Final Assessment

Throughout this course I have conquered many of my opposing battles. In the beginning of the course I struggled with creativity problems along side other classmates. Consequently I came up with a method to assist us all with this problem. http://www.hybridenglish012.blogspot.com/2012/03/dealing-with-creativity-problems.html In this post I allow the reader into my own little world for a brief moment informing them on how I come with my weekly blog post topics. This post shows that I have gained the ability to effectively consider the writing purpose as well as my audience. It also shows that I through this course learned to brainstorm and map ideas that are not only beneficial to me but others as well. The Adversities of  My Ancestors is a post where had experienced some types of racial stereotyping and decided to vent via my blog post. Therefore it serves two purposes to vent and inform others that not only racial stereotypes but various types still exist in today's society.http://www.hybridenglish012.blogspot.com/2012/03/awful-lot-of-people-come-to-college.html Although I did not receive feedback on this post I believe that I accomplished effectively editing and proofreading because it took me a while to get this one done. It has been a pleasure to be apart of this course I have learned a lot. And plan to continue that learning through the book club that I am apart of starting a writing portion to all of our great reads and in order to improve our proofing reading and writing skills in general. We will proofread each others papers and improve that way.

King of Meltdowns

"I'm intimidated by the fear of being average."

- Taylor Swift 

This week I chose to complete the king of meltdowns, essentially I had chosen this assignment because I thought that it would fairly easy. The "King of Meltdown" was described as the easiest assignment to found on ds106. It requires you to scour the internet for random and awkward photos of celebrities, which was the easy part. But the more difficult portion of the assignment would be finding a coordinating quote or joke that goes along with the quote. I chose this quote and photo because I am in my opinion different form the average African American male. And Taylor Swift in this photo exhibits her diversity and willingness to be different.

My Dream

The first photo is  my dream of having a family something that I believe that every man dreams of. I cannot wait until to a wife to go home to, and spend the rest of my life with. The second photo demonstrates my dream of having a personal jet I know it may be a stretch but anything is possible, right? And the last photo is an expression of dream to be an ob/gyn in California and retire from a successful career.

What People Think I Do as a Black Man

The "What People think I do" meme has actually become very popular on the internet on social networks such as Facebook, and Twitter. Prior to this assignment I actually ran across a meme that struck my interest consequently I decided to attempt one of my own. Creating this meme was a very easy process, I logged onto http://uthinkido.com/ and they provide the necessary template. Afterwards I gathered the photographs and my personal opinion on how society views African American men. Yes some may say that my opinion may be  bias but who knows the struggle of an African American male better than he does. .

Concept:
The first picture on the left is a negative stereotype that is true for many but not all African American men, one that emphasizes the black men don't full take responsibility for their children and are forced to pay child support. Secondly, a lot men in general not only African American men think that they are "players" someone who sleeps with as many women as they possible can. The general public on the other hand thinks that we all smoke because there are some who portray that .On the contrary our mothers think the world of us and MOST believe that we are here doing what we sent here to do. Likewise our friends and close associates know only what we tell them which is often times little to nothing. Therefore their opinions are based solely on the activities that you both participate in such as basketball. Finally what we actually do varies from person to person but the majority of us attempt in various change or impact the world in some shape, form, or fashion.

Visual Learners

To be honest when this project was first presented to us I was a little unsure about whether we should participate or not. Up until now I was unaware of the content on the website as well as the diversity of the assignments. Diversity defined as a range of different things. I would really enjoy a course of this nature because it gives the student freedom to elaborate on subjects of their interest. The course is so diverse that it was difficult to settle on just one assignment for the next blog post.

If I had to choose on one assignment topic it would be either design or visual assignments. During grade school I discover that I was a visual learner. And throughout my academic career I have utilized the established techniques and recommendations I have stumbled upon. Visual learners account for around thirty-five percent of the population; they prefer charts, graphs, data, and photographs. Tailoring visual presentations and/or media will assist them in becoming active learners. And this course in my opinion caters to visual learners as well as others which is difficult to find in college settings.

While looking through the ds106 website I found multiple assignments that I would love to participate in. Although settling on just one assignment was a bit more difficult that I had anticipated. Being a visual learner scientific projects catch my attention such as behavior habits. Therefore creating a "what people think I do " was something that I found very interesting. And I would have never imagined that students would enjoy academically assignments so mouth that they would share them on social networks such as Facebook.

 Via these sorts of assignments we have the ability to tie our passions into subjects such as English composition. To judge beforehand without possessing adequate evidence is prejudgment is something that the “What People Think I do” activity focuses on. Subjects such as prejudgment, stereotypes, and prejudice are things that I am able to elaborate on because these are discussed in scientific behavior.

