Speaking Partner Experience # 3

Ismenia and I met today at 11:10, as she had to work on Tuesday. Today's conversation revolved around requesting an explanation. Ismenia read a few things to me and said the questions were kind of familiar and she understands them because they are how she can ask something to her mentor, which is me, that she didn't understand. We then discussed questions about Excel and also did some pronunciation practice with fractions. We also detoured and worked on Ismenia's math for a bit and I showed her how to do division properly by showing her verbally through steps. In Brazil, math is quite different and it is a pleasure to teach her in a way that will help her become successful.

Lesson 2 Work

I started off by correcting the alterations made to the love letter that I wrote last week and saw edited by the very few peers that made it to class on Thursday. Because of the weather, we only had seven people show up and only one of those people was from out of town; the rest were from Lethbridge.

This week's grammar lesson pertains to run-on sentences and it will be very interesting to see what I can learn about them. First, I read a handout on run-on sentences and then, I watched a Writing Center video that talked about run-on sentences. I also reviewed comma splices and fused-on sentences before reviewing practice exercises.

In the first practice exercise, I got 100% and in the second practice exercise, I got 90%

I then did the run-ons grammar quiz and got 100% on the very first try!

After the quiz, I turned my attention to the readings for the week.

Discussion Board Post:

The passage I chose as my favorite comes from the excerpt Dandelions by Robert Fulghum and that passage reads, "...The young leaves make a spicy salad. The flowers add fine flavor and elegant color to a classic light wine. Toast the roots, grind and brew, and you have a palatable coffee. The tenderest shoots make a tonic tea. The dried mature leaves are high in iron, vitamins A and C, and make a good laxative. Bees favor dandelions, and the cooperative result is high-class honey."

This passage contains very descriptive writing that allows readers to create images in their minds about people using parts of the dandelions for various purposes. The way the passage is written also sends a message to the reader and that message is that everyone and everything has value to to someone and a valuable purpose in life. Each part of the dandelion is said to have a very unique purpose that proves beneficial to the pleasure of those who see the dandelion as being more than just a pesky weed that needs to be exterminated; it also tells us that we are worth more than what we may see in the mirror. When a reader can apply a passage of writing to themselves and find value in themselves as a result of what is being said about a simple object, it gives said reader confidence and motivation to love themselves.

If purpose and beauty can be found in a simple object by the writer, the reader will look at themselves and realize that they also have purpose and beauty. A writer's job in writing is to bring a sense of imagery to a reader through their writing and if the writing creates enough imagery, the reader can and probably will imagine themselves within the realm of possibilities that they are reading about. If something is written well enough, it can give a reader power and courage to live beyond their comfort zone because the writing makes them believe that all things are possible, even for them.

I also watched some videos on Paragraph and Essay Development.

Post Lesson 1 Work

Main Post: President Monson's talk on how to communicate effectively. 

President Monson took a great deal of time and energy to present in the topic of communication because he wanted to make sure that he conveyed what he and the Lord felt were necessary messages. Both time and communication are very valuable commodities that are needed to survive mortality, but they are two of the most troublesome things to man simply because they are not always used in an effective manner. It may simply be a matter of not knowing how to communicate effectively and that might be why conflict happens, so instead of continuing to foster conflict, people need to learn how to communicate effectively in order to prevent or stop an active conflict from growing. There are many types of communication and not all of the types are always used properly simply because people don't know how to use them. Many academic and non-academic courses are available to teach people how to communicate properly, but people often fear learning new things because it means that they will need to step out of their comfort zone and use a little faith. Faith is not always an easy thing to exercise. 

 

As far as writing goes, it is a very expressive type of communication and great detail can be used to make a point, but at the same time, one has to know what points are pertinent to include in writing and what points will prove ineffective to the written word. Even if people are shaky with their verbal communication, they can still express themselves through writing and communicate effectively using that medium so long as they understand the finer points of writing. If one does not understand how to write, it is very possible to learn as long as one is willing to take the time and energy to learn. President Monson is good at both verbal and written communication not only because he understands the finer points of both communication mediums and practices them, he also continually works to have the Spirit with him and all things are possible through the Spirit of God even if we do not see it as being possible. The Spirit of God has the ability to help us be strong even in our weaknesses.

 

Knowing about proper communication helps us to have the confidence to use it to not only get to know others around us, but to also foster a sense of unity with others by creating open relationships. Creating such unity is a gesture of love and charity is the pure love of Christ put into action. When we have enough confidence in ourselves to use communication to build unity with others, positive feelings such as friendship and love eventually develop and when we are harboring and expressing love, that invites the Spirit of God to be with us. When we have the Spirit of God with us, we are more likely to receive personal revelation and when we receive revelation, we need to record it either on paper so we can reflect upon what we are taught or we need to record it in our hearts. Writing down things that we are taught through God's Spirit tells God that we are listening to what he has to tell us and that we are open to future revelations. Even if we never share what we write with anyone else when it comes to revelation, we need to write our personal revelations down so we can show God that we have heard him and actually care about what He has to tell us. When we actively show God that we care about what He has to say, He will often give us more revelation. We keep the Spirit with us by recording revelation and showing God that we care about learning as much as He cares about teaching us.

