Assigned Entry #4: Final blog reflection

When I first entered this course, I thought blogging would end up as tedious busywork at the beginning.
It seemed a little overwhelming at first.

However, after the first few days, I found the whole activity rather enjoyable. It’s great to express your opinions on various topics, and seeing how different they can be compared to others. This opens up to great discussions. 


Such thoughtful discourse is really what I’ve always wanted to experience.  I’ll have the ability to continue reading up on the thoughts of others while sharing my own as well. 

Writing blogs was very new for me. I did not have any ideas on how to get started and did not know either how to use the software. But after the help I got from the professor and the few examples he showed and explained in class, I was able to mess around the entire features.

Since then, especially the day I was able to post my first entry, I just been loving doing this class project. It is a good source for learning, exploring new informations, and having the ability to read the thoughts of others while sharing your own ideas as well. 

Secondly, I feel more comfortable writing blogs now compared to the four writing projects we had during this semester. Posting pictures and videos were very interesting. I was able to do so and explained the images and videos I was posting. I feel like I was on my Face Book page where I can post pictures and add descriptions to them.

In addition, the interactions with my classmates were also interesting. I was able to comment on their posts and they were able to do the same on my posts. A good source to help students that are not comfortable to write in English. That is really what I enjoy most about blogging.


Moreover, blogging is also a good strategy to push students feel free in their writings and help them learn out of school. Before I thought when I wrote something nobody could read it, but now I realized that I can put my work on the blog and anyone from the world can read it. 

My suggestion at this point, is to encourage the professor to keep assigning blogs, so students learn in a comfortable way. It is useful, especially when English is your second language. In fact, I could not believe I was able to write all of the entries I did this semester. The atmosphere was laid back, at no pressure, and that just made me write more and more anytime I was given an assignment.

The most important thing I leaned about blogging is the idea of sharing your experience with others and have an open discussion to better understand your post. I learned more by reading my classmates posts.

 Hey! :) If you are a writer of opinion blogs this a better opportunity to state your mind on a subject. You can get  people to respond to your posts which makes it more fun as well. Another thing I like about blogger is, if you tend to be a writer of discussion blogs, you have the opportunity to stay neutral and have your audience or readers give their own view on things. The social interaction and the idea of sharing your knowledge is also another major importance about blogger. For instance, if you share a knowledge that you understand; you tend to help a lot of readers and stay connected with them.

Blogging is fun!!!!!

Rite of Passage: Circumcision

Circumcision is an important stage in man's life. Generally, the period when a child is circumcised depends on their family. Certain families have their children circumcised while they are young, others have them circumcised while they are a bit older. I thought I should share this video and describe the African cultural traditions related to circumcision that I also experienced as a younger child:

                                                                                                  

At the start, each family had one or more kids to circumcise. When the number is known, they joined the kids in a group and sent to the " Sema"( Someone who circumcises and looks after the group like a guardian). The group had to respect the Sema and do whatever he asks until the end of the period of circumcision.

After circumcision, the sema wanted the group to wear a long robe, so they were comfortable.
He gave them a hat and a cane for the walk to the house were the group would stay.

Once the group arrived at their temporary house, they laid down or sat on rugs because the tradition says after circumcision the group should not sleep in a bed. A couple minutes later when the anesthesia wore off, everyone would start to cry. At this point the Sema used fan to cool the group off. However, the group would keep crying without stopping because they felt the pain to their bones.

Families would visit the group and give advice about taking care of life in this world, being polite to others, and being responsible.
The end of the period is the day each family would contribute their part for the food preparation and for the good of the ceremony.

Very early in the morning, the Sema led the group to the sea, so they would wash themselves with salt water.

Canes and robes would be thrown into the sea. When the group returned back home, the Sema would required them to run and to make 3 laps around the house. According to the tradition, if you fall during the race you will not have long life in this world.

A very important phase of life that allowed the group to change from being a boy to a man.

Assigned Entry #3: Food Inc

After watching the movie "Food Inc", I was shocked seeing the different realities about the food I eat and how it is produced. 

Under is the preview of the actual movie:

Food is one of our primary needs that keep us alive, so companies or government that are in charge do not have to take advantage on people, just so that they can make more money. I have never thought about where the food I eat comes from because everything looks clean and label in any stores I go. After the video, I have just been wondering now about my health and other people's health because of the food we eat every single day.

