Drafting- cirtical thinking

                We have been taught as students about critical thinking and reading, along with the writing process used to write a paper. These topics are nothing new to me. However, the way we learned these topics was far different than before. I now feel I have a deeper understanding of critical thinking and reading.
                Finding sources are easy. Finding good sources are a challenge. The good thing about the internet is that anyone in any location can post information. It gives us seemingly infinite access to the information provided. The bad part about the internet is that anyone may put information on it. Sorting through the crap and finding the good stuff can be a challenge. That is what I learned in this class. I always knew how to search google, and click on the first link that pops up. I now feel like I can use the tools I have at my disposal to find the best source, not just the first one.

                The next task I must work with is to blend the sources I have obtained so that they can be synthesized into a good, informative essay. Having good sources is crucial to a good essay, but that does not complete the process. I feel that I am now able to

Drafting

    This English class is much different than any other English class I have taken. It is also much different than the expectations I had set for the class. I was suggested Professor Brandon by another professor at the college, who told me that it was different than any other English class I will take. She was right. Through the first few weeks, I felt lost in the class, and at times I still do, but I am starting to see where the class is supposed to end up. A major part of the class is digital technologies. I had the fortune of growing up at the birth of the digital revolution. Information is growing and spreading faster than ever before, and pen and paper as a source to spread that information is fading out. The digital revolution is changing the way we produce and publish information.
    Henrico County, where I attended high school, gave a laptop computer to every student from middle school, and up. Therefore, I feel that I enter into college with an above average understanding of computers and the programs contained on them. However, my skills can always be refined, and computers are changing every day. I gained a more in depth knowledge of the skills and traits required to publish digitally. By having a better understanding of the editing tools available I can become a more efficient writer and prevent my mind from being clouded.
    I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to research and finding sources. I have a tough time finding the right sources and databases, as well as staying on task with what I am looking for. I have gained some knowledge of how to find and use resources, like where to start your research at, and consolidating your pre-writing notes into one place.
    As far as disseminating texts in electronic forms, this is where I have come the farthest. The main part I learned was with blogging. Before this class I honestly thought of blogging as something for nerds and amateur writers who wanted their voices to be heard. I now know that it does in fact go much deeper than that. I had no knowledge of how to create or publish a blog. Especially in a group or class setting, blogs can be awesome for getting good feedback and ideas. It also gives you the availability of being able to access your notes from wherever you want, and pick up where you left off. This is great for when you have an idea, but you are not at your computer at the time.
    Overall, I have learned a lot more in this class than I ever expected. I have come farther than I would of thought, but I still do not think I have come far enough. Now that I am starting to really grasp the structure and point of this class, I feel that these last few weeks of the semester are important. If I can take advantage of my time, and perform the way I want, I believe I will maximize my potential as an English student.

Notes about virtues

http://www.virtuescience.com/virtuelist.html



Accountability The quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.
        Dependability Reliable, worthy of reliance or trust.
Compassion Sympathetic awareness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
Contentment The quality of feeling satisfied with one's possessions, status, or situation, and I am gifted for what I have

Tranquility- Don’t get disturbed at the small problems or common accidents which cannot be controlled

Diligence- Stay disciplined in every day activities
    Focus Concentrated awareness and effort.

Humor-

Humility- Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but of yourself less. A lack of false pride
    Humbleness Modest; not arrogant or boastful.
Cooperation To associate with another or others for mutual benefit/to achieve a shared goal.
Forbearance Restraint under provocation; patience: good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence.
    Patience The ability to endure delay, trouble, pain or hardship.
Loyalty Steadfast in allegiance to one's homeland, government, or sovereign. Faithful to a person, ideal, custom, cause, or duty.

Research

Research Topic: Managing players, running a lacrosse practice


How do I climb the coaching ladder
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How do I make myself a better lacrosse coach? (4/2)

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Lacrossecoach.com (4/2)
    Great defensive principles.
    Read through a powerpoint about defense. From national coaches convention.

