blog 8

Progress Report For our Group:

Overall I think our group worked very well together. Right off the bat we all became each others friend on facebook and worked together to decide who the team leader would be and what organization we would select. The team leader worked hard to create a schedule for the rest of the group to follow defining our task for each part of the project we had to complete. With help from our group leader we were able to stay organized and thanks to facebook we were able to quickly and consistently communicate in order to stay on the same page with each other for the group.

For the memo section of the paper it was my duty to write three to five sentences giving a brief description of the organization that we had selected. The next part of the group project was the proposal and it was my job to discuss why it is important to raise awareness for our organization. In order to do that I had to do some research and find out information about the impact of the organization towards the youth that need it.

Next is the group website, every member in the group has been assigned a different tab for the page and I will be writing about the history of FNP. Finally, for the last paper of the group project I will discuss the features we used for our website.

Our group seemed to flow well together. Everyone was willing to cooperate and everybody put in effort to make the group project the best that it could be.

Blog 7

An issue that I would like to write an editorial about was found on a Facebook. It is a group called Smoke Free Mississippi and it's purpose is to educate people about second hand smoke and to encourage smoke-free laws. I appreciate what this group is trying to do. Through Facebook the group informs Mississippi citizens about ways that they can help. For instance, in Gulfport my church signed petitions helping the group by voting for smoke-free restraunts ect on the coast.

Timing: Although in Gulfport there have been a few successes in banning smoking in restraunts second hand smoke is still a very serious issue that needs to be addressed.

Situation: Second hand smoke is responsible for many deaths and can cause lung cancer. It is important that people be informed about second hand smoke and the damage that it can cause. Individuals should be aware and be able to fight for their health by ensuring the places they work, visit to eat and play are a safe and healthy environment.

Audience: I would be writing to people that live in Mississippi that want to promote a healthy living environment for themselves, family and friends. People that want to be informed of the health risks of second hand smoke and the different laws that are out their fighting against it. I would also be writing to inform people how they can help work for this cause.

Intention: My intention for writing about this group is to gain support for the organization and the different programs they have to fight for a smoke free Mississippi.

BLOG 6

I spent some time searching the web looking for job openings related to my major. I am majoring in Elementary Education and through-out the summer I have applied with the Harrison County School District for a teacher assistant position. If I get the job to be a teacher assistant this upcoming semester I will be able to work full-time in the profession I am studying while taking full-time online classes. It would be a great hands on learning opportunity and I really hope that I get it. I looked on the USM website and found that there is going to be a teacher job fair on October 11, 2010. I will definitely plan on attending.
Some of the skills and qualifications that prospective employers/principals would be looking for would be someone with college hours studying education. They might also look for someone that has a back round working with kids in a form of child care. The would also look for a reliable individual with a good work ethic.
For me to apply for the teacher assistant position I would want it to be know that I have my associates degree in educations, have a 3.2 gpa, and that I have been working with pre-school age children for the past four and a half years.

Blog 5

My role within the group project was to briefly describe the organization that we are going to use, which was the Family Network Partnership. The group worked together and shared information about the FNP which I was able to read and discuss on the memo. The group is working very well together. We have a great leader that keeps everybody up to date with where we are in the project and were we need to be going. We also stay in communication with each other which is a key component to having a successful group. Facebook and e-mailing each other is how we stay in contact, however most all of our communication goes through our group leader. Some directions that the group can go with this project is to find ways to advertise the website, we are going to create, to the target age groups in which it is trying to reach out to. For instance facebook and twitter are very popular with people of all ages and could be a way to put the organization out there and make it available to people living in or near Hattiesburg. Everyone in the group is friendly, works well together and is open for new ideas. Personally this project is not my favorite for the semester. I think the organization we have selected is a great one and I will definitely work hard to make sure our website represents them well.

