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For this weeks journal entry I decided to talk about chapter 8 how Thomas Dow says is it really that there are no dumb questions? I had teachers in the past tell me that there is no such thing as a dumb question but I personality think that they might be some questions that are dumb. I like how he talks about how he asked his class is there any questions and most likely it’s a no. I have witness teachers ask that questions and students don’t ask any because they are egger to leave class or are shy to ask questions. I like how he says there is a lot of questions he could of ask because some teachers do ask questions to start of conversations. A lot of the times it does work but I like how teachers can start a big class conversation just by asking us a random question or something that we might like to talk about. I know one teacher that is really good with asking questions and starting of the class with everyone talking and interested in what we are about to learn. Sadly I only have this teacher for 50min because I honestly like how she teaches her class. He says on chapter 8 how when teachers have five minute left he can either say class is done and getting out early or use does five minutes to ask another probing question. Most students wouldn’t like staying those five minutes but some who love to start conversation would love it. So I think that teachers should ask more questions and see what others have to say. It might bring a good conversation to the class.
Dow, Thomas. “Advice,Writer to Writer Answering Your Frequently Asked Questions.” Why White Rice? Kendall Hunt Pub, 2010. 175-176. Print.
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Michelle Reyes
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Michelle Reyes
Service Learning Project
On April 15, 2012 I woke up on a gloomy day at 7:45am to get ready to meet my group to volunteer at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. We went to an Ecological Restoration Workday at Paddock Woods in Willow Springs. In an Ecological Restoration Workday means we would have been removing invasive brush, cut, stack &burn invasive brush or even collect & distribute seed. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is the first and largest urban natural areas system in the nation and has grown to 68,000 acres – 11 percent of the land area of Cook County. There is more than 7,000 volunteers serve the preserves in many ways every year. When we first got to Paddock Woods we saw only a group of three people in the woods pulling out some sort of plants of the ground. We went up to introduce ourselves and started right away. Joe Neumann who was in charged on this work day gave us a pair of gloves and explains to us what they were doing. He explains to use that they where a type of plant that was called a mustard plant that was stopping other plants to grow around the area. They have chemicals that they spread in the soil that harms native plants. These plants where first introduced into the United States in the 1860’s they usually start growing in the spring and that’s when they start getting out of control. European mustard plant is one of the oldest spices and condiments. They plants are usually white or yellow. The plants that we pulled out were white and for some reason where really easy to pull them off the ground. We were told to make sure that we pulled them out by the roots so they don’t be able to grow again. After we pulled them out we just placed them on any log we seen and started to collect them in plies. We were trying to make sure we cleared out every area that had a major amount of them growing. We all separated for a moment and had an area that we had to make sure we pulled out every last European Mustard Plant.
As soon as we put are gloves on we started walking into the woods. Once you walk in you can start noticing this plants that are all spread around. I honestly didn’t think why they where harming other plants they looked kind of cute and nice to me. Once we started walking around pulling out these European mustard plants we meet a lady named Diana Krug. She has been volunteering since 2005. She started to talk about how she first started off just volunteering then got a job at the Forest Preserves. I never meet anyone before who loved being out in the woods helping out the environment. She says that they come out a couple times to pull out these European mustard plants and make sure they are being stopped from growing. She talked about a lot of the plants that where growing and how they play a part in the woods. She talked about different plants that were around the wood that we should be careful with like poison ivy. I never seen poison ivy before so I thought it was pretty cool to see how the plant looked in person. After seeing all the plants that we shouldn’t pull out and what we should it made it easier to go around pulling out these plants. She said that she was trained by the district to be able to work with others and help volunteers. She was very nice and helped us understand why her volunteering means so much for her. She is someone who rather is outside in the woods than anywhere else. That’s why she got a job there and started to get more involved. I don’t think a lot of people are that passionate about nature and working outside and it’s good to know that these people are taking time out of there days to come out and try to make a difference in these forest preserves. I think it’s good that there are people who notice the little things that are destroying plants and harming the woods. I think anyone who walked around the track in Paddock Woods they wouldn’t think about or even know what a European Mustard Plant is or even how it looks.
The paddock woods are not the only places they go and not the only places people can go and volunteer at. They always have a list of times and dates where people can go and volunteer at. If you go on the website you can put any date you are trying to attend and if there is something going on that day they will show you listings of workdays. It’s so easy to contact the person who is in charged because they have their information and a number to call. I like how when I called it was easy to communicate with the people that work at the Forest Preserve districts. They make everything easy and self explanatory for people who want to go and help out. When I first got there I kind of already had an idea about what we were about to do. I know we were going to work outside and in the woods but still didn’t really know what they were having us to do. I never heard of these European mustard plants that we were picking out but everyone was so happy that we went and volunteer. They said they are always looking for volunteers and they always have different events we can go to if we didn’t like what we did today. They were pleased with our work and welcomed us to come back again to a different event. I actually enjoyed being outside in the woods and enjoying a gloomy but gorgeous day. I’m not going to lie that I was a little bit uncomfortable with all the bugs and plants that we had to be careful with. I kept thinking that I had bugs on me and that I was going to get poison ivy but I think I was just over reacting other than that it was nice to just be able to be outside and listen to this wonderful people and what they do on a daily basis. They also go to different forest preserves in the districts and they actually use chain saws and other gardening tools to plant or pull plants. I actually learned a little about the environment and what people can do to help. I learned about the European mustard plant that I never heard of and now know what they look like and what they can do to other plants. I met a nice lady who was very helpful and nice. She told us a little about herself and was really nice to meet her and to talk to her while we were there. I’m going to do more research on the forest preserve so I can go to different events and learn more about what they do to help. I’m glad that I picked going to the forest preserves to do my group learning project because I feel that I have learned something new and hopefully will continue to learn and volunteer. Volunteer at the forest preserve was a learning experience and enjoyed working with my group and the rest of the volunteers.
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Michelle Reyes
For this week journal I decided to read why Dracula sucks by Troy Swanson. I sat in my classrooms before and had teachers talk before and had teachers talk about boring topics which makes me lose focus on what he is talking. I also agree when he says that the best way to turn a “boring topic into something fun for you and fun for your reader is to find a unique angle that is unexpected. I believe if there is boring topics that you need to write about you can turn them into an interesting topic. I seen people that had to do presentations that had boring topics and seen them turn it into something interesting and fun to watch and listen to. They just added some humor to it or turned it into a way people would understand and enjoy reading about. I know that when I read something that doesn’t catch my attention I stop reading it. I would lose focus and read something else. I especially don’t like teachers that show power points during the whole class time because I pay attention to the first couple one then I get bored and start doing something else. I like when I teacher goes more into he subject and have class discussions. That is the reason why I love my psychology class because we just don’t go over the power points and read about boring subjects we actually talk and have discussions that are fun and interesting.
