Welcome ENC 1101 Summer 2012!! It's A Hot One!

This is your first blog prompt. Read the entire entry and respond on your blog, print out a hard copy and bring to class. (Be sure your name and URL are on the copy you print out.)

It's the beginning of a new semester and with that comes the stress of delegating classes, studying, tests, maybe work, family, friends, personal and fun time along with trying to be successful in all areas. Have you ever really thought about how you manage everything in your life? Really thought about it; broken it down sort of thing? Maybe you don't have time to really think about how you manage your everyday life, and maybe it isn't that important to you to think about it. But if you're not thinking about how you manage your life and just going with the flow, chances are you probably don't really think about other issues.

And it's more than just thinking about issues, it's about challenging, questioning, analyzing and exploring issues. Breaking them down into pieces and examining each piece and how they work together to make a whole. Just like a business person or accountant would do with numbers, or how a biologist/chemist would do with cells/atoms and elements.
If this is your first time writing in a blog I challenge you to examine, question and analyze this idea of writing your thoughts or opinions on an internet blog as a journal. How does this make you feel? Uneasy, excited? Consider the fact that you have security settings that you can manipulate and that you are being required to do this for a class rather than a decision you have made on your own. Consider its purpose and who your audience is. Do you want for the whole world, or just for your teacher? What kind of style should you write in depending on that audience? Will you write in first or 3rd person, will you speak directly to an audience or not?

Will you put up a picture of yourself? Your interests? Your email address? How much information do you want people to have access to about you? What did you name your own URL? How does it make you feel to have a URL?

This isn't your first time blogging??

If you have had a blog in the past, your own, for my class or for another class, then I challenge you to examine, question and analyze your experience with having a blog. Consider why you had one, how it made you feel, and how you manipulated the security settings for your own sense of security. Consider changes you may make now that you have grown and developed as a writer/blogger. Consider how writing a blog may have helped or hindered your writing ability. Will you continue writing in the same style, tone and voice or are you going to change? Who will be your audience?

So, this is your very first blog prompt/journal entry for the semester!! Are you excited? LOL! Probably not, but that's ok. Maybe, hopefully, eventually, you will begin to actually enjoy this process. Just remember: Always think outside the box!

Adieu Spring 2012

Dear class,

Well, that's it, another semester has come to an end and as always, I'm saddened to say goodby, but confident that I have prepared you well to continue forward in your studies, or retake ENC 1102!! lol!!

Teaching is a passion for me. I love to do it, and, I feel that teaching chose me; not that I chose teaching as a profession. It doesn't come with much monetary gains, but it comes with huge personal fulfillment. Having the opportunity to teach, inform, mentor and get to know anywhere from 60-120 students a semester, from all walks of life, is a humbling and rewarding opportunity. I wish there was more time to get to know each of you better, but unfortunately those are the dynamics of college classes.

Over the course of the semester we have had engaging conversations and arguments, listened to each others' perspectives and learned from one another. My hope is that through those conversations, blogs, powerpoints, group activities and presentations, that I have equipped you with the tools necessary to continue through your undergraduate studies as strong critical thinkers who are intrigued and enticed to ask question after question after question; because it is the questions that lead to research and research leads to solutions and new ideas.

As you have become critical thinkers, you have become stronger writers, and we all know that you did a lot of writing , granted some more than others, (a lot that you may have felt was "pointless" or "busy work") but I have seen the growth and the development in all of you. Some of you simply becoming more refined, while others have improved tremendously using every opportunity to revise over and over again. I would like to think that most of you have walked away with a better appreciation for the art of writing and rhetoric and the ability to persuade.

Additionally, now that you know the techniques involved in argument, whether it be to persuade, inform or entertain, you can appreciate the importance of knowing who your audience is, what your purpose is, how to appeal to your audience through the use of logos, ethos and pathos, what kinds of claims can be used, and how not to commit a fallacy. Heck, even if it's just to convince your boy/girlfriend or mom/dad to do whatever it is you want them to do! LOL!

For this final blog I would like for you to write an entry describing your experience during this semester in class. Tell me what you learned, how you feel as a writer after taking this course, and what you would recommend that I do differently or better. Touch upon whether or not the expectations you had of yourself and myself at the beginning of the semester were met or not. What your favorite moments or memories were, and all that jazz!

My final thoughts...if you see me around campus don't be afraid to say hello or think that I would have forgotten you. One of the greatest aspects of teaching college is bumping into a student over the years and seeing how far they've come. If you ever need to get in touch with me for help or advice or a letter of recommendation, please feel free to ask (but remember that I won't lie, so make sure I'm the right person you want to ask!). Feel free to keep in touch via twitter or Facebook (look up Natasha Olivera, I have an account just for my students) and of course you can always follow my crazy mom stories on my blog stumblesthroughparenthood.com :)

In one way or another you have all touched my life and you will not be forgotten. I wish you all luck with your future endeavors and college experiences and that you make the most of it and your potential (can you tell I'm a mom!? :) ).

Peace Out!
Natasha

The issue(s) with Children of the Mountains

This week you were introduced to the Children of the Mountains. Many of you were ignorant to the fact that this community even existed, and many of you were surprised to know that this is happening in this country.

As we discussed in class, the issue of the Appalachian people has it's many sub-isues, all of which are interrelated and as a consequence perpetuate the social conditions in which they live. Time and time again we have heard of "solutions", usually by politicians, that need to be implemented in order to eradicate the "problem. While still others, believe that it is a "problem" that is not solvable and will always exist.

