emhelmer

Dear Ma,

Wow!!  The semester is winding down quickly.  I only have a couple of weeks left.  I loved it!  This semester was awesome.  It went really well all in all.  I had some pretty tough classes but somehow, it still went smoothly.  This semester I would have to say that I did alot less waiting until the last minute and alot more planning.  I’m not going to lie, it made the semester alot less stressful.  Put that one in the “got it right” file!  If I could do something different, I would have definitely studied harder for my first AP2 test.  That one was a killer!  In ten years, I will, honestly, probably only remember that I called for the immediate arrest for Santa Claus in a research paper for my comp. 2 class!  It was a mock research paper but still.  I hope to forget that time I choked on water and spewed it out in the hallway real soon!  THAT, my mother, was very embarrassing!  I’d have to say though, all in all, I had a great semester and I’m excited to see what’s in store for me for the next one!  I’m excited to see you in a week and a half.  Tell Dad I said Hi!  I love you!

Love,

Emmy

Peer Review

I really like the peer review part of this course.  I have found the reviews of my peers very helpful.  I also like how I learn from just reading other people’s papers.  For example, while reading someone else’s paper, I got an idea about what to add to my paper.  I also learn different  ways to handle wording and organization.  I also just like reading different ideas!  The feedback I find most helpful is the part of the review that is labeled “problem.”  I like how it forces us to be real with each other and say what we find as a weakness in the paper.  The only way I can make the weak parts stronger is if someone tells me they are weak in the first place!  I have a hard time pinpointing which feedback I find least helpful.  I really like to take any feedback I can get!  I would have to say that the feedback I get from the professional is probably more helpful than the peer reviews.  This shouldn’t be taken personal, however, seeing how they are PROFESSIONAL tutors.  I think both feedbacks are very important!

Draft 1!

I have just completed my first draft, and yes, I found it very challenging.  Ususally, I can crank out a draft in a couple of hours, but this particular one took me two days, and I am still not happy with it.  However, I need a new set of eyes now that my peers can give me!  I feel like I did have something to say.  I really like the topic that I chose to do.  It was fun to try and come up with arguments to get some change happening in schools.  I ended up following my outline pretty closely.  It just seemed to work.  I really liked taking all my “chicken scratch” from my notebook and finally typing it out into an actual paper.  I liked the sound of the keyboard has my paper formed.  I’m excited for the next step, which is to get some feedback from my peers!  🙂

Community Partner

I love the idea of having a community partner for this project!  My community partner is a man by the name of Matt Knight.  He is a teacher at Proctor High School.  My contact with him is in person.   I’m a little skeptical about putting his information over the website here so, if you want to know his contact information, you should ask me in person.  🙂  I interviewed him today.  It was great!  He had alot of great ideas.  The five questions I asked were as follows: 1) Do you think this issue of intelligent design vs. evolution is a problem in the public school?  Why?  2)  What do you think about academic freedom?  Does teaching intelligent design violate  it?  Does not teaching it?  3)Do you think a compromise is needed for this issue?  If so, what would you recommend?  4)  What about separation of church and state?  Does teaching intelligent design violate that?  5)If the choice was left solely up to you, would you teach intelligent design at your school?

I hope to participate in a survey at his school asking kids what they think of the issue.

Research Update Numero Uno

I tell you what, I am LOVING the databases.  I really feel like I’m reading some concrete information.  I mean I love google and all, but I just feel like I’m finding what I’m looking for with Gale and EBSCO.  I have been finding some very interesting articles.   But there was one in particular that caught my attention.  It discussed the idea that one of the arguments was that creationism isn’t considered a science due to the fact that it is not testable nor observable, but we consider evolution a science even though it is neither testable nor observable.  I mean we may think it is, but no man, that has been able to keep a record, was around when species were “evolving,” meaning that it should not be considered observable.  I liked that idea.  I had never thought of it that way before.

