Dear Spring 2009 students,

First of all, this class is one of the most, if not the most practical class you will have in college. It truly prepares you for things that you will encounter in the work force. The best way to be successful in this class, that I found, is to look at the To-Do list every Sunday night and plan your week by that. Write down when things are due in your agenda so you don't forget.

As far as the client project, make sure that you definitely take notes on the day that your client comes in to speak. Write down their first and last name, all their contact information and any thing else that they said that might be of relevance to you. Pick group members that you will not have schedule conflicts with. Also, at your first group meeting look at all the due dates for the parts of the project and plan meetings, when things are due, etc. based on this. This way if someone has a big test or project in another class they are able to plan around it. Communication with the client and group members is crucial, make sure that everyone is on the same page. It is important too that you maintain a rapport with your group members. Oh, and I almost forgot, make sure at the first group meeting be sure to get all of your group members contact information. In case you have an emergency or have to be late for a meeting you want to let them know. Collaborating with other groups on ideas is also helpful, this way the projects can be more efficient for the client using them.

Preparing career writing materials is a big part of this class as well and one of the most beneficial things for you. I suggest doing several drafts of your resume and going back and editing it several times. A lot of times I would forget what I did this one year and have to go back and add it. Also, try to get a professional in the field you are applying for to review your resume before you submit it for a final grade. These items are really important because they go on your online portfolios so spend some good time working on these. Also, ask Mrs. Rogers to look over your resume too, she is a great source!!!

This class incorporates a lot of technology and it is very useful. To be sure that you are not confused when you actually go to do something online, make sure that the web portfolio workshop days that you are in class and writing down exactly what Mrs. Rogers is doing. This helps you when you go to create it-it gives you a step-by-step guide. Also, if you are still not understanding stay after class with Mrs. Rogers and ask her to show you again, she is always willing to do this.

Finally, go to class! Class is really fun and really beneficial-you really get to know your peers. Also, if you don't go to class you will miss out on a lot of daily grades. Good luck with English 304 it is an awesome class with an awesome teacher so take advantage of the time you have!

Client Project Reflection

I have really enjoyed having a client project for this class. It makes me feel like I am actually doing something of relevance and something that is practical, rather than just "busy work." But, I am also learning tons in the process!!

A lot of what I have learned has come from working with my team members. This has helped me to realize that everyone has a different perspective about things and everyone has their own individual talents. Once a group or team understands this, they are able to embrace the differences and create a magnificent product. Our group has gotten along really well and I have enjoyed getting to know everyone and finding things about them that I would never have known otherwise.

The best thing about this project is realizing that we are making a difference for Helping Hands and that they are finally getting rewarded for all the hard work they do every day and all the sacrifices they have to make. It is great to know that we are, in a way, giving back to them what they have given to so many needy children. I also think that another great thing about this project is the relationship that we have with Debbie. I have seen her a couple of times while shopping in the thrift store and it is just so awesome to hear her stories and some of the things she deals with every day. It makes everything so much more personal and really makes me want to do the best I can for the project.

The biggest challenge we have faced is the PayPal account. Our group thinks that this is a really great idea and that it really will improve the amount of donations given, however, Debbie and her coworkers are not quite understanding what it does or how to set it up. It is just hard having an idea that we know will really benefit the organization and knowing that it may not be put into practice. But I am sure that the website and the blog will still put the needs of Helping Hands out there and who knows, maybe even cause a donation increase!!

I have learned the necessity of having action items in the group's meeting minutes, the importance of getting to know the group a little bit before beginning the project, and how beneficial group work can be if used in the correct manner. In a lot of other classes when we have group work we usually only are in that group for that one class period and never again and that is really frustrating because you don't even get a chance to know the people in your group. However, I like the fact that we are working on our whole project for the whole semester with one group of people. This allows us to become closer as friends which will definitely help us really come together on the project.

Dual Coding Theory

This ad appeals to the senses because it contrasts red, black, and white and kind of draws you into the ad, causing you to want to know more about it.

It also activates the working memory because it causes you to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. You are trying to concentrate on the words, then you move to the image. I still really can't figure out what the image is. It has caused me to try to relate the image back to what the words are. I know it has something to do with sports but I can't tell exactly what. I then started to think about other Nike ads I have seen and it really causes me to think about Nike items that I own which in turn starts me to thinking about exercising. It is amazing the different directions that your mind can go.

In Educational Pyschology I learned that all of the experiences in your mind are called your schema and that they are all interrelated. The more that is in your schema, the more things you are able to relate to.

I have also heard that women are able to go in many more directions than men. Women can start thinking about one thing and relate it to something totally different. There is also a book about this called men are like waffles, men are like spaghetti! Very interesting I think. I also think that it would be interesting to see how men and women responded to this ad differently.

