ECU English 1200 Service-learning - Recently Updated Pages

Aftifact Analysis: We are One, Teamwork (LRC)

LindseyCannon — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:04:15 CDT

The artifact analysis I chose was a painting on the wall that said "We are One - TEAMWORK". I chose this artifact because it stood out to me. I felt it was significant to me because the Special Olympics is all about working together and I felt as if the painting showed exactly that.

In the painting were people stick holding hands and "TEAMWORK" in all capital letters below it. It was painted with very bright colors.

I later found out the the painting was created by a handicapped child who has competed in the Special Olympics for the past three years. The painting showed me that the child who painted it believes as if the Special Olympics promotes teamwork and working as one. Knowing that the painting was created by a disabled child makes it that more significant because those are the people who the Special Olympics is all about.

Picture Blog

BrandonDunn — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:47:24 CDT

My service learing project involed working at the Food Bank, and I attemped to find some artwork that would help me to show my point of view and also be able to allow me to have a connection to my MRGP. The artwork that I found was titled Poverty. It is basically a picture of something that resembles soup in a bowl.

I think that this is a good choice to resemeble poverty, because soup is a very cheap dish, and it is a common dish among those living in poverty. I remember back in my neighborhood, where those less fortunate would take packs of ketchup and add it to water to make tomato soup. The picture shows what seems to be dirty water that is almost murky which I can connect to someone living in poverty life, because they are living unclear and not knowing what is going to happen next. There is also what seems to be a stick in the soup which can be described as something cheap, or basic, which is usually all people living under the poverty line can afford. The main color is brown which is not usually known as a happy color.

MRGP Blog

BrandonDunn — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:39:54 CDT

After turning in the blog, I am sitting back and reflecting on the year. I feel that I had a good year and that I improved as a writer. The project was a little hard but I think that I did a good job. One thing that I struggled with was the deadlines or the lack of deadlines. I think if we would have had a syllabus I would have kept up with the work easier. However not having a syllabus helped us to mature and forced us not to wait till the last minute. I learned a lot and I enjoyed the service learning and the volunteering, and the opportunity to give back to the Greenville community and help those that need it.

1st year writing studio

ash7689 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:14:53 CDT

I made an appointment last week to go to the first year writing studio to edit my traditional research paper and my ethnography. The experience at the writing studio was very helpful for me. Frank the man I worked with read over my papers and gave me great feedback and several suggestions. He also made me aware of my strengths in my writings as well as where i needed to make revisions in my writing. I had a pretty good thesis, but it needed a little work. He suggested I synthesized at the bottom of each paragraph in order to make the flow of the paper better and kinda summarize the paragraph so my readers will know why the information is important. I really appreciated this review and it helped me to see where I stood as a writer.

I am very excited and relieved to have finished my MRGP. The whole experience with completing my portfolio went well. The Bedford Researcher was very helpful to me especially with aiding me in my annotated bibliography and APA style citations. I intend to keep this book for future use. While I am on this topic, a week or so ago I was in wright place and there was this guy getting cash back for books. He sold his Bedford researcher book. I thought I wouldn't do that. I am going to keep my book because it is a really good reference and helped me a lot throughout the semester in my writing. My favorite genre completing in my MGRP was my recipe book. It was similar to making a scrapbook of different recipes. It was fun being creative and taking the time to finish that. Me and my group partner dedicated Ashley and Ashlea's Book of Yummies to the Ronald McDonald House. Overall everything went well with the MGRP. My experience with my flash drive crashing and having to re-write my research paper entirely didn't feel so good, but other than that I completed every genre and all the content that the portfolio requires. I was very pleased with my work and believe I did a really good job.

Throughout the semester, blogging has been one of my weak points. I am not used to blogging and have never done it before. My schedule has been really busy this semester and for me it is hard sometimes to remember to blog. I hope this doesn't severely affect my grade because I feel that I have done very well in the class. I participate in class by communicating with the teacher and answering questions. I have done every day book prompt and homework assignment. Well there was one homework assignment I did not have in class, but I also feel that a lot of hard work went into my MGRP and is probably one of the best in our class. I don't want to sound cocky by that comment but I truly feel that I deserve an A in this course. I hope this is what I receive in the end. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and Mrs. West-Puckett as well. She is a very good professor. I am also really excited to turn in my MGRP. I have a strong sense of accomplishment and cannot believe that I will be completed with my freshman year on Tuesday. This year has flown by, been a lot of fun, and I have worked so hard this year that I am ecstatic about SUMMER!!! English 1200 has also been a good course for me and I experienced several things in this course I never have before, which have been writing an Ethnography, citing sources in APA style, blogging, and using the Wiki site for class. Thank you all for a great semester! Have a good break!