Swanson, Troy. “Why Dracula Sucks.” Why White Rice? Kendall Hunt Pub, 2010. 182-183. Print. -
Michelle Reyes
For this weeks journal entry I want to talk about what I just finished reading in chapter 8 called ‘’Save the fire extinguishers for real emergencies.’’ It caught my attention because of the first sentence saying ‘’How am I ever going to get this done?’’ I always ask this question to myself everyday. I always feel like I have a million things to do but not enough time. I think maybe because I don’t know how to manage my time. With school, work, seeing family and friends I feel that at the end of the day I don’t have time to do homework. I like how it says that there are days where school comes first. I honestly don’t put school first and I feel that later on I’m going to regret it. I guess I’m just too wrapped up with other things in my life I think about school last. I think after reading this section in this chapter it made me want to start planning out my week so I know what exactly I have to do and what I have to get done for my classes. I think maybe with having a set schedule I would feel like I have more time in my day to do a lot more. I have to agree when he says that “Let’s face it: you really don’t do your best writing in the car on your way to school. I think that is so true I use to do my homework on my way to school and just turned in a paper that I could of spend a little more than 15 min on. Definitely need to start making a schedule of my day!
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Michelle Reyes
For this week’s journal I wanted to talk about what I read in chapter 6 in Why White Rice? called Writing is Limitless by Basima Ismail. When I started reading I started to relate myself to what she was saying about how people always say they are not good writers. I myself don’t think I can write if my life depended on it. That sounds bad but it’s the truth. I heard people read their papers in my Com101 class and I keep comparing their writing to my papers. I know I’m a creative person but when it comes down to my writing I just don’t think I’m capable of writing a good paper. I don’t know why it’s sometimes hard for me to write down what I think on paper. She says that she grew up writing papers in the 5 paragraph format which I was used to doing all the time. I just always assume that that was the write way of writing a good paper. Then later on started to expand my writing and stopped writing in that format. I like how Professor McGuire explains that the simplest action of “pen and paper” and just thinking about the movements that you are craving into the parchment is creative writing and writing itself. It’s so true when you dedicate your time to your writing it can turn out to some paper no one was has ever written before.
Ismail,Basima,”Writing Is Limitless”Kendall Hunt Pub.2010 138-13.Print -
Michelle Reyes
For this weeks journal entry I want to talk about what we did in my class on wendsdays. First we had to fill out a piece of paper to see what good qualities we have to bring to a group of 3 or 4. Also wrote down what we look for in someone to be in our group. After that we sat down with each classmate for 2 minutes and conference. I really liked this activity we did because I got to talk a lot of people I haven’t talk to. I learned a little bit of everyone just in those to minutes. Im excited to start working in groups and see what the next class brings.
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Michelle Reyes
A Critical Reflection of Service
For my service project I attended St. Bede Church and School on a Tuesday evening. I observed and helped my older sister with her 2nd/3rd grade CCD classroom. My sister has been volunteering there for about a year and a half and she prepares students for their 1st communion. CCD classes take place every Tuesday from 6:30 pm to 7:45pm. I arrived with my sister at 5:45 in order to help her set up the classroom for the lesson that day.
The classes take place at St. Bede Church which is also an elementary Catholic school. The classrooms of the school are assigned to teachers and students and used for the hour and 45 minute classes. As I walke into the building my sister had to sign in and head to the school office to pick up her attendance sheet and other materials for class that day. After that we headed to the classroom which is actually a 4th grade classroom of the school. The class looks like a regular school classroom but really showed the Catholic religion. This was clear due to the cross and prayers being posted on the walls. There was also a bible and rosaries around the room. There were 24 desks a table in the back, a teacher’s desk, a back closet for students to hang their coats and book bags, a white board, and several student projects. The classroom was organized and bright, probably due to the many windows in the classroom. In the back of the classroom there were bins with the materials for my sister’s class. We took it out and we passed out a folder and books to each desk and my sister wrote a journal topic on the board so that students had something to work on right when they arrived. When students arrived, my sister collected their folders and I put stickers on the outside of the folders if they remembered to bring their folder to class. If they didn’t, my sister made a note of it in her grade book. I also checked for homework. As students sat down in their desks they started working immediately and the class was very quiet. They knew exactly what they had to do. My sister is an actual teacher so she has the class use to a routine and everyone always knows what they must work on. Throughout her lesson, students began discussing the main purpose of their lesson for they day then worked on an activity as a class and then individually. The class went really well with some minor behavior problems which my sister says is normal and I helped students with some of their activities and then helped my sister clean up.
As I observed and helped my sister, I never realized how on their own CCD teachers really are when preparing lessons. My sister has a book to teach and books for students but no other materials, the materials she has for activities and projects my sister has bought them on her own with her own money. I just always thought that the church gave teachers all of the things they needed but I was wrong. So my sister isn’t just volunteering her time but also her money. The people in charge of the program were really nice and always welcome volunteers. I felt welcome and looked like they where about to have me there. They had 5 high school students helping as well. Everything seemed really organized and everyone was also friendly. It seemed like a good and nice environment.It seemed like the perfect environment but my sister had a discussion with one of the parents about their child not completing their work/homework and about misbehaving in class after class. The parent pretty much made excuses and did not talk to their child about the problem, as if, CCD wasn’t important to him or his child and all they cared about is completing the sacrament and not about the religion itself. My sister says that CCD programs run into this sort of problem all the time and I actually witnessed it. My sister’s hands are tied in this situation because students no matter what if they attend class, they make their sacrament. There is no such thing as failing which is unfortunate because clearly some students do not want to be there. The student in class was the one who made some interruptions in class and who refused to work. He also didn’t have a folder or his homework that day and his father just made the excuse of “well he has too much school work to do your homework”. My sister was very aggravated because she will have to pass this student knowing that he doesn’t know his faith at all. Parents just want their kids to be part of the Catholic Church because they think it’s the “right” thing to do but some are just forcing their kids to be there and not care about their religion at all. I talked to my sister about this problem and she said the only way to fix the problem is to let students go through the program and then wait to see if when they older they want to attend CCD, if they don’t then they are free to leave and that lessens the problem because CCD teachers never want to force any one to be somewhere they don’t want to be.
The problem is parents telling their children what they must believe in. Are we forcing children into a religion? When are kids ready to decide if they want to be part of the Catholic Church? The answers to these questions are difficult to answer. A solution would be to let children become adults and make the decision of being baptized and then continuing to study to make their other sacraments, which is something that doest happen nowadays but is very well known of. If this change was put in place I believe that people could gain a better understanding of their religion and might actually enjoy it and learn to appreciate it. The problem with that solution is that we would be changing tradition in the church which is pretty much impossible to do. The Catholic Church is very traditional and refuses to change. But forcing students to attend CCD makes it difficult for the teachers to teach and brings in children that have no desire of learning about religion into the Catholic Church. These students then begin to not like their religion and are no longer active in the church after their sacraments have been completed. This creates a problem in the church because they have many members of the church who refuse to practice their religion.
