Unit 4 Reflection Blog

Unit 4 of this class has been my favorite unit so far. This unit is very different from the other units and is something I have never done before. Going into the interview unit, I was very nervous. Since I have never conducted an argument with a professional before, I had no idea what I would be getting into. However, the essay 4 workshops to help us create our interview questions really helped me as well. Coming up with the questions was one of the more challenging parts for me, but listening to how others created their questions and incorporated their inquiry question really helped me come up with my questions. Overall I think this unit was one of the more fun ones. The interview itself was very laid back and relaxed. I received a lot of interesting new information that I've never heard of before. Also, the writeup was actually easy to make. Since it was more in a narrative style I had an easier time writing about my interview.

Quote Sandwiches

#1 Although I have found a lot of research that has been done on the effects of standardized testing, I wanted to hear actual experience from someone who went through the the process of taking a standardized test.  My opening question to begin the interview was to find out her experiences with standardized tests as a student and a teacher.  She did not have much experience with standardized tests as a teacher, but she did have a lot to say on the topic from the perspective of a student, "I remember having to do an exit exam where I had to write a paper, and I remember it being a very negative experience... I did very poorly on the writing, but my essays in class were very good so I felt like it wasn't a fair representation of what I could do as a writer because you're put on the spot within that moment to perform." Garcia's response actually agrees with most of the research I have found. Many students perform poorly on the tests because of the stress of being put on the spot to perform. However, these test scores do not reflect their real abilities and only shows the one time they did poorly.

#2 "I think there are some benefits to standardized tests because it does kind of give students from an early age an idea of what it's like to function in the real world... we're always being tested no matter what we're doing and so thats... kind of a reality check.

#3 "I do think that some students are at a predisposition to be at a disadvantage. Especially students who are at a low socio-economic environment. They may not have the same resources as students who are in a well-to-do environment where their parents are able to pay for them to get extra tutoring to prepare them for tests..."

#4 "I think [standardized testing] can affect early on students self-esteem and self-worth if they're not performing well... and that can kind of shut them down to maybe furthering their education."

#5 "It can limit students understanding of what getting an education is."

#6 "I don't know if I want to blame the students or the teachers, but more the system."

#7 "I think that they could take on more of a multiple measures approach... they can take into consideration the students tests scores and maybe GPA... and then maybe even have their instructors write a reflection about them as a student and their progress. Considering all those things rather than just a test... would be a better approach."

Practice Write 5/5

In the beginning of the book, I predicted that the main character, Will, will overcome many obstacles in order to become accustomed to the island. I also predicted that the islands lifestyle will most likely be very unique and different than what outsiders are used to. This is why I believed Will will have a challenging time trying to fit in to their society and live as one of them. After reading the book, my predictions have proven to be true but also untrue. Will gets introduced to the islands customs which is of course very different than what he is used to. At the end of the book, he becomes of the island people.

Practice Write 5/3

I think my individual conference pretty well. I'm glad I know where I stand in the class now and the expected grade I should finish the class with. I also enjoyed that I used this time to ask questions about essay 5 and our final book presentations. I am now more clear about what is expected of us when it comes to essay 5.

Book Club Blog #2

Summary: In the second half of our book club cook, "Island" by Aldous Huxley, the main character, Will Farnaby, finds out the ways and customs of the Palanese people.  He learns more about the history of the island from Dr. Robert and Susila. He learns that the the islands customs have been in place since Dr. Susila's great grandfather influenced the Raja to tryout his ideas. One of these ideas that is still being enforced on the island is the drug. Murgan refers to the drug being given in Pala as "dope".  According to Dr. Robert, this drug is referred to the people as "moksha medicine" or in other words a "reality reliever". This drug causes the Palanese people to undergo an "out of body" experience. The drug causes the people to feel constantly happy and mentally healthy. As we continue reading, Will exposed to some of the Pala culture an rituals. Part two ends with Will meeting Vijaya's wife and experiencing the different styles of parenthood that makes the Palanese people unique.

Quotes:
#1 "We all belong," Susila explained, "to an MAC- Mutual Adoption Club. Every MAC consists of anything from fifteen to twenty five assorted couples. Newly elected brides and bridegrooms, old-timers with growing children, grandparents and great-grandparents- everybody in the club adopts everyone else." (Pg 89)

#2 "God has nothing to do with it," Ranga retorted, "and the joke isn't cosmic, it's strictly man-made. These things aren't like gravity or the second law of thermodynamics; they don't have to happen. They happen only if people are stupid enough to let it happen." (Pg 80)

#3 "But Pavlov, purely for a good purpose. Pavlov for friendliness and trust and compassion. Whereas you prefer to use Pavlov for brainwashing, Pavlov for selling cigarettes and vodka and patriotism. Pavlov for the benefit of dictators, generals and tycoons." (Pg 195)

Reflection:
In this section, the readers finally get to see the unique culture and customs of the people of Pala. Their customs seem to be very different than what the Westerners are used to which is why Will fins it hard to adjust. However, at the same time their ways seem to be more productive and helpful to the environment and their health. Although they are different it could potentially be a better lifestyle. I am curious to find out what Will will discover next on Pala.  

Practice Write 4/26

In school the most common type of writing I usually do is persuasive writing. Most of my writing assignments in my classes require me to write papers to persuade my readers into believing a certain viewpoint. Most of the reading I do in school is reading from textbooks or assigned class books. Outside of school, the only writing I usually do is just text messages or sending messages to people over social media. The most common type of reading I do outside of the classroom are reading popular news articles on the internet. I usually read websites such as Pinterest, Buzzfeed, or Yahoo News.

Unit 3 Reflection Blog

I have found that unit 3 has been the hardest out of all the units for myself. You would think since this is just the research and analysis unit it would be pretty straight forward, but I found this challenging. However, finding the actual resources and my 3-5 sources was not difficult. I found many scholarly articles on my topic. The only difficult pat was narrowing it down to the sources that I found was most useful for my essay. The part I found most difficult was figuring out how I wanted to incorporate these articles into my writing and use them in a way that coincides with my point of view. I've never been that great at integrating quotes into my paper so I came into this unit having my doubts. However, I found that the quote sandwich videos and activities we did in class were really helpful. I ended up using these quote sandwiches in my essay as well. I also thought the "They Say I Say" chapters about integrating  quotes was very helpful. They provided me with easy to understand template on how to integrate quotes. At the end of this unit, I felt much more confident about researching scholarly articles and using quotes in my writing.