Reading through the powerpoint, I came across a few slides about the backer zone defense. (The defense we ran at my high school.) I was having the conversation with Billings on saturday about considering a backer zone defense. While it worked at Deep Run, do I have the skills to coach it up, considering the fact we are already into the game season, and not much time can be afforded to it. If it works, it is the first big success for me as a coach. This would be big, it would give me incredible amounts of confidence, and be a lift off to a successful career. If it fails, I look like an idiot, plain and simple. (4/2)

Rhetorical Analysis

        Children’s ADD Drugs Don’t Work Long Term

    Drugs like Rhitalin, Vyvanse, and Adderall have been around for a long time, but over the last thirty years there has been an explosion in the amount of individuals using drugs like this to treat ADD. ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are psychological disorders that affect behavior, and symptoms can start showing as early as five years old. In my article, titled Ritalin Gone Wrong, L. Alan Sroufe offers his opinion on the troubles of a society relying so heavily on these types of drugs.
    Sroufe claims that these drugs are great for short-term solutions, and he mentions college students who take them to cram for exams as examples. And, since they continue to offer short-term solutions, people continue to take them. What he is proposing, is do these drugs really work for the patient in the long-term. This does not seem to be the case considering you must continue to take the drugs to continue to get the desired results. Based on his studies, Sroufe claims that these drugs are not effective over long periods of time, with behavior issues or school performance. The reason this problem has been overlooked goes back to the short-term solutions provided by the drugs. Because of these solutions, people may be quick to support the drugs, and may overlook some of the long-term side effects.
    Sroufe is also a psychologist, and has continued to study child development throughout his career. He states that in the 1960’s the common belief among physicians was that attention deficit problems are a genetic disorder, and therefore is to be fixed with medicine. Back then, it would be hard to argue against this belief. Studies available at the time showed that the drugs provided a dramatic increase in tasks requiring concentration and diligence. Therefore, doctors believed it was true that people with the disorder must require these drugs to fix the problem.
    The author claims this is not the case. In his words, the drugs effect is minimal over broader learning abilities. It may help in the short-term by allowing the user to focus and concentrate on boring or meaningless tasks, but it does not provide assistance in broader learning abilities. The immediate, positive side effects gave the physicians the impression that these drugs were needed. Over prolonged use though, these effects begin to diminish. Many people have used ADD drugs for dieting and trying to lose weight. Many people abandon the drugs because the curbed appetite associated with the drugs slowly wares off. The effects on behavior and attention seem to fade with prolonged use as well. When the person is taken off of the drug, many people see behavioral and emotional changes, leading them to believe that the drug is necessary. But, as we see, ADD drugs act the same as other drugs. The body gets used to them, and when it is taken away, it reacts.
    We currently live in a society addicted to pharmaceuticals. Every little problem seen from childhood should be handled with a pill or a capsule. This leads us to rely much too heavily on the production of these drugs, when smaller, more subtle problems may be at the root of some disorders, especially psychological and behavioral disorders.

Virtues

    Everyone lives with virtues. Some people pay more attention to their virtues than other. Some people take their virtues more seriously than others. I am someone who has never really thought about my virtues, until a few weeks ago. I chose a few virtues to be mine, for very specific reasons. Humility, tranquility, diligence, and dignity are the virtues I want guiding me as I live my life. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. I must remain humble, and grateful for what I have been given. I am a lucky person for the life I have, and practicing humility will make me appreciate this. Tranquility is the next virtue. Tranquility is not getting disturbed at the small problems and common accidents which are out of my control. Things happen in life in which we have no power over, and I must be able to understand I cannot do anything about these occurrences. I must focus on the aspects of my life which I can control. The practice of diligence is staying discipline in the everyday activities.This may be the hardest virtue to maintain, as it takes constant focus and determination to change everyday activities.
    As far as my first plan, I have thought a little about the virtues, but I have not done everything I intended. I considered many different virtues, and these are the ones I want to live my life by. In the future I plan to spend ten minutes at the beginning of every day considering my schedule for the day, and what I plan to do to uphold the commitment I made. Also, I will spend ten minutes at the end of the night previewing the following day, and reviewing the day which just occurred to figure out what I did right and wrong that day. This will be a work in progress, and I do not expect immediate results, but rather an improvement every day eventually accumulating to long-term, and permanent changes to my attitude, maturity, and way of life. This assignment is not just an English lesson, but a life lesson, in which I can gain much more from it than a grade.