Directions for Reflective Writing Prompt on EduBlog:

Yes, you have to attach your multimedia!

Reflective writing is used to analyze and examine an event, memory, or observation. The writer reflects on the meaning and impact of the occasion, in this case the Capstone Research Project Presentation.

Your job is to reflect on your presentation and evaluate yourself on how well you researched, prepared, and presented your Capstone Research Project information. Be sure to address the following questions in your detailed response.

1. What did you learn from your research that you found while preparing your presentation?
2. How well do you think you did on your presentation? (Reflect on the following questions)
   • Did you “provide an introduction that intrigues the audience while establishing the topic”?
   • Did you “provide an in-depth reflection about the experience (and/or researched information)”?
   • Did you present the information clearly and effectively to the point that your audience was engaged in the TOPIC and were not confused?
   • Did you present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective; Was there adequate research? (4 sources at a minimum)
   • Did you demonstrate well-placed inflection and gestures that create an engaging delivery style indicative of advance preparation?
   • Did your presentation slides include grammar that was appropriate and correct?
   • Do you believe your presentation integrated multimedia and visual displays to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest?
3. What are some presentation techniques that can you incorporate into your next presentation?
4. What if anything, could you have done differently to change the outcome of your presentation?
5. Finish the following statements:
   • I wish that I would have…
   • If I could present my presentation again I wouldn’t….
   • Now that I have reflected on my presentation, I…
6. Go to ADD MEDIA and insert the LINK / FILE to your presentation.

Capstone Research Presentation Rubric

So far you have completed job shadowing, created a resume, reference list, cover letter, and thank you letter.  Recently we conducted mock interviews in the classroom, where you were able to practice your interviewing skills.  You had a chance to act like an employer who was interviewing others for a job and you were able to practice your own interview skills by pretending to be at a job interview and responding to questions. Now, it’s time to reflect on the process.

Please type a 200 word (or more) reflection on the mock interview process by answering the following questions.  Feel free to Bullet Point each response or write as a one paragraph journal reflection.

1. How did you feel while you interviewed a classmate?  Do you believe that seeing an interview from the employer’s perspective makes you more prepared or not?  Please explain.
2. How did you feel while you were interviewed by a classmate?  Did you feel anxious, nervous, scared, prepared, overwhelmed, confident, etc.?  Please explain why you felt that way.
3. How do you feel about your responses?  Do you think your responses to the questions were adequate or do you feel you could have done better? What question did you find easy?  What question did you find difficult to answer?
4. What advice would you give someone who is participating in a mock interview or a real interview? What advice would you give yourself; in other words, how do you think you could improve for your real interview?
5. Yes, I know these mock interviews weren’t real, so imagine how you would perform in the interview if it was real.  What have you learned you need to do to be better prepared?  How should you dress for an interview?  How should you behave before, during, and after an interview?  What should you bring with you to an interview?
6. Evaluate the activity.  Be honest.  What do you think was good about this class activity?  How do you think we could improve this activity for next time, next year? Do you believe this is a skill you do need or do not need in real life?  Please explain.
7. Take one of the 20 interview questions below and write a response that would be GOOD and one that would be BAD, then explain the difference with reasoning. It’s always good to practice job interview questions so that you become more and more comfortable.

Sample Interview Questions for High School Students

Prepare for Perfection!

Possible Interview Questions: Personal

1. Tell me about yourself? What made you apply for this job?

2. What clubs or organizations are you a member of?

3. What have you learned from your hobbies, interests and outside activities?

4. What qualifications do you have for this job?

5. If I asked your teachers or your guidance counselor to describe you, what would they say?

Possible Interview Questions: Cooperation

6. How do you feel about working with others and as part of a team?

7. Describe a time when you worked with a team successfully? How do you handle team conflicts?

8. Do you follow instructions easily? How do you work under pressure?

9. When required, would you be willing to work overtime?

Possible Interview Questions: Self confidence

10. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths, weaknesses or faults?

11. How do you think a teacher who knows you well would describe you?

12. Why do you think you are suitable for this position?

13. Why should we consider you for this job instead of other applicants?

Possible Interview Questions: Motivation/initiative

14. How did you prepare for this interview? What is important to you in a job?

15. If you didn’t understand an instruction, what would you do?

16. What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?

17. Describe your most rewarding experience in schoo

18. Where would you like to be in 5 years?

19. What are your long-range and short-range goals and objectives?

20. When and why did you establish your goals, and how are you preparing yourself to achieve them?

*If you find any creative job interview images to add to this blog, please post them so that you can enhance your blog post and have more people visit and comment on your blog post.

Directions for Reflective Writing Prompt on EduBlog:

(This is an additional 25 Summative Points) Yes, you have to attach your multimedia!

Reflective writing is used to analyze and examine an event, memory, or observation. The writer reflects on the meaning and impact of the occasion, in this case the Job Shadowing Presentation.

