10A Reflection on Midterm Video

A couple weeks ago I was assigned to make a video for my midterm project in Inquiry.  The video had to be about 5-6 minutes long.  As soon as I heard that I had to make a video my first reaction was, "great I'm not going to know what to do because I have never made a video before."  For the project we had to write down three things that we like about Southern Connecticut State University or that we think makes Southern special.  My topic turned out to be that Southern is located in New Haven so there is always something to do.

I think that the requirements that I excelled at were; having a clear beginning and end, reaching the time limit, getting it done on time, and keeping the audience interested.  I made sure that I started my video off with an interesting beginning and end.  I know that if I am watching a video and the beginning isn't doesn't interesting me, I wouldn't watch it.  My video came out to a little over 5 minutes so I did reach the time limit.  If I had more time to make me video then I probably would have tried to make it a little longer.  I posted my video on my blog before the time it was do so I didn't get any points off for it being late.  I also tried to add music into my video in order to make my video more interesting.

Although I think I did pretty well on the midterm video, it could definitely use some improvement.  I think the biggest weakness in my video was the interviews.  Part of the reason my interviews were so weak was because I kind of waited for the last minute to do them.  Another reason why my interviews were so weak was because everyone that I asked didn't want to be interviewed.  I think that incorporating these interviews into out video was one of the hardest parts.  It was hard for me to come up with questions to ask the people that I was interviewing.

All in all, I think I did very well on the video, especially since it was the first video I ever made.  If I had to give myself a grade I would give it either a B+ or an A-.  As I said, the part of my video that needs the most work is the interviews.  If I had more time to work on it or could revise it, I would do my interviews early so that I didn't have to rush at the last minute.  Although this project was a lot of work and took awhile to make it was a good experience.  It was fun to make it just took awhile and now next time I have to make a movie I will be a pro at it!

9V Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking: disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informedby evidence.

Being a critical thinker requires you to break down information so that you can reflect on it in a different way.  Critical Thinking is a skill that you develop and improve as you get older.  As you get older, you become more intelligent and understand the importance of critical thinking.  In order to be a critical thinker you have to "think outside of the box." When you critically think, you go more into depth of the topic or situation.  Being more open minded about a topic is a good skill to have when you are critically thinking.  This term "critical thinking" relates to everything we have been learning in inquiry.  We just talked about mastery, and I believe in order to reach the level of mastery you have to be a critical thinker.  You also have to be intelligent in order to use the skill of critical thinking.  Critical thinking is a skill that all college students should learn to master.

New Vocabulary:

Logos: arguments based on facts and reason.
In my Media class we are learning that logos is one of Aristotle's artistic proofs.  While most people make their decisions based on emotions or strength of character/reputation and creditability, many people value arguments based on fact and reason.

Summary: drastically reduces version of what you're reading.
In English we are reading articles and learning how to summarize them.  Summaries are in your own words and are usually about one third the length of the original reading.

9I Lecture With Justice Sotomayor

On Monday October 21, Justice Sonia Sotomayor came to Southern Connecticut State University to share a little bit about herself.  The lecture was held at the Lynman Center at 7:00 pm.  Sonia Sotomayor was the first hispanic woman to ever become a Supreme Court Justice.  This was such a great opportunity for all the students at SCSU.  Listening to her was such a great experience and she shared a lot of interesting and helpful advice.

Sonia Sotomayor came to talk to Southern Students because her book, "My Beloved World" was the common read for all incoming freshman.  In her book she shared her life story and how she still accomplished her dream job after facing very difficult obstacles throughout her life time.  One of piece of advice that I remember Justice Sotomayor giving was to value your friendships now.  She said that your friends should help you learn about yourself.  It is very important to surround yourself with the right people.

This lecture with Sonia Sotomayor was such an inspiration.  I am so grateful to have got to listen to her in person.  She is such a great role model and she makes me believe that I can accomplish one of my dreams one day.

9B Midterm Grades

I am very happy with my midterm grades.  My goal throughout college is to get nothing lower than a B-.  So far my grades are B, B, B+, B+, and A.  I am aiming for at least a 3.0 for the first semester.  Throughout high school I was also a very good student and got all A's and B's and I am hoping that continues throughout college.

