Semester Two Journals
Prompts |
Responses |
Compare your portfolio to those of other students in class. What would/will you do differently? Personal successes/failures.
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I think my portfolio could have been organized differently to better showcase my work from this semester. Especially looking at some of the websites from my peers, organization seems to be something my website has, but lacks at the same time. For the second semester website portfolio, I think I will change my organizational methods, add more work in a format that’s easier to read, and personalize it more.
I think a personal success is my hero’s story and my backgrounds/pictures. I think that they are among my best work. I believe my personal hiccup is that I should have moved my “three to five paragraphs for the introduction of each section” somewhere else where they would be more visible. |
Journal 13: Speaking, Reading, Writing Skills in Life--Relationships
Mon, February 1, 12am – Tue, February 2, 12am Describe how speaking, reading, and writing skills can play a part in your relationships with others. Consider families, friendships, romantic relationships. |
Short Outline:
Speaking, reading, and writing skills are important in relationships because they help communicate one’s feelings, views, and opinions in an easier way. Journal Response: When trying to communicate one’s thoughts to another, we normally will either speak our opinions, or write them. And in turn we either listen or read another’s. These skills are important in relationships because they determine how people treat us, and how we treat others. Which causes emotional feedback in everyone. One should learn efficiently how to speak right, using correct grammar and vocab for each differing subject and listener. This is important because we have to learn to cater our speech to an environment, setting, or presence of another. It is also important because, as a society, we do give as many chances to the illiterate as we do the literate, which may affect the conditions of living quality. The ability to read is something not everyone has, and as such it is a resource that everyone has the possibility to receive, but not everyone has the opportunity. Words are among the world’s most powerful weapons, and libraries - as said by Sarah J. Maas - are full of each and dangerous idea. The ability to learn to read is a precious one, and it is sad when people take such an item for granted. The ability to write is also important because it allows us to express our ideas, opinions, and beliefs in a way that is easier than speaking. |
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Short Outline: There are eleven common mistakes that students (and parents) make when filling out the FAFSA. These include, but are not limited to: not completing the FAFSA, not using the right website, not getting a FAFSA ID ahead of time, waiting to fill out the FAFSA until after taxes, not filing by the deadline, not reading directions carefully, inputting incorrect information, not reporting parent information, listing only one college, not using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, Not signing the FAFSA. Who would have thought that some of these in-corrections would be possible?
Journal Response: There are eleven common mistakes that students (and parents) make when filling out the FAFSA. These include, but are not limited to: not completing the FAFSA, not using the right website, not getting a FAFSA ID ahead of time, waiting to fill out the FAFSA until after taxes, not filing by the deadline, not reading directions carefully, inputting incorrect information, not reporting parent information, listing only one college, not using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, Not signing the FAFSA. Who would have thought that some of these in-corrections would be possible? I know I wouldn’t have, but this only goes to show that completing the FAFSA is something I am going to want my mom’s help with. I know now that I need to complete the FAFSA is I ever plan on using Federal Aid to pay for college, I now know the correct website, I know that I need to apply for an ID at least three days ahead of time before I can complete my FAFSA. I also know that I don’t need to wait until after taxes are filed to complete the FAFSA, I can always just update my taxes later. I know that there are usually three deadlines, and that I should had it done before the first. I know that I need to read questions carefully and understand that sometimes the words “parent” and “guardian” are used for more than mom and dad. I know that I should list all of the colleges I am interested in, even if I don’t apply, or if I’m not even accepted. I know that I should use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool when filing to have the correct tax info, and that I will need to sign the FAFSA with my ID, and possibly my parents. |
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Short Outline: Multitasking is not a great thing to do. It is already commonly known that people who do more than one thing at a time tend to forget or lose track of what they are doing. Something I didn’t know was that multitasking is actually killing us. Not literally, but there are studies showing that those who multitask more have less brain density in their anterior cingulate cortex, and that is not a good thing.