Using the information that you learned through the documentary, and pulling from your own global awareness, what you have learned in the past, and the teachings of your parents/family, etc., argue whether or not this issue is solvable, and if not why, or if so, how.

Remember to bring a hard copy of your entry to class on Monday.

Dolls that give birth: Introducing the VBAC Doll

My oldest son was a little less than 2 years old when I got pregnant with my second son. Throughout the months I introduced the idea of being a big brother and the changes that were going to occur with my body to him. As the time neared, my son who is very inquisitive, asked me how his baby brother would come out of my tummy. Bent on always being as honest as possible with my son, I figured, if he's asking the question, then he is ready for the answer. I was not going to make up some story about a stork, that was for sure. "From my vagina. That's where babies come out of. Isn't that amazing?"

Personally, and I think most people would agree with me on this, I think it's really amazing that a woman's body has the capacity to bear a child and give birth to that baby vaginally. So why is it, when MamAmor released their newest doll, that does exactly that, are people, and women in particular, up in arms about it, claiming that "it's too much"? First they freaked out because MamAmor
(According to their About Us section on their website: "MamAmor dolls are pregnant, birthing, and breastfeeding mamas. Each one is handcrafted with love and attention to detail. MamAmor dolls are very unique, and like real mamas, they are all different.MamAmor dolls are educational tools that demonstrate normal, natural birth, breastfeeding and bonding."
has a line of breastfeeding dolls....and that was too much. Now MamAmor has created a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarian) doll that gives birth both vaginally and by caesarian.

I grew up playing with Barbies who had perfect breasts, and no vagina. I had no breasts, but I had a vagina. Pretty confusing if you ask me. Yet, mommy's are A-OK providing their daughters with dolls that embrace a false sense of beauty and perfection and aren't even anatomically correct. How is that any right?

Lauren Jimeson wrote an article about the doll for Babble.com, a parenting website, and referred to it as "inappropriate" in the title of her article. So now, apparently, giving birth is "inappropriate", like it's pornographic or something.

She goes on to say that, "My 2 1/2 year old knows that there is a baby in my belly but she has no idea how the baby gets out. I don’t plan on having the “where do babies come from” conversation with her until she is much older. I can’t tell you exactly when she will be ready for the conversation, but I will let time take its natural course and we will approach the subject when it feels right for both of us." Until she's much older??? How much older?? What is the logic behind not explaining to a child the reality of an incredible and NATURAL experience? Is there something grotesque about it? Then she goes on to say,

"Giving this doll to a child as young as 3 might just confuse them on the baby subject in general, especially if you are trying to explain to them where there baby sister or brother are coming from. We’ve been very open with my daughter throughout this pregnancy, but not open enough to tell her exactly how her baby sister will get here. And we don’t plan on it either. There will be no doll or demonstration in our house explaining how the baby will get here." If you're trying to explain to them where babies are coming from, how is it confusing that the baby comes out of the vagina? That the woman's vagina is designed to be able to expand for a baby to come out of it? So it's less complicated to keep your child ignorant and in the dark about how life works? I wonder what this mom will tell her child when she sees a dog humping another dog? "Oh, their just playing hunny."

LOL, That reminds me of a video:

Blog #1: Welcome to a Bloggy World Spring 2012

This is your first blog prompt. Read the entire entry and respond on your blog, print out a hard copy and bring to class. (Be sure your name and URL are on the copy you print out.)

It's the beginning of a new semester and with that comes the stress of delegating classes, studying, tests, maybe work, family, friends, personal and fun time along with trying to be successful in all areas. Have you ever really thought about how you manage everything in your life? Really thought about it; broken it down sort of thing? Maybe you don't have time to really think about how you manage your everyday life, and maybe it isn't that important to you to think about it. But if you're not thinking about how you manage your life and just going with the flow, chances are you probably don't really think about other issues.

And it's more than just thinking about issues, it's about challenging, questioning, analyzing and exploring issues. Breaking them down into pieces and examining each piece and how they work together to make a whole. Just like a business person or accountant would do with numbers, or how a biologist/chemist would do with cells/atoms and elements.

If this is your first time writing in a blog I challenge you to examine, question and analyze this idea of writing your thoughts or opinions on an internet blog as a journal. How does this make you feel? Uneasy, excited? Consider the fact that you have security settings that you can manipulate and that you are being required to do this for a class rather than a decision you have made on your own. Consider its purpose and who your audience is. Do you want for the whole world, or just for your teacher? What kind of style should you write in depending on that audience? Will you write in first or 3rd person, will you speak directly to an audience or not?

Will you put up a picture of yourself? Your interests? Your email address? How much information do you want people to have access to about you? What did you name your own URL? How does it make you feel to have a URL?

This isn't your first time blogging??

If you have had a blog in the past, your own, for my class or for another class, then I challenge you to examine, question and analyze your experience with having a blog. Consider why you had one, how it made you feel, and how you manipulated the security settings for your own sense of security. Consider changes you may make now that you have grown and developed as a writer/blogger. Consider how writing a blog may have helped or hindered your writing ability. Will you continue writing in the same style, tone and voice or are you going to change? Who will be your audience?

So, this is your very first blog prompt/journal entry for the semester!! Are you excited? LOL! Probably not, but that's ok. Maybe, hopefully, eventually, you will begin to actually enjoy this process. Just remember: Always think outside the box!