_ Not only has the "Super Committee" been making cuts in education but now they are coming after our food? Being a future educator I find this to be extremely disconcerting and I am disgusted. This blog gives valid facts about whose “belts are being tightened”: Nutrition, Job Creation, Support for Farmers and Farmland and Food Safety. This is the opposite of what needs to happen. With the question raised as to whether or not the local farmers markets could yield enough produce and meat to support the entire United States of America; this is not possible. If we use this as part of the interviewing process, I feel we could gain enough information to prove a valid point.

_"Individually, we are one drop.
Together, we are an ocean."
- Ryunosuke Satoro

I just finished reading the first eleven pages and thought to myself, what the $#@% does this have to do with writing? Sure, now I know how to have a conversation with other college graduates, but how in the world is that going to help me write collaboratively? That's my problem. I jump to conclusions.

"Not all writing is collaborative, but collaboration is the heart of all writing." (11)

I'm going to state my opinion before I continue to read just to make sure that my idea was anywhere in the ballpark. In Introduction to Writing Arts, or any other writing arts course, we have in some way  came to the conclusion that ALL writing comes from somewhere else. It is so very rare to have your own ideas about something because somewhere out there in the intellectual world, someone has already come up with this idea. So it may not necessarily mean that we "collaboratively" write like we are for this collaborative research project where we sit down with our group-mates and "collaborate" but we had to find this information from somewhere right? We all learned from someone else who learned from someone else who read it in a book and that person wrote the book but when it comes down to it we are all COLLABORATING. Whether it be conversation or a written work, somewhere in there we got those ideas from somewhere else. Okay, enough with the rant, if I'm wrong you'll read about it shortly. If I am in anyway correct, this will be the end of this blog post. But for now I will save and post this so I can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with the family!

Ding Ding Ding! Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
(Both phrases came from somewhere else. See??)

I had a second grader once tell me, "I don't like to work with the other kids. I'm always doing all of the work." Is this the same as you get older?

This class is an exception to any rule or experience ever experienced in my time in school. This class is a family. We have learned about each other, we discuss, we are friends, we genuinely care about each other and the well being of each other's lives. So keep that in mind.

Any other class that I have ever been in that had over 25 students in it and was not a requirement for my major, just a general education class, had the typical group project experience. One person took control and had to make sure that everyone else did their part. We aren't broken up into any specific level of knowledge or perhaps laziness but  usually only by group. This. Does. Not. Work. I don't know the person sitting next to me nor do I care, to be honest. I don't know where they are from, what they do for a living, their major, or even their last name. I know that they are in my class two days a week for an hour and fifteen minutes or one day a week for two and a half hours. Other than that I have no interest in meeting up with them in the library on "me" time to work on a project with them. I am 100% positive that they feel the same about me and this is no problem except the fact that we just got assigned a semester long project to do in a week and each group member has a full time job, is a full time student and somehow has a full time family to take care of. WHAT DO WE DO? Not this.

I'm not saying I don't agree with collaboration. I think it is the most important aspect of writing but it has to be done in a friendly manner. This class is a perfect example. I genuinely care about the people sitting around me. I care about what their opinion is and I know that they will pull their weight to finish this. If the class is "raised" to appreciate each other, it is easier to work together and understand that we all have specific needs. But enough rambling, back to collaboration. Seriously, if I equal One, Tricia equals one, Amanda equals one, and Allison equals one and you put us all together, I can tell you right now that we equal twelve. Want to know why we equal twelve? I'll tell you. Allison has ideas. Amanda has ideas. Tricia has ideas. I have ideas. If I bounce off of each person in the group, it's like I have three more ideas other than my own. So now that mathematical equation progresses to 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12.  So 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12. Make sense? Perfect. Collaboration = good. Group projects in an disconnected classroom = bad. You do the math.

