Brilliant Advertising!! Kudos to Coca-Cola...



I would just like to say how absolutely ingenious the creators of the new marketing campaign that the corporation, Coca-Cola are proving to be.  I've always been more of a Pepsi drinker, and have never liked Coke, but I now find myself looking through every display that I pass by in a store to see if I can find a bottle with my children's names on them.  Not only do they have a name on each bottle, but they have the family and friends labels.  I, along with many in the country, have an urge to gather a group of bottles with my family's names and arrange them with the "Share a Coke with Family" bottle.

I'm three bottles in for my children's names, but unfortunately, they don't have a bottle with little Hope's name. :-( They do have her middle name, so I guess I'm going to have to settle for that.  The amazing part of the whole advertising campaign is that I NEVER buy Coke. I am completely aware that I'm being drawn in to this very obvious personalization that is the basis of the entire advertising scheme, and yet I'm still purchasing their product for the sole reason that there are the names of my family printed on the labels!!

With a family the size of mine, I will end up spending a little over $15 on a product that I never would have bought without the names on the labels!  To entice a person that would not normally be a customer of yours in this way, is the epitome of an absolute success with the use of advertising!  So I again say, kudos to Coca-Cola!!

***By the way, if any of my classmates happen to see a bottle with James, Brittany, Brett, or Emily on the labels I would appreciate it if you would grab it for me and I'll reimburse you for it!***

I rest my case.....brilliant advertising!



Traits of an Effective Teacher

I've always noticed that some teachers are more effective than others, but now that I'm back in school I'm even more curious as to what qualities effective teachers have in common.  With my experience through K-12, four children now in school, my current attendance in college, and homeschooling three of my children for two years, I've been exposed to many teachers that have ranged from horrible to absolutely wonderful.  I also have the added experience of being on the other side of the desk with the two years I spent homeschooling my children.  A great teacher can make all the difference in a person's education.  My children have had teachers that made them dread school, but they've also had teachers that they rave about daily.  What makes some teachers inspire a desire to learn and others inspire dread and poor attitudes in their students?  The Chicago Tribute published an article on their website that delved into this topic.



5 traits of effective teachers (Chicago Tribune)

 

1. Open mind Learning and adapting are two of the biggest parts of being a successful teacher.*

"Lynn Columba, program coordinator of the College of Education at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., says the best teachers consider themselves "lifelong learners" who are "willing to explore new teaching strategies and methods" as well as "act on current research in the classroom."*

"Effective teachers are not born, they are made after an enormous amount of hard work and dedication," Columba says."*

2. Flexibility and patience*

"One of the core doctrines of teaching should be that everything is in a constant state of change."*

 

3. Dedication*    

"Summers are a time when many teachers learn new skills, teach at summer school, attend teaching seminars or work on earning a graduate degree."*

 

4. Positive attitude*

"Some of your students will likely come to class with a negative attitude toward the class, so it's best to try and counteract it with positivity and a sense of humor."*

 

5. High expectations*

"An effective teacher should have high expectations and strive to raise the bar for his or her students. If you go in expecting less effort, you will undoubtedly receive less effort."*

*All quotes were taken from the article retrieved from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/careers/chi-teaching-habits-education-careers-20111107-story.html

  Do you agree with the traits of an effective teacher that are listed from this article?  What other characteristics do great teachers have?

A Personal Rant About a Difficult Class....

When I looked at the classes that I need for my degree and began to plot my courses for this term, I knew that I wanted to take statistics.  I may have lost you already at this point!!  I realize that most people don't enjoy math, but I've always been one of those nerds that love it.  In high school I took extra math classes as electives (I know.......not normal!), and I did as many math classes as I could for dual enrollment credit.  So the only math course that I had left for my degree was statistics.  With my love of math, I knew that this class would be easy for me.

I've been in for a rude awakening!!  My statistics course has become the class that I dread walking into and I panic when there's an exam.  As the course as gone on, my anxiety has increased.  I'm really not used to feeling like this about anything that I'm trying to learn.  I live under the belief that if a student puts the effort into any class, then they will be successful.  With my research on the flipped classroom, I stumbled onto the Kahn Academy website (https://www.khanacademy.org/) and have since utilized the site as an additional resource with this class.  I pay attention in class, sit in the front row hanging on the professor's every word, do my homework, and have mastered every topic that we've covered in class on the Kahn Academy website.  With all of this time and effort that I've put in, my test scores have progressively gone down.  I'm finding that my attitude towards the subject is being drastically altered with just one course.