Blog 4:

The two schools I chose were directed to the elementary education programs, and they are William Carey University and Mississippi State University. I thought that the William Carey Website was more effective and engaging for a few reasons. For one, their site seemed to have enthusiasm by using exclamation marks and sounding excited in their tone. Their website does an excellent job of providing what the program is characterized by and gives links to find more information on subjects such as their philosophy, scholarships, programs and accreditation and so forth. The website for Mississippi State University was pretty boring and did not provide quit as much information on their education program as William Carey's did. The website did provide a decent amount of information on the subject and seemed as though they wanted prospective students to feel as though graduating with a degree from their school would be highly regarded by future employers. The difference between the two was the William Carey wanted to encourage students to attend their school and be excited about it and MSU seemed as like they were trying to convince you to go their school by describing the high quality in education the student would receive.
If I were designing a website to try to persuade prospective students to attend my university and participate in my education program I would want my site to provide as much information as the student would need in an organized and appealing manner. I would introduce the prospective students to the program with a brief overview and provide links or side tabs describing in more detail about the program. I would want the student to feel as though they would be selecting a school that they could trust would prepare them for a successful career in education. I would provide links for information on financial aid options as to make the student confident they would be able to afford school. Assuming that parents of freshman students attempting to join the program would also be viewing the site, I would want to make sure that parents would feel confident in the University's license and accreditation to ensure their (grown) child would be taught by professional professors and given the best education that their money would pay for.
After viewing several college websites I have found somethings to be useful to pay attention to when creating my own site. For instance, I would want my page to be visually appealing unlike USM. Also, from the main page of the college I would want the academic programs to be easily located, because on several websites it took me a while to find the programs they offered. Organization of the site and information on the program would also be key to a successful web page.

BLOG 3; Website Critique

The website I chose to critique was ovationlearningcenter.com. It is a site to a local daycare. The site is actually very effective in what it is trying to do, which is to try and persuade perspective parents into enrolling their child/children into Ovation Learning Center. The site provides a great amount of information about the center to where the parent could feel comfortable sending their child there. Right on the home page there is a contact number and some random information. Although the information the homepage describes is through and useful it is a bit unorganized. There are also some inaccuracies found on the homepage, for one it states that there are five directors on staff, however when you scroll down the page there is a title that gives the directors names and their position on staff, there is only four directors. I would just suggest getting some more main and subtitles as a way to better organize the homepage and to double check the page to make sure everything is accurate. The "contact us" page of the site gives very useful information. It provides directions to the center, a phone number, a place to put your information and request someone call you, as well as providing times in which the parent would be able to come and take a tour of the school. All of this is very useful information however the page is not very visually appealing. Maybe a map to the school and some more pictures would liven up the "contact us" page. The next page on the site is the "programs and classes" one, which breaks down each age group available for care at the center and what the children will be learning during that time period. The information is useful and will also help in convincing parents that their child will leave the center emotionally and socially ready for kindergarten. The "program and enrichment" page is next and when you first look at the page it visually is unappealing to the eyes. It seems to be like one big paragraph of information that you do not feel like going through. The colors also do not contrast together well and makes it even more difficult to read. I would suggest regrouping the paragraphs by adding more distinctive subtitles and changing the colors to something not quite as bright to make it easier on the eyes. The parents corner section of the website provides parents with advice they might not generally know of. For instance it explains the parent referral program and how parents could participate, it also discusses how parents can help prevent sickness in the center and explains how the center is doing some remodeling. That page could use some work as well because every paragraph uses different colors, none of which really flow together. Some of the pictures do not really make sense either. Overall this website is very helpful in giving current parents information about the center and prospective parents the information they need to draw them in to come check out the center and see if they would like their children to attend. Some main points I would recommend them to consider would just be to have well contrasting colors, appropriate and even more pictures, and to be careful to not just have random facts all around the site but rather have it organized in such a way the parents know whats going on.

BLOG 2

In my literacy class I was assigned to read two journals and write a reflection on them. One of the articles I chose was "Picture Books; Reading Aloud" by Denise Johnson. In this article the writer wrote about how reading aloud to children is effective and why it is so important. I found this article on a link that was posted by the teacher. The writer of the article was I believe another teacher. The main purpose of this article is to explain the importance of reading aloud to children and using picture books. She also posts other links to websites that provide quality children literature. I believe this article was meant for other teachers or people wanting to become a teacher because it gives important tips that a teacher could use when teaching a student how to become more comfortable with reading. The writer does not use any specific slang or terms directed to any certain group, and she writes persuasively in such a way that she wants to encourage you to follow the advice she is giving. I did not notice there being a larger debate or controversy on the subject.