Almost Done

LeighMarion — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:40:49 CDT

I must say I have never been happier to be almost completely finished with my MGRP. These past few weeks have been so stressful. I still need to do my annotated bibliography, which I am still extremely confused about. Anyone got and suggestions?

I have enjoyed being in English 1200, and the service learning was by far my favorite. I loved working at Building Hope and would do it again in a heart beat.

Building Hope Poem

LeighMarion — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:37:36 CDT

Building Hope

Children playing all around
Toys all over the ground
Laughter is the only sound.

Happiness is felt in this place
Friends and family all embrace
Bad feelings are easily erased.

Hard times come along
The hearts sing a sad song
The unity remains strong.

Through everything they cope.
Happiness is everywhere in Building Hope

Building Hope

LeighMarion — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:34:21 CDT

Volunteering at Building Hope was a great experience for me. I loved hearing their stories. It amazed me how creative and smart some of them were! Everyone I encoutered was welcoming and very kind. This was a very good thing, because I was honestly very nervous about coming to Building Hope the first time. I was not sure if I would be accepted or be an outsider forever. I believe as the weeks went by I made more friends and became more accepted. I hope to volunteer with Building Hope more in the future.

Research Paper

LeighMarion — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:27:38 CDT

My research paper is basically about how cultural diversity affects children in the classroom. It's amazing what I read and learned about something as simple as race can have such an impact on adults, children, everyone! Latinos and African Americans are reportedly performing poorer than Caucasians on the elementary level, probably because of low self esteem due to the fact they are different. One quote that really caught my attention in one of my sources was "One of the most consistent findings in educational research is that students achieve in direct proportion to their opportunity to learn." This is so true!

April 27, 2008 Blog Post

AshleaMcBride — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:41:08 CDT

This past week I have been working on completing my MGRP. I have encountered some obstacles along the way. My service-learning partner's flash drive suddenly crashed and I had to go to the First Year Writing Studio to get my papers edited. The appointment for my ethnography went well. The guy there thought I had a very solid and descriptive ethnography, but had a few grammatical errors. My research paper appointment is Monday. I can only hope it goes as well as the one for the ethnography did. I also had trouble deciphering what exactly was wanted in this project. I have tried to complete the requirements to the best of my ability. I am looking forward to tomorrow where I get feedback on my MGRP rough draft. In the meantime, I am going to finish my annotated bibliography, my final draft of my ethnography, and taking pictures of my other projects. Good luck to all of you in finishing your MGRP also!

April 19, 2008

chloesanders — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:23:46 CDT

Today was the day of The Little Willie Center's First Annual Carnival. It was so much work! My team and myself spent hours painting faces in the blazing sun. While I was there I was very alert and observant for some reason. I almost felt as though something bad was going to happen. It was the first time I had felt uneasy at the center. This feeling prompted many thoughts. How does one interrpert and analyze the culture of others? What are the depths of the word "culture." Besides the formal definition culture varys within a population even if similar "culture" is shared with another population. For instance within the African American culture several characteristics are expressed such as pride, respect, determination, strength. While these attributes could describe an array of cultures, this are the words that come to mind when I sit down and analyze my Black family. While I was not suprised to witness some of the things at the carnival I was upset. I saw strong people selling themselves short. I find that this is more offensive to me than when whites do the same thing. why is this!? There are a lot of emotions this service learning project has inspired. I hope to fully develop them in my ethnography.

February 20, 2008

chloesanders — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:02:38 CDT

I really enjoyed my learning center. I feel comfortable around the children as well as the advisor's. Many of the children reminding me of my young cousins and family members.Despite the resemblance and similar culture of the center, I tried to keep in mind that I was an outsider looking in. The woman who run the center are strong, African American women like the women in my family, well at least it appeared that way. However, I couldn't know from the first visit so I really tried to take in my surroundings. I analyzed the smells, the way the children respected the advisor's, the orientation on the future plans for the center, and how comfortable I felt in their community. I really enjoyed the incorporation of healthy eating by means of the garden. This was impressive, I love the kids. I find it difficult to take the position of an outsider in an atmosphere that feels so familiar.

Time's Up Time For The End

martikaminger — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:15:17 CDT

I can't believe it either but school's almost over. I've been working mostly this week getting my portfolio together and it has been a challenge but I think I'll get by just fine. I worked on everything. My traditional essay about factors that affect service-learning students and my ethnology about the culture of the people at Building Hope. My portfolio's going to include a powerpoint presentation, a comic strip and diaries of my times being at Building Hope. The thing I'm going to present for exam is my powerpoint presentation. I think it would be the best thing to present because with picture, I think it will give you a sense of what it like for me being a Building Hope, easy to put into words, and if there's a time limit then I have that covered too. Plus I think it will more fun than the other things I did.