Reply # 1: When you look at another writer's work and then take away all the descriptive terms and simplify things, it makes what might be a compelling passage seem rather boring. Detail is what illuminates a plain passage and it is what attracts readers, as readers often enjoy reading detailed writing because it allows them to create an image of what they are reading in their minds and allows to sort of be part of what they are reading as if they were there. The idea of 'living through reading' is why people often choose to read books, as it will give them vicarious experiences that they might never have outside of reading. Reading seems to allow people to forget the barriers they have in life. Reading allows people to live out fantasies in their minds.

Reply # 2: We have to communicate in order to let others know what we want or need, as people are generally not mind-readers and cannot be of help to another if they don't know their needs. Even if another's verbal communication is not easy to understand or non-existent, there is a beauty and saving grace in being able to use writing or signals to make needs or wants known. If our actions are clear enough to convey a point, maybe words are not always necessary. There were no words to describe the Atonement, yet the purpose of the Atonement was clearly communicated through Christ's actions. Christ so willingly put Himself through such agony and didn't save Himself from it despite knowing how to and having the power to stop his suffering whenever He wanted to, which is what we read in the scriptures. Words are often just words and it takes showing how we feel or what we mean in order to appear legitimate in our communication.

Speaking Partner Experience # 2

We started off with introductions and brief discussion of how our lives are going.

Ismenia read things about clarification to me and then we talked about questions concerning clarification. Ismenia said that she sometimes doesn't understand what people said and it is embarrassing because she doesn't know what they are saying because they speak fast, they put words together, and their pronunciation. Ismenia says that at the Pathway gathering, she doesn't have any problem understanding the language because everyone, including the missionaries, speaks slowly and helps everyone to understand. I gently reminded Ismenia that I am here to help her and that if she has questions, she can ask them and to not be afraid of asking me questions. Sometimes, Ismenia feels uncomfortable about asking people to repeat what they have said because it makes her feel limited in trying to express her thoughts.

We then turned our attention to decimal practice and pronuniciation and I started by leading Isemenia through an addition and subtraction question verbally and it was very interesting, as I don't often do math problems verbally and I often take my time, so teaching verbally is very new for me.

Then, we turned our attention to pronunciation practice and pronounced sentences using the words going to and the shortened version, gonna. We also practiced pronouncing numbers and also rehashing the pronunciation of going to, gonna, and the importance of pronouncing the 'Y' in certain words.

The meeting was from 11 to 11:45 p.m.

Lesson 1

Opening Discussion Post
President Monson took a great deal of time and energy to present in the topic of communication because he wanted to make sure that he conveyed what he and the Lord felt were necessary messages. Both time and communication are very valuable commodities that are needed to survive mortality, but they are two of the most troublesome things to man simply because they are not always used in an effective manner. It may simply be a matter of not knowing how to communicate effectively and that might be why conflict happens, so instead of continuing to foster conflict, people need to learn how to communicate effectively in order to prevent or stop an active conflict from growing. There are many types of communication and not all of the types are always used properly simply because people don't know how to use them. Many academic and non-academic courses are available to teach people how to communicate properly, but people often fear learning new things because it means that they will need to step out of their comfort zone and use a little faith. Faith is not always an easy thing to exercise. 

As far as writing goes, it is a very expressive type of communication and great detail can be used to make a point, but at the same time, one has to know what points are pertinent to include in writing and what points will prove ineffective to the written word. Even if people are shaky with their verbal communication, they can still express themselves through writing and communicate effectively using that medium so long as they understand the finer points of writing. If one does not understand how to write, it is very possible to learn as long as one is willing to take the time and energy to learn. President Monson is good at both verbal and written communication not only because he understands the finer points of both communication mediums and practices them, he also continually works to have the Spirit with him and all things are possible through the Spirit of God even if we do not see it as being possible. The Spirit of God has the ability to help us be strong even in our weaknesses.


Knowing about proper communication helps us to have the confidence to use it to not only get to know others around us, but to also foster a sense of unity with others by creating open relationships. Creating such unity is a gesture of love and charity is the pure love of Christ put into action. When we have enough confidence in ourselves to use communication to build unity with others, positive feelings such as friendship and love eventually develop and when we are harboring and expressing love, that invites the Spirit of God to be with us. When we have the Spirit of God with us, we are more likely to receive personal revelation and when we receive revelation, we need to record it either on paper so we can reflect upon what we are taught or we need to record it in our hearts. Writing down things that we are taught through God's Spirit tells God that we are listening to what he has to tell us and that we are open to future revelations. Even if we never share what we write with anyone else when it comes to revelation, we need to write our personal revelations down so we can show God that we have heard him and actually care about what He has to tell us. When we actively show God that we care about what He has to say, He will often give us more revelation. We keep the Spirit with us by recording revelation and showing God that we care about learning as much as He cares about teaching us.
****
I then went to this week's lesson about Paragraph and Essay Development and watched videos about paragraphs, Microsoft Word for beginners, and clarity. It said in the paragraphs video that paragraphs are the building blocks of your paper and they are often mistakenly defined by length instead of by a specific idea or topic. The format of a paragraph is presenting an idea and supporting evidence starting with a topic sentence and followed by evidence that supports it.