Response: Multitasking is not something to put on a resume. While it seems great to be able to switch from one task to the next or seemingly do more than one thing at a time, in reality, all we receive is stress and too little density in a part of our brain that regulates our self-reward hormone. When this happens, our brains give out more dopamine, the reward hormone, and cortisol, the stress hormone. When these two are released together, it creates bad habits that can cause our brains to not function completely because of lost mass. It is already commonly known that people who multitask tend to forget or lose track of what they are doing. So why are people still multitasking? Because it seems like a good thing, and because it is a great skill to show on a resume or say at an interview. “I am great at multitasking” is something many people want, and do say to future employers. What they should be saying is “I can multitask, but I prefer not to because I, as a human, cannot give all my attention to more than one task at a time. I would much prefer to do one thing at a time and get it done well, quickly, than do multiple things and become stressed out at my inability to do well.” |
Free Write
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Outline: These past few days, I have been researching ANN Project and their cooperation with Loft to select 50 sophomore and junior high school girls to bring to a leadership weekend in New York CIty, then give them the materials to bring home so the girls can help their communities in ways that speak to them. I have decided to give opportunities (mainly through art, books, writing, sports, and other creative activities) to young adults struggling with mental illnesses and disorders. I also want to give them hope in life, and show them that they are not alone.
Journal: ANN Project is a project where sophomore and junior girls learn leadership skills and bring money to their communities to help problems in their communities, groups, schools, etc. Each project is an idea of the girl, and they help people in a w |
Tinder Bots Journal (Used Article)
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Short Outline: Not knowing if the article is correct or not, (I do not know topics such as talking with a robot very well) I am going to continue this journal response as if it is. There are three main subjects I noticed in the article that gave me thought. The first was, “why would anyone want to talk to a bot”, then “why would someone create a blog about women talking to bots”, and lastly “why would you try to outsmart the bot? Why not just have the bot be a bot, instead of pretending to be human?”. In short, I do not feel the need for bots.
Response: Given an article Tinder dating, and how to tell if you are “dating” a robot instead of an actual person, I realized that there is a need, for many people, to have bots on the internet, but I do not feel that need. I question people who do. While I realize that customer service cannot reply to every person with a problem at a fast pace, and you might need bots to help you in that area. But dating a bot? Why? And why are there people who actually want to talk to a robot, let alone make it for any reason other than helping the people as a whole. Then I thought, (in a mean way, I apologize) that there are people who would want to talk to a dating bot and not know it was a bot because they have issues with dating. That was mean of me, I know. Another thought of mine is why would someone purposely put a woman’s responses into a bot site and reply using the bot’s words? And then, why would someone record his conversations and put them on a blog. My mind’s answer was, to see idiotic people talk to a robot. The last major question my mind came up with because of this article, why do we have bots pretend to be human, and why do people try to outsmart the bots? The second part is easy to answer, because there are bots, and the people want to prove the robots species. The first half of the question is not as easy. I believe it to be marketing. A dating website, or any other website, is going to want bots to increase their members. Similar to how customer service wants bots to weed out the major problems from the minor so the major ones can be dealt with by an actual person, and the minor technicalities can be solved by the bot. It also would seem to be able to save money. |
Describe how speaking, reading, and writing skills might play a part in a person's experience with work. Imagine or describe real examples of how this has played a part in someone's professional life.
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Speaking, reading and writing are important skills for the workplace. This is shown with examples such as accurately describing a program and how to use it, interviews for a job, reading instructions or manuals, and writing descriptions or instructions for others.
Three language skills needed in the workplace include: speaking, reading and writing. There are various uses for each. Speaking could be used in the workplace by giving instructions to others and being interviewed/interviewing. It is also extremely valuable in meetings to describe a business’s progress. Reading is important in the workplace because it gives you the skill to read instructions or a manual, read emails with tasks set for you in them, and reading consumer comments. Writing is important in the workplace because with this skill, you can write emails, make progress reports, report what you have done, make reminders and responding to emails from your co-workers. Let's say that we are in an newspaper office. We have cubicles to work at and we are listening to instructions from the editor on the news article. We need our speech skills to be able to understand what the editor is saying, and we may need those skills to ask either the editor or another questions. We will then need our reading skills to do research on the topic given by the editor, and our writing skills to make a report or article on the matter. |
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There are many types of offensive language, none of which should be used in the workplace on a daily basis. Comments about race, sex, sexual orientation, and similar identifiers, should never be used in the workplace. They shouldn’t be used anywhere else either. Language such as swearing, when used to display anger, frustration, or hurt within themselves should be fine, as long as it isn’t offensive to anyone who in in hearing range, but the same language used to speak to another, should not be allowed in the workplace.
