Learning #EdTech

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Before last month, I was adamant against Twitter and hashtags.  I didn’t understand why I might need Twitter when I already use Facebook and Instagram religiously.  Another social media app seems redundant.  Having a class require Twitter usage made me briefly consider dropping the class.  What exactly could it provide that FB and IG don’t? Twitter and I began with a Love/Hate relationship.  But over time, I have come to embrace it.  While I use FB and IG for my personal life, I am developing Twitter exclusively for academic reasons. Through Twitter, I am connecting to educators around the world.  Their opinions and the articles they share are providing me with a much more well-rounded view of the many spokes of the academic community.  While I may not always (often) agree with the point of view of the people and organizations that I am following on Twitter, the food-for-thought that they give me allows me further evaluate by beliefs.

For Today,

<3AM

 

https://twitter.com/MinnieMoise

world

Blog Post #4

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PART I

Last week Julian started off our class by putting us into group and giving us a note card with a specific situation. He asked us to discuss in out small groups and describe how would we confront this situation. Our group got a situation that said something like, “You have completed a difficult  task you are proud of but yet others do not seem to have interest in your hard work nor congratulate you. What do you do
?” I personaly responded that if am proud of something that i have accomplish im going to be proud of myself no matter what people think. At the end i didn’t do it to satisfy them but to satisfy myself and keep up my hard work. Some answered that they would argue with the negative person or just brush it off the negative compliments and keep going like it never happened. And i agree with that, we shouldn’t let a negative comment stop us from doing what we think is right. I enjoy these activities that Julian makes us do, because it makes me think much more about the little stuff that we don’t put mind too. Like for example, this activity that we did, every group got a different situation, and every one expressed a different way to handle it. Hearing everyone out, gave me more ideas of how to handle things and not feel bad about negative comments or people who dont support us.

PART II

I found this weeks readings very interesting. Especially the second article, Mi casa is not like your house by Torres, I felt like I was reading my own story in that article. The article Creating a Climate of Inclusion and Mi casa is not like your house, have some similarities but yet a different point. It is similar because both talk about Latino students and their struggle for education. But in contrast, article Creating a climate of inclusion focuses more and statistics and all types of Hispanic and Latinos students. It compares Latinos to each other regarding from what Latin country they come from. For example, it stated that Mexicans are more likely to go to a two year college, when Cubans and African Americans are more likely to go to a four year college, and Puerto Ricans are more likely to go to a trade school. Huarto’s statistics showed us the diversity in between out own ethnicity of Latinos. He assures that Cubans are four times more likely to go to college than Mexicans. I was surprised. And in part where i agree, is in his conclusion where he says that Latinos are more successful when faculty show interest for their students and personal problems, interact with them, and considerate of their education. In Mi casa is not like your house, Torres really explained the situation most first generation Latinos go through. She also explain four types orientations, Bicultrual, Latino, Angalo, and Marginal Orientation. I think i fall in between Bicultrual and Latino orientation because i am a proud Latina who represents my culture with pride and follow our traditions and values. But at the same time i am also proud to be an American. In this article she mentions that first generation students struggle more because of our parents that have strict believes and expectations. My parents are like any other parents that wont allow me to move out of my home until they day i am married. I was planning to move out to dorm in campus and my dad was having a hard time accepting my decision. Luckily for him i didn’t have enough financial aid so i did not end up moving from home. Another thing i agree on, is that us Latino students have this pressure about pleasing our parents to get educated. I know my parents went through many hard situations, working like animals, not having enough food to eat, an it was all to give me a better future that they never had. I appreciate everything they did because without them i wouldn’t be in school. So i do admit that i am in school to make them proud and pay off their hard work, and to get myself a better future as well. And lastly, reading the last article about Asians being discriminated did shock me. Growing up, in my schools the few Asians that attended our schools were always the smartest ones in our class. I had an Asian friend in my math class back in high school, and i passed because he would tutor me until i understood. I feel that if i were in their shoes i would feel even more pressure because we stereotype them as brilliant people, when in reality they struggle like every other student trying to understand the material that is been taught. And it is sad to think that they are not helped out because they are expected to do well without any guidance.