I then did the quiz on fragments twice and ended up with an average of 90%, which is 9/10.

After that, I did the readings and also wrote the first draft of a love letter to my temple recommend.

Post Introduction Work

Initial Post: Hello there, my name is Heather Cameron, I am 28 years old, I have a diploma in Communication Arts: Print Journalism, and I have been a student in the BYU-Idaho Pathways program since September.

 

Because of serving a local humanitarian mission and also helping my family through the time that my dad had cancer that eventually took his life, I have the ability to adapt to new situations, I have compassion for those in need of help and/or support, the ability to forgive offenses and offenders, and along with many other traits, I also have faith that hard work produces results. I am also very teachable and have the desire to work very hard.

 

I am a also citizen of both Canada and the United States with the proper permissions to work in either country should opportunities present themselves and I also have a driver's license. Besides my mom and I, I also have a 26 year old brother who teaches Accounting courses at a local vocational school and I have a dog named Frodo that lives with my mom and I while my brother lives a few minutes away. 

 

My hope is to finish the Pathway program and go on to get additional education through BYU-Idaho Online.

Reply Post # 1: Well, doing Pathway is more a way for me to add on to my education than continue it, as I already have a diploma in Communication Arts: Print Journalism that I received in 2007 and have utilized over the last 10 years to do various articles for various newspapers. I had originally thought about upgrading my education in that area, but my finances are such that I couldn't afford to do that. I would be more than happy to share the link to my journalism portfolio with the class if anyone's interested. As far as my education through BYU-Idaho goes once I finish Pathway, however, I would like to do something from the Home and Family Studies area, as that is offered online and I have the personality for it. I also love helping others to learn how to help themselves in a way that they feel they are being a productive member of society.

Reply Post # 2: Hi Zackary,

I was born in High River, Alberta, Canada on November 23, 1987 and I currently live in Lethbridge, as it is easier to live here so I don't have to go to a great deal of trouble to get to my Pathways gatherings each week, especially when the weather is not good for highway travel. That is cool about your grandfather and what you may not know is that I served a mission from March 2013 to March 2014 at the Bishop's Storehouse in Lethbridge, Alberta, which is part of the Canada Calgary Mission, so I consider myself an alumni of that particular mission. When I was in college, I found out from my American-born mother that I was eligible for dual citizenship, so I quickly applied for it so that I would have more options open to me and it was very little trouble for me to obtain it.

Questions: I am happy to report that I was able to locate the Q&A board in a timely manner and since asking questions is encouraged here, I was wondering if the quizzes at the end of each preparatory lesson were open book quizzes? The quizzes were all open book last semester and if they are also that way this semester, that's great. However, if the quizzes are not all open book, are we going to be told ahead of time so we can study properly?

I feel confident in my ability to succeed this semester as long as I commit to working hard on everything that needs to be done and actually stick to that commitment even if life becomes crazy. When I began Pathways back in September, I promised myself that I would do my best in all that was asked of me and be sure to maintain a optimistic attitude throughout the course. I am excited to learn things about English that I don't already know and I am excited to see how deep my creativity can really go with the help of what the course has to teach me.

I think it is too early for me to have concerns about this course, as it only just started and I have not faced any of the assignments yet. I am sure that questions and challenges will eventually manifest themselves, but I know that when they do, I will have the help of many caring individuals to get through the course successfully. I am excited to learn much from this course.

Speaking Partner Experience # 1

Today, was the first time I met with my speaking partner, Ismenia Maia, from Brazil at 11 A.M. my time, which was 4 P.M. her time and we are discussing Math 106. We started out with introducing ourselves and our lives to each other. Ismenia is from Brazil and she works at home and on the internet. She has two kids, one is 7 and one is 5, and she is married to a man also from Brazil, but who is from a different city. She likes to listen to music, loves going to church, and loves going to the cinema with her family. I then took the opportunity to introduce myself and we then traded back and forth on facts about ourselves.

It is summer there, according to Ismenia, and it is very warm in the summer. We also played a game of two false facts and one true fact. I told her I like to swim, ice skate, and have been to all the Alberta temple. The only one that was true was the swimming.

-Ismenia likes to dance - true
-Ismenia likes to run - false
-Ismenia likes ice cream - true

Ismenia read a paragraph for me and she only needed help with pronouncing one word, which was awesome. We then discussed questions about mathematics and also worked on pronunciation of math vocabulary, which Ismenia did very well at for her first time doing this.

NOTE: Work with Ismenia on grammar in speaking, as she said her Pathway teacher said that she sometimes uses improper grammar when speaking and she needs to work on it. I promised her that we would work on the grammar in her speaking next time we met.