The class that I am struggling most with is Economics.  We get two quizzes for each chapter we learn.  The first quiz is in multiple choice form and the second quiz is more of a quiz with graphs and short answer questions.  So far I did well on two quizzes and not so well on the other two quizzes.  The quizzes are based on what we learn in class and what we read in the chapter.  My problem is that sometimes I wait until the last minute to read.  I have to learn to give myself more time to read so that when its time to take the quiz I did all the reading and I understood everything that I read.  In the future I am going to start reading a week or so before the quiz so that I do well on the rest of the quizzes for the semester.

I have been doing very well in my math class.  We have had two test so far- one being the midterm test.  I got a 98 on the chapter test and a 95 on the midterm.  All of my homework in math is online on the My Math Lab website and I make sure I do all the assignments before they are due.  We get a take home quiz every week that I have also been doing well on.  I am also doing well in Inquiry, English, and Media.

I know that as we move further into the semester the material is going to get harder.  So overall I just have to work on getting my Economics reading done so that I do well on the quizzes.  In order to reach my goal of getting all A's and B's throughout the semester, I just have to keep up all the good work and stay on top of my work!

Midterm Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNxVH2ZWbI&feature=youtu.be

9A The Importance of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking leads to skills that can be learned, mastered, and used.  Although having good critical thinking skills is important, it is not an easy skill to develop.  In order to be a critical thinker you have to be strong at analyzing and identifying topics.  In high school I wasn't much of a critical thinker, now that I am in college, in order to be successful in school you have to be a good critical thinker.

All college professors want their students to be critical thinkers.  Not only is it important to be a critical thinker in class, but it is more important to be a critically thinking outside of class.  I have to use critical thinking when I am assigned to do reading for classes.  Just getting the reading done is not enough.  After I read the chapter or pages that  I am assigned to read, I have to go back and analyze what I have read.  It is very important to further reflect on what you have previously read.  When I had to read for homework in high school, I used to just read the chapter and do well on the tests.  During the first couple weeks of college I started to do what I did in high school.  After not doing so well on my first quiz based on the reading I had to change the way I read.  This is when critical thinking came in handy.  I now know that after I read a chapter I have to analyze and reflect on the readings. I also find that critical thinking comes in handy while writing my blogs each week.  After I gather my thoughts, I have to think about how I am going to organize all my thoughts.

Although becoming a critical thinker takes time, it definitely is an important skill to have.  Not only does critical thinking help me as a college student but it will also help in the future.  Knowing how to identify and analyze topics and arguments will always be a key skill. 

Midterm Rough Draft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqD9mkC_ObU&feature=youtu.be

8V Mastery

Mastery: comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment.

You can't just be good at something to reach mastery.  Becoming a master at something takes a lot of time and dedication.  Reaching the level of mastery at something also takes a lot of motivation.  If you aren't willing to take the time and effort to do something, you are never going to master it.  It is believed that you have to practice something for 10,000 hours before mastering it.  This is known as the  10,000 hour rule.  You will not be a master at something unless you completely dominate some skill.

New Vocabulary:

Qualification: a quality or accomplishment that makes someone suitable for a particular job or activity.
In my media class we are learning that qualification refers to the expertise of a source.  Qualification traits include; training, expertise, and knowledge.

Equilibrium: a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.

In my economics class we are learning about supply and demand and how important it is for markets to stay at a state of equilibrium.

8I Alumni Game

Today I played in the first ever SCSU women's lacrosse alumni game.  My team played against some of the alumni from the past couple years.  The game was played at Jess Dow Field and started at 4:30 and ended around 6.  It was nice to have some of the alumni come play against us.  It seemed like the alumni had fun and enjoyed coming back to southern to show off their lacrosse skills.  I was surprised to see that most of the girls were still in pretty good shape and could still play.   Playing in first women's lacrosse alumni game was very fun to be apart of.  This year we got a new coach and she is trying to build the women's lacrosse program.  I think that having these annual alumni games is a great way to build the program!

8B My Beloved Word

When I first received the common read book My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor I thought it was going to be a typical summer reading book that wasn't going to be interesting at all.  When I flipped to the back of the book to read the little blurb about what the book was about I thought in my head that this book could be interesting.  Although reading memoirs about other people do bore me, My beloved World taught me a lot.  Sonia Sotomayor faced hardships ever since she was a little kid.  She overcame all the obstacles she faced accomplished her dream.

I think this memoir was chosen for the common read because it is supposed to inspire and teach us college students.  Reading about all of the hardships Sonia Sotomayor faced throughout her lifetime and the fact that she was still able to accomplish her dream goes to show that life comes with many obstacles.  Although Sonia had diabetes, lost her father at a young age, went through a divorce, and wasn't very wealthy she didn't let any of this discourage her from living her life.  She overcame all of these obstacles and later became the Supreme Court Justice. Not only did she become the Supreme Court Justice but she was the first hispanic to ever achieve this position.

