MIDTERM

Amanda,

      I just wanted to let you know about English 1102. I am in Ms. Ingram's class this semester. She has taught us to learn in so many different ways. When I saw the syllabus had blog post dates on it, I was a little nervous. I wasn't so sure about putting my work on the Internet for anyone and everyone to read over. I thought it was to be blogging about out personal lives, but I was wrong we were blogging about our research. Doing the research this way has taught me tremendously! With it being on the Internet I review it probably 3 times as much as I normally would if it was on paper in my notebook. If I'm confused about something I can look at what other people in my class has done and get a better understanding of how to approach it. I have learned more about opening up on paper, and actually enjoying what we are researching. I have also learned a new way to research, this way is definitely more beneficial for me. It may be beneficial to you also, I know you struggle with some of the same things in writing that I do. We all don't learn in the same thing in the same way. So maybe I can teach you what I have learned by doing research in this manner.

What its like to be you essay:

       I really enjoyed writing this essay, I was kind of nervous being so open at first. I figured everyone has they skeletons in their closet, and their struggles. I wanted to be completely open because I know someone else will read it and it might inspire them to be more open in their essay. The audience for this piece are my peers and my teacher. They affected the writing of it because I knew our teacher was going to read it so I wanted it to be good, but more so that my peers would read it was more of a motivation to make it more real. To tell the true story. It was also nice to be able to read the others students papers. I learned so much from them also. Not everyone has a nice peachy life, but you have to make the best of it. I know that I will revise this one for my final portfolio, I felt that I had to tell you my past for you to be able to understand who I am today. I never really got into who I am today, I need to revise it to tell about that more. (look out Ms. Ingram you may have a 10 page essay : ) It was easy once you just let the words start flowing, they start making sentences and paragraphs in no time! The difficult part was not omitting things because others would read it. Writing this paper I learned about myself also, I haven't thought too much about my past before. I always remembered what it was like, but I never dissected it before. I learned why I look at some things the way I do. I learned that I probably spoil Kelsey too much because I don't want for her to feel like I do about my mom, and because of her father. I learned that I really do still hold a grudge against my mother. I learned that nothing with her will ever change after all these years, it just is the way it is. The only thing that I can do it not repeat the mistake. I talked with my older sister (which I use that term lightly because we arn't even a year apart) about our childhood and we have different memories of it. She doesn't remember things being like that toward her, I have to remind her that's because they weren't toward her but they were toward me.  Aside from that I also learned that I need to work on run on sentences. I had many in this essay and probably my Annotated Bib also.

Peace Butter and Jelly

 I have to be honest when I saw "be prepared to buy PB&J from me next week in class" I laughed I thought you really were going to have sandwiches! A lot of times when  I am reading that's all I do. I just read it, I can close the book and cant tell you a single thing  I read in it. I found that still true in this book, at first it didn't interest me at all, it would take me forever just to read a page. I would get distracted and realize that I wasn't focusing and start over. If I couldn't tell myself what I just read I would start the page over again. I have a student mentor this semester and she has helped me greatly in reading strategies. After a while I began to enjoy the book a little bit. Although I was confused somewhat with all the jumping around (keep in mind that I am easily distracted lol ) Meeting the author and seeing his passion for his book and for his recipes changed all that for me. I read the book over after meeting him. Now I think the book was a great idea to jump start our semester thesis question. It might be a good idea for him to make a short video introducing himself or something to play before your students actually start reading. They may be able to make more connection that way. I like the book now and I wont be selling it back at the end of the semester, and that's due to actually meeting him.

Haiku

All of this thinking
has my head spinning away
its time for a break : )

Blog Post 4 Write, reflect, wash and repeat

I love the quote you posted from William Faulkner.

"I never know what I think about something until I've written on it."

That is a really good way to sum it up. This blog has help extremely, I get to write out thoughts and ideas to come back to later. There are some things that I had wrote in my first blog that when I reflect on it sometimes I don't feel the same way about it. (I am very guilty of run on sentences ( : ) I have never done a blog before, I was a little nervous about it. Now I'm actually considering doing this as a hobby. Blogging helped shape my inquiry question from Vegan to being narrowed down to "Is Milk healthy for us?" Doing this assignment on Blogger has really helped me organize my thoughts and ideas. I also love that we can all look at each others thoughts. We can view the way other people think, organize their thoughts, and ask questions. That is a big learning tool within itself. A lot of people are afraid to ask questions in class because they are shy but this way they still get a better understanding. 