I went into that conference, for lack of better words, shitting my pants. I didn't know how I could possibly grade myself when I felt like I was doing awesome in some aspects of the class and not so well in others. Trying to balance four other classes on top of being an education major (which for all you ed majors, you know what I'm talking about- FIELD, UNIT PLANS, TWS, 504) it's not easy. Don't get me wrong, this is by far my favorite class, and I'm not just saying that to hold my grade. I feel like this class is exactly what college kids need- creativity. Sabatino Mangini encourages us to put all of our creativity into our work and be confident with the outcome and even our writing process. This class has proven to be a journey; an emotional journey. I have learned more about myself and my capabilities since I walked in that door in September.

During our conference we discussed everything from my blog posts, to my Twitterive, to my website as a whole. I left feeling more accomplished than I have in my entire life. Knowing my grade now just makes me want to work even harder to keep it. It was not at all what I expected the conference to be. I proposed my concerns with my blogging and Professor Mangini agreed. That was no surprise but he gave such wonderful words of encouragement, it only made me want to work harder. Hearing that someone likes my project filled me with joy. I don't think I've ever been so happy. I've spent my whole life trying to find a place where I felt like I belonged. I finally feel like I made it. I know where I'm supposed to be. I know what I'm capable of and I know what I need to do to accomplish my goal. I can now cross a few things off my bucket list- 1.) Touching an audience with my work. 2.) Possibly publishing my work. 3.) Making Momma proud.

Overall, as a whole, the conference went well. Before I walk out of this class next month, everything is going to be perfected. My website will be professional and well-maintained. This will continue to be an ongoing process and I plan to use this for the rest of my college career and possibly after.

 Summary
        Food Inc. is a documentary film following the industrialization of food in America. The film covers everything from Fast Food and its success to where the food used comes from and the horrifying strides that companies take to rule the food world.
    McDonald’s is one of the corporations that change what we eat and how we make our food. It has turned into a factory; the workers are taught to do one job all day. The meat that is used by these companies is not produced by farms but by corporations. Tyson is the biggest meat packing company in the history of the world. Their meat is raised and slaughtered in half the time of farms. The chickens coming off the farm must be exactly the same size. They are grown in 49 days as opposed to three months. These animals never see the light of day; they’re born and raised in the dark and injected with growth hormones- putting more money in the business’ pockets.
    This entire movie is about how the industrialization of our food is ruining America. It goes on to touch on The Dollar Menu and whether or not families have a choice as to what they eat? Since corn is so cheap, it is being made into everything through high fructose corn syrup. The cheapest foods are usually soda, candy, snacks, and fast food chains. Most of the time, these families could get two hamburgers for the price of three pears.
    Also, what about Organic food? Is it really any better than nonorganic? A sale of a million dollars worth of organic food to a corporation such at Walmart could change the food world alone.
    This movie is about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Watch with caution.

  Questions
1. Is organic food really better for you than nonorganic food?
2. What other companies raise farm animals the way that Tyson and Purdue do?

3.  Does the fact that the FDA lowered their standard guidelines promote the industrialization of food in America?

4. Is Kevin’s Law being enforced the way it was meant to be?

5. What would we, as Americans, have to do to fix the problems that are being caused by big corporations?

6. Would farms be able to yield the same amount of produce and meat that big corporations do to support the current standards of living in the U.S.?

7. Does the decline of the farming industry in the United States play a role in the monopolizing of corporations?

8.  Does income level play a role in obesity?

9. Is it really industry vs. farms?

10. Why does it take the FDA so long to react to incidences concerning their mistakes?

    Now, stop me if I'm wrong, but are these two things very much similar? I had to stop myself and consistently ask myself if I could even distiguish between the two. It wasn't until I started reading the examples of reflexive that i somewhat understood what this was. On a scale of one to ten, I may understand about five and a half. I may need some reassurance that my assumptions are correct but how about this...?
    Reflective may be taking a look on work you have done and summarizing the process to decide what you could do differently next time. It's like looking in the mirror and seeing your reflection. Every ounce of you that has grown into the person you are today. By glancing into that mirror just once, you see your entire life before your eyes; the scar you have over your eyebrow from the time you slipped in the pool with your big sister and had to get a few stitches.
    Reflexive, on the other hand, is looking into the mirror, realizing you have that scar, and never having stepped foot inside a pool again for fear you would slip, fall, and need more stitches, you do it. You make a conscious decision after years of living in fear, you take a step back and say to yourself, "it's summertime; I am hot; what am I afraid of?" So you put on your teeny weeny polka dot bikini, right in front of the mirror, and you figure out just what you did wrong the first time around and you fix it.
    I'm not sure if these connections are anywhere near clear or precise, but I tried. This is how I see it. Reflective; sitting back and thinking about how you fucked up. Reflexive; fixing the problem.