First year college students can learn a lot from Sonia Sotomayor's experiences.  When you face an obstacle you shouldn't give up on life.  Everyone faces something that is going to discourage them but instead of letting it discourage you, you have to stay strong and overcome these obstacles.  Sometimes facing obstacles can make you a stronger person in the long wrong.  College students are often stressed about all the work the receive and just want to give up.  I have already had this happen to me but I didn't give up, I worked my hardest and didn't let the stress stop me from getting my work done.

"Without a Heart, I am Nothing"

Above is the six word memoir that I made up.  I believe that without my heart I would not be where I am today.  In order to be successful you have to have the heart and passion.  If you are heartless you won't me able to accomplish anything.  If Sonia Sotomayor didn't have such a big heart I don't think she would be at where she is today.  Sonia had so much passion and determination that she was able to accomplish her dream.

8A Have You Mastered Your Blogging Skills?

As I read through many different blogs, many of them were very interesting.  The two that stood out the most to me were http://browneyedbull.blogspot.com/ and http://paige2017.blogspot.com/.  I think both of these blogs demonstrate A+ work.  These blogs caught my eye right away and contain A+ work for many reasons.

The first blog that really stuck out to me was "Brown Eyed Bull." The first thing that caught my eye as I clicked on her blog was the way her blog was set up.  It looks different than everyone else's blogs and that is what I like best about it.  As I read through her blogs I was very interested and wanted to read more.  Another reason why I feel Laura's blogs demonstrate A+ work is because while I read through her blogs I didn't find any grammar or spelling mistakes.  This shows that Laura doesn't just write her blogs out quickly to get them done, she makes sure she reads through her blogs to make sure she didn't make any mistakes.  I also like the titles that Laura comes up with for her blogs.  All of her titles are creative and grabs the readers attention.  Laura's blog flows very well and I believe that her work demonstrates A+ work.

Another blog that I feel demonstrates A+ work is "College Life 101: The New Beginning." This blog is done by Paige Slack.  The first thing that really grabbed my attention as I clicked on Paige's blog was her background design.  Her background is very colorful and made me interested in reading her blogs.  I like how Paige incorporates a picture or two in each of  her blogs to make them more creative.  All of her blogs are lengthy and her writing is very clear and easy to read.  Paige's blogs all flow very well together and I never got bored while reading her blogs.  I also like how in every blog Paige writes a little concluding paragraph kinda summing up what she wrote in her previous paragraphs.  After reading through Paige's blog I definitely feel that her work deserves an A+.

7V Failure

Failure: nonperformance of something due, required, or expected.

Everyone fails at something at one point in their life.  Failing at something is inevitable, it happens to everyone.  When you fail at something it just simply means that you have to work harder so that you succeed the next time.  Sometimes failing can be a good thing because failing will motivate you to want to try harder the next time.  Nobody likes being a failure, so when you do fail at something you fix your  mistakes so it doesn't happen again.  When I fail at something I focus on what I am doing wrong and I change it so I don't fail the next time. If you do fail at something, don't give up just fix your mistakes and you will be successful in the future!

New Vocabulary:

Central-Route Processing: Attending to persuasive messages on the basis of the logical information they contain.
In my media class we are learning about the different types of processing and observed that most students have central route processing.

Quantity Demanded: The amount of good that buyers are willing and able to purchase.
In economics I am learning about supply and demand and how the market uses it.

7I Pep Rally Fun!

Last night I went to the pep rally with my lacrosse team.  It was very interesting because the only pep rally's i've been to were the ones for my high school.  My high school was kind of small so it was different being a part of a college pep rally.  When my team and I first got there we waited with all the other teams before it was time for the pep rally to start.  It started around 7:00PM and ended around 8.  The first thing they did was announce each athletic team onto the basketball court.  After all of the teams were done being announced a couple of the dance teams performed.  There were two dance teams that performed and then the step team performed.  Then the cheerleaders did a little cheer for us. The performances were very good and I loved watching all of them.  After the performances, there was a little dance off and some of the athletes went out on the court and danced for the whole gym.  The winner of the dance off won a flat screen TV which was pretty cool.  Finally at the end of the pep rally the announced the football team.  This was a very fun experience and I can't wait to go to future pep rallies!

