Shayla's Blogger

Throughout this semester, the majority of my contributions to my classmates was through blogging. I don’t really feel that I was able to really help or improve other students’ learning, simply because I am not very technologically capable at all. However, I did my best to fulfill this portion of the class. Each week I would comment on different peoples’ blogs and try to give the best feedback that I could. I would agree with, disagree with, or build upon the ideas that had been outlined into different blogs. I didn’t email or offer any other help, though, because I simply felt that I wasn’t skilled enough to, and didn’t need to. I wish I could have, but I was just getting into technology myself. As for others helping me – that’s another story. I really enjoyed getting comments on my posts. Most of my posts were random, and I really liked when people would just tell me how much they enjoyed my post that day. However, I did ask for a lot of help. I would either post my questions in class, through my blogs, or I would comment on others’ blogs. This was a great thing for me to be able to do. I gained a lot of help. I am really grateful that there were different tutorials created. I also like how helpful everyone was. People were more than willing to give me pointers throughout the course. Dan helped me with a majority of the class. I’m really sorry that I was such a gigantic pain in the butt though. I liked that I could ask questions and improve my technology skills throughout this course. I really enjoyed working with everyone throughout the semester, and I hope I can remember some of these computer skills throughout my years!

During my mentorship, I did a few different things for each of the classes. For two of my classes, I commented on blog posts created by the students. I found this to be quite interesting and I actually learned a lot from several of the students. Another thing I did was post an introductory video of myself. I really liked this idea because it allowed the students to get to know me before they just started randomly talking to a stranger. A few of the students commented on my video and I got to know a little bit about them. Overall, I think the students enjoyed it. I also created a ‘college tips’ video. This included different things that I thought would help the students with their efforts in applying to different colleges. This was an interesting thing and I think the students actually enjoyed this as well (at least I hope they did!!). I had a bit of difficulties uploading these videos, but once I did, everything seemed to go well. For one of my classes, I was asked to comment on different assignments the students had completed. Although I was only able to finish one of the two assignments, I found this to be an interesting experience. I tried to give positive feedback for the effort they gave, but also questioned each of them to push their thinking further. I’m not sure if it helped or not because I didn’t receive any feedback, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I found that the majority of the posts that the students put up were based upon assignments. Not that this was a bad thing, but I think that they didn’t really get a chance to post freely about topics of their choices. However, they did excellent jobs on their posts. For the class where I commented on assignments, the students found different interesting facts from around the world. I think this expanded their worldly knowledge and made them think outside the box. It was quite interesting. Many of the posts students make are about the world and the different aspects of it, so I think that they connect well with the world. The students also commented on each others’ blogs which was an excellent idea. I think this feedback really motivated the students to improve their work, and work to the best of their abilities. I’m not quite sure if the students were working together or individually. From what I could tell it was individual because most of the concepts and ideas were different, unless asked to blog about the same topic. I believe that the role of the teacher is to give a broad assignment and somewhat guide students in the write direction with their blogging. The teachers seemed to have stayed out of the blogging for the most part which I believe allowed the students to be creative all on their own. Students get to push themselves and learn themselves through blogging, which I think is a great thing. From this experience, I learned that the students are more capable than sometimes given credit for. They do excellent work when blogging on their own, so maybe they would do well if they were given more opportunities to do different tasks on their own. Maybe not. This is an experimental issue that I believe could be played around with to get more information. I also learned how to interact differently with students. I loved being given the opportunity to give feedback to the students’ assignments. That definitely gave me a push in the direction of teaching. I learned a lot about how to incorporate blogging into the classroom and how it can actually improve the students in different ways through writing skills, communication skills, research skills, et cetera. I am really glad I was given this opportunity throughout this course.

Okay so my mentorship has kind of been off and on. I’ve still been making comments on the first assignment for my one class. Although I am supposed to comment on two of the assignments, I’ll be surprised if I just finish the first one. I’ve been working hard and I hope to get them done soon. My other two classes have kind of been at a stand still. There have been some comments going back and forth about the videos I made, but that is about it. However, I really enjoyed talking to the students I have talked to so far. They are from all over the place so I find it really cool and interesting to see how they do things differently than here. Anyways, that’s basically all I’ve been up to lately with those classes!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/extraketchup/622612084/

When first typing “Shayla Brown” into Google, I was able to come up with no results.  Instead, there were several Facebook accounts for girls named Shayla Brown, none of which were me.  I was not surprised by this however, because I have my Facebook as private as possible, so no one can see me unless they are my friend.  After this, I had to try to make more precise searches.  I decided to type in “Shayla Brown Vibank, Saskatchewan”.  This only showed a web version of a newspaper showing the names of 2009 rural school graduates across Saskatchewan.  Here’s the link:

http://www.weyburnreview.com/News/2009/2009_18/Grad_plans_rural_school.html

However, with this search I was not satisfied.  By removing “Saskatchewan” from my search, I came up with a few more results, which I was surprised by.  It gave a link to a Facebook group I had created awhile ago.  This group was titled “WE LOVE VIBANK SCHOOL”; a retaliation to a group entitled “WE HATE VIBANK SCHOOL”.  When I created the group, I was angry at the group that tried to break down and tear apart Vibank School.  In my description of the group, you could tell that it was a retaliation which was not something I wanted to show.  I was actually asked to delete this group once it became a school issue (both groups had come to the school’s attention).  The school felt that in order to end the argument, both groups needed to be ended.  However, after opening the group, I had several graduates join so I did not want to completely get rid of this group.  Instead of deleting it (so that I would not look bad to people who looked my name up), I decided to alter it.  I deleted several nasty comments, changed the description, and uploaded photos taken at the school (mostly during my grade 12 year).  Here’s a link if you are interested:

http://te-in.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59152456065

After this, I found a few other sites that included me.  One was a listing on the Vibank Regional School website of the 2009 graduates and their role in graduation.  For example, it listed me as valedictorian.  Next, I found myself linked to a note that someone had tagged me in on Facebook.  I actually do not mind this because it does not really reflect who I am, and it just shows who I am linked to (when it comes to friends).  One thing I really found interesting is that Google linked me back to one of the posts I commented on.  This is funny because it links me right back to my class where I am starting right now. After this I decided to just type in “Shayla Vibank”.  This gave a lot of results.  It linked me to a Facebook group I have joined (Vibank Saskatchewanites).  I found a list of grad jobs we had last year with my name on it a few times.  It actually linked me back to my blogger “About Me” page as well.  I was also linked to my best friend’s Bebo website (although I could not find exactly where).  I love that I am able to be linked to my friends online because it makes me feel loved i suppose.  Haha.  She is really interesting and cool, so I definitely suggest checking it out.  Here is a link to her Bebo account:

http://fr.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=5008505

I’m really glad that I did this assignment because it allowed me to see how I was posted online.  Now that I have fixed up the one site, I am really happy with the amount I am online.  I am not someone who wants to be exposed to the world.  This is why I keep my Facebook account private.  I do not think that people should have to want to be extremely public like this online in order to make themselves look better to people such as employers.  Facebook is my life and that is all I am a part of online.  I think it is up to each person how much they want to expose themselves, but I am happy with the way my online publicity is!

Today I finally decided to start my final project (with a little urging from someone who shall remain nameless ).  All I have done so far is made some pictures from print screening.  I am planning on getting pictures for all of the programs that we have used so far, grouping like programs, and then explaining what they do.  I’m not sure how I’ll be able to fit all of the programs into one time frame, but I’ll find someway to make it work.  My print screening has been going quite well so far, but I still have a long way to go.  I’m really glad that I started today.  I think I just needed that initial start to get me going.  I’ll update some more when I get a little further with my final project, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I have finally started!!

Just a few minutes ago I watched an awkward commercial on skin tag removal. I didn’t know whether to laugh for be grossed out. I’ll show you guys the commercial:

Skin Tag Removal Commercial

I think this commercial is not serious enough. It seems so awkward and random. One second a woman is being compliment and the next, the kid is poking at her extra skin. I just – I don’t know how to feel about this commercial. Like, watching it the first time I was shocked and somewhat grossed out, and watching it the second time I nearly laughed. I know this makes me sound like an awful person but I think a commercial like this should have been taken a bit more seriously. What do you guys think?

Okay, so is it just me, or has Lady Gaga become the most outrageous and unique person in the media lately?  From her graphic lyrics to her wild outfits, Lady Gaga has been placed on an unreachable podium.  There is no one like her so I’ve decided to do a little research.  Here are a few things you maybe didn’t know before:

~ Her real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

~ By the age of 4, she had taught herself to play piano (by ear)

~ She wrote her first song when she was a teenager

~ Stefani references the song “Radio Ga-Ga” by Queen with her stage name ‘Lady Gaga‘

~ Sometimes she carries a purple teacup with her in public

~ After being confused by an interviewer with Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga died her dark brown hair, blonde

I think that Lady Gaga is somewhat influential as well.  I tried looking for photos on flickr and I had to go through several of people trying to pose and look like Lady Gaga.  I even have a friend who tried copying Lady Gaga (which I’ve shown above).  Overall, I just want to make the point that Lady Gaga is here  to take over.  Is this a good or bad thing that Lady Gaga has influence over soooo many people all over the world?  That is for each person to decide on their own.

Alright.. another crazy conversation today that caught my attention. Why does Wendy’s have square burgers? I mean, round burgers were created for a reason. They fit perfectly into the round bun. Most common sense since the invention of the wheel. Maybe they wanted to create square burgers so they could be ‘hip‘. However, why not create a square bun? It almost makes me angry that they have all of this burger hanging off of a bun, when they could have the coolest burgers around with a square bun. Even square condiments would be pretty deadly. Then I would have reason to eat there. I think I’ll stick with my classics: A&W, McDonald’s, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Burger Baron, et cetera. Does anyone here object to this? Do you really have the desire to eat 3/5 burger and only 2/5 bun? Ridiculous!!!

So today I had a little conversation with Dan about acid erosion… which sounds ridiculous so many of you will find this post completely pointless. Anyways, Dan had never heard of Pronamel (the toothpaste). We were actually originally talking about Coke (seeing as he thinks I drink wayyyy to much.. which is true). I informed him that it causes softening of the enamel which you later brush away because it has become soft. Then we got into a conversation about teeth which has nothing to do with this. The thing that we talked about was that Pronamel is created to help prevent the wearing away of the enamel. Now, I could have let this slide, but I was completely shocked that he’d never seen the Pronamel commercial before. So here it is Dan.. enjoy!