vs.

The following is a made-up interview I "conducted" with the website HistoryMatters.com to properly define "Oral History".  The definitions are not my own but that of the website's author, Linda Shopes._

Emily: If you had to define oral history, what would you say it is?

History Matters: Well, if you really must know, there are a few definitions that I believe to be held true.  My first idea is that it refers to formal, rehearsed accounts of the past presented by culturally sanctioned tradition-bearers. It is also an informal conversation about “the old days” among family members, neighbors, or coworkers.  But besides that it is even printed compilations of stories told about past times and present experiences. And my last defintion is that it is recorded interviews with individuals deemed to have an important story to tell.

Emily: So basically what you are saying is that oral history is a compilation of interviews that tell a story?

History Matters: Oh yes, but it is much, much more than that! It dates back to the late 1930s and early 1940s when the FWP, Federal Writers Project, collected oral accounts of life histories. In early interviewing projects it tended to focus on the lives of the “elite” until the scope widened three to four decades later and the lives of “non-elites” were interviewed to gain a better understanding of the experiences of blue-collar workers, racial and ethnic minorities, etc.

Emily: I see, so do you have a narrowed definition for us?

History Matters: Oh, right, right, well, oral history might be defined as a dialogue between two people about some aspect of the past that would be considered of some sort of historical significance and deliberately recorded for record.

Amanda Tibbitts- This is so stinkin cute!!!  That's all I can say. I love it and I can really see how much fun you are having. I'll write more after class :)

Teighan Sykes- I love how organized your twitterive is. Home sweet home is beautiful. I think you have really great genres and ideas.. it's so incredibly sad what happened to your cousin but you show strength in your writing.

Amanda Cospito- I have an idea!  Maybe you could split screen this entire project and on one side have your sisters life and on the other side your sisters life... it could be a journey about how you do things and what she does... so like... when she turns to drugs, what are you doing? So not only do we know what is going on with her but the story is all about you... I hope this makes sense. It is turning out great and I love your letters to and from your sister. :)

Greg Silber- This was just great. Haha what can I say? I absolutely love your Batman poem and your college essay. I also like how you have pdf files instead of putting your pieces directly into your twitterive. Keep going with it!!! And don't worry you don't need her anyway!!!!

Qualitative
·         What kind of beans?
·         Social Sciences
·         Embraces subjective nature of making knowledge
·         Don’t want to remove the researcher from it
·         Acknowledge the researchers impact on the data.
·         Being transparent- acknowledging that you’re a human with ideas and being okay with letting people judge your work.
·         Feminist, Critical –
o   Social Constructionism – There isn’t knowledge to be found. We construct meaning based on interaction with data and the world.
·         Narrative Thick Description to describe what happened
·         “truths”- context- time, place, what’s going on

 Quantitative
·         How many beans?
·         Science
o   ex: medicine
o   raw data
·         “Objective”
o   Remove the researcher from the research
§  Trying to eliminate bias
§  Don’t want to impact the data themselves
·         “Rational Man” approach to research
·         A systematic approach to research
·         “The Mind”
·         Mind Body Dualism- the mind and the body are two separate things
·         Can you separate the mind from the body?
·         Mind & brain = same thing??
·         Positivism
·         Numbers, Stats, Charts
·         “Truth” -

I haven't poked around yet but my Intro to Writing Arts professor suggested this program for making videos if it helps anyone!!

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11132#overview