If someone were to make a comment about another, or to another, it should not include any profanities or slurs that could be offensive to anyone, or anything. If someone were to stub their toe, and swear, that seems like it should be fine, as long as it is not in company of anyone who should not, or not want to, hear words like that. I hear people make racial and sexual slurs about others all the time, and while it may not affect me, if only because I know that it is idiotic to lower myself that way, it is still offensive. That should not be allowed anywhere, especially public places. There needs to be an unspoken rule about offensive language that is common knowledge. The language used to be rude to another out of ignorance, race, and stereotypes should stop. We live in a diverse world where things like the color of someone’s skin or their face structure, someone’s racial background, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or disabilities should not matter. Everyone is equal, period. Swearing is not appropriate in many situations, but offensive language meant to target one person, or a group of people, should not be used. |
Memory Book Pre-write
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Living in Wisconsin is different from living in the Upper Peninsula. Much like how different the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan are.
My dad moved to Central Wisconsin when I was nine, or around the beginning of fourth grade. I remember that when he first moved down there, and I went to visit him, he lived on top of a bar between what seemed like an abandoned highway and a good fishing river. Until you heard a semi or boat. The first entire summer I spent with my dad, we stayed above the Jolly Roger, or the bar. The apartment was only half-finished, and the only finished rooms where the bathroom and the master bedroom, where my dad slept. I stayed on a day bed in the living room with my dog, Skie, and the boys slept in an unfinished bedroom without windows and doors just off the main room. In the mornings, we would do chores around the house and the bar downstairs, and in the afternoons, my dad would work downstairs, and my brothers and I would take the dog into the woods to pick raspberries or go swimming in the river. Then my dad moved to the city of Weston, just west of Wausau, the central city of Wisconsin. I didn’t know he moved until after our visit to Florida when we stayed with him for a few days. He lived in a two-bedroom duplex with his new wife. I had the small bedroom and the boys had closed off rooms in the basement. It is this house that my brothers and I later moved into when my mother couldn’t afford to feed three hungry kids, go to college, and work a full-time job all at once. So we moved in with our dad, and I switched to the middle school there. A few months later, my dad and stepmom buy a house near the junior and senior highs. Maybe five miles southeast, on the border of Scofield and Rothschild. That house was pretty, and large. It had a huge lawn that backed up onto train tracks, and what seemed like a forest around it. The house itself was red, white, and blue. Much like the American flag that stood proud on a pole by the drive way. An old veteran had recently died, and his wife had sold the house to my dad. I had the smallest room upstairs, but that was large enough for me. At least I didn’t have to share a room with anyone. I continued middle school at the junior high in that same district, and I had many of what I thought were friends. Long story short, after two years of living with my dad, my depression had me at dangerous lows, so I moved back in with my mom. I was lucky that I had one parent who knew what it was like to have a mental illness, and I wanted to live with her. |
What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to change the world?
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I have no clue what I would want my legacy to be, if I want to have one at all. But there are many things I want to change about in our world. I would want equal rights, climate control, and animal endangerment programs. I would want more funding to go into schools and research, such as deep sea navigation and space exploration.
For me, equal rights is a big topic. I feel like there shouldn’t be a debate on how people are treated. I feel that as long as people are being good, and are not causing any sort of human crime or anarchy, then they should have the rights to pursue their dreams. I feel like every person should be given the opportunities they need to grow and experience life. But please don’t assume that I want equal opportunity. A child born with any disability, either mental or physical, should be seen as a person and should be given the opportunities they need to be able to grow and to learn how to be, at least, mostly self-dependent and self-aware. In the same way, I feel like people who live in poverty should be able to receive the care and attention they need to be able to think, grow, and learn on the same level as the child of a billionaire. I believe that race, gender, sexual orientation, and similar factors should not be, in any small part, relied on for opportunities. Not just in our country, but in our world. I also believe that religion and religious freedoms should be allowed to all. I believe that someone’s religion should not matter, and people should not discriminate. Please understand that this is also coming from someone who is non-religious, and who grew up with half her family Christian, and the other half atheist. Another change I want to see in the world is climate control. When I say “climate control”, I don’t mean adjusting the temperature and humidity of a terrarium. We are not reptiles that need to have someone else monitor our surroundings so we can live. We are humans with the technology and understanding to know that our planet is overpopulated, overproduced, and overestimated. We want to live on this planet, right? If so, and if we don’t want to limit the amount of children born and take away civilian rights, then we should make efforts to help our planet support us for a longer period of time. I believe that governments and corporations should monitor their carbon footprint. I believe that there should be affordable solutions to fuel that has a better economic output than fossil fuels and gasoline. The third change I want to see, is protecting our endangered animals and protecting those at an increased rate of becoming endangered. Poaching should have larger punishments to discourage the act, and endangered species should have habitats that are illegal to destroy. I believe that instead of |