7B Reading is Not For Me

Ever since I was a little kid, I was never a good reader, nor did I enjoy reading.  The only time I would read a book was when I was assigned to for school.  Not only am I not a good reader, I never comprehend what I read.  Every time I got assigned to read a lot for homework I would dread having to do the reading.  Now that I am in college, we get assigned reading all the time.  Not only do we get a lot of reading, but most of our tests and quizzes are based on the reading we do outside of class.  So if you do not understand the reading, you will most likely not do well on the tests.

When I tell my teachers about my problem with not comprehending what I read, most of them say that taking notes while reading might help me understand the reading better.  The annoying part about having to take notes while reading is that it is very time consuming.  Another negative thing about taking notes while reading is that people tend to take too many notes and they end up writing down notes that are not useful.  Both of these concepts are my concerns with having to take notes while reading.  When I take notes on what I am reading I never know what to write down and then I end up either not writing down the important points, or I end up taking too many notes.

In my media class our first assignment was to read chapter one in our textbooks. When I first opened my book I looked ahead to see how many pages the first chapter was.  I was thinking it was going to be about 10 pages, but I was so wrong. The first chapter was 30 pages long.  I knew that our quiz was in a week and that I had to finish reading the chapter by then.  Instead of starting to read the chapter right away, I saved all of my reading for the week.  That is the first place I went wrong.  I started off taking notes when I started the chapter, but after awhile taking notes and reading took too long so I stopped taking notes.  When my teacher gave back the quizzes and I saw that I failed I knew it was because I didn't fully understand the material.

I told myself that for the next quiz I was going to take good notes throughout the whole chapter.  I made sure that I gave myself a head start on the reading and I took notes during the whole time I read the chapter.  Although taking notes was very time consuming, I got a 95 on my next quiz.  After doing well on this quiz I realized that sometimes you have to take the time to fully do something in order to succeed.  In the future when I have to read for my classes, I am going to be sure to take notes because I have learned that it is very useful.

7A Failing Can Be a Good Thing

Everyone fails at something at some point during their lifetime.  When someone fails at something, right away they probably think "great no I am a failure." In my opinion, failing at something does not make you a "failure." Even though people get discouraged when they fail at something, I think failing can also be a good thing. When I fail at something it makes me want to work ten times hard.  For example, when I lost a soccer, basketball, or lacrosse game it made me want to practice so much harder the next day.  I remember during basketball season if we lost a tough game, at practice we would work on everything we did wrong during the game so that next game we wouldn't make the same mistakes. "If you are not practicing deliberately, you might as well not practice at all." (The Myth of 'Practice Makes Perfect') What this means is that its not the quantity of what you are practicing it's the quality.  Practice on what you know you need to work on, don't waste your time practicing something that you have already mastered.

With all of this being said, I do not think kids should be encouraged to fail.  If parents encouraged their kids to fail then that is all they will used to and they would never be successful.  When kids do fail at something, parents can try to help them so that they don't make the same mistakes the second time.  Educationally,  when kids fail a test parents shouldn't baby them and always say that its okay.  If this is the situation parents should explain to them that failing a test is not good and they should help their kids study so that they get a better grade on the next test.

Failing can also be a bad thing for some people.  There are some people that are very sensitive when it comes to failing and when they fail at something, they will just give up.  Throughout my high school experiences, I have noticed that some people just get so frustrated when they fail a test that they don't even try the next time.  An alternative for this is that teachers can reach out to the students in their class that have been failing their tests.  If teachers stay on top of their students then I think this will decrease the chances of students failing their tests.

All in all, failing goes both ways.  Many people think that when they fail at something they become a "failure." This is not the case, when you fail at something, work on your mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes the next time. Although people may think that failing is bad, overall I think that failing can be a valuable thing.  When you fail at something you should want to work a lot harder so that you are successful in the future.

6V Persistency is Key

Persistence: firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

I believe that being persistent is a very important quality to have, especially while being a college student.  If you are persistent it simply means that you will continue to work through something even though the task may be difficult to you.  Ever since I was a little kid my parents would tell my that I was persistent.  When I was younger I did not really know what they meant by "persistent." I just knew that it was a good characteristic to have.  Now that I am older I now know what they mean because I am always persistent in everything I do.  I have always been persistent with school work and with the sports I play.  Even when a task is difficult for me I will still try my hardest until I am satisfied.  Being a persistent person is not easy for everyone but I believe it is a key aspect in life.

Other Vocabulary:

Efficiency: the property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resources.

