English Freewrite

I think that todays society has become lazy. People will jump in the car to run to the store a block away. My Great grandma said that when she was a kid she would walk a mile to the bus stop rain or shine. Today the bus stop is no further than the end of the street in most cases. My Great grandparents said when they got married familys usually only had one car for the family. Even throughout their life together the only had one car to share. Today most families have multiple cars. Even my husband and I have three. Not only that but teenagers are getting cars of their own for their 16th birthday. I have a friend who just bought her son a car for his 16th birthday and he wanted to take it to school the other day. She said his school was just up the street a couple of blocks. She told him to catch a ride with his older sister who was driving to the same school. He made up all of these excuses why he couldn't ride with her and that he had to drive him self. The school was walking distance! I must admit if I had little kids I wouldn't let them walk to school or away from the house for saftey reasons. I walked to school when I was little but te world has become a dangeourus place espessialy for little kids. My grandma said when she was growing up she could leave the door unlocked when she would leave but today she locks the door even when she is in the house. I don't feel safe walking to far alone from all of the news stories of women getting raped and murdered. I think I would walk more i I felt safe. To close I think if people drove less and walked more it would be good for the earth and help with our polution problem but I htik the days of walking to the store have come to an end.

Todays Presentations...

I was an audience member in today's presentations. I thought that all of them went very well. Angela did her presentation on ice cream. I think she did a great job in using the audience to help her use up her time slot. The ice cream tasted very good and I liked being able to see how it was made. Lisa did a really good job with showing us what a wedding planner does. Some of the statistics were shocking like the average price of a wedding is around 20000. The pictures she brought were great and they showed different styles and color combinations that looked great that I never would have thought of. Tammi Did her presentation on Meth and what it can and will do to people. It was very deep and She showed strong feelings about it that made me very interested in what she was saying and the facts about it.Amy did her presentation on Pole dancing. I think she did great in the fact that she informed us on different types of pole dancing whether it be for exercise,competition or for a job. She did a good job of setting things straight with pole dancing stereo types to show that it is an art. Chelsea showed us all how to do glitter toes. It was great because she talked about each step and what each chemical she uses is for. I liked that because I just had my toes done and now I know what the process is and that it isn't as bad for my nails as I thought. I think it is cool that she has started her own business doing glitter toes. I think it would be a fun job to have. So over all I think that everyone did a great job and I was interested during all of them and I learned alot from each presentation today.

Chinchillas...

Today, I did a presentation on chinchillas. It had to be 15-20 minutes long. I decided to bring my pet chinchillas to use as part of my presentation. I started by using a power point show to talk about the topics I had chosen. When I got up I felt very nervous and shaky. I was a little worried that my Chinchillas would get a little frisky and sure enough as soon as I started talking they did. That made me loose my train of thought for a few seconds but I distracted them with some treats so that I could focus on speaking.

I felt that the presentation went well over all and after the first couple of minutes I became calm and felt comfortable with what I was talking about. I felt that I was smooth in my transitions and I talked for the needed amount of time(15 minutes). The funny or embarrassing part other than the incidence of Jasper getting a little frisky at the beginning was I took out Snowball and took her around the class to let everyone pet her and she pooped on another persons papers.

Other than those little mishaps I think that I did fairly well in my content and using my time wisely.

As an audience member i was very entertained by the other students presentations. I thought that Kim's was very informative and interesting. I liked that she brought actual propellers off of some UAV's to show us and it has made me more interested to learn more about them.

Jesse did a very good job on "bringing me into the presentation". She felt very strongly about what she was talking about and it made the topic of self esteem and self worth very interesting. I thought the story she read was very appropriate for what she was talking about.

Brittany did a great job of showing the history of motorcycles and had some interesting facts that I didn't know about them. She did a good job of giving description of what each of the different types of bikes were and what they are used for. I ride dirt bikes and 4 wheelers so this topic was interesting to me because I learned more about other types of bikes.

The perfect meeting

My idea of a perfect meeting would be that everyone would show up on time with a good attitude. I think that having some kind of food would be great because I often drift off it I am only trying to listen to the speaker and sometimes it can be uncomfortable if I am just sitting with my hands in my lap. Having a snack or a meal also makes the meeting feel more relaxed.
I also like to have a handout that shows all of the topics that will be talked about. I think that keeps everyone on track so we know what is going on. I also like to have an anticipated time for the end of the meeting because I tend to stare at the clock. I think one hour is plenty of time to get through a meeting. I think any longer than that people start to drift off topic or think about other things.
I like to be involved so, when the leaders or managers of the meeting ask for feedback I like to know that everyones opinion matters so that I get something out of the meeting other than listening.

For my communications class I was asked to blog about something that I can improve on when communicating. I think the most important thing that I can set a goal to improve is how fast I talk when I am giving a public speach or doing and interview. I tend to talk really fast when I am nervous or in front of a large group of people. I know what I want to say and even if I am confident in what I am talking about I tend to rush through it talking very fast. When I am in an interview I do the same thing. I will sit tall and smile with confidence however, when I am asked a question I want to make sure I say everything I need to and I begin to speak very quickly. I am becoming concious of when I begin to speed up my speach and I am working on trying to keep it at a steady tempo.
I can also work on using more pitch when I am talking in front of people. I am fine when I am in a small group but if I am front and center I tend to keep a steady tone of voice. I would like to work on that so that I can bring more emphisis and pride into what I am talking about. I will practice talking in front of others to improve these skills in my communication.

This summer has been awesome!!! Lots of camping and much more to come