I'm now asking myself what the problem is......is it me, the subject matter, or the teaching method being used?  I know that I'm doing everything humanly possible to improve my knowledge on the subject matter, so am I the issue?  Maybe.  With my mastery scores on the Kahn Academy site, I am showing a command of the subject matter being covered, so I don't think that's the problem.  I feel like I understand what I'm about to be tested on and I'm as prepared as I can be going into the exams, but then I can barely swing a C on the tests.  Maybe I'm over-analyzing the exam questions.  When I look at some of the questions that have to do with vocabulary (True/False, ugh!), sometimes I think that I'm speaking one language and the professor has put another on the test.  And the kicker is, that the exams are open book and notes!  My last test I turned in feeling completely confident and thinking that I may have missed one of the true/false questions, and I ended up with my lowest test grade yet.  I've now arranged to go over my tests with a tutor at the university to see where I'm going wrong, so I guess I'll find out soon enough!  Are any of you taking a class that makes you feel like I am about my statistics class this term?

(This is me when I see my test scores!)



How I Conclude a Document

I like to conclude a document with a summary of the ideas I expressed within the paper itself.  I also attempt to come up with some kind of a catchy sentence that gives impact to the reader as they finish the document that I've written.  Depending on the type of paper that I'm trying to conclude, this sentence should show the proper type of emotion that I'm wanting the reader to feel about what I've written.  Sometimes this comes easy, but there are other times, like when I'm not very interested in the topic that I've been given by a professor, that forming the words to convey the exact message that I want the reader to receive can be extremely difficult! 

I Accepted!!...and My Challenge is Completed! You're Next.....

#icebucketchallenge

 

 

I am now challenging our English Composition class to the ice bucket challenge.  I want to see some great videos posted on your blogs!!  Let's do it!

Raising Money for the Ice Bucket Challenge...

Please share this link!

If the goal of 591 shirts sold is accomplished, then at least $10,000 will be donated to alsa.org!!  More that $15 of every t-shirt purchased will apply towards the donation.  The balance of your purchase applies to the cost of printing the shirt.  If the 591 shirt goal is not reached, then the shirts will not be printed and your credit card will not be charged.  Unfortunately, there will also not be a donation made either.  The initial request you make for purchase is just a reservation and a charge will not be put through to your card until the 2 week time limit is over.  Please share the link provided so we can make this happen. 
I know that as college students we can't all afford to make a donation to an important cause, but it's nice to get a shirt that, with your purchase, also serves to give to a great charity!  You have the option to purchase a regular t-shirt as shown, a premium t-shirt, or a woman's fit shirt.  The premium is a few dollars more, but the woman's fit shirt is also at a $25 price point.

http://teespring.com/iacceptedtheicebucketchallenge

 

 

My Fiancee Completing the Ice Bucket Challenge...

My fiancée, James Bryant, is the fourth person from the left.  His employer's donated $1,000 to the ALS Foundation if the employees of Brewology completed the challenge.  It's good to see the awareness that is being created and even better to know that he is working for a company that is willing to make a donation like that.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is Officially Accepted!!

 

I am accepting the ice bucket challenge made by my fiancée, James Bryant!! My uncle, Michael Horn, died 2 years ago from this horrific condition. I feel privileged to have known and loved him and I willingly accept this challenge. My Uncle Mike was a brilliant, highly educated scientist that made many contributions to the global society, and our family's loss is shared by all. It's a ghastly disease for every person who suffers through it, but for such an intelligent man to be forced... to suffer through it is absolutely dreadful. I can't imagine what he and his immediate family (my aunt and cousins) felt to watch his extremely rapid decline. I think that his suffering made their loss so much worse. My sympathies go out to them, and I will be doing the ice bucket challenge in his honor. I implore everyone to make a donation to the ALS foundation so we can find a cure. Look for my video tomorrow!!

I will always miss you, Uncle Mike.  You touched my life in many ways and I will always remember you.