          Doing my research in this form I feel has made me put more of myself into it. I put more of my heart and personality into than any other research I have done before. I have learned more about my topic doing research this way. I hope you continue to use it for other students. I have always just wrote a paper and added the sources in, I didn't write rough drafts or seconds drafts, let alone reflect on just sources and my inquiry question way before a paper was ever written. I wish I would have been taught this way to begin with. If you were to ask me about a paper I wrote in high school I probably wouldn't be able to name one off for you. I feel in a few years if I were to be asked about papers that I wrote in college that I could name them off if my research is done this way.  

             The writing process is just as important as the research. We need to write, reflect, wash, repeat : )

Blog Post 3

I think the readers of my research will be anyone who is interested in what they put into their bodies. I feel this is a timely topic because so many people today are labeled lactose intolerant and a lot of people these days dont really drink milk on  a regular basis as the USDA recommends. This is a topic that I care about and am really interested in because my family doesnt drink milk, and my daughter was labeled lactose intolerant. The research I am finding is that it is a mutation to even be able to tolerate milk products. So shouldnt those people who can be labeled "lactose tolerant" : ) There are different viewpoints on this topic, some people are for milk some people against. Some people have conspiracy theories about it, "the government is out to get us" The most interesting thing Ive come across is the gene mutation that allows people to tolerate milk.

I came across Samantha Vineyard's topic, I think its very timely because todays world is an extreme stress bucket!

Blogging Assignment #2 : )

I've been reading through A LOT of articles and web postings, the one big thing that has stuck out in my mind was a question...... "Why are humans the only species that drinks another species milk, or even drinks milk beyond infancy for that matter?" Well I've never really thought about that, that question really got my mind wandering. I found it really interesting, personally I've always hated milk and it has never been a staple in my life (well beside ice cream! which in now rice dream lol) My daughter was diagnosed as lactose intolerant so its been years since we've even had a gallon occupy our fridge. Focusing more on this I am finding tons of articles it seems to be highly controversial.  I'm finding a lot of gross information too like The USDA allows up to 1.5 million white blood cells per milliliter of commonly-sold milk.(Adkinson) That's terrible! I also found out that recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone are risk factors for breast and colon cancer. (Ashdown) Really those are just a glimpse of the interesting articles I have came across on this topic. Its interesting because it gets me thinking what else is allowed to be in our food??? I think I may be revising my inquiry question along the lines of dairy consumption being healthy. Some advice that I would give out is to keep researching because what you have now may lead you to something better and more controversial.







 Adkinson, RW. "Implications of proposed changes in bulk tank somatic cell count regulations.." .   Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 02/2001. Web. 12 Feb 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11233021>.

 Ashdown, K. New Study Warns of Breast and Colon Cancer Risks from rBGH Milk. N.p.,     23/01/1996. Web. 12 Feb 2012.

1st Blogging assignment : )

Sooo I am still a little torn on exactly where I would like to go with my research. I have a direction and its pretty narrowed down for the most part. Its going to be about being Vegan, there is just so much information and people all over are debating whether its healthy or not. Personally I think its great, your only putting healthy things into you body so why wouldn't it be healthy, but I understand that I have to look at it from all perspectives. I am finding a lot of useful information on the Atkins library website. I have found a lot of articles regarding nutritional concerns and also some journals are claiming this diet and lifestyle can take away the adverse effects of diabetes. I am really interested in this topic because of my personal lifestyle, my family and I are vegetarian striving to be Vegan, we are about 80% there which I am proud of. I also think its a very controversial topic. Personally in my research I would love to find that this is the best and most natural way to live and be healthy, I would like to find out how a vegan would need to get all of their vitamins and nutritional needs. My daughter has problems with her B12 since we have began this lifestyle. So I would like to find out other ways to get that into her without a shot or eating animal flesh. I hope everyone finds this direction of topic as interesting as I do because I think people should care about the things they are putting into their bodies. I'm really excited to be working on this now.