Your job is to reflect on your presentation and evaluate yourself on how well you presented your Job Shadowing information. Be sure to address the following questions in your detailed response.

1.  What did you learn from your presentation?
2. How well do you think you did on your presentation?
3. What are some presentation techniques that can you incorporate into your next presentation?
4. What if anything, could you have done differently to change the outcome of your presentation?
5. Finish the following statements:
   • I wish that I would have…
   • If I could present my presentation again I wouldn’t….
   • Now that I have reflected on my presentation, I…
     • English 2 Unit 4B Job Shadowing Presentation Project and Rubric 2018-13ihbyk

Write an Edublog Post about the TOP 5 documentaries students your age should watch. Include the links to your classmates’ SMORES so your audience readers can read more info about them.  And, make sure you add some images and relevant info to persuade your readers to go watch these documentaries.

(List to Period 4 Documentary Smores: https://goo.gl/HWXnAf

List to Period 6 Documentary Smores: https://goo.gl/RKmh5T )

You can make 5 bullet points and number from 5 down to 1 (#1 being the best) and make sure you name the documentary and why it’s important for teenagers or for any age.  Each documentary explanation should be between 25-50 words.  Your Entire Edublog Post about the Documentary Smores should be at least 150 words and must include links to the Documentary Smores.  Adding Documentary Film Trailers Embedded video links will earn you bonus points.  Remember that visuals always engage your audience more!

http://www.greatergoodmovie.org/category/video/

Today, you have a choice of three different topics. Pick 1 topic and make sure you type 200 words.  If you add images, you could have less words.  For example.  If you have an image, 190 words gets you full credit.  If you have 2 images, 180 words gets you full credit.  Yes, we are doing some Mathematical concepts while practicing our English skills.

Option 1: Since today is Friday the 13th, here are some topics ideas:

• What is the meaning of Friday the 13th? (find reputable sources…then summarize and reflect)
• How do people usually behave on this day?
• What movies/songs/videos/books/poems have been written about Friday the 13th?  How is the theme of Friday the 13th depicted in them? Write an analysis.
• Write a poem about Friday the 13th
• Share some images related to Friday the 13th (school appropriate)  and analyze how they express the day
• Describe party ideas for a Friday the 13th theme?
• Summarize, Analyze, Synthesize, and Evaluate superstitions. Do you believe in them?  Why or why not?
• Research and Reflect on trivia facts related to Friday the 13th
• Read the article, then reflect on what you read 13 Things about Friday the 13th in Chicago

Option 2: Write about Prescription Drug Advertising and/or the Prescription Drug Addiction Epidemic.

It’s mid-April and your junior year of high school is coming to an end.  Think back over your Freshmen and Sophomore and Junior years and all the lessons you have learned.  I don’t just mean the educational lessons; I’m also referring to lessons about making friends, joining a sport, surviving final exam week, and utilizing educational technology.  What have you learned?  What do you wish you knew before you came to high school?  All of your advice could be precious to the current junior high students who will soon embark on their high school journey.  Sometimes, advice is taken more seriously when it comes from a peer close in age rather than someone much older.

You can use bullet points or numbers as long as your words are still high school level and definitely clear and descriptive enough that junior high students could learn from your advice and take it seriously.

Students watched and analyzed the documentary “Prescription Thugs.”  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4505666/

Students: Your goal for this Edublog post is to analyze the Pros and Cons of this question: “Should Prescription Drugs Be Advertised Directly to Consumers?

Please do the following:

• Read the pros and cons https://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/
• Peruse some of the following sites:
  • Top Pro and Con Quotes
  • Background of Prescription Drugs Issue
  • Video Gallery on Prescription Drugs
  • Drug Ads Gallery, 1800s-2014
  • 35 FDA Approved Prescription Drugs Pulled from the Market
• Summarize one or more of these articles through a pro/con perspective
• Analyze the importance or significance of the Prescription Drug issue
• Synthesize by adding your personal opinion/thoughts on the topic
• Evaluate the website/websites/info and explain whether they are biased/unbiased/accurate/etc.
• Make sure you include the links to the actual websites you chose to read and analyze.  Adding any pertinent images or videos will help make your blog post more audience friendly
• Ask your readers 2-3 questions about this topic to urge comments and discussion.
• (yes, your entire blog post should reach at least 250 words)

In 2018, Pulaski Day falls on Monday, March 5. As you peruse the calendar of National Holidays in the United States, you will notice that many of them have to do with different cultures, politics, religions, etc.  Some of these are national holidays where students do not attend school and major government buildings like post offices are closed.  Check out the different holidays and find one to research and analyze for your Blog Post.

Requirements for 200 or more word Blog Post on National Holidays:

• Pick a National Holiday in the United States
• Research the day we celebrate this holiday and the reasons behind the holiday.  Why do we celebrate it?  How do we celebrate it? What specific religion, culture, politician, etc is it affiliated with?
• Make sure you include a photo related to the Holiday and/or a link to the research you found to help you summarize your blog post.  Use your own words.  If you are using direct quotes from a resource, make sure you use quotation marks and give credit to the source.
• Synthesize why you celebrate or do not celebrate this holiday.  Share your opinion on why you think this holiday should or should not continue to be celebrated in the United States.