The Adversities of My Ancestors

  An awful lot of people come to college with this strange assumption that segregation is no longer existent in
American schools and universities. On the other hand I strongly disagree, although Jim Crow laws prohibit inequality, unenforced laws are frequently ignored by civilians. During the twenty first century you'd expect African Americans to be treated with racial fairness, and not have to deal with the same adversities as our ancestors. Although African Americans are not enslaved by white Americans any longer negative stereotypes apply in many situations both academically and personally.

  Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States that mandated de jure (imposed by law) racial segregation in all public facilities. Which consequently led to treatment , financial support and accommodation that were inferior to those provided for white Americans. Examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, and public accommodations, such as inns, and transportation. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 stipulated a guarantee that everyone regardless of ethnicity were entitled to the same treatment. Although the supreme court case Plessy v. Ferguson(1896) demonstrates that Jim Crow laws are ignored by civilians. Due to the fact that Homer Plessy was arrested for not sitting in the colors only car. These findings contributed to approximately sixty more years of legalized discrimination against black and colored people in the United States. Although circumstances are not as severe as those our ancestors suffered , segregation is far from nonexistent.

  Modern day segregation is most evident through negative stereotypes.A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and over simplified image or idea of a particular type of person. Although we all belong to a group in which negative stereotypes exist, African Americans get the worst of it due to their previous condition of servitude. These stereotypes derived from how slave owners used to view slaves. For example most African Americans are stereotyped as poor and uneducated, and the list goes on. I challenge you to ask  yourself what you think of the average African American upon first site. Sure every individuals answers and thoughts would vary although a complied list would be dominated by MOSTLY negative traits and characteristics.

  In conclusion some people may disagree that segregation is still existant in American schools and universities. In attempt to demonstrate racial fairness Jim Crow laws were established. Although ignored white Americans developed a nonchalant attitude towards African Americans. And this blog is to recognize these adversities that my ancestors suffered as well as point out the fact that they are still existent.

Dealing With Creativity Problems

Since we started this course, blog posts have been a requirement. And up until now I have been able to quickly establish a topic. This week I gathered my pencil and pad on Friday evening and now Tuesday afternoon I have just now began. When having creativity problems brainstorming is a great suggestion to start with. Think about the events you attended, the problems you solved both in and outside of this course. There is something throughout the week that you have dealt with that should strike you interest. Such as a critical analysis question you encountered on your Biology 102 exam, you can explain how your difficulties on the exam coincide with the difficulties of this course. In the process of dealing with creativity problems originality and enthusiasm are very important because if you are not eager to find a solution to your own problem than the end product will suffer consequently. Although being original in your creative process is extremely simple. The little things that you think of while walking around campus are themes you should run with. Frank Capra expresses it best, “A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.” So the next time you are walking around campus or discussing an assignment with your peers jot down the thought and refer to it when needed. And use these thoughts and ideas the next time you do a blog post and make it easier on yourself.

Organization

At the beginning of this semester I was starting to become overwhelmed with all the class work and responsibilities I took on. As the semester progress and comes to an end I have figured out that the fast pace and continual due date and deadlines do not end. Time management in my life has become one of my top priorities. This course requires in my opinion a lot of participation in order to succeed and if you do not utilize all your time wisely some assignments may not be completed. The older I get and the more I become involved in my local and academic community I understand the value of time management and how dysfunctional life would be without it.

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

            Even though we as students have been in school for so long, so many of us seem to suffer from poor organizational skills and time management. Organization in this course is also vital you have to keep up with so many different passwords and usernames, as well as assignment due dates. This prepares you in various ways for your future occupation with your memorization skills. In this course similarly to many others time management is not only essential bur required. Because if you not properly layout a schedule of your day and week, assignments will slip your mind. Over the last couple of weeks been trying to overcome these weakness in both my academic and personal life and is harder than I thought it would be.

The Process of Creation

Coming into this Wikipedia project I was a little intimidated. One because I had never edited let alone created a Wikipedia article. And with the failure of our first attempt to effectively create a guide to compose a successful article increased that anxiety. But in class my partner and I randomly chose our topic which happened to be external links which was a little long but easier. One of our fellow classmates recommended a website that we used to connect to “On Writing". In order to weed out several of the links we used the process of elimination and picked the links that seemed to be timely, and relevant. After reading through numerous sources and links we chose the most relevant information. Although many of the external links come from the same source it was very time consuming reading over the information to insure that the content was appropriate for our class Wikipedia. Peer editing was required as well as necessary although we did not receive much feedback; due to the fact our document lacked the opportunity for the class to comment for a short period of time. Although creating a Wikipedia article was not as hard as I intended, I'm not sure if I will ever do another one!