My experience of CCD was one of being forced to go, completing my sacraments, and never going to church. I wish I would have been older and been able to decide on my own if I wanted to be part of the Catholic Church. In the future, when I have a family, I will have my children baptized and wait and see if they want to attend CCD, if they don’t then they can choose to complete their other sacraments when they’re older. I will also explain and practice the religion with them a lot better than my parents did. I was just told that I had to do it and I did it. I don’t really go to church either or know anything about my religion. I hope as I get older I can study it more and actually appreciate it.-
Mark Reppen
When I read your paper, right away I remember how it was when I was in CCD back in seventh or eighth grade. I noticed that many of the kids did not want to be in it but had to because of their parents. I really liked how you talked about that your sister made a difference in the class because of how she is as a teacher in CCD. I thought it was cool on how the kids knew what to do when they were in class. It was interesting reading about how your sister worked in the class, especially dealing with the kids, whether it was behavioral problems or kids not completing their homework. I really liked how you talked about kids having to follow the religion that their parents told them to follow. I too had some problems with being told to go to CCD to learn more about my religion. I tried to learn but I ended up not wanting to be there because of the way the teachers were teaching the religion. I thought to myself that I should not be forced to learn religion when it does nothing but make you confused about it. This happened to a lot of kids like you mentioned in the paper. I really just went through it and passed without having to really learn something about my religion. I was disappointed because my parents, mostly my dad, believe in the religion strongly. They are not strict about it but they still believe in it. I understood this paper really well and the paragraphs flowed with one another. I was able to relate to this through past experience. I really liked how you talked how you were able to witness with your sister in the CCD class. I liked how you talked about how the kids should be adults to let them learn about their religion and choose to take part of it or not. I do think that it should be mentioned to them but not forced upon them when they are kids. That way it could be better influenced on the kids in the future. Overall the paper is good. I did wonder if there could be more ideas on how to help kids get more interested in their religion and the CCD programs. Perhaps that could help the kids see what their religion is all about and understand it more. The one thing that caught my attention was how your sister brought supplies for the class on her own terms. I thought it was interesting that she did that when most CCD teachers just teach with whatever materials they have. I think that is really good that she is doing that for the kids. Overall this paper was easy to follow through; I was able to understand the topic and some of the issues that were addressed. I really believe that this is a really good thing for people to get involved with and help out with the kids.
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Michelle Reyes
thanks for your peer review!
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Zahra Ratli
your paper was nice and made me interested to read the whole thing . Your writing was very clear and simple to understand . the topic that you talked about is very interesting and important to know.I liked what you did and what your sister has been doing for the last two years . It is really nice when you see other members of your family are doing volunteering work . I am sure it is a cool experience especially with kids that you had to deal with . what you said about following the religion of parents is a very important point and kids should get it to their minds. i know sometimes it is hard to do but being positive will allow you to be capable to do so . so in some cases, kids will refuse to attend this classes because they may think that it is boring and they are forced to learn the religion .But , I am sure that there are so many others that will benefit from this class and learn a lot from good people as you and your sister. Your sister love to teach these future generation made her feel more responsible toward these kids and buy supplies of her own which is a nice thing to do. As you mentioned ,people are free to choose their religion once they become older , but introducing them to what their parent believe is a good point and step and then when they become older they can pick what religion they want depending on what they believe it is true. Overall you paper is clear and simple to follow and read . It may be lucks some more details on these classes that is offered but in general your topic is very interesting. What your sister is doing is a brave thing and should be proud of because she is dedicating her time for other people to teach them their religion. I am sure your experience was very nice especially being with your sister so you will be more relaxed to do this work. I really believe that this is a really good thing for people to get involved with and help out with the kids.
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Michelle Reyes
thank you for your peer review.
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Michelle Reyes
For my journal entry Im going to write about a section on chapter 6 I came across called “Rules to the Ridiculous: The Responsiblility of ultimate freedom. I feel that when you have to write there are certain rules we have to follow which sometimes takes the fun out of writing. I like how he says “correct” writing alone does not make for “good” writing. I agree that rules of writing matters a lot and should be followed but I wish there wasn’t any rules to some types of writing. I know without rules on writing people wouldn’t have been able to write famous books or poems. Just would be kinda cool to see if there never was any rules.
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Michelle Reyes
Dear Editor,
You see now a days building has been an issue for student’s world wide. Statistics say that 1 out of 4 students are bullied. I believe no one should be bullied. Bullying cause people to commit suicide and someone should never be bullied to that point. They want to leave this earth and something should be done. Parents, students, and teachers should start explaining to their students and children about the consequences about bullying. There has been easier ways for students to bully which is called cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is easy to do if you have a phone or access to a computer. Parents should be ware of what their children are doing online. I’m happy to see that there is a movie called “Bully” coming out this spring about students who are being bullied. I believe by having a documentary about bullying can open people’s eyes and see that bullying is wrong and people can make a change if we all are willing to work together. By this movie a (documentary) shows that is an issue that should be address and is very important. These children in this documentary show how much bullying is hurting them and affecting them everyday. So next time you see someone getting bullied tell someone and help. It can only take one person to start and make difference. You just got to ask yourself are you willing to be that person to help to make a change in the world.
Sincerely,
Michelle Reyes-
Mark Reppen
After reading your letter to the editor, I liked how the whole thing was right to the point. I liked the part about trying to make people learn more about the causes of bullying and cyber bullying. It was trying to reach the community and beyond and I liked that. How you addressed the issue was good too. Some of the examples that you used were interesting enough to make the reader stay interested in the topic. The writing was well organized; the beginning, middle, and end really flowed together. Your point of view on this subject was very supportive of the situation. By that I mean, you really care about the subject and you really want to get a message across the readers and beyond about this. I know this is supposed to be a short letter but I feel that I wanted more examples or description on the on the parents, teachers, and students part of the letter. I understood what you said about that parents, teachers, and students should talk about bullying but I feel like it could be expanded more. The diction of this short letter is pretty well written. None of the sentences confused me or anything at all. I find that they main meaning of this message is people not knowing enough or doing enough to prevent bullying in schools. I agree with you that more people should learn about this and become familiar with the topic. I liked how you said the more people that know; the more people will be there to solve this problem. While reading the short letter, I felt that the letter could have more facts into it. Just simply an example or a description would make it more in depth. It would expand it a little more but at least the readers will get the concept of the damages that bullying or cyber bullying can cause. Overall, this letter to the editor was interesting and well written. I know that it’s supposed to be short once again, but some of the details could be expanded a little more. Other than that the short letter is really good. Personally, I’ve noticed that the situation with bullying in our country has been changing rapidly. For example, we have programs reaching out to school, teaching kids about bullying and how to prevent it. I believe that with more research about bullying; it will stop or prevent bullying in and outside of schools. I was able to connect to this letter to the editor through my experiences with bullying. Since that I was able to connect to the letter; personally, I could understand what you were able to talk about. I have been bullied by others in elementary school. I’m sure that I didn’t get it as bad as some other victims do. By saying that, I strongly agree with you that no one should be bullied. There should be more people or programs to teach kids to prevent bullying in school and outside of schools.