Blog#4: Asian American & Latino/a students in Higher Education

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Last class began with Julian directing an activity on adversity, such as the bad traffic that many encountered that day! I think almost everyone has ran into some sort of bump in the road, such as criticism or an unfortunate situation. By going through various scenarios as groups and a class, I realized the adversities myself and others have encountered as well as ways to overcome them. Overall, I believe that adversities make us better and stronger. We realize our capabilities through overcoming our struggles successfully, even if it was difficult. I feel that the daily activities encourage reflection, which many classes don’t focus on and it is nice for a change! Afterwards we prepared for and presented the Affirmative Action debates. Upon assignment of it the previous session I was somewhat dreading it, but after some research and preparation I became excited. I came into the debate without a specific side taken so I was able to argue for my side with an open mind. I enjoyed being able to work as a group and use each other’s input. Almost every person in my group added something and I found it much easier when everyone collaborated. My only wish is that even those who are quiet would step outside their comfort zone and participate. Outside of class I am a very quiet and shy person but to me the environment of this welcomes participation. I normally dislike participated but I find myself irritated when most people in the group talk and one person sits and doesn’t contribute one word. However, I thought the debate gave us all a chance to interact and discover things about a topic we may not know much about or just be entirely confused about where to stand! That debate as well as the post it activity and discussion regarding Jenkin’s article provided clarity and understanding. I come to class with my own understanding and leave each class with new view points and ideas on each topic and reading.

 

The readings by both Hurtado and Torres were centered on Latino/a experience in and out of college life. They both focused on and mentioned how college environments may either welcome or deter these students from attending or completing college. Each article brought up examples of student’s perceptions when they arrive at various schools and how it made them feel. Torres’ article focused more on the culture of Latino/as and their identity and how they are faced with the issue of whether to change their culture and adopt another or to continue to practice theirs. An issue with practicing their culture is finding how to do so while fitting into their new college environment. Torres’ article seemed to be more of an ongoing, in process study whereas Hurtado’s had more statistics and facts. Due to that I would say Hurtado’s is more “scientific” as it has more proof of the college rates, diversity, and social progress or lack thereof.

 

When reading the article by Chang and Kiang, I was surprised by the overall issues. I wasn’t aware of Asian American’s participation in affirmative action debates or their struggles due to their admission rates being far above other minority groups, as noted in the article. I actually attended San Francisco State University, one of the schools with the most Asian American studies and students attending, so I didn’t notice any lack of Asian American students, in fact just the opposite. Overall, I was surprised by most of what I read simply because I was unaware of all that was presented.

Fun with CI Keys.

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Nice to see how easy it is to create my CI Keys account and set up WordPress today. In less than 10 minutes, I had WordPress up and running.

Blog #4

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In the previous class meeting we had a “court case” of both the pros and cons of affirmative action. I really enjoyed this debate because both sides presented arguable statements to defend their position.  Even though from the beginning I was confused with affirmative action from the beginning, paying attention to the arguments of both sides gave me a more clear understanding of what it meant.  I think it would have been a little bit easier for me to be against affirmative action because I can relate to it more. But it was a good learning experience because we have to look at both sides of an argument not just the one that we can relate to the most.

In regards to the articles, a noticeable difference that I noticed right off the bat was that Hurtado’s article mostly talk about statistics whereas the Torres article talk a little more about what it means to be a Latino/a. I liked reading the second article more because I could relate to it on a more personal level. I too come from a culture where I believe that education is not a priority in our culture. But like the Torres article stated, we should let go of the myth that education is not important in our culture. We only see it that way because our parents are not educated and we obviously don’t ask them to help us with our homework because they don’t read or understand english fluently. I think that is the main reason why the Latino culture believes that education is not important to us, because our parents are too busy working to keep a roof over our heads that they don’t have time to help us with our homework. And even if they did have time, most of our parents don’t speak and write english fluently. A similarity between the articles was that they both are trying to define what it means to be a Latino or a Hispanic. I believe that these are just terms that the US census created and therefore we should identify with one regardless if we don’t like those terms.