Surviving Cancer

The picture above shows the thyroid cancer awareness ribbon.  I had thyroid cancer when I was pregnant with my fourth child, Alexander.  It's a fairly common type of cancer in women and can occur in women of all ages.  I was only 28 years old when diagnosed and it has had a serious impact on my life.  I had my first surgery only 2 months after I gave birth to Alexander.  Dealing with something like this with such a young infant, and three other children to care for, was an obstacle that I hope I never have to handle again.  I explained to my kids that my "butterfly" (because the thyroid is shaped like a butterfly) in my neck was sick which is why I think that the picture shown here is so perfect as a representation of this event in my life.  I went through serious depression, but came out of the experience with an appreciation for life and the determination to live mine.  Cancer is something that has touched all of our lives, either personally or in a loved one, and continues to create obstacles in mine.  With the thyroid affecting so many aspects of your health, it can sometimes be very hard to get out of bed and stay an active member in my own life.

My doctors said that I would probably not have anymore children because of my hormone variations, but five years later, I became pregnant again with my last baby.  We named her Hope Emily because I had several complications with her pregnancy due to my hormonal levels bottoming out with the changing physical needs of my body during the pregnancy.  We had "hope" that she would pull through healthy and normal.  She was born completely healthy (other than a crossed eye....) and is now a normal, active, completely spoiled  one year old toddler, thank goodness!!  That "hope" has continued with her presence in all of our lives.  I'm thankful every day that the doctors were proven wrong, even though we had many reservations about having a fifth child to raise.  She gives much joy to our lives on a daily basis and has been the impetus I needed to finally fulfill my desire for a higher education.  I'm finally open to living and full of "hope" for our future!

Writing with APA Format...Seriously, Not That Difficult

Writing a paper using APA formatting is not a difficult task considering the resources that have been provided by the South University library portal and our professors teaching the courses that require the use of APA format for their class assignments.  The library portal has a significant quantity of resources available for our use and has a citation tool that gives a citation for each source that is already in APA format.  With the use of this citation tool, it's just a matter of cutting and pasting into our papers.  This makes the compiling the resource page of our paper extremely easy.  In addition to the resources and previously written citations provided through the library portal, the professors that I've had thus far in my studies have all given a sample paper that contains the format that they are looking for us to use for any assignments we turn in for their particular course.  It's all really a matter of plugging our writing into this already formatted paper.  These resources and guides that are provided by professors and South University have made our job of writing an assignment in APA format as simple of a task as they can make it.  We just have to use the tools that have been given!

The American Dream.....My Doc 3!

I've been assigned a paper about the American dream in my sociology class.  The assignment is supposed to discuss what the American dream is, what my personal American dream is, and which sociological theory can be applied with the concept of the American dream.  Thankfully this is a topic that interests me and, at the same time, provides a forum in which I can express my personal opinion regarding the reality of a regular American citizen's ability to achieve this goal.  I'm very pleased that I have an assignment that I can enjoy during the additional exploration of the topic that we have been assigned for our third document.

The Great Penny Debate Continues!!

The question that I asked in my recent post, "SHOULD THE PENNY BE ELIMINATED?  WHY OR WHY NOT," has become a more thought provoking inquiry than I first anticipated it to be.  Upon beginning my collection of responses, I thought that it would show repetitive opinions in the responses given.  Initially I believed it would come down to the factors of the cost of producing this currency and the role it plays in our purchasing transactions.  This initial hypothesis was made without my thinking beyond the first factors considered by me personally.  It really is proving to be a question that garners a variety of responses that may be an insight into certain beliefs, values and characteristics of the person giving the response.  I now see that many factors can, and may be, contributing to the differences in opinion shown in answers given to this particular question such as: education level, type of education received, age, income status, family status (children, no children, etc), age and sex of the person answering the question.  Also, in this increasingly digital world, factors like the current forms of payment generally used by those that are responding to the survey and, I'm sure, a wide variety of other factors that I haven't even slightly considered.

As Henry Perez, my classmate and fellow blogger, noted in a recent post on his blog, http://engcompone.blogspot.com/2014/08/keep-change.html, children see the value in coins more than we may as adults.  When I have one of my children with me, I point out coins that I happen to notice on the ground and tell them, "You're closer!" with a little wink.  They love to save their change and I've found that them counting their coins can be a great way to get them to do math without them even realizing they're doing an educational activity.  As a parent, anything that provides an opportunity for them to enjoy learning is a worthwhile endeavor.  This factor that is considered when responding to the question would only be taken into account by parents of younger children, therefore showing an example of how having a parental perspective (which would also take into account the perspective of the children of said parent), is a major contributing factor to the response given by these parents responding.