Helpful Links:

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/

https://www.nps.gov/fopu/learn/historyculture/casimir-pulaski.htm

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/casimir-pulaski-day

Who Was Casimir Pulaski? And When Did We Start Celebrating His Birthday?

http://www.holidayscalendar.com/event/casimir-pulaski-day/

All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and be proud of being an individual. No one should be stereotyped by their race, gender, background, social status, etc.  We are all human beings and we should be proud of who we are because there is no other person like us. Don’t judge a person by the outside appearance; don’t stereotype a person or generalize an entire group or race of people.  We are all human and we all deserve love and respect; and, we should all show ourselves respect.  We all Matter.  You Matter. Let’s make a difference and be more awesome!

Now, take the Challenge:  Since it’s Black History Month, please pick a person or group of people who represent Black History so that we learn more about these important people and their amazing accomplishments.

Look at the Poster below:

Pick one of the challenges, find an appropriate image or video, and write a 200-300 word reflection on the image/video.  Analyze what the image/video represents and how that one image/video can pretty much say a 1000 words. How is the image an important example of Black History Month?  Explain in detail.  Make sure you include the image/video in your Post.

Try to research someone/something important and/or influential that inspires you or someone/something you haven’t learned yet about Black History.  Educate your readers about this event, movie, video, song, poem, book, person, movement, etc. We are better when we know better.  So do some research and educate your readers.  Feel free to look back into the past or focus on something in the current past or present.  Make sure it relates to Black History.

Celebrating Black History

Super Bowl commercials are very expensive and millions of people watch them, so the creators of these commercials have to be effective so the money that was spent on the very short product was worthwhile.

As we look at some commercials, focus on the persuasive methods that were used and try to relate to how they could help you prepare for your social issue research paper.

Before watching some commercials together as a class, I asked students to focus on 3 aspects (which they needed in their social issue research papers):

1. What is the purpose (message) of the video?
2. How did the commercial show both sides of this perspective (message)? Or, was there only one stance (one viewpoint) to the commercial?
3. How effective was the content in the commercial to get audience attention to the  product and/or something else currently occurring in society/news?

Now it’s time for students to have some choice as they analyze other commercials and videos.

Directions: Your goal is to find and share at least 3 video commercials in order to write at least 250 words by analyzing the PURPOSE, AUDIENCE, and STANCE of these commercials. Make sure you go to ADD MEDIA and EMBED the videos into your blog post so your audience can view the video and comment on whether they agree or disagree with your analysis….or add more to your analysis.

Here are your options:

• Analyze your top 3 Favorite Superbowl Commercials
• Analyze your bottom 3 Least Favorite Superbowl Commercials
• Analyze your top 3 Most Funny Superbowl Commercials
• Analyze your top 3 Most Serious Superbowl Commercials
• Analyze your top 3 Unbelievable/Unrealistic Superbowl Commercials (ones in which actions happened that we know are not realistic to real life)
• Analyze 3 Different Types of Superbowl Commercials (Food related, Car related, Beverage related, etc)
• If you have another creative idea to analyze 3 different Superbowl Commercials, see me to approve and go ahead
• If you prefer to not analyze commercials, find 3 videos you like and analyze their purpose, audience, and stance. (For example 3 most motivational videos or 3 inspiring videos, etc)  See me for approval

Some added resources to help you complete this assignment well:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-super-bowl-ads-2018-best-and-worst-20180204-story.html

http://time.com/5128725/best-super-bowl-commercials-2018/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2756622-2018-super-bowl-commercials-grading-the-best-and-worst-ads

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/super-bowl/8098020/best-worst-super-bowl-2018-commercials

Close Reading of Super Bowl Commercials

Rhetorical Analysis of a Superbowl Commercial

1. Time to figure out your topic and its multiple arguments.  Create a NEW BLOG POST by answering the following questions.  Feel Free to copy and paste these questions and then type their response so that your audience knows what you are writing about in your edublog. Make sure you have at least 200 words before you click SUBMIT FOR REVIEW. Your blog title should be “Social Issue Research Topic”
2. Make sure you answer ALL of these questions:

What is your social issue?

Why is it such a social issue?  What do people disagree about in relation to this topic?

What is your proposed solution?  Why do you think this is the best solution?

What are pros to your solution?

What are cons to your solution?

Any questions to your audience members for help on your topic? (Need to post at least 2 questions)

(Ex. Do you agree / disagree that parents should be forced to vaccinate their children / allowed to skip vaccination requirements?  Why or why not?

Do you have any recommendations of sources, links, videos, data, etc that I could utilize for my research paper on this topic?

How do you think I could improve my argument?)