From the Chang article I was surprised to see that I too tend to stereotype the Asian-Americans of being just interested in pursuing careers in mathematics and sciences. They are also interested in business and other fields. Now I wonder what made me made this assumption? I think that these stereotype is being portrayed on television and that is why a lot of us are being brainwashed to believe and connect only one characteristic to a certain race group. When in reality all races and cultures and compromised of a lot of different characteristics, morals and values. That is why we should all try to be more educated and help diversify our school campuses and neighborhoods.

Blog Post #6 Developing Leadership Skills: making dreams come true

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What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your strongest?

One of the skill sets the text refers to is having a map, or a blueprint for how to implement a vision. This is one area I believe I succeed at. I always make sure to carefully plan and visualize my steps for a task before I take them which I find helpful. It allows me to be efficient in my work. Another skill I believe I have pertains to the values needed for a vision. Having an understanding of one’s self as well as the other members of the group helps to create unity. I respect and honor others opinions and ideals and this is key in order to be a admired leader. Lastly, I believe I also am strongest with using inclusive language. It’s important to do this to let followers, or peers, know that they are respected and valued.

What skill area and specific skills (discussed throughout chapter) are your weakest and how can you build upon them?

One of the areas I am weakest in is developing a mental picture for the vision and figuring out exactly where I want to be in the future. Although I can map out how to attain a vision, I struggle with developing the vision which probably stems from indecisiveness. I also struggle with ‘using the right language’. I feel like I could improve upon this skill by strengthening my vocabulary which could be helpful in motivating others. Also, the text refers to examples where leaders make use of symbols to motivate others which I think is something I could implement into my own leadership methods.

What impact do you think your leadership skills could have on your role as a leader?

I believe that I can excel as leader for various reasons. One is that I value and care about team members. When you show care for others that builds a sense of camaraderie and inspires others to achieve, not only for themselves, but because they are engaged and motivated towards group success as well. The feeling of inclusiveness and value gives team members a sense of purpose and builds morale. Another reason I think I can achieve as a leader is because of my work ethic and my preparation. These two characteristics are keys to success and I feel as if they are my strongest traits. My preparedness also gives me confidence to succeed.

Do you think some of the skills discussed in the chapter are more important in some situations compared to others? If so, explain.

The text describes many different skills of a vision and I do believe that some are more important than others in certain situations. Every situation in life is different so there are going to be cases where some of the skills are needed more than others. For instance, changing the culture of a losing sports team requires a coach to motivate a team and buy into a new system. Initially, in this case, a coach motivating a team to buy into a system is more important than the overall vision itself.

Do you think individuals in “lower” levels of leadership require the same skills as those in “upper” levels? Discuss

I do believe that the lower level leadership position do require the same set of skills as those in upper levels. These managers need to be able to motivate subordinates, have some sort of plan to achieve success, and they must also challenge others to better themselves. One of the traits that I believe exist at both levels is making sure subordinates understand that they are valued. Doing this boosts productivity and help them buy into the vision. Also both levels of leadership need to have the interpersonal skills to influence followers to believe in the vision and to work hard to achieve it.

Blood vs Water, Group vs Individual

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Throughout the first episode of season twenty-nine of Survivor it is apparent to see that the teams were just getting set up, people are trying to find this flow as they try to form different alliances in the midst of the greater team. From the start it was working within these teams and going against one’s own family in order to ultimately win it for your team no matter what ties are being tugged on to do so. As people found their part in the teams it was a jump over getting settled and straight into dealing with conflict and who is going to take charge in order to lead the group to winning. In life there are those people who are used to taking the role of leader, taking charge, making decisions but it was seen that not everyone is okay with one ultimate leader creating conflict within the tribe. Although it is seen as best to have someone take charge there are many who disagree with this concept wanting more of a group leading. In the episode both tribes did well in the performing stage knowing who was capable of what and who needed to do what everyone took part in their strengths, mentally and physically, to achieve the ultimate goal of immunity. Despite being able to work so well in a group the Coyopa tribe has hidden agendas weaved into everything being done from creating alliances based on sex as well as individual agendas as with Val and her secret immunity from being voted off. No matter how well the tribe will work together the goal is more of an individual goal with an intrinsic motivation rather than a group goal with each person in the tribe being there in order to help themselves. Within both groups there are different senses of motivation, some is based off an intrinsic goal for ones self or an intrinsic goal in order to prove ones self to be better than the family member of the opposing team; despite the tribe being able to find a flow together in this grand machine each one is there for themselves in order to achieve an individual goal through the group goal set.