A perspective that seems to be held by many of those without young children would not consider whether or not there is considered value to the penny by young children.  I sometimes see a small denomination of coin on the ground when I don't happen to have a child with me, and I have a small internal debate over whether or not I think it's worth the time and effort that would be necessary in order to pick it up and lay claim to the found money (Unfortunately I'm not getting any younger!).

As I've browsed the many responses to my assigned question, I've been very surprised by the sentimental thoughts expressed from many of those that have said that they think the U.S. should keep the penny.  A good portion of these positive responses stated that the penny is an American tradition and should be kept for that particular reason.  I suspect that this may have an emotional link to our childhood and the memories and positive feelings associated with the collecting and saving of coins that we all did as children.  Maybe this is the case, or maybe not......what do you think?

Looking for Assistance....

I have a final project for my statistics class that I need assistance with.  Can you please comment with your opinion on:

"SHOULD THE PENNY BE ELIMINATED?  WHY OR WHY NOT?  (AN I DON'T KNOW OR I'M NOT SURE ANSWER IS ACCEPTABLE)"

I would appreciate your participation! 

Thank you.

My Writer's Voice for Doc 2

I chose to write about the flipped classroom as an ideal approach to teaching the Millennial Generation by using the voice of a Millennial.  Since I am not yet a college graduate, I didn't think that a completely "stuffy" and preachy voice about why a specific classroom technique should be used would be appropriate unless I could go at the topic from a direction that made my own experience relevant.  I barely qualify as a Millennial, but it does make sense to me to apply our intuitive use of technology to the classroom.  Once I thought of my personal use of technology and experience in a flipped class, the rest of the paper came together.

TED Talks.....Worth Your Time!

I don't know if you all have checked out any TED Talks, but they're worth the time spent.  Here's a link to a series of slides on a talk given about the way we educate children.  You can check out more on Netflix (compilations of categorized talks) or www.ted.com and I'm sure a variety of other platforms.

http://www.slideshare.net/garr/sir-ken-quotes

Racism....towards pets at the pound. What?

I read an article in the Palm Beach Post a week or two ago about how completely black dogs and cats have a significantly lower adoption rates than other color pets.  I think that this is so sad and absolutely crazy that racism, or whatever it's called when it's towards a pet, would apply to an animal's coloring.  I would like to think that our society has evolved more than this, but maybe people are just getting better at pretending that they aren't racist.  I hope that this isn't the case.  We, as a people, are better than that!!
As you can see in the picture above, I would like to introduce you to my BLACK, adopted, mixed-breed dog, Honey (because she's sweet, like honey!).  And we have an all black cat that was also adopted, named Smoky.  They are two of the sweetest, most gentle and loving animals I've ever had and I'm very glad that I didn't allow their color to effect my choice when looking to adopt at the pound.  Spread the word so others don't overlook a pet that could be just as wonderful as I've found mine to be.

Aaaarrrrrrr!!!!!!

This is my youngest daughter, Hope Emily and the newest pirate in the family!  She and her older brother were born with Ambylopia.  They got this from their father, I swear!!  My eyes are perfectly straight.  So this is my little pirate sporting her heart and star glittered eye patch and not liking one moment of it.  Hopefully her left eye that you can see un-patched in the photo, will straighten with her pirate look and she won't need surgery like her brother did in order to get her there.  Her balance is so off with only one eye to see with, coupled with the fact that she just started walking, that she fell down the bottom step on our porch and now has a scraped nose to match the patch.  Poor baby!  She's looking more and more like a fierce pirate, though which completely suits her fierce personality!  Her older siblings have already taught her to kick butt and take names (mostly them....which I don't think is quite what they had in mind, but she's the monster, or should I say pirate, that they've created)!!!!!

 

Aaarrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

Here's a great link I found about academic branding.  Check it out!

http://www.slideshare.net/SidneyEve/academic-branding-36767502

My Chosen Resource Article Analyzed

As most who are reading this blog are already aware, (Hello fellow classmates!) the second assignment in my composition class was to choose an article related to the topic, the flipped classroom, as a resource for our second paper.  Now, with this post, I am analyzing the article and giving my opinion on the success of the writer, Scott LaFee, to handle his reader and thesis.  I thought this would be an easy assignment.  After all, I had watched the professor's video, read, and really enjoyed reading, the assigned pages in the book, and completely read every topic on the website link the professor gave, not just the parts he said to make sure to read.  I figured, no big deal, right?  Until I sat in front of the computer.  I had already read the article several times, and normally at this point in the weekly assignment I would already have ideas or at least the beginning of something that could get me started.....but nothing!  So I read the article again.  Okay, now what? Not a whole lot happening upstairs at this point, if you know what I mean.....it's not often that I get like that.  A form of writer's block, I suppose.  This paragraph has gotten me through that, I hope! 

