In continuation of last week’s class, students presented their AMA drafts. Julie Lor was the first to present. In her AMA, she wrote about her mindset in academic and nonacademic environments. Based on audience feedback, it was concluded that she should revise her piece to offer more of an argument in favor of the growth mindset. Anna McCarthy was next to present her AMA. She wrote about personalities and more specifically, her own personality type, phlegmatic. Anna’s AMA was very informative, though the professor stated that her examples did not reflect Anna’s adaptive mindset, but rather reflected how her coworkers have adapted to fit the needs of Anna’s phlegmatic personality. John Patton’s AMA defended his position of embracing a fixed mindset, however elements of his piece contradicted his belief. He later explained how these portions were from his previous draft. The professor said that John’s work was meta-level and a work in progress.
Kayleigh Pellegrino-Pugliese was next to present her AMA. She wrote about how a fixed mindset may contribute to depression. The class feedback concluded that she remove her classroom/growth mindset narrative and focus on growth mindset and depression, or write more detail in regards to the growth mindset and the classroom. In her AMA, Briahna Sydnor wrote about her challenges in a chemistry class that she believed would be an easy class, and how hard work allowed her to tackle the challenges… at least that is what I believe she wrote about. I cannot recollect and I have no resources for her work as she has yet to post her AMA on her weebly site.
Luis Tenecela wrote about raising a child to have a growth mindset. He listed several methods he’d use to teach his child, but the class agreed that the strong point of his AMA was the narrative about his father leaving to work in the US while Luis followed the lead of a fixed mindset group of peers. Kylie White wrote about using a growth mindset to overcome her ailments from her genetic disorder, EDS. It was recommended that she revise her AMA to be more of a narrative. Lin Yuan wrote about his journey from china to America and how hard work and determination has allowed him to adapt to an otherwise impossible feat.
After the presentations, we discussed our midterm portfolios and conferences. We were told that we won’t have class on October 21st, though our elevator pitch and a link to our polished websites must be emailed to [email protected] by 6 pm on October 21. By next Thursday, we must have blog posts #13 and #14 posted on our sites. This reflection is blog post #13. In class we signed up for our conferences with Professor Mangini. We had the option of meeting him at his office (room 4317), having a phone conference, or email. I chose to do it through email. I like talking with my professor. He’s a really cool dude, but I am mega stressed out this week over my midterms. A simple click on the computer to send my attachments is a lot less time consuming for the professor and myself. I started watching the democratic debate tonight (Saturday October 17) on youtube. I have to be honest and say that I believe that politics are a rigged game. The candidates always make promises that they never fulfill once in office. The two party system is a joke. I don’t believe I’m solely a conservative or a liberal. I tend to be conservative when it comes to money or the constitution, but tend to be more liberal when it comes to social issues. The two party system is a divisive tool that keeps the American people divided. We need more mainstream parties. When a new third party is rising to popularity, the media tends to ridicule and discredit the party. It leads me to the conclusion that the media is bought by the same elitists that buy the democrats and republicans. Lobbying should be illegal. We do the same thing every election season and expect different results. We vote for a democrat into power. After he lets us down, we vote in a republican. After he lets us down, we vote in a democrat. After he lets us down, we vote in a republican. That is Einstein’s definition of insanity. We have the right wing and the left wing, but they are two sides of the same coin; the same bird. I actually hate that I have to write this assignment because I feel like the political game is a bunch of hogwash. I’m going to pour some whiskey like my buddy John Patton, and try and get through this puppet show debate. Bernie Sanders is the only democratic hope. He’ll have my meaningless vote, but those who control the media control the minds of the public. Who ever they want in power, will be in power. I remember a couple months ago, the news ran a story that spoke of a third part candidate. They mentioned Trump, Hillary, and the third party candidate who went by the name of Deez Nuts. I believe that story to be a mockery of a potential third party option. Trump is as real as his hair, Hillary is ugh, and Deez Nuts are voting for Trump and Hillary. I’m out!
I had a hard time coming to grips with the idea of revising my AMA to be written in the first person, bu the majority of my classmates found the third person perspective to be cliche. So what? It was predictable. If my classmates felt that way, surely my professor did.. and surely a secondary audience would, as well. So I revised. I have no regrets. My message is the same, but less hokey.