Blog Post #9

http://www.buzzfeed.com/larap2/19-signs-youre-from-indiana-aati

Title: 19 Signs You're From Indiana

Since I am from the wonderful state of Indiana, I figured this Buzzfeed article would be fitting. I looked at the author’s profile and realized she must be from Indiana or went to school in Indiana because she also has an article about reasons why someone would be from Purdue. She starts the “19 Signs You’re From Indiana” but saying that you can’t help yelling HOO-HOO-HOOSIERS when you hear the word ‘Hoosier.’ Coming from a UK based family, I never once have yelled that and would probably be disowned if I did. Another point on this is where she states that everyone hates Kentucky. Well that’s false. I love Kentucky. Most of my friends that stayed at schools in Indiana do indeed seem to hate our school, but I do not. From this view, we can see that this author was raised in an Indiana based household. Her point about the Super Bowl and that no one can forget how crowded and crazy downtown Indianapolis was, is a point that only someone from Indiana would know how to describe. Living 45 minutes away from Indianapolis, I knew just how wild that atmosphere was. Multiple friends and family members went and experienced the madness and came back and told us all about it. Her 13^th point is “You are used to people from out of town asking you this question: ‘What is there to do in Indiana?’” Not only is this completely true to all Indiana civilians, but also there have even been commercials and slogans to represent the truth in this. Indiana Beach, a small amusement park on Lake Shafer in north central Indiana, has a slogan that states: “There’s more than corn in Indiana.” Meaning, there is actually something to do other than drive on interstates and look at cornfields. Her last point is that all residents of Indiana, no matter how they feel about it, will always call it home. She emphasizes that most people have a “love/hate” relationship with the state and that is very true in most cases. Just like she said, I will always call Indiana my home and that is where my true home resides no matter how ready I was to get the heck out of there while I was growing up.

Blog Post #8

In my final paper, I will obviously need to make a lot of revisions considering the fact that I only have half of a paper. I will need to specifically focus on three aspects:

1: My organization of the descriptions of The Study compared to CATS and CARES programs need to be placed differently throughout the paper. As we talked about in our meeting, my paper’s focus is on The Study and that should be described first before going into other details about spaces. My descriptions seem like they can stay the way they are but the paragraphs just need to be moved around a little bit.

2: I need to add multiple more paragraphs where they are needed. I have lots of holes that need to be filled in with extra information and statistics to back up my claim. Included in this, I still need to add my interview information and some more field notes. After I do this, my paper will make a ton more sense and I will also have a COMPLETE paper instead of the 4 pages, not even remotely done, paper that I currently have.

3: My last revision needs to be going through and looking over where things do not quite make sense or can be elaborated on. At the end of one of my paragraphs, I make a claim about the way there could be other life skills received from attending peer tutoring and help session on college campuses. I talk about how there is obvious academic success but I need to make sure I elaborate on the underlying and subconscious factors that can be gained. I know the way that I want to make these points clear, but I need to make sure that these points are made clear to the reader.

Blog Post #7

The secondary source I found is a scholarly article by Keith Topping at the University of Dundee. In this article, it gives information about how peer tutoring affects students within a college or university environment. This study was published in 1998 but still holds truth to how the peer-tutoring environment works today. It gives a definition of what Topping calls “peer assessment” which is inevitably the same as peer tutoring. Not only does this give description on how it helps and benefits grades, but also gives evidence of how these peer tutoring or peer assessment opportunities give students and their peers social and communication skills that can be used for the rest of their lives outside of the classroom.

Topping, Keith. “Peer Assessment between Students in Colleges and Universities.” Review of Educational Research: 28.3. (1998). 249-276. Web. 4 November 2013. 

Blog Post #6

Something that really stuck out to me while listening to “Sucked Into the Tunnels Beneath Las Vegas” was the people that reside within the storm drains. One of the first things mentioned about the people is “I’ve even met people down in the drains that are cool one day and then you come back the next day and it’s not cool all of a sudden.” The idea of this makes you wonder what will happen when they make their first real encounter with people within the tunnels? It is said that these people have not seen Matt, the man giving the “tour” through the tunnels, since the last Thanksgiving when he left them dinner on their beds. These two people really struck my attention. They have the act of swiping money from machines down pact. They know all the ways around, they know the best ways to do it and the best ways not to. Due to the fact that they live in the storm drains- having a bed, shower and their whole lives within that drain- they must make money and a living somehow. This is their career. Although, the one who speaks of all the ways to succeed in his “job,” he is addicted to meth. Is this the reason why he is living in the storm drains in the first place? Does he waste all of his money to get high? He mentions that he is trying to cut back, but isn’t that something that is said by all addicts? Even some people who casually drink state, “I’m never drinking again.” Is he stuck in this storm tunnel for the rest of his life? Although we will never find out exactly what happened with these men, it makes you think about their futures and if their habits will ever change or if this is sadly the lifestyle they have created for themselves for the rest of their lives.

Blog Post #5

After watching myself give my speech, I feel like I didn't do as badly as I thought I did in my own head. I know for a fact I went over on time and I definitely got caught up in my words a couple times; but, I feel like my delivery was better than I expected. I feel like I got my main points across in a way that was efficient and could give my audience a view on The Study to show what and how I will be researching. Although, I feel as if I didn’t get out everything that I wanted and needed to say. I also got thrown off on my slide cues on my notecards and forgot to change slides at one point in time. This made me get flustered on the inside but I feel as if I played it off better than how I truly felt. I’m actually very glad I had questions at the end because I felt like I could show my knowledge better. My overall critique of myself is that in the future I definitely need to spend a little more time working on my timing and getting everything under control and in the correct time frame. I need to reword some things so that I get all my points across at once. I also need to breathe, and slow down so I can get my thoughts under control while I am speaking. Even though I have a time limit I need to be able to get everything out and all my points across. 

Blog Post #4

Since ethos is credibility of the speaker, I will first be using the fact that I have personally gone and visited and researched The Study. I can use the facts that I have obtained and what I have observed to get the idea across that I have legitimate reasons to be talking on this topic. This should effectively show that I am credible to be speaking about this space on campus. These facts can also be used for the logos. Logos is the facts and figures about a certain thing or place. I will tell the important facts including: the layout, the way it is run, and what happens at The Study. This gives my audience a clear picture of The Study and clearly presents my logos. While giving these facts and important pieces of information to my audience, I will be giving audience ties that will pull them in with pathos. As I give facts, I will relate the fact with the listener. This will effectively give them an idea if it is ideal for them. 

Blog Post #3- Research Memo

My secondary source is a website from the University of Kentucky on the Center for Academic Resources and Enrichment Services (CARES).  Coming from the University, it has a credible background and gives additional and helpful information. It has given me a more positive outlook on my site. The Study has now become a more reasonable and helpful option on campus in my mind. This source It gives options of other ways to get tutors on campus. These tutors give an hour of free help per week. While on the other hand, The Study gives an unlimited amount of peer tutoring to the students in need. CARES also gives options of study groups with other students who need help in the same course. They meet once a week and more frequently around exam time. This is good for students who need consistency in their study habits. The Study is more convenient for those students who need to work with other students and maybe don’t need to meet that often. I’m really starting to consider- even though I stated it may not be the best option- that The Study is one of the best tutoring and studying facilities on campus.

Works Cited:

"Tutors/Study Groups." University of Kentucky-Center for Academic Resources and Enrichment Services. University of  Kentucky. Web. 17 September 2013.