So I started to think about the "audience" part of everything I had been reading in our assignment and I decided that the first step would be to decide who was intended to be the audience of Scott LaFee's article, Flipped Learning.  This article was published in The School Administrator, a professional magazine published by the School Superintendents Association (AASA) in March of 2013. (Make sure I give proper credit!!) 

I think it would be safe to assume the audience of this particular article would be school superintendents.  That also says to me that I should be aware of a possible bias that would be good for school superintendents in some way, and I should also think about any personal bias's that I may bring to my judgment of Mr. LaFee's success handling his reader and thesis, be they good or bad.  Personally, I'm adjusting well to the schedule of the class, and my initial fear that it would have the feel of an online course has not, thus far, come true.  I enjoy the flexibility of the flipped class and the quick, concise course instruction.  Since I am aware that I have slightly favorable feelings towards the flipped class technique, I will strive to disregard that in my judgment of the article.
I also have many positive, and negative, opinions regarding the public school system as a whole because it's personal to me.  My children attend public school, so I want to know what's happening with our school system.  I feel, though, that most school employees really care and they have the children's best interests at heart.  I realize that the people that work for the public school system that my children and I have contact with, are the ground troops.  They're in the trenches doing the best they can.  So I don't have any negative feelings towards either the writer, nor the audience, of this particular article.

In regards to a possible bias that could be shown by the printer's of the article, I can't really think of too many things that could really sway a school superintendent considering the fact that the public school system is a government funded program.  After I did a quick glance over the major topics of the last twelve issues listed in the archive on the AASA website, I decided that it appears to be a highly specialized (school superintendents) trade magazine that delves into topics that are directly relevant to the public school system and some topics that are also related to the current events of the time period that the issue was published.  With all of that said, I don't see where if a teacher, school, or even an entire district were to begin to use the flipped classroom method, the AASA would benefit in any way, other than credit for giving good advice.  If the method worked, they gave good advice and if it doesn't then they were introducing it as a new trend, but possible fad........

Which, by the way, is the thesis of the article as stated by the following title, and first two sentences, which were visually emphasized, in the magazine.  The emphasis made it fairly clear what the author of the article was preparing to cover in the text that followed.  And I quote:

"Flipped Learning. Whether it becomes a fix or is just a fad remains to be determined as educators reverse the use of students' time in school and at home.  FLIPPING OUT IS IN."

So far I've covered the audience, my personal bias's, and the thesis, and it's now time to decide whether or not I feel that Scott LaFee handled his reader and thesis.  The text of the article describes the basic idea of what the flipped learning technique is, lists common doubts expressed by skeptics, and then answers through quotes from teachers that have used the technique, shows statistics of improvements in student's scores after the flipped class had been implemented in their school, briefly describes a possible drawback during the implementation of technique, and goes on to include additional resources about flipped learning.  Also included within the pages of the article, is a small article written by the principal of a Title I school who successfully implemented the technique.  I've concluded that Mr. LaFee handled his reader and thesis well.  It is informative, lists pros and cons of the topic, and gives personal accounts from teachers and administrators who have experienced the topic.  The article does a great job informing it's targeted audience of topic and made the information relatable to the audience, school administrators.

Another Positive of the Flipped Class

With flipped learning, there's also the added bonus of not experiencing leaving a class without ever having understood the professor, or the professor lecturing for and entire hour and a half with no interaction from the class.  After a while your brain shuts off and the last part of the class was blah, blah, (I'm so hungry) blah, blah, (Why won't this school let us have any food or drinks in class?), blah, blah, (You know we are adults?), blah, blah, (With what I pay for these classes I should be able to eat a freakin' Snickers bar!!), blah, blah, (At the point of mutiny......stomach growling like thunder.....), blah, blah....lecture's finally over.  I have no idea what happened in the last half hour.  My brain was too hungry!  With the "lecture" portion of the class done at home (Where I can eat a Snickers bar if I want to!), class time is handled differently.  It's more interactive, so it's easier to focus, even if my brain is hungry!