I would say that my research has shifted from start to this project to right now.  This is made most evident by the fact that I had to write two posts for my topic.  And as I stated above, I like that I’m moving away from google and looking more in the databases.  What was frustrating was coming up with a topic, but now that I have found my “sweet spot” in this whole project, I am rather enjoying myself.  Also, the bibliography is alot of work!

I have shared bits and pieces of my topic with my team.  This is mostly done by me saying, “pssst.”  One of my members will look at  me and then I go, “how’s the research going?”  But that is mostly it.  I think I will be more intentional with talking to my team this week.  Also, I might try using the discussion board.

My topic #2

As you can probably determine by my tite, I have chosen a new topic for my research project.  My research question is as follows: 

Should creationism be taught along side of evolution in biology class?

My  community partner will be a teacher at Proctor high school.  I am very excited about interviewing him.  I am also very excited about this topic which leads me to be way more excited about the project itself!!

My Topic: Brief description!

As I was smashing my head against my wall this weekend, not literally mind you, while trying to figure out what I want this research paper to be about, a question kept lingering.  What exactly is faith?  I mean we are a “Christian” nation, but we all practice Christianity differently.  Then, the thought occurred to me, “I bet we have changed Chrisitan beliefs over time.”  So my research question is as follows:  Have we, America, ruined Christianity?  I plan to research how churches have changed over history.  And I plan to find while doing research if the change was for the better or worse.  My thesis will then state that fact.

I have thought about who I want my community partner to be.  His name is Pastor Brian Whitta.  He comes from different church backgrounds and has studied the churches in the bible in depth.  I think he would be an excellent resource!  I know I would definitely be able to interview. 

As of right now, I can see myself looking at three areas of church.  The first area is fakeness vs. sincerity.   This topic talks about whether we have grown more towards attending church because we really want to or because our parents, or some other outside pressure, are making us.  The second area is self-righteous vs. humility.  This issue deals with how open churches are to outsiders coming in.  I haven’t quite determined the third issue yet.  So that one will be a surprise!  🙂

Quote from Martin Luther King Jr.

Berndt, Michael, and Amy Muse. Composing a Civic Life. 2nd ed. Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. 506-24. Print.

“We only assemble here because of our desire to see right exist.”

As stated in the title, that is a quote from a speech spoken by Martin Luther King Jr.  I picked this particular quote because it left me in a state of thought after I read it.  I couldn’t read on.  This one sentence tells the exact point of the speech, and it doesn’t appear at the begginning or at the end.  It appears in the middle.  I just love that.  I also love how he makes it clear that he isn’t there for violence, or to cause trouble, but to ONLY see to it that his right as an American is exhibited.  I wish I could have been there to see the crowd cheer as he stated this sentence with determination.  It’s just awesome.

Half Way There!

Honestly, I cannot believe that we are halfway done with this class already!  I’m not going to lie, this is one of my favorite classes.  I’ve learned so much already.  But, my favorite would have to be learning how to write a research paper by first writing a fake one!  I had so much fun with that assignment that I’m no longer “sweating bullets” about the real research people.  I still feel uncertain, however, about the real research paper.  This is due to the fact that I really want to find a research paper topic that is going to be fun for me to do.  I no longer want to settle for research topics that are going to be boring and tedious.  If anyone has topic ideas for me they should let me know!  🙂

Chapter 5

“…Research papers need not be tedious exercises in collecting and regurgitating the ideas of others.”  This quote is from chapter 5 of Composing a Civic Life, and it got me kind of excited.  When I heard that I would be doing a research paper in this class, the very first thing I thought was, “boring.”  I imagined myself sitting in the library for hours just doing “busy” work trying to get this paper done.  But this chapter reminded me that I get to pick a topic that I’m actually interested in.  I love having my questions answered!  It made me way more optimistic for the future.

“I propose that the State of North Dakota require schools to teach a foreign language in the primary grades.”  This passage made me smile.  The reason being is that while I was in elementary and middle school, I was taught Spanish.  It was a class that I looked forward to every time we went.  I absolutely loved it.  I remember thinking that one day I was going to travel to Spain!  I agree with this girl and would hate for young ones to miss out on the opportunity that was provided for me.