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Zahra Ratli
As you mentioned in your topic bullying has been an issue for student’s world wide. Any where you go, there are kids who are bullied . victim of bullying can suffer from many psychological and can lead to many bad things. parents and teachers should all work hard to prevent this non tolerated act. you gave many examples that made me more interesting in the topic. i got your message as a reader to work on stopping this. you were very clear in explaing your points and ideas. the topic is very important and really should be discussed and know by people in order to work hard to avoid bullying at school . because the more people people will know , the more the problem will be solved . it is true , we all should aware our kids about the fact of bulling . what does it mean . what are the kind of bullying and what they should do in case are a victim of . we should teach them that one they have this problem should notice us to act and protect our kids. i know it is just a letter but thetopic can have more details and explanations in it. any way the message was clear and we the reader should critically think about this topic and try to find solutions. we can look in the internet to find if there is any organization or other websites that has information about bullying . what are the types. how can bullying affect its victims. why people are bulling. and so on. all these answer should be somewhere if we looked for .
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Reynaldo Tamayo
Bullying is something that is affecting or has affected someone one way or another. I liked how you pointed out a movie coming out about bullying, a move called “Bully”. I think it is a great way to get the editor and other readers to find out more about bullying and/or get an experience of bullying through the magic of the silver screen. As I said on my letter, the more people who know about a problem the better the chance of them doing something about it. This letter to the editor, in my opinion, can make someone go out and do something about this problem. Also, the stand that you take on this topic is quite clear. I was able to understand your position on bullying straight from the beginning. I also liked how you made the ending or conclusion of your letter a bit personal to the editor and other readers. It will surely make someone think about bullying and its effects after reading your letter. As always, even though the letter was supposed to be short, a few more examples or description on certain topics would be nice. For example, the section about cyber bullying has some description about it but I felt like I wanted to know a little bit more about cyber bullying. All in all I liked the letter. It was clear and straight foward.
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Michelle Reyes
This week I wanted to do my journal entry about the social issue piece that we just turned in last week. This piece wasn’t as challenging as I thought it was going to be. I wrote about an issue that I thought was important and people should know more about and hopefully they leaned why its important. I also learned about other social issues that people posted on splatter. Also was pleased to see that people thought that my issue was important to them as well. You can learn about a person from knowing what’s important to them and learn from there experiences. Over all I really liked this pro folio piece we did.
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Michelle Reyes
Bullying speech outline
• What is bullying?
• Who is being bullied?
• Why people bully?
• Types of bullying?
• What type of bullying is popular?
• Some statistics on bullying?
• Signs of bullying?
• The outcome of bullying?
• What is being done? (hopefully can show a video) -
Michelle Reyes
While I was reading WWR? I ran into chapter 5.7 which was about how Google works and when I started reading all I can think about is how I always use Google for everything as well. When it comes to doing research on projects I always use Google to find my information. I never really thought about how people always look up answers on Google than actually trying to work it out and take the time to think it. Like Mr. Mcguire said do we really need to ask Google? Now that I think about it I don’t think we do. People these days are just too lazy to do research and look up the answers in there book so they turn to Google to take the easy way out. I’m one of those people that are not confident in my thinking and even sometimes my writing. I might still be looking things up on Google but I’m definitely going to think about putting more thought into the question instead if using Google.
Swanson,Troy.”How Google Works.Thinking Through Writing.Kendall Hunt Pub.2010 118-120.Print. -
Michelle Reyes
Stop Calling me that…
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Have you ever been called names? , been pushed around in the playground. ‘’1 out of 4 kids is bullied. ‘’(Garrity1) “ 1 out of 5 kids admits to being a bully or doing some bullying.’’(Garrity1) What is bullying? ‘’A Person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself.’’ (blackhawk.schoolfusion.us) People everyday are getting bullied or being a bully. Most of the people who get bullied are people at school. ‘’Boys and girls are equally likely to face bullying.’’(Kidshealh.com) Bullying is most likely to happen in middle school leading to high school. People who get bullied are people who are easy targets. It’s usually the kids who sit alone in the lunch table, who cries easily or gets upset easily, or even someone that might have a noticeable disability. A question everyone asks is why kids bully. Well we really don’t have an answer to that question they can be many reasons why. ‘’Students who bully have strong needs for power and (negative) dominance; they seem to enjoy being ‘’in control’’ and subduing others.’’(olweus.org) Students who bully find pleasure in causing injury and pain to other students. A lot of people bully because the environment at home which might be the reason they bully others. Parents might not involved in their child life and don’t get the attention they need. They are bullies to show others that they are tough. They bully others to deal with their problems and insecurities by making someone else upset or hurt. Both girls and boys can be bullies. ‘’Boys tend to bully with physical aggression and pick on those who are smaller or weaker than themselves. Girls are more likely to use mean gossip, unkind notes, or social forms of intimidation when they bully.’’(humanillnesses.com). In a classroom there are about 2 out of 3 kids that are being bullied. Bullying doesn’t just happen in schools or work, it’s worldwide. There are millions of people that deal with bullying every day.
2)
There is many ways people use to bully others. For example there is verbal bullying, physical bullying, cyber bullying, social exclusion or isolation, and racial bullying. The most common bullying is cyber bullying. ‘’Cyber bullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. By definition, it occurs among young people. When an adult is involved, it may meet the definition of cyber-harassmentorcyber-stalking, a crime that can have legal consequences and involve jail time.’’
It’s easier for kids today to cyber bully then to actually verbally bully someone. There have been cases where someone has been bullied by others by text messages, facebook, email and even instant messaging. People who cyber bully doesn’t know that it can affect someone to the point there don’t want to attend school anymore. “No longer limited to schoolyards or street corners, modern-day bullying can happen at home as well as at school — essentially 24 hours a day. As long as kids have access to a phone, computer, or other device (such as an iTouch), they are at risk.” (kidshealth.org) Any type of bullying are at a greater risk of being depressed, feel anxious, and become stressed out. There have been many cases where people can turned to suicide.
Some statistics on bullying are:
(library.thinkquest.org)
-“8% of students miss 1 day of class per month for fear of bullies.’’
-“ 43% of kids fear harassment in the bathroom at school.’’
_’’1 out of 5 teens knows someone who brings a gun to school. ”
_” 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.’’
_”More youth violence occurs on school grounds as opposed to on the way to school.”
_”80% of the time, an argument with a bully will end up in a physical fight.”