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~ Ben Franklin

This quote sticks out to me because if you have absolutely no interest in the subject matter your about you probably should not be writing. Although as students writing assignments are not optional therefore attempt to twist the subject in your point of view how it relates to you personally. And more than likely you find similarities in your situation and Mr. King's. And this relates to the Wikipedia article because if you didn't read the book then this assignment is not worth writing about due to the fact that you have no clue of how you relate to the moral of his story.

Technology Will Fail You!

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, and the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness. ~Mark Kennedy With this being our sixth blog post you would think that students would no longer procrastinate concerning their assignments. This laziness and characteristic of procrastination has become due to our heavy dependence upon modern technology. And though we are capable of much more these technological inventions as listed above have given us the ability to rely less on our own creativity and more upon: Google, Wikipedia, and Answers.com. I have come to the conclusion that most of us are not only dependent but addicted to technology, whether it is television, social media, and/or use of transporation be it automobiles or airplanes. Not only have these technological inventions affected our work ethic, it has been deemed that technology addiction has began to disrupt teenage learning abilities. So my biggest challenge throughout this has been and will be dealing with procrastination and not "half assing" assignments because in the end it will affect my overall average. Similarly, last week after being informed on how insane it is to procrastinate I waited to the last minute to complete my blog post. And around 9:59 p.m. I was attempting to turn in my blog post memo and all of the internet was operating properly excluding the most important section, the assignment submit tab. So I rapidly and frantically began to brainstorm ways that I could turn in my assignment. Finally, I got the assignment turned in and but the I learned a valuable lesson that, "Technology will fail you". Therefore I would encourage you all to learn from my mistakes and complete your assignments ahead of time and relieve yourself of a bucket load of unnecessary stress.

Adjusting To Uncomfortable Situations

Adjust is to make comfortable or suiting. There are times in our academic adventures and personal lives when we might feel that we are in a tumble drier of stressful situations. Frequently we get accustomed to our daily routines which makes even slight adjustments difficult to deal with. Coming into this hybrid English 101 course, I was surprised because I was unaware that I had enrolled into a hybrid course. But as the semester goes along and I become a little more open minded the course does not so bad. Being used to a traditional class setting meeting once a week is a huge adjustment and something both my fellow classmates and I are challenged with.

Teamwork is Key!

This week in my EH 101 class started our Wikipedia Wiki group projects. Enough said group project, working with fellow classmates to instruct our entire class on how to write better articles. Teamwork and patience are two characteristics that I need to develop both in my personal and educational arenas. A team is defined as a group of players forming one side in a competitive activity or assignment.  Being the leader of a group it is a challenge to keep everyone on the same page. Therefore, I take matters into my own hands and complete the assignment or activity alone; opposed to collectively completing the assignment automatically eliminates me from group projects. Another challenge I have is a lack of patience, because sometimes I am inconsiderate. Patience is defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting upset or angry. Delay/procrastination happens to be a bit of a problem for me. Although we frequently feel we have valid explanations, we simply delay and put our responsibilities off until the last minute. Procrastination is a bad habit that we all should attempt to overcome.

Conquering Time Management

In this blog post I will explain what I have accomplished thus far in this course. I have learned or gained the ability to juggle many different situations and/or assignments at one time. Although one thing that I need or plan to accomplish throughout this course is to conquer time management. Because, often times I wait until the last minute to start let alone finish assignments. Consequently, the final product happens to be something that should be enhanced a little more to be considered A+ material. And the fact that we have to maintain numerous online accounts weakens my ability to actually grasp the concept of assignments given.

My Life Changing Event

Since 1998 non-fiction short stories, novels, and essays have been my personal preference. Growing up in the suburbs with both parents alienated me from a lot of truth, I always had the mentality that life was a stroll in the park. Up  until my parents split and I was figuratively speaking "the man of house". And from that point forward I understood how hard it was to maintain a household both financially and discipline wise . Therefore, I always lean more towards factual stories and writing concerning my personal experiences instead of fictional writing. And because my mother provided all of what my siblings and I required, I tend to be more sympathetic towards women/females. Consequently, I am harder on the males in my writing expecting them to strive towards perfection at all times. Instead of taking the easy way out and putting off the personal responsibilities and duties. This event molded the person I am today as well as what and how I write/topic my personal essays, and other writing assignments.

An Area of Great Difficulty

The rule outlined in Vonnegut's "How to Write with Style" that will be most difficult for me to follow is the one that says we should sound like ourselves. It is a threat to me because often times when you are given a inch you want to take a mile. Meaning that fine line between formal and informal writing is one that I easily cross. Insuring that I keep my writing natural/orginal but also making sure that it is still professional/informal!