A Student's Approach to Flipped Learning

With flipped learning we, as students, can read and/or watch as few, or as many, articles and videos as we want and as many times as we would like to.  I tend to pick things up quickly, and I have a heavy course schedule this semester.  The ability to get my "homework" done quickly for the following week, then check in on the computer everyday and let the words flow when they happen to, and then show up to class, is a proficient use of my time.  Having a guided, but flexible structure to work within is an ideal format for a class for me and has been easy for me to fall into a regular pattern to manage into my busy schedule. 

 

But I also realize that not all students would utilize the system in the same way that I do.  This system of learning can be a benefit for those students who sometimes need to watch, hear, or read something a couple of times before it completely sticks.  That's the value of flipped learning, you have constant access to the course material and anything that a student doesn't understand can be discussed during the class time.  But a student has the ability to repeat the material prior to class so the concept can already, or at least mostly, be understood before entering class, and then time would only need to be used for the concepts that were not completely understood.  That allows for everyone in the class to pace themselves according to their particular educational needs.



The Flipped Classroom Technique....What Works and What Doesn't

The amount of time that we get to go over the material that should be covered for the week is fantastic.  The videos and reading assignments are short and can be reviewed if necessary for comprehension.  That gives us plenty of time in class to do what would normally be homework.  I do appreciate this, because if you are taking a full schedule of classes, then this leaves you with at least one class that isn't laying hours worth of homework on you every week.  I still end up checking up on my ongoing assignments outside of class, but it's not all left for that time.  That part of the class definitely works for me.

The part of the flipped classroom that I don't care for as much is the fact that it can lead to a less interactive lesson for the initial introduction of new material.  Though, with my current professor that is using the flipped classroom technique, I've found that that interaction comes later, when the parts of the lesson that were not completely understood are being discussed or the "classwork", or homework, portion of the course is happening.  This does provide the instructor of the course becoming involved with the class, so it's absolutely not a hands off approach to teaching.  It just happens to be in a different order than I am used to!  All in all, I do enjoy the flipped technique and I think that it works well for my English Composition class.

The Power of Words (Part 3)

We the People....

Those three words bring to mind so many things to so many people.  And they mean different things to different people, as well.  I'm sure that "We the People" means something completely different to an American as it does to an Englishman.  (History is viewed differently dependent upon whether you were the winners or the losers of any given war!)  The connotation and impact of the words are dependent upon the reader. 

Just thinking of the words, We the People, makes me, as a proud American, feel a quick swelling of pride and a fleeting impression of all of the things that were drilled into my head throughout my American public school education.  You know...the land of the free, home of the brave, first in everything, defenders of the downtrodden, leaders in democracy, and on from there.  These first three words of our United States Constitution are just regular words used in everyday vocabulary without any emotional impact at all, but as soon as you put them together, in that specific order, you almost always get some sort of a reaction that can, at times, be visceral.  That is the true power of words.  They stand for something.  And when they stand for something as great as what our country is, and represents, then they are truly powerful indeed!

The Power of Words (Part 2)

Words are not only spoken, but can be communicated in many other ways beginning with pictographs on cave walls by the earliest humanoids, then writing on animal skins.  We then moved onto the earliest forms of paper, hemp paper such as the United States Constitution was written on, and now the amazing feat of using technology to produce the written word on computers where it disappears into that unknown place called the "cloud." 

(By the way, does anyone really know where the cloud is?)

These various forms of recorded words have given present humans a glimpse into the minds of the people of an ancient, and not so ancient, time in history that the words of whichever document is being interpreted were written (or painted, etched, etc.).  And what a wonderful thing for our ancestors to have left for us!!!  The vast amount of information that we have gleaned from the many ancestral documents that have been discovered throughout the course of history has given us a glimmer into the past.  And all through the use of words.  In a way those humans whose writings have survived the test of time, spoke a message to the future and we are lucky enough to have the ability to read it.  What a gift!

The Power of Words (Part 1)

I believe that words can be one of the most powerful tools that we have as human beings.  There are so many ways and forms in which we can use them to create such a huge impact on the world at both the micro and macro level.