In economics we are learning about how efficiency and equality are tradeoffs that society faces.

Semiotics: the theory of mean of signs and symbols.

In my media class we are learning that semiotics are concerned with how meaning is created and conveyed in texts.

6I Teaching Lacrosse to Younger Girls

On Wednesday I went to Hamden High School to teach younger kids how to play lacrosse.  My coach took me and a couple of my teammates so we could help them with their lacrosse skills.  The clinic was for girls who were in third to eighth grade. We started the clinic at 5:00pm and ended around 7:00pm.  My teammates and I started out the clinic with a nice stretch before we started playing.  Next we had them warm up by passing with a partner. For the rest of the clinic we had little stations to teach them how to improve their lacrosse skills.  Our goal for this clinic was to teach all the girls how to play lacrosse and make it fun for them to learn.  I love working with little kids, especially helping them play sports.  It's nice knowing that younger kids look up to us because we are older and know the sport better.  My coach loves to help out with clinics around the area so I am looking forward to helping out with more clinics in the future!

6B Putting Readings ‘In Conversation’ With Each Other

Every week we are assigned to a reading that we have to read and analyze so that we are prepared to talk about it in class.  This week we had to read an article and watch a video on the term “grit.” Grit is when you have the passion to stick with something over a long period of time until you master it. “A gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina.” (Angela Duckworth)Being persistent has a lot to do with being gritty. The reading on grit compares to some of the readings we have previously read. 

A couple weeks ago we read an article called “How Teachers Develop Students’ Motivation and Success.”  This article was about motivation and how students need the mindset in order to be successful. Mindset is the way in which someone approaches a situation, even though the task might be difficult. This article relates to the article we just read about grit because in order to have grit you have to have the right mindset. If you have no motivation to do something you are never going to master it.  For example, say you have a goal to get all A’s and B’s in school. If you don’t motivate yourself to do well then you are not going to accomplish this task. In order to have grit you have to be persistent and put your mind to it in order to be successful.

Another article that relates to the concept of grit is one of the first articles I read called “Work Hard or Work Smart.”  This article basically talked about how in order to do well in school you have to work harder than you thought you could. If you work hard in everything you do then you will be an outstanding student. This article gave very good advice on how to work smart. For example, it said, “before your week starts, get your plan in order.” When being a gritty person you have to work hard at what you do. You can’t just have the passion for something in order to be gritty, you have to work hard and push yourself in order to achieve something.

6A Don’t Give Up!

Throughout life, everyone faces challenges that are not easy to overcome. It happens to all of us, we have to overcome many obstacles throughout our lifetime. Throughout my lifetime I have faced many challenges. These challenges ranged from very small challenges to challenges that were very hard to overcome. One of my more difficult challenges was during my junior year of high school.

I was so nervous going into junior year because everyone I talked to would say “good luck junior year with all the work and SAT work.”  Every time someone brought up junior year they would say how hard it was and how it was the worst year work wise. Ever since middle school one of the subjects I struggled with the most was history. I was always the type of student who liked math and working with numbers. History was just so boring to me and I was never good at just memorizing a bunch of material. I took US History during my junior year of high school.  I really did not want to take this course but I had to in order to graduate.  Luckily I had a very good History teacher but I still struggled in the class. I was stressed right away when we got our first tests back and I saw that I failed.  After getting my first test back I tried to stay after with my teacher in advance when a test was coming up. My teacher noticed how hard I worked in his class and how I always stayed after with him before a test. Staying after definitely helped me because my test scores improved each time. Although I am not satisfied with getting 70s my scores were still improving and my teacher was happy with the way I was working.

The part that I was most nervous for was having to take the regents test at the end of the year. I was never good at taking multiple choice tests because I would always second guess myself and then end up picking the wrong answer. My teacher knew how nervous I was for the test so he just told me to come to all of his review sessions. I really wanted to do well on this test and I told myself that I was going to get in the 80s. My teacher told me that I was going to study my butt off and get a 90.  I knew right away  that there was no way that I was going to do that but I just agreed with my teacher.  Before the test I took a bunch of practice tests and went to my teacher for help almost everyday.  After taking the test I thought I did well but I was still nervous to see my score. Sure enough all of my hard work paid off and I ended up getting a 92 on the test. My teacher and my parents were so proud of me, as was I. I never thought I would get a 92 on my US regents but I was happier than ever. This goes to show that if you are faced with a challenge you should never give up and tell yourself that you can do it!