People are dying and getting sick everyday because of the way major food corporations treat animals. It seems that the government knows really what is going on but they still support the food corporations by passing laws in favor of these corporations, just because of money. It comes to think if these corporations will control the world someday with the help of the government.So far, our nation's food supply is now controlled by these handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.

A few people in the movie did not want to be interviewed and did not want either to show us the reality of the way they treat animals.

 This was sad to see, and I can clearly see now why a good friend of mine switch to become vegetarian because of how sad she feels seeing the animals conditions.

Besides the animal bad conditions, workers and the environment are not being treated with respect by a few companies. I was very moved by the line about buying from these companies from now on. Also, after using the labors of a few hispanic workers in the movie, It was very touching to see the way law enforcement was deporting them.

We have bigger-breasted chickens, a few vegetables etc.. that will not go bad, but it is very sad to know that we have also harmful bacteria such as E.coli that could cause illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. Obesity and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults are also spreading, but the industry does not seem to care of that.

 Food, Inc. is a great movie and should be highly exposed on T.V, so that the whole world, specially American consumers would be aware of what has been hidden by the industry. 

You want to consider this as well to change our food 

system:

Rastafarian believes

It comes to my curiosity that most people do not know about Rastafarians. Most Rasta beliefs come from Jamaica but some people in Jamaica do not even know where this concept  came from. It is important to note that there is no book to read to become a Rastafarian. However, rastafari's life is all about God. On a regular basis, they read the bible and this makes them feel at ease and helps to keep them in Rasta-God-love state of mind. It is considered by many adherents to be a " Way of life".

Rastafarians worship Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia ( ruled 1930-1974).

Rastafarians are all about love. This love gives them beliefs that guide them throughout their daily life. If you notice rastafarians use the word "One Love" regularly throughout lyrics in song, as they speak, it also appears in most of theirs writings as well. They believe that the priceless gift of life is love which dissolves fear and hate.                                                                                                 

Love is everything for rastafarians. They love with honor, peace and respect.   

Once started, this love grows in their heart and leads them to a positive life. For instance,  rastafarians do not believe about killing or stealing in society while enjoying their positive life. Here is what happens when you steal from one of them :)

Rastafarian believe about employment: This is also part of the love for rasfari beliefs. For them, it is important to choose what you love to do as a job because when you do it, you pay more attention and  show more love and respect for it. They also believe that they have to work to serve God that is why flexibility and creativity is very important to rastafari people.

Rasfarian believe on life after death: Based on the good or bad things you do in life, you will be judged by God and the same God will decide where you go after death. Rastafarian belives in heaven commonly called " Zion" that's why you rarely hear a rastafari talk about hell.

Rastafarian believes in love and relationship: In this case it is important to note that  rastafarian put God first commonly called " Jah", so if their partner does not have the same belief like they do that means they will not have enough time to serve god. At that time, they believe it is beneficial  to stay single, so they can better serve god. It is hard to settle down with a non- rastafari that is why a true rastafari believer does not stay long with a partner that is not a Rastafarian, and is not also looking to be one either in the future.

In addition to Rastafarian beliefs, it is not uncommon to see a Rastafarian male or female with dreadlocks. In fact, Rastafarians believe that having locks is a sign of having/showing identity. Moreover, Rastafarians refer " Marijuana" to "Herbs" as a plant to heighten the brain's state of consciousness. They also believe that Marijuana gives the feelings to think when confused, also gives the sensation of weightlessness.

Assigned Entry#2: Technology in Education

I  found the video below on youtube and thought it would be interesting to share it with you guys.



The 10 reasons were interesting to know and gave some useful insights related to technology. Today many teachers are trying or learning a few technologies, so they can incorporate them in their teaching styles. According to the video, " Teachers will not be replaced by technology but teachers who don't  use technology will be replaced by those who do". The concepts that teachers teach are the same as they always have been, but the delivery is supposed to change to make it better for students that's why it is important to use technology. For instance, students who started a class with a boring instructor because of the way the class material was delivered, would be likely to drop that class and choose another instructor who uses new technology to deliver the same material. Technology makes the delivery  fun, faster and well organized for students.