Service-learning was an experience for me because I never did it before. I had to pay more attention than I usually do to people. Pay attention to the way they talk, act, and interact with each other. It was simliar to the way we act and talk know but it was just a different age group. I was reminded of how I use to be when I was a kid. I heard a lot of different stories and met new people. According to my research, it said that most students who did service-learning would do it again. I think that I would do service-learning again but I would try something different.

Time's Up, Time For the End

martikaminger — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:50:37 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Blog for the week of 13-19

martikaminger — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:48:48 CDT

I thought this week was sad week especially for the people of Building Hope. A person that they deeply cared about has passed away and it was sad to hear some of the stories that were told. I mean you could tell that this little boy made an impact in people's lives. From what people said, I could tell that he was a good friend and a joy to be around. A few of the kids told me how half of the class cried when they heard the news. I know when I looked at them, I could tell that they were holding back tears. I thought it was brave of them to do so because losing someone makes it hard to control yourself and at such a young age. I think everyone at building hope would be happy to remember him that way by putting a part in the book just for him.

Artifact Analysis: "Pray" (RRW)

rashondawheeler — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:47:17 CDT

My artifact was a picture drawn by a little girl from the Little Willie center. I liked this particular artwork because at the very bottom it read the word "pray". This was significant to me because The Little Willie Center is a Christian based organization. This shows that the organization is making a big impact on the children in a positive way.

The original artifact had all these different colors of glitter splattered all over the paper so that is where I got my different lines from on my drawing. I felt like the different colors represented the different emotions that the child may experience on a day to day basis. So my lines going in different directions symbolized the mixed emotions. I also put the different faces at the top of my page to represent the emotions.

This artifact also showed me that the organization encourages the children to express themselves how they see fit. To the little girl her painting might just be pretty with the word "pray" at the bottom. But for an outsider looking in, it can mean different things and show the organizations purpose.

april 24, ethnography

sarahhara — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:04:35 CDT

I was so not looking forward to having to write an ethnography because I didn't understand how it was supposed to be done. But, once I figured it out and started writing I really enjoyed it. Writing an ethnography is totally different from writing a research paper but it gives you more of a chance to write completely about what and how you see things.

april 24

sarahhara — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:01:11 CDT

Working on the MGRP has been a great experience. I have been able to learn so much by working iwth my service learning partner. I also enjoyed the fact that we had guidelines for the project but a lot of it was left up to us on how we do it and what it looks like. I am really glad that I took this class.

Blog

ash7689 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:24:25 CDT

This week has been very stressful for me. I still have a lot to complete for the MGRP. Last week my flashdrive suddenly crashed, so now I am having to re-write my entire Traditional Research Essay. This is putting me behind in my list of things to do. I feel that it is really hard for me to remeber to blog. But on Wenesday, me and my service learning group member went our organization at the Ronald McDonald House to get our Service Learning Time Sheets signed. On my list of things to do, I still need to finish drafting my research paper, my ethnography needs some work, coverletter, and make a reference page for my research essay. I am so glad that there is a first year writing studio. I have to make an appointment with them to edit my papers. Its good that there is a first year writing studio because me and my service learning group member can go to them for peer review. It would not be fair for my partner to wait on me, since I have to rewrite and entire research paper.

Paula: April 18, 2008

PaulaRountree — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:21:10 CDT

My experience at the Little Willie Center has been great. This Saturaday, the 19th, they are doing a carnival, everyone is very excited. Everything at the carnival will be free. Mr. Arrington plans to have a couple of slides, rock climbing, and a few other rides. For food he is having Chick-a-filia and papa johns bring food, and that is also free. There will also I few tables set up: one for face painting and one information table. The information table is so that the families that came could learn about the Little Willie Center and maybe enroll their child/children. That is the main purpose of the carnival, so that parents could learn about the center and take advantage of their services. I hope everything goes great.

Paula: April 21 2008

PaulaRountree — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:20:35 CDT

I would just like to update everyone on how the carnival went.
The carnival went great. There was a lot of families that showed up and I think that everyone had fun. Kiki, Rashonda, Chloe, and I work at the face painting table, I think we did a good job. I was happy that the weather was good, just really hot. But thats better than it raining. I know the kids had fun, they were play on all the rides and blow ups. I think the Little Willie Center gained some more kids for the summer time too. I'm glad that everything went good.