“Possible signs of Bullying may be:”
(kidscape.org)
- be frightened of walking to and from school
- change their usual route
- not want you to go on the school bus
- beg you to drive them to school
- be unwilling to go to school (or be ‘school phobic’)
- feel ill in the mornings
- begin truanting
- begin doing poorly in their school work
- come home regularly with clothes or books destroyed
- come home starving (bully taking dinner money)
- become withdrawn, start stammering, lack confidence
- become distressed and anxious, stop eating
- attempt or threaten suicide
- cry themselves to sleep, have nightmares
- have their possessions go missing
- ask for money or start stealing (to pay the bully)
- continually ‘lose’ their pocket money
- refuse to talk about what’s wrong
- have unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches
- begin to bully other children, siblings
- become aggressive and unreasonable
- give improbable excuses for any of the above
“According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 28 percent of students aged 12 to 18 reported that they were bullied in school during the 2008-2009 school year. Bullying also slows down as children get older from a high of 39 percent of all sixth graders to 20 percent of high school seniors.”( Donaldson James 1)
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If you turn on the news today you hear a lot about children that are committing suicide because there are being bullied. November 2011 a 10 year old honor student was bullied to death. Quoted by her mother, she says “She was called a slut in school and she came home and told me she didn’t even know what that word meant,” said Stacy Conner. “I didn’t tell her what that word meant. She’s too young to know what that word means.” (ABCnews.com) Two weeks before her death she kept asking her mother is she could be home schooled. After her begging to her mother the next day she was found by her sister in her closet hung by a scarf. People don’t know that bullying can make someone not want to live anymore and deal with it anymore and commit suicide to stop the pain. Also in September 2011 “A student at Williamsville North High School, Jamey had been tormented for the past 12 months by cyberbullies who made disparaging comments with gay references on his Formspring account, a website that allows anonymous posts.” One comment posted was “JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND [sic] UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” one post said, according to local reports. Another read, “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!”(ABCnews.com) His parents said that he was a happy boy and loved to play his cello. He was only 14 years old. The parents of the victims are trying to take a stand to this situation. They are talking to school boards and trying to inform others of what bullying can do to someone. One of the biggest challenges everyone are trying to face is to stop people from bullying in schools and worldwide. There is bullying everywhere you go. The only way to stop it is if people get inform about the issue and help others that are dealing with bullies.
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http://youtu.be/8dVX0tWiG2E?hd=1
Movie Trailer
Teachers at school talk about bullying and inform students about how it’s affecting people lives. It’s good to keep students educated so they know what bullying is and what can everyone do to stop it from happening to them or to others. I think can bullying actually be stopped? Well I believe we can learn more about bullying and keep young children educated. If you didn’t know there is a movie that’s coming out on March 9th 2021 called The Bully Project.”Stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals’’ offices, the film offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children.”(movieweb.com) The Bully Project examines the dire consequences of bullying through the testimony of strong and courageous youth. Through the power of their stories, the film aims to be a catalyst for change in the way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children and society as a whole.”(movieweb.com) I believe with this movie people will actually see how it’s affecting people and should try to make a change. Besides this movie that’s coming out this year, there have been also shows and other movies that talk about bullying. By having TV shows and movies about bullying shows that it’s turning out to a big issue and should be recognized.
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There are people that probably don’t think they can help with this social issue but anyone can help. There is a program name The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.” The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is the most researched and best-known bullying prevention program available today. Backed by more than thirty-five years of research and successful implementation in many different countries, the OlweusBullying Prevention Programis a whole-school program that has been proven to prevent or reduce bullying throughout a school setting.” (olweus.org ) “The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programis used at the school, classroom, and individual levels and includes methods to reach out to parents and the community for involvement and support. School administrators, teachers, and other staff are primarily responsible for introducing and implementing the program with the purpose of improving peer relations and making the school a safer and more positive place for students to learn and develop.” (olweus.org) The goals to the program are to decrease bullying within students in schools. Parents can also help with bullying by getting involved more and make sure to talk to their children about bullying. Also Parents can take some steps to help their children deal with bullying.
“If a child is being bullied, Education.com suggests the following steps a parent can take to stop bullying:”(Education.com)
- Talk with and listen to your kids—every day.
- Spend time at school and recess.
- Be a good example of kindness and leadership.
- Learn the signs of bullying.
- Create healthy anti-bullying habits early.
- Help your child’s school address bullying effectively.
- Establish household rules about bullying.
- Teach your child how to be a good witness.
- Teach your child about cyber-bullying.
- Spread the word that bullying should not be a normal part of childhood.
6) Learn More
1-http://www.thebullyproject.com/#/story
2-http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/06/23/137362129/the-bully-project-finds-its-momen
There is actually a website that will give you a better understanding about the movie and give you an idea about the people who are in this documentary. I personally want to watch this movie because the watching the trailer helps you really see how they dealing with every day because they are being bullied. They have information about the director and filmmakers. The second website talks more about the movie as well.
3-http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/bullies/index.html
This Website has different stories worldwide about people that deal with suicide. There are different articles that talk about what bullying has done. Also has articles about people that committed suicide because of bullying.
4-http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/04/eveningnews/main6363045.shtml
This website will take you to an article named Bullying: Do school need a New Approach? It talks about the kids who have committed suicide and has a video to go with it.
5) http://blackhawk.schoolfusion.us/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/134514/File/Olweus/Background_Information_on_Bullying_Questions_and_Answers1.pdf?sessionid=06f0aa7ecf64a297acd57a351ed81964
This website explain what is bullying, what can be done and how people can get involved to help stop bullying. It also talks about who bullying affects and how harmful it can be.
7)
Work Cited
-Pinto,Barbara. ‘’Was a 10 year old Honor Student Bullied to Death.” ABC News
15 Nov.2011:pag.Web.18 Feb 2012.
-“Bullying.” Human Diseases and Conditions.
Pag1.Web.2012
-“Cyberbullying.” Kidshealh From Nemours.
Pag.1-3. Web. 1995-2012
-“Possible Signs of Bullying”. Kidscape Preventing bullying protecting children.
Pag.1. Web. 2010
-”Advice for Parents and Teachers.” Taking the Bully By the Horn. 2 November 2007
<http://www.kathynoll.com>.-
Mark Reppen
After reading your essay post, I came to like how you wrote it as in how organized it was. You started off by explaining what is bullying and how it harms kids or students in school. After that you wrote about the background and facts about bullying, I learned a few things about the topic that I didn’t know before. I know what it is liked to be bullied, so I know what kids feel when they are bullied. I did learn more, statistically, about how many kids are bullied in a classroom and also worldwide. The whole piece was detailed and it was easy to understand and to read it. The list of “how you can tell when someone is being bullied,” was very direct and informative. I also liked that you put more sources to learn more about the topic if any of the other readers wanted to know more about the topic. I also did like that you put in a source that people can look at to help out with preventing bullying in schools and outside of schools. I really think that you did a great job on addressing the issue about bullying. I do feel like that you could add a part about how or why do bullies become bullies, which could have more examples along with that. Overall it is a good paper; it just needs more illustrated points or information inserted into the topic about the bullies themselves. That way it could expand or enhance your writing on this subject. I wasn’t confused at all on what you wrote, I just felt like it could have more to it than what is already written. For example you could have more links to different places to where people could help out with these issues at hand. Like I said before, I learned some things from it and it was an interesting topic to read and I agree with you that it is an issue that should be addressed by every person in the world. After I read the background part of the paper, I felt that it was just right, as in it doesn’t need any more information added to it. I’d leave it as it is. I definitely liked that you wrote it in a way that it can hook the reader into the issue of this topic. The idea of it is interesting and it is a good issue to talk about. The issue in this idea of bullying is huge because many people in this country or worldwide experience bullying, cyber bullying, or physical violence that comes from bullies. Once again, overall it is a good paper. It needs more information and details put into it to make it expand more. That way the paragraphs have a more fluid and smooth paper. The intro was a good one by the way; it really made the topic more interesting to read. I do really believe that bullying should be stopped and prevented worldwide.