Miscommunication

The experience that I had where information was miscommunicated was not in an actual work setting but was in an internship. I had an internship in my senior year of high school in an Elementary school in a first grade classroom. One of the assistant teachers was talking about how the school could no longer let parents bring in baked goods from home because one parent had brought brownies that contained pot. I couldn’t believe this and I went back to the high school and asked one of the teachers who I knew had been in the community for a while if she remembered this happening, she was shocked when she heard what the teacher had said. My teacher remembered a few years ago when students had gotten food poisoning from something in the cafeteria but never had pot in the brownies brought by parents. This was a huge misunderstanding and without my knowledge, my teacher went to the principal of the Elementary school and was very upset. The assistant teacher in my classroom ended up getting in a lot of trouble and after this occurrence both the teacher I was interning with and the assistant were very rude to me and it was difficult for me to complete my internship. I ended up having to switch schools and after that, every time I saw the teachers out in the community it was extremely awkward.

The miscommunication could have been prevented if the assistant teacher in my classroom had made sure that her facts were straight before she started spreading the rumors to others, especially students from the high school. Also, the situation was made worse in the fact that this was in a very small town and the news got around fast, which made everything a much bigger deal.

Mock Interview Reflection

The whole resume and interview experience was really neat for me, for the first time it made me feel like an adult. It was really exciting to go on monster.com to look for a job that I might actually like to do in the future. When I first started writing my resume I was worried that I would having nothing worth putting on there that a potential employee might like to see, turns out I have actually had more experience than I had thought. I would suggest to future college students, to create a document their freshman year where they just write jobs that they have had or any volunteering they have done, this way they can keep track of it and when it comes time to create a resume, it won't be as big of a deal.

The actual interview part was a little nerve racking at first. I couldn't figure out what to wear or what I was going to say exactly. I just kept rehearsing my biggest strength and weakness on my way to the Mrs. Roger's office. Once the interview started and we began talking I felt a lot more comfortable (I'm hoping this happens on my real job interview too)! I think that having to go through this process of creating a resume and a cover letter and presenting the best of yourself to someone really prepared me for what I'm going to be going through in a year or so.

The only question that really threw me was, "tell me a little bit about yourself." Honestly, when she asked me this question I couldn't think of anything to say. I think I might have been trying a little bit too hard at the beginning ha ha. However, once I relaxed the answers seemed to just come for me.

Some things that I would differently would be not saying "um" as much and being more confident with my answers. Also I think I would explain my passion for teaching and young children more.

Presentations

I really enjoyed the presentations this week! Unfortunately I was only in class for the first day of presentations because I had strep throat, so I wasn't able to see everyone present.

One of my favorite presentations from Monday was Sarah's. I have volunteered with Helping Hands at the house and I have always had many questions about how things were run and it really meant a lot to me to know that there is an organization that advocates specifically for these children. Also Sarah and I are in the same group for the client project so I was really excited to see her presentation because I know she will have a lot to bring to the group!

I also really enjoyed Lauren's presentation about facebook stalking. It was so funny and so appropriate for the audience. We always joke about stalking people on facebook (students as a whole I mean) and to hear a rap song about it and to actually have a guide is pretty hysterical. It also makes me think of how different things are in this day in age than they were when my mom was in college. It almost seems that now our lives are an open book and we have chosen for it to be that way. Lauren did a really great job presenting and I also was impressed with her powerpoint. I didn't realize you could make a facebook background for a powerpoint, that is something that would be really neat to know how to do.

Morgan's presentation was really awesome as well! It is so neat that her family is so close knit and has the tradition of going somewhere overseas for Christmas vacation! I have never been anywhere overseas so seeing pictures of the places she has been inspired me to go. However, I do travel state-to-state quite often because my Dad lives in Washington D.C. so I was able to relate to the making of travel plans.

I thought that presentations were a great way for all of us to get to know our classmates and it really made the class time enjoyable. I am looking forward to doing more things with our class like this.

Trying to Decide....

As I approach graduation, I have a lot of things on my mind about my life. First of all, somedays I think about college..a lot. It seems so strange to me sometimes that everyone lives here, eats here, works out here, talks here, makes friends, sometimes find their spouse, and earns a degree. It is as if all of a sudden you have a new life...with all new things!

Anyway, I have this extreme passion for teaching and I know that I want to teach younger children. What I can't decide is how I want to use this passion. I am really interested in teaching in the classroom...don't know if I want to teach at a public school, private school, Head Start program, or get a job in Early Intervention. This is something that has really been of interest to me lately. I am in an Early Intervention class right now and I am really interested in everything that it is about. There is also a grant masters program where you can get your masters in early intervention for free with a stipend!!! That is really cool but I would have to stay an extra year and I am just itching to get into the classroom!

This is random but I went to the Helping Hands thrift shop the other day and I talked to the lady that came to our class. She was so sweet and very excited about what we were going to do. She also told me that as she left, a Clemson student backed into her car and tried to say it was her fault and she had to deal with all of this for like two weeks, I felt so bad....hopefully, we can make it up to her with our proposals :)