Within our home, as family members and, especially, as parents, our words create an impact on our children and help to make them who they are and, ultimately, who they become as adults.  These adults that we have affected with our words throughout their childhood go into the world and make impacts on it.  Depending on how we, as parents, have impacted them with our words, they can make either a positive or a negative mark on society.  They could become great and do wonderful, huge things or they could spiral down a self-destructive path that takes others with them and causes harm in numerous unknown ways.  With the power of our words, just within our own homes, we can make the world a better place, or we can cause irreparable damage to our family and future society.  These consequences, be it good or bad, are caused only by the spoken word and yet we use words in other forms.

A Personal Achievement...

I have been a smoker for the past six years and hated every day of it.  I began smoking because of a surplus of weight gained with one of my pregnancies coupled with a new thyroid condition.  Everything that I ate stayed with, and on, me and my weight was completely out of control.  So, with the naïve thought that I had great willpower and I would be able to put the cigarettes down as soon as my thyroid levels were in balance and my weight returned to an acceptable level, I made the horrible choice to begin smoking.  That was the biggest mistake of my life!!  What a nasty, unhealthy habit smoking is!  My assumption regarding the awesome strength of my willpower proved to be entirely incorrect.  Six years later, and countless efforts, aids and tactics used in the attempt to quit and here I am, still smoking.  The nicotine has, thus far, proven more powerful than my willpower.

That is not the end to this particular story, but the beginning.  I would never post something that makes me feel so ashamed of myself unless I had a triumphant ending to share!  I discussed my repeated lack of success using the common aids available over the counter (patches, gum, etc.) with my doctor and we agreed that Chantix would be a good option for me to try.  Though I generally try to avoid medications if at all possible, I decided that a medication in the short-term is better for my health than smoking long-term.  A little over a week later, and I'm delighted to say that I am cigarette free.  I don't even have an urge to smoke when I get stressed out, which, believe me, having five children will do to you.  I'm super excited and thrilled to be able to say, once again, that I am a non-smoker and proud of it!

My Online Image

After doing a Google search on myself, and only coming up with my Facebook page and information from others' various pages, I decided that I need to make a concerted effort to have more of a presence online.  The search results made me feel slightly invisible with us living in the technological era.  Fortunately, this problem is something that can be corrected and is certainly better than seeing many negative posts, comments, and pages attached to my name and image.  I've always kept my image on Facebook positive because my children are old enough to have their own pages and I force them to be my friends so I can monitor what they are doing online.  Being a mother has made me very aware of the negative, and even dangerous, things that can come as a result of using the Internet and social sites, so I've always been very careful to project an image that I can be proud of.  That awareness has also led me to the problem of not having enough of an existence online.  Thankfully I'm taking this class which has shown be the flaw in my careful Internet behavior!

Writing with a Group

Composing a group writing assignment has taught me many different things.  To begin with, I learned many things regarding the assigned topic, an online image, especially as it specifically relates to me.  While exploring the available information applicable to the topic of our paper, I was exposed to numerous facts that I had not previously known, such as: the extremely high percentage of companies that conduct online research of applicants before contact is even made for an interview, the importance of asking for written recommendations throughout your education and career, the various tools available that will notify you when something with your name tagged or attached is posted to the Internet, and, most significant to me personally, the perceived negativity that a lack of presence on the Internet can portray to employers looking at candidates that have applied for positions.  As I stated in my previous post, I have become more aware of my online image, or the current lack thereof, and am determined to show my future employers that I have kept up with the lightning fast pace of recent technological advancements.  After researching the vital role an online image now plays in the hiring and professional networking process, I found that the way to achieve my goal is to have a variety of positive, worthy information about me that is readily available through the most popular search engines.

Aside from the valuable information I learned about the subject matter contained within the report itself, I also gained an increase in social skills purely from the act of working on an academic project within a group.  I'm the type of person that is a natural leader so, as a result, I have always taken employment where I can utilize that part of my personality.  In general, whether it be at home or work, I make the decisions and give the orders.  This aspect of my persona can be both a strength and a weakness depending on the situation I find myself in.  At home, and in my usual employment in management, I've found that it is a strength.  This group assignment placed me in a position where I was required to hold back that urge to completely take over and tell the other group members what to write and how to accomplish said task.  In order for it to be a group project, and not just a paper that I wrote and put the other group members' names on, I had to reign myself in and really listen to the opinions, thoughts, and comments of the rest of the group.  All in all, I feel that the assignment taught me awareness of both my online image and my tendency to take charge and push others out.  It gave me an opportunity to work on myself as a person, and anything that gives you something that is beneficial to your personal growth is worth the time and effort you invest.