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Michelle Reyes
Thanks for your peer review. I definetely will look into putting more links so people can go and learn more about this issue. After looking at my paper i get what your saying about how i need more information added. I will add more information about why bullies become bullies andI will make sure to add more and find more links. Thanks again. !
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Zahra Ratli
Stop bullying is a topic that is nice to talk about especially that our kids are suffering from at school in these days . the Use of strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what you want is unpermissible act that the kid should do while he or she is in school. it has a lot of effects on the victims that will lead for sure to permanent psychological and physical problems. for that reason , as mothers, we all should stand against this issue. i liked how you talked in your piece of writing about this topic in a very detailed and cleared manner. I enjoyed reading those statistics that bullying cause to kids. i was really chocked when i read that 282.00 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month ,43% of kids fear harassment in the bathroom at school and 1 out of 5 teens knows someone who bringsa gun to school. It made me feel like we are living in a forest and not in a world where there is penalty and justice. i can t imagine that these kids are doing these thing . so how can they be when they reach teenage age. it is sad to see this number of people who are victim and also about do practise bullying because i thing they are sick kids and they are living unbalanced life plenty of problems . the signs that you discussed about bullying were clear and for sure next time i ll know if somebody is bullied or not . I could not belive that this unaware act can lead to a suicice which is a painfull thing and really our kids are living in a wild world. i was so scared while i read the information and statistics of what can caiuse bullying and in some points i thought that it is better for my kid t stop going to school rather to be physically or psycologically killed. i definitly will use those web sites that you suggested and learn more about this fact . Ofcourse , I will fight against this big issue and do whatever i can to protect our kids and provide a safe environment where they can get their education and not where they wrestle. this topic should get more attention and should not be allowed no matter what because this act will heart our future generations . Schools should do more efforts to limit or reduce this act and be very strict with any body who do so . i think parents also should educate their children and aware them that bullying is a bad act that should not be practiced at school and i think that the majority of those kids are experiencing violence themselves at home or at least watching this kind of violence on one of their parents. any way your topic is interesting , detailed , and cleared also, it includes many statistics that made it a rich essay in information. and more than that you provided some web sites and organization that we can use in order if we need help or just for curiosity
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Reynaldo Tamayo
Your essay was well organized and it was appealing. The essay was visually appealing instantly grabbing attention to the essay, which I feel would make it easier for you to get your point across. The introduction, in my opinion, was one that got my attention. Before reading I felt that I already knew enough about bullying and its effects on the person being bullied and the loved ones of that person. Some of the statistics that was mentioned in the essay was new to me. Especially the statistics on teens bringing guns to school, ’’1 out of 5 teens knows someone who brings a gun to school. ” To me that is pretty shocking. If bullying can cause someone to actually bring a loaded weapon to school, then that is when we know that bullying is a serious issue that should be solved as soon as possible. With that said I feel that the essay was well organized. I was able to tell apart the paragraphs and main ideas. It was also great that you used statistics and references to related movies in your essay that were cited. It certainly tells me and other readers that the statistics are factual and that they are indeed related to your topic. As I continued to read and clicked the links provided I was able to learn a bit more about bullying. As for the links, it would be nice to have a more detailed summary on the links. It would allow me and other readers to get a feel of what the overall idea or agenda the link has. I had no knowledge of the source or material of the link before clicking it. As I read through the essay however, I noticed that I wanted to learn more about the causes of bullying. I mean that I wanted to know more on what drives bullies to bully other people. I did see in that you mentioned a little of what bullies think or go through. ‘’Students who bully have strong needs for power and (negative) dominance; they seem to enjoy being ‘’in control’’ and subduing others.’’(olweus.org) A few examples or maybe psychological statistics from the bully’s point of view would be a great addition to the essay. All in all I feel that the essay was well organized and that it was written pretty well. Bullying is something that should be more looked into. Because not only can the effects of bullying lead to suicide and it can also lead to bad parenting of the bullied person’s child or the bullying or need to dominate over everything. Bullying is something like the snowball effect in my opinion; it only takes that one person to get things rolling.
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Michelle Reyes
In the book “Why White Rice” there’s a story in Chapter 4 called “Turn Yourself into a Giant Five Year Old” and I found it to be quite funny. I found it funny because there is a wife in the story who bans her husband, the author, from grocery shopping because of all the questions he asks while they go grocery shopping. I can relate to the author because I, myself, ask questions about some of the groceries my mother buys as well. The author likes to ask questions that consist of who, what, where, when, why and how about many things in life, I find myself doing the same thing, constantly questioning things in my life. Asking questions is good in writing as well. It helps explain your writing and to be able to really explain what you want readers to come across in your writing. I’ve had experiences where professors have asked me to explain myself better with answering a question or writing a paper and at times I struggle with it. Maybe asking myself more questions during writing as I do in my every day life, I can get more in depth and better explain myself with my writing.
- DeVilez,Eric”Turn Yourself Into A Giant Five Year Old” Why White Rice? Thinking Through Writing.Kendall Hunt Pub.2010 93-94.Print. -
Michelle Reyes
I heard of the word activism before and definitely heard of the word service. I think that service is easier than activism. Even though service is easier I feel that a lot of people don’t take advantage of it as much as they should. If everyone did a little service to help others it might be a learning experience and would be easier to take service to another level. People can actually make a difference of they take a chance and work with others. When I think of activism I think of taking action to a situation you don’t argue on or have a different opinion on. Activism takes more time to achieve your goal.
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Michelle Reyes
After reading “Village Voice” I believe that Rejeev Goyal has a big heart. I like how he explained how his family has a nice house, nice car, and live in a nice neighborhood and it’s time to give something back. A lot of people don’t think about helping others in the way he is doing right now. People at times who have a lot of money and have their life set for them don’t seem to think about helping other people. He has a lot of good characteristics that some people lack these days. It seems like no matter what it is he is willing to help others. Villagers would walk more than two hours away to get water. People would make at least three trips a day and I like his solution that he had about having two-stage pumping system helped the villagers to get water supplies faster. He is a wealthy man and his family and friends are supporting him and willing to help him. They should be more people like him.