Blood VS Water

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they have these couples and family members separate which will bring out tension between members of kin and team members. They immediately make a couple go against their spouse for the “true test of blood vs water.” Its already emotional!

The punishment is to go to exile island. They are going to miss out on very critical group development periods. They are not going to know what conformity is essential to survive in the group.

Immediately one of the twins on the blue team wants to flaunt that he is in charge, since he did make the shelter alone. Making this lead positive but there is a bit of tension brought on by the baseball girlfriend. This will be bring tension on later on.

On the orange team there seems to be a age difference that creates a clique with all the younger people. Leaving the farmer alone and the outsider. He saves himself by creating a fire when no one else could. This creates his status as a possible Provider and making him essential to everyone’s survival.

When the orange team has to start discussing who is getting voted out they begin to form alliances which is going to bring tension out within the tribe. They leave the gay guy in the middle as the swing voter. That gives him an essential status to have on your side.

Survivor- “The Beginning”

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Hello Colleagues,

 

I am entering my first blog and I am excited to say it is a show I grew up watching as a kid. I always remember Survivor for its dramatic plot twists and cunning social tactics to turn friends into foes and vice versa.

The show started out with the traditional introduction of the contestants and gave a brief background on their lives. There is a similar theme to the last season with the contestants being related by blood or in a relationship with one other member. There are 18 contestants at the start of the show. The teams are split up into two with the couples competing against one another. The orange team is the Coyoba tribe while the blue team is Hunahpu tribe.  The Coyoba tribe consists of a majority of the younger contestants with one old farmer who is 25 years older than the rest. The Hunahpu  tribe is more seasoned competitors. There is a young  fireman (who competes against his wife in the opening challenge) who tries to create alliances with every member in his group. He understand this game can not be won by yourself.

Survivor is a good case study for group development especially in the early episodes of the season.  It demonstrates group development in many ways. The forming stage of the groups when the loved ones are split apart is a good example. This required the members to become familiar with one another and finding common interests and or feelings in order to form relationships. The Storming stage occurred when the the old farmer was able to create fire and the rest of the Coyoba tribe realized he had some value. The performing stage was when the Hunahpu tribe worked together and won themselves immunity. Immunity means that you do not have to vote one of your members off the island.

 

After the first challenge the Coyoba tribe lost and had to make the hard decision to vote one of their members out. Through the group development process some members were able to form alliances and worked cooperatively to find an outcast. There were two contestants that stood out the most. One bring the old farmer, and the other being the twin from Sri Lanka who had been on America’s race. If only the Sri Lanka twin had shared more chemistry with the others in the stages of group development she might be around for the next episode. Until next week on Survivor!

 

-Zack Kelem

Survivor Week 1

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The first two weeks of survivor clearly demonstrated how important the process of group development was. The first two proponents of group development were front and center. The forming stage and the primary tension stage are what led to the first two contestants getting voted off of the show. The first contestant Nadiya was voted out because of primary tension.  The other tribe members were uneasy with her because of her previous actions on a different show. The other members did not trust her and you can see that there was not much disclosure with her. There was a lot of short, small talk when she was around. The group as a whole were all being very polite to each other but Nadiya could never advance past the primary tension stage with the group.

The second tribe member that was voted out was Val.  Val ran into a problem because she did not get time to form bonds with the rest of the tribe during the forming stage of group development. Val missed the vital first few days of tribe bonding. Her lacking prescience early on led to the rest of the tribe bonding without her and that left Val as the odd person out. The rest of the tribe was well into the group development process while Val was still attemtpting to get past stage one. Val was eventually excluded from the group because of her lack of time with the group.

The big thing that does not help with any of the members performing to their best within the group is that everyone has their own hidden agendas. Each tribe member is doing what is the most beneficial for themselves over the group at one point or another. When tough choices need to be made in the group, each member seems like they only think about what is best for themselves. The scene where the older gentleman was trying to make fire was a good example. He repeatedly said that he was glad he got the fire started because it might prove his worth to the group and keep him from being voted out. His intention on the surface seemed to be to help the group, but privately he was just doing what would serve himself best.