Education has moved today from old school to new school because of technology for example:
- Note taking delivery has moved from black board, chalk board to white board, smart board or air liner.
- Test taking or progress monitoring has moved from oral exam, grade book, hand scoring to bubble sheet, web based grade maintenance system, computer scoring.
- Communication to parent from hand written letters, mimeograph, copy machine to email, cell phone, website
-  And, Lesson delivery has also moved from lecture, repeated demonstration to web based casting video etc....

Students will be able to get huge advances with these technologies as long as they promote students education.Otherwise, students will be distracted in school which is totally unnecessary. Technology should not replace their efforts but should rather assist them in a way to pursue their education.

Entry #1. Opinion of blogs

 One of our basic needs as  humans is the need to connect with others, and social medias  such as Facebook, blogger, twitter etc...help us fill that need. This is my first time in class using blog, and I am getting to like it already. The more I mess around my profile, the more I am learning to use my blog. By using blogger, you are able to share your experience with others and have an open discussion to better understand your post. If you are a writer of opinion blogs this a better opportunity to state your mind on a subject. You can get  people to respond to your posts which makes it more fun as well. Another thing I like about blogger is if you tend to be a writer of discussion blogs you have the opportunity to stay neutral and have your audience or readers give their own view on things. The most important thing I like about blogs is the social interaction and the idea of sharing your knowledge. For instance, if you share a knowledge that you understand; you tend to help a lot of readers and stay connected with them.

After reading the blog written by Rick Needham about " Investing in a South African solar project", I enjoyed the way Needham expresses his ideas. The content of his post was very interesting for me because of the idea of investing energy in a country that was in a need. According to his post, they had chosen to install that energy project in South Africa for two reasons: First to " Make an investment that they believe will financial make sense" and second, " They were looking for a project that has transformative potential that will move the world closer to a clean future energy".
Before the project, South African people have experienced a severe shortage, which resulted in blackouts throughout the country and slowed down economic growth. Then after the project was installed, South Africa is now a blessed country with abundant wind and solar resources. His post was well developed in only one entry which makes it easier for me to understand the content as English is my second language.

By posting this picture of the actual panel project solar in his post,

I was able to visualize the project and which was very interesting to see like I was there in real life.

 " The Shooting Allens" blog did not engaged me. The blog has great pictures of the mom's kids but it was too personal in my understanding.

The intended audience for this type of bog is friend and family for the most. The mom's friends and family would be more interested in reading her bog because I assume that they have some kind of connections already. Her blog was very casual with a lovely ton and did not have concern about grammar rule. She posted many pictures of her kids that make her blog sounds like an album photos.

Everyone has their own style of writing but the most important is the idea of sharing and interacting with others.

The Cause of Death for Illegal Immigrants

Immigration is an actuality that is discussed each day in the media and among members of society. The migration of people to the U.S from South of our border has recent consequences that made our government decide to secure the border. http://fxn.ws/10Z5wAf

The border patrol is the focus of an ongoing controversy. For certain people, the border patrol is the cause of immigrant deaths. For example, in may 2010, 42-year-old Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas was caught trying to enter the United States from Mexico near San Diego. But instead of deportation, Hernandez was beating to death by a few officers at the border.


 Contrarily, others refuse this assumption and think in Mexico, poverty pushes people to escape the country and try to reach a better life by crossing the border.

 

Consequently, in trying to cross the U.S illegally by any method, the immigrants put their life in danger by crossing the desert and the high mountains. For example, the intensified laws at the most used border crossings push immigrants to choose rural path where they risk death due to exposure to the extreme heat.

Smugglers are partly responsible for those death as well because they leave immigrants in dangerous situations and treat them inhumanely. Smugglers also make illegal immigrants think that the chance of being caught at the border is weak and even if they are caught, they will not be harmed.

Recently in Arizona, officer Shane Figueroa was killed by an illegal immigrant. Because of this death and other similar cases, I do not think the U.S should stop building the border wall. Most member of congress understand that Mexican migration is not a threat to national security because most of the time, migration is used as possibility to get a better job and create a better life. If we open the border between the U.S and Mexico, terrorists may use this as an opportunity to enter the U.S. Therefore, the U.S should, create a system to help Mexicans,  think about improving the path to legalization of the migrant worker because they offer a needed labor force. This only help the U.S economy.