— Hesser, Peter. “A Reporter at Large: Village Voice, The Peace Corp’s Brightest Hope.” New York: The New Yorker.2010. 101-109. Splatter.writing101.net: The Messy Art of Writing. Web 9 Feb. 2012. -
Michelle Reyes
In the project ‘’who will survive activity’’ I picked Mr. Newton, Mrs. Clark, Father Philip, and Dr. Garcia to be sacrifice. When I first saw the list of people I was thinking about the families that where all together and would be upsetting if you saw one of your love ones pass away. I think that Dr. Garcia would be a good person to keep around because he’s a doctor but when I saw that he wasn’t in perfect health i decided to keep someone else. To be honest I really just based this off by keeping the Lang family together, the kids, people that are related together and people that wouldn’t cause problems and would be able to be able to survive during a tragedy like this.
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Michelle Reyes
In Dave Eggers “What it Means for a Crowd in a Faraway Nation…” there was a soldier who got shot and dragged out of his vehicle. In the beginning I was thinking that the man who was so anxious and wasn’t able to go through his day could have possibly been a solider himself. I believe after reading the article and seeing the picture of the soldier he felt guilty that he was able to be at home and everything was good in his life. He felt hurt by the situation because he felt like he lost someone close to him since the man in the article was a solider. He felt violated and hurt probably because that could have been any soldier. It could have been anyone he knew or even himself. It’s hard to think why he felt that way but after reading this story that’s what I got from reading it.
Another possibility would be that since the solider was dragged, mutilated and ultimately tortured, that he felt as though the soldier just wasn’t killed but killed in the worst possible way. The soldier wasn’t just shot and left to die, his killers purposely killed him in a way that they knew would sicken and unease the people watching in the country of the soldier and in the world. Ultimately, the killers were making a statement by the way they killed the soldier. The soldier’s death was maybe a warning to the country where the soldier was from. Warning the country and their loyal fighting men and women that they were not just going to kill but torture those who chose to challenge them. Their purpose was to shock and unease the public and they did just that with the man who read the article.-
Reynaldo Tamayo
What I am getting from the essay is a good understanding of where you stand on the questions that are asked. I feel that you value your family and friends a lot. I can relate to that because family and friends is the most important thing to value in my opinion. You may be able to choose your friends, but family is forever. I agree with your statement that family is always there to depend on when you need them the most. Because even without reliable friends to gain support from, family will and should always support you. Also, I like that you value life. Many people go on about their lives constantly thinking about how they are going to get that big house or that nice car instead of concentrating on the people, environment, and events around them. You clearly are not one of those people. On your views of killing, I agree that having to kill another person will change a person, as it should. That kind of thing can mess up a person’s psyche. Veterans from the current war and past wars have all come home different. Also, I love the quote, “Live everyday like it’s your last”, at the end of your essay. I feel that everyone should be living life like their last, because we will never know when it will all end. At little more explanation on your essay would be great. For example, “What I would live for is exactly what I would die for” certainly tells me, the reader, what your stance is on that subject. But it would have given your essay more depth if you had gone more into that view. By giving more details on your answers it would make the essay a more engaging read.
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Reynaldo Tamayo
Im sorry, i posted my reply on the wrong assignment :)
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Michelle Reyes
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what I would live for, die for, and kill for and the only thing that keeps crossing my mind is my family. I’ve never actually thought about these questions before but was surprised I didn’t have any answers for them. Even though I have been putting a lot of thought into these questions I only came up with a couple answers. Everyone has different views of their lives and would live, die, and kill for something completely different than me. When I first started to brain storm I started to think that I would live, die and kill for the life that I have now because some people aren’t as lucky as I’ve been. People’s lives are cut short and they aren’t able to pursue any of their dreams or goals.
I can honestly say that I’m one of those people who cherish their life very much. I live everyday for the people around me and to be successful. I live for my family because they are the people in my life that help me become the person I am. I always can depend on my family and they can depend on me. I would do anything to make sure my family is safe and happy. I live to see what goals I can complete. I live to see what my future and career is going to be. I live to see my family grow and to see everyone become successful in their life’s. I live for the American dream. I live to graduate college and become a radiologist. To have a family of my own and to accomplish every goal I set in my life. I haven’t always been the straight A student but I feel like its my time to prove to others that I can be successful on my own. I live to see the day I prove everyone that I can make it in life.
People would die to have money, a big house, or a nice car but when it really comes down to having to think about what you would really die for, you never know what people would say. Ultimately, I would live, die, and kill for the people I love, for being able to have a home, for education and for being able to do something with my life. I believe that I live, die, and kill for all the same reasons. As doing this assignment I thought about these questions and I kept coming up with the same answers. What I would live for is exactly what I would die for. I don’t think I would kill for anything besides my family or for my life. When I think of kill I think of making a sacrifice in life. Once you kill your life is change completely. You would have to go everyday thinking about a crime you committed. I would definitely only kill for my family and I believe that’s about it. One quote that I love and always say it’s so true is “Live everyday like it’s your last” and that’s exactly what I am doing.
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Zahra Ratli
Osteopathic physicians After reading the whole essay and digging in its lines , It seems to me that your essay is perfectly answering the questions asked for the project :why we live for? what to die for ? and what to kill for. I liked the fact that we both mentioned that family is one of our reasons why we are living in this world. It is very important to say that family is a valuable thing in our life . The first two people who we should thank and live for is our parents. It is not easy to do the task of parenthood . Mothers who suffered during pregnancy , delivery , and until this moment they suffer also when they see us upset ,sick , and so on. Fathers who protect us from danger and support us until we become able to survive alone. Not forgetting all other loved ones , people who are around us and we feel the warmth of their love I agree with you about other reasons and especially education because it is the only way to expect a shiny future . the more education a person gets , the more chances to have a good salary and position which all really need . When I started reading the bottom of your essay , I have seen that you provided good reasons why an individual would kill or die for. It seems that you die and kill for things that you love . I liked the idea that you die for your family which we both agree on it and it is a good reason to do so since they deserve it . Regarding the content of the this piece of writing, I believe that you did a good job emphasizing the importance of your family in your life and also about education and your wants as your home I totally agree that none of us will accept that some one else destroy his house because it is the kingdom that you build in order to have your lovely ones settled in it . I just want to mention that putting some examples will give you a rich long essay with plenty of details and images which I also did not apply it in my essay . I think , examples will change our essays from general to more specific and give to the reader a good wide picture on how we believe in things. The questions of the topic was not easy to answer because we do not expect that we can be asked like these ones. It is a hard task to write an essay about them ,yet I saw that your answers were convincing to me and may be to any body else. As I told you before may be only some details on some points will be needed for this work ( I am too going to do it in my essay )
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Michelle Reyes
Thank you for your peer reviewing. I agree with you i think i should really think about putting more examples and add more details. I definetly going to start thinking about these questions again to make my essay more understanding and convincing to others.
