Mistake below ...

For some reason, my post below isn't showing the website link that I typed. When you get to the spot that says "(If you want to check it out, you can find it at ______)," insert the word/link "asunshinehouse.org". Sorry...

Tips for the Incoming Class...

Well, as you're reading this, you've probably just been told to get online and create a blog of your own on which you'll need to write a post about yourself. The post should be detailed so that your fellow classmates will be able to get to know you and be able to decide who they think that they'll work best with in a group setting. Am I right? Is that what you're doing? Checking out what I wrote this semester so you'll have an idea as to how your posts should sound? No problem ... that's what I did too. :)

Anyway, I'm sure you've also gone over the syllabus for the semester and seen that you have a lot of work to do: portfolios, mock interviews, presentations, proposals, etc. I'm not going to lie to you; it is actually a lot of stuff that you'll have to do, BUT Angie is a great teacher, and she'll help you get it all done. There were actually a couple of times this semester that I felt really overwhelmed by all of the stuff that I had to do, but it all turned out well. Everything ended up coming together nicely.

One tip that I have for you guys is to be open about the stuff that you're having to do. Instead of getting a little frazzled because it is a lot of stuff, just think about the fact that you're actually getting real business practice out of it. Also, if you do something similar to what we did this semester, you'll be helping out a real client, which is always great. This semester, we were able to really help the Anderson Sunshine House by making a website for them. (If you want to check it out, you can find it at ). Needless to say, now that I am finishing the semester, I have a real sense of accomplishment. You'll be feeling that, too, come Christmastime.

Anyway, I hope that your semester is excellent and that you do well!!!!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Wow! This semester has flown by! It is just about the last week of classes, which also means that it is almost the end of our big group project - that means that it's time for a reflection on how the project has gone. :) I feel like the project went very well. I really liked the fact that this project involved doing something for someone who really needed the help. In this case, we made a website for the Anderson Sunshine House. It's a great organization who is out there helping others, and we were able to pay them back a little for all the help that they give to Anderson County. I also thought that this project worked very well with our business writing class because while we created the website, we also had to write proposals, memos, letters, business emails, etc.

I feel that this class as a whole (not just the project), was a great class to take because it really did prepare me for the business world. I learned about things that I will definitely need to know in a few short years. Everything about the interviewing process is great to know such as making sure that you attach a cover letter and also remembering to send a thank-you letter afterwards. I really enjoyed this class and thought that it was worthwhile to take.

Now ... on to the Virginia Tech massacre. The whole thing was so shocking and just absolutely terrible. It is really frightening to know that that could happen anywhere. And that is the exact problem: I really don't think that there is any way to prevent something like this from happening. If someone is already planning on taking their own life, there is no way to stop them from taking others'. The only thing that I could think of to possibly prevent this would be to install weapon detectors at entrances to buildings. However, that would be extremely costly seeing as campuses are very open and that there are probably no less than five entrances to just about every building on a college campus .... Maybe that could work, though, if they started allowing you to only enter through certain doors; all of the others would be for faculty and people with keys .... Then, ofcourse, there's the possbility of the person with the keys also being the one with the gun - it's a very tricky situation.

So ... these were my thoughts ... hopefully someone in charge of this has better ideas than me. :)

Phase 3

It's all coming together now! Very exciting. My group, Tiger Web Design, had our web design picked, so we will be responsible for creating templates and organizing the links. We can also do usability testing, but I actually think that all the groups will be doing that in the end. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As for me, personally, I will probably work on organizing the links in an understandable and instinctively usable way. Crystal and Jocelyn are the "web design" people, so they will be working on the templates. However, that is A LOT of work, so I will also be completely willing to help them in any way that I can, whether it be by doing research, or by writing something, or by finding pictures.

I am enthusiastic (not anxious (this time anyway)) to see how all of the groups' collaborative work comes together in the next few weeks. I think it'll be great!

Dual Coding Theory

Dual Coding Theory is a very interesting theory that we discussed in class on Monday. It is definitely something that is pertinent to our class and important to remember because of the fact that it can be used to help people process information more easily through business writing. As was shown through one of the group's proposals, the clouds on the title page and the sunshines in the headings really made people feel happy. When someone reads about the Sunshine House on that proposal, maybe they will think of good times in the sun at the beach or at the park. Thinking these things would help them remember the Sunshine House at later happy times, and maybe they will want to donate their time or financial resources.

Dual Coding is something that is extremely prevalent in our society today. It seems as though almost every advertisement on television is using this theory. Laundry detergent commercials, for example, will show a comparison between some bland, generic brand that doesn't work and their vibrant, brand-name detergent that will return a stained, muddy T-shirt to its original white. Theses commercials that show kids having fun jumping in the mud and then getting their stains removed while at the same time comparing their brand to a brand that doesn't work, use all the different parts of your brain.

Technology has definitely changed over time and taken advantage of dual coding. Think back to before the television was invented and the only way of advertising was through the radio. It was much more difficult to use this theory then because nothing was visual. However, with television, advertisers and others have begun to take more advantage of this physiological phenomenon. Nowadays, on new channels we no longer just watch a show and concentrate solely on that. We can now watch the news, but at the same time study the ticker screen going across the bottom and discover breaking news topics and other top stories. Not only that, but if you come in in the middle of a news story, there is normally another line that lets you in on all of the pertinent facts so that you can catch up and understand what is going on.

Dual Coding Theory is all around us.

Posted on Team Blog

I actually posted on my team blog a couple of weeks ago, but I was required to write on this one during one week because I had to do a mock interview reflection. The next week, I posted on here because I had forgotten that I could be exempt. Now, I am remembering that I can skip one week of writing on this one, so this is going to be the week. Check the team blog for my post.

Time for the Proposal ...

Oh man ... I feel like the week before Spring Break is always so packed with things that need to be done. I have 3 tests next week (all on Wednesday), and this proposal with the web site layout is also due. Ugghhhh.

Oh well. I am feeling a little bit better because our group met last night, and we have devised a plan as to how to get everything accomplished by Wednesday (eeek!) of next week. I really wish that there was some way that our proposal could be due next Friday, though. lol. That would take SO much pressure off of me ... especially since we can't really even start writing it until this weekend because we don't know for sure what's going into it until after class tomorrow morning. :(

Either way, I know that our group will be able to somehow get it all done. I think that we work well together, and we will be able to get an impressive proposal together by Wednesday ... I just wish that it could really be put together by FrIdAy instead. :0)