to take action. This could be pretty interesting to see if anyone actually takes the initiative. I know a lot of times after I read a persuasive essay I finish it and think “Wow that would be cool” and walk away from it. But, I think if there is a call to action then people are more likely to walk away and think about the issue, granted shortening the work week may not be so serious, but it would be nice to have. I haven’t really looked into any other ways to advocate for shortening the week. I’m always awkward in front of cameras, or just life in general, so that is pretty much out of the picture for me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

After much thought, I think that I am going to write my persuasive paper on music education. I haven’t quite decided if I’m just going to focus on why it is important or if I should talk about funding for it. I feel as though I could combine the two of them, which is what I’m really considering as of now. I really like this topic because I feel as though I’ve personally seen the effects of this. My schools never lost their music programs, but I have definitely seen them go from hero to zero. Another potential subject that I could talk about is how funding isn’t divided evenly between sports and music. I could simply be making assumptions here, but I know that in Oklahoma we had one of the best  football stadiums in Northern Oklahoma, but our music building was gross and we had a lot of old instruments. After looking at some databases that we have I’ve found that there are a lot of good resources that talk about music education, so I won’t be hitting any rough spots looking for information.

For now, my structure is going to begin with talking about the benefits of music education. I might also make the argument that music is just as important as any other class that we have to take. I would definitely have to include the fact that some people aren’t “artsy” and are more focused on other extracurriculars, but I could include that both aid them in some way. I was thinking of including the benefits that music has, such as helping kids with math to an extent, or vice versa. After that, I’ll go on to talk about funding for music programs and the potential solutions that there are. I know of many organizations that focus on keeping the arts in school and will probably include them in my persuasive argument. To wrap everything up I will include the opposing opinion that arts are completely unnecessary. I might try to talk to someone who sees things that way because I know I am way too biased to try and think of why someone wouldn’t like music/arts. I also like my idea because I have had experience with music. From kindergarten until twelfth grade I was involved in music in some way, be it through required music courses, musicals, or even band. And I think that this will provide me with some compelling arguments and personal stories that can add to the persuasiveness of my essay. At first I was afraid of this essay, but after coming up with this topic I’m pretty sure it will be smooth sailing from here on out.

When the topic of a persuasive essay was brought up in class the other day I was really stumped. The only idea that I could think of off the top of my head was writing a very sarcastic argument as to why Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert should run for president and vice president in 2016. But after thinking about this I had two problems with it. One, there is no way that I would find enough reliable resources to back it up. And the second was that I thought it might be a bit too sarcastic. I then started to think about what I could do.

Another idea that I have is doing something on campaign finance. I was thinking about comparing things from past elections to today. I personally feel that money is way too much of an influence on who has power. It has basically come down to that if you don’t have money or know the right people then you have no chance of getting elected or even nominated for that matter. This is definitely something I feel strongly about, but I’d also have to do my research. As for finding research it is going to be easy to find information on this subject. As of right now this is my top choice.

Sorry for having so many, but this is my last one. I’ve been involved in the music programs at my schools since 7^th grade. And over time I’ve developed strong views on the idea of the funding of music education. In my time, I’ve seen music programs go from top of the line to the bottom of the bucket. I haven’t done much research on this so I’m not too sure where I’d find information from. But it is another idea I’m toying with.

So for now my topic is looking like it will be campaign finance, but I’ll have to think before I make a final decision because I’m not too sure how I’d fit this into the advocacy part of the project.

Throughout deliberation, one of the most important jobs that there is during the process is moderation, thus making the moderator one of the main components. Without a moderator it is possible for the deliberation to get out of hand. Also without a moderator there could be a huge lack of discussion. And because of these two consequences, deliberation needs to be aided by a moderator, who knows what they are doing.

One of the most important tasks for a moderator is communication with those who are taking part in the deliberation. A moderator needs to know what is at hand. It is near impossible for someone to walk into a discussion and be able to have constructive deliberation when they have no idea what they are talking about. The moderator also needs to be able to keep the discussion going. Instead of tuning out and not listening to the other group members; they need to remain active in the discussion, often even posing questions regarding what the members have just said.

Regarding myself as a moderator, I was not as well versed with the topic of sustainability as I would have liked to have been. I read the packet, but often there are outside factors that aren’t contained within the packet. Therefore I really had no background information on the subject. I think this had a major role in my ability to interact in the discussion. Also I know that when I was a moderator I made sure to listen to what other people were saying and tried to incorporate what they had just said into a question in order to start a new conversation. Although I wasn’t a perfect moderator, I think I did okay considering it was my first time in that position and I tried to make the awkward silences less frequent.

Overall, moderators are very important to the success of deliberation. Without someone  to keep the conversation going or stop it from getting out of control there would be no civil deliberation. It is definitely necessary for a moderator to know what issues are at hand so that they can be able to construct a strong and positive discussion. Without a moderator there would be many problems with the process of deliberation.

This week after looking around on the website I was way too freaked out to comment anything on other people’s blogs. After looking at various posts, a lot of the people who comment on them must sit at their computers all day and do nothing but pick at other’s posts. It kind of is sketchy how often some of the users are online. Also a lot of them seem to have very boisterous opinions and are knowledgeable on what they’re talking about. I had also not seen a post that I was too interested in, so I decided to post my own topic.  Oddly enough, before I could post anything on a forum I had to post an intro about me. This one person thought I was an elementary school teacher. This should be interesting. No one has yet to reply to my post. But I’d imagine that it will only be a matter of hours, as people are always on the site. I’m nervous as to what the results are going to be. But I feel better because a moderator looks at your post before you can submit it, so hopefully nothing too offensive will be said. I’m kind of not comfortable with this whole deliberation with strangers. I mean, I think it’s nice to know that you’re not going to be judged on a daily basis because you have no idea who they are, but on the other hand it’s just not my cup of tea. But I shall get over that! Also my back up plan is the Centre Daily Times. If things get too out of hand on my politics sight, I feel like the Times is an active and well educated group to deliberate with! 🙂

After doing some better research on my part, I finally found a site to use for the deliberation project. It is simply titled Politics Forum. On the site, they have many different areas to talk about all things politics. I like this because some sites were strictly focusing on American Politics, whereas this is more of a global view of the issues. As for picking a focus on the site, I’m currently considering the area of Law, Justice, Crime & Punishment, Communism, or Socialism. Each of these groups interests me; pertain to my civic issues blog, and also my major. I have yet to post anything myself, but after reading many people’s comments, I’ve realized that whatever way I end up going I am going to end up with some controversial argument going on. I guess people who are interested in politics are also very vocal and stubborn when it comes to their beliefs. But luckily, a lot of people share their concerns through humor rather than violently going after the original poster or other commenters.  I feel that it is extremely important to read, all other people’s comments. When it comes to politics, like I said, people are stubborn. I think with this deliberation unit, I’ll be able take into consideration other people’s opinions and be able to voice my own opinion on the topic. I feel that this deliberation unit will help us to widen our thoughts. Anyways, I was extremely reluctant about this project, but after finding a site that is actually pertinent to what I’m interested in, I am more willing to take part and see what happens when I post!

http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=3db28a2e940a19cfa4255dc525515ded

http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=16&sid=3db28a2e940a19cfa4255dc525515ded

http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=51&sid=3db28a2e940a19cfa4255dc525515ded