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Zahra Ratli
I am sorry i did not know how that osteopathic physicians came out Thank you for your peer reviewing on my paper and sorry again for these popped words
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Mark Reppen
I was interested in this essay because of the way you opened the intro with the thought of you could only think of one answer for the three questions. After reading this, what you were living for seems to be a very good thought on what your priorities are in life. This idea of family and friends is a huge part of life and how they’re valuable to your goals. I liked how you were clear with the fact that your family is a huge part of your life. I liked what you wrote, “I can always depend on my family and they can depend on me.” It was very basic and I agree with that quote. Also, I liked how you said that you cherish your life because you consider it very valuable to you and to your family. I share the same thoughts on this subject just like you, my family is very important to me, also my friends are too. I liked that you explained that not only you cherish life but also that you live to accomplish your goals in life. I also liked that the part about how people don’t always achieve their goals. You are clearly speaking as an active participant in this situation. I did find some areas in your essay that needed more explanations or details. The reason being is because I understood that you valued life but I was curious to know if, depending on different situations or reasons, you would die or kill for your loved ones. It was about that you would do it for your goals, but what about any other reasons? For example, would you die or kill for your loved ones if there was a threatening situation? Overall the essay is simple and understanding. The responses you submitted are worded with commonly used vocabulary and I found the sentences flawless. I also found that you were able to answer the questions using your experience with family values and your future goals. This essay was very thorough with your thoughts on the subject. Your essay was very interesting to me because of the way you talked about your values in life and how many of it seems to be agreeable to the reader. After reading this, the main meaning of this whole thing, to me, was the value of life and how important family and friends are. These questions did create a thought process for both the writer and the reader. I did like that you were clear and understanding in your essay and that made it clear and understanding for the reader as well. Each section, the middle, beginning, and end was written in a very basic form. I felt like you should have expanded on your thoughts or ideas with more detailed explanation. I found it lacking in many areas as in some things were missing in details. I felt like the information left me hanging and not understanding why would you ultimately live, die or kill. It felt like it needs more reasons why you would do so.
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Michelle Reyes
Thanks for your peer review. Im going to think about these questions again and make sure I have a better explanation to my reasons. I like the feed back you gave me and going to think about what you said for my final draft.
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Reynaldo Tamayo
What I am getting from the essay is a good understanding of where you stand on the questions that are asked. I feel that you value your family and friends a lot. I can relate to that because family and friends is the most important thing to value in my opinion. You may be able to choose your friends, but family is forever. I agree with your statement that family is always there to depend on when you need them the most. Because even without reliable friends to gain support from, family will and should always support you. Also, I like that you value life. Many people go on about their lives constantly thinking about how they are going to get that big house or that nice car instead of concentrating on the people, environment, and events around them. You clearly are not one of those people. On your views of killing, I agree that having to kill another person will change a person, as it should. That kind of thing can mess up a person’s psyche. Veterans from the current war and past wars have all come home different. Also, I love the quote, “Live everyday like it’s your last”, at the end of your essay. I feel that everyone should be living life like their last, because we will never know when it will all end. At little more explanation on your essay would be great. For example, “What I would live for is exactly what I would die for” certainly tells me, the reader, what your stance is on that subject. But it would have given your essay more depth if you had gone more into that view. By giving more details on your answers it would make the essay a more engaging read.
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Michelle Reyes
Thank you for your peer review. I strongly agree with you on the feedback you gave me about my essay. Now that i think about it i didnt really go in depth with my reasons and will definitely try to change that.
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Zahra Ratli, and 
Mark Reppen are discussing. 
Michelle Reyes, 
Reynaldo Tamayo, 
Mark Reppen 3:32 pm on April 19, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I found the beginning to be interesting and most memorable out of the whole piece. I liked how you started off by telling the story of the day of the service. The details were interesting and informative. What I liked best about the paper was the facts on the Mustard plant. I thought it was interesting and I agreed with you that I didn’t know there was a plant. I understood the main meaning or message of the whole service and why your group chose this topic. As I was reading this I did not find anything that your ideas hovering around the edges. Basically I did not end up wanting to hear more about the subject. I sensed that the generative center of the piece was the idea of controlling the plants in the woods and preventing the harmful ones from harming the native plants. I liked how you described the outdoors, pulling the plants, and meeting some of the people who work for the organization. It was interesting, especially reading about the one plant that is harming the other plants. The way you talked about your experience during the service, I felt like that I was there. The writing is organized, the beginning, middle, and end all transfers to one another. After reading this, I felt that the paper was very involved with the situation of the plants in the forest and the land. It felt concerned in some way but also happy with the work you did. You also wrote from an involved participant of the topic. You have a strong point of view on the subject and spoke in the first person style. I felt like that you treated the reader as though you were telling a story or narrating a story. It was very detailed and informative and easy to follow. Your generalizations are appropriate to the subject. I did not feel like that there were any places in your paper that needed more details or examples. The words that you used felt like they had images in it and down-to-earth. The sentences and phrases were descriptive. There were not any sentences that confused me because of their word order or the way they are punctuated. I really enjoyed the part that you talked about the lady that you met in the forest while working. I can relate to the lady by that I really enjoy the outdoors and such. The one thing that I did keep thinking of was how did the rest of your group experiences go? And did they feel the same as you did on that day? That is all I could think of that could be added to the paper. I can understand what you were saying about being in the forest, surrounded by plants, etc. Overall I think it is a well written paper, organized, and very descriptive. I really enjoyed reading your paper and I did not feel like that there was anything that you could elaborate on. I was interested in the paper right from the beginning to the end.
Zahra Ratli 9:19 am on April 24, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
i liked how you started with a description of your volunteering day. you depicted in detail how you day started. wt time you woke up and the place where you and your group will meet . As you mentioned, Ecological Restoration Workday at Paddock Woods in Willow Springs was your destination . I liked that you chose to work outside in the nature because nothing is better than being in the wood . your choice was very good especially with these beautiful day of spring that will help you to enjoy being outside with different type of plants and trees. I think that you were lucky to get involved in this work because you made two important things.First , you were able to do your project with your group with helpful people that made it easy to get involved, Second, you had the opportunity to enjoy the nature that was surrounding you that day and feel relaxed that we really all want because of this stressed life that most of us have. it was beneficial to your mind , spirit, and health . i wish if we could thing about this at the beginning because i am really in need of a place where i can relax and work at the same time. As you described you were welcomed and helped by good people that made the task well explained and easy to follow. It was a great opportunity to you guys to know more about plants as you said , your role was to pull out all mustard plant s that are blocking other plants from growing plants. You were capable to know that mustard is a plant and you did a great explanation when these plants entered to United stated , where it came from , and so on . So for you , it was a new information that you learned in that service that you made.. I enjoyed reading your paper because of the way you presented you ideas , and of the topic that is related to nature which i adore. the language was very easy to understand and depict how your day was there in the wood where you had to pull out mustard plant and worried about bugs . I believe that surely was a beautiful experience that i wish doing too may be in this summer when i am off of the school. your topic was introduces clearly and in a organised way that help the reader follow the steps if the volunteering.