VARK

Visual: Senior year I had an economy test witch I was terrified about, I understood the material but I still seemed to get somewhat confused in some areas of the topic. I would study so hard everyday, I would stay after school get some help from tutors that would pretty much just explain my notes again to me. Which wasn’t a really big help. Not till then I discovered that by doing this VARK test that I’m a Aural learner. No wonder I understood the material when I would repeat what I would learn to by brother or sister million times a day. I ended up passing the stressful successful econ test.

VISUAL
General strategies: I would draw all the graphs my economy teacher would draw on the board to explain stocks, also I would Underline all the main words he would tell us that were important and would be on the test.

Success: I would remember the pictures and how I would draw them on my note book, in simpler terms and pictures. So when it came to graphs I had no trouble in.

READ/WRITE
General strategies: I would always re-write all my notes because when I would write them on my notes when I was taking them in class I would always write so sloppy just to make sure I was getting all the information being explained. So when I would re-write them it worked as a way to review for test.
Success: Almost all of the time I would remember everything I would re-write. Only at times this would be helpful tome.

AURAL
General strategies: Are teacher would assign us to groups, and I was lucky enough that my group was pretty close, reminds me of my familia in class. That we would gather at my house before any test and read and study are notes

Success: Most of the time this strategies always help but of course there was those days when it didn’t help at all.

KINESTHETIC
General strategies: At times I would use this strategies, by using handout I would print out or that were handed out to me by other teachers. To study with.

Success: Since not all the time I would receive handouts or printout things I would have a little of success but when I did I would find test taking a lot easier.


Aural: I interviewed my sister Aurora, her grade point average is a 4.0 and for me she is not only a role model but a Model student. The strategies used by my older was Visual and Aural. She said its a lot easier for her to see something being explained to her than rather listing to it for two to three hours. Also she loves teaching people what she learns so being a Aural learner she explain in detail everything she learns. Making her understand the material a lot better. My sister and I share one learning strategy in common we both are Aural learners and for me so far that strategy has been helping me understand concepts better. I think the read/write skill is a little different from my learning styles I usually do. But I think I can handle change in my studying habits. Having her there all the time at my house helps me motivated to try new studying skills.

Read /Write: I learned that I’ am Aural learner, and that I enjoy sharing my notes and comparing them to other people notes. I also realized that when I read the section that describes Aural learners in chapter 3 , that I never knew that those things I would do before studying were actually under a category of studying. Also know that I know I’ am a aural learner it stay in the back of my head and when I find my self reading a text for English or for counseling I take notes and read them to my brother and make him question my notes . Its just something that I like to remind my self with because it keeps me in a path of good studying skills.

Kinesthetic: My oldest sister tutors in Pass the Torch as well as her boyfriend. So I’m usually always in there when they tutor two days of the week. And what I know about pass the torch is that they pare up students who need help with student who have really outstanding grades in the material the student needing help is in. My sister always tells me to join because it really helps when it come to an exam you might need help in. She also was in pass the torch when she was in Puente and she said it really helped when she went into English 104b. I want to do as well as she did in that class so I am going to apply to pass the torch and hopefully it helps me to pass all my classes. Also the people in there are really nice and build a good environment to concentrate and focus.

Blog Response # 3

Q: What is the difference between pride and ego?

R:I don’t really think there is a difference between pride and ego, both go hand in hand making people feel mentally, and physically content about them self’s and life styles. What I suppose differs Ego and Pride is that, at time people who have pride usually do not flaunt it so often as people with big ego’s, people who fell they need to talk about their self’s or accomplishments over and over again. For instances I’m in Portugal as I type, its been an experience that by far and it also has been a blessing that I can be here and I have pride for my parents that had to sacrifice so much in order for me to be here. I also take pride in the choices I made to come to this trip and maybe the consequences when I come back. But back to my point, in my group there is this women who at first she seemed as a humble old lady, coming to Europe for a great time with her husband. But my assumptions were way off, this lady told me this story about how she has traveled the world twice and how she manages to be financially stable when she returns back from her trips. I lie to you not, I herd this story about twenty times the whole day. I felt as if I could tell you her story and how she ate frog legs thinking they were chicken legs in china. The way she would speak to the other people in the bus was full of arrogance with a mixture of pride and ego as well. What I came up with as I was observing her as a piece of data for this question ,was that she took a lot of pride in what people would respond to her. Also the complements she would receive would be all the same “senora como le haces, eres la mujer maravilla Mexicana”, meaning how do you do it , you’re the Mexican wonder woman. Her face would light up with so much pride but at the same time she would flaunt it so much that it made it seem she only did it to boost her ego or to show people how wealthy she is. In Chapter fourteen Juan Salvador comes back from Montana, after nineteen years to Corona a barrio in Los Angles, to see his mother and sisters. When Juan Salvador finally meets and catches up with his family he takes time to meet his nephews Jose and Pedro. Jose asks his uncle Juan that if it was true if he use to have a lot of power back in Mexico, Juan responded with a strong prideful yes, but Pedro asked him if he was also rich, because his mother told him that Mexicans are always poor. This triggered Juan’s ego because he was so angry and disappointed and even disrespected in a sense. Juan responded with telling his nephew that if he knew what his great great grandfather did and how he fought along side Benito Juarez. Juan with anger in his eyes and with a hurt ego and pride left feeling that his people self doubt their abilities to succeed and be rich as the “gringos”.

Literature Circle Blog Response #2

Question: What qualities, conditions or circumstances create the need to sacrifice within a family ?
Response: I think that the circumstances that leads to sacrifice within a family is when there is love and respect for each other. If you have those two foundations in a family, I believe that you or any member in your family is willing to sacrifice anything to get the family by. If you have love in your family you think about the others and how they are feeling and how they are dealing with hard situation and have compassion for them. And if you have respect you sacrifice choosing your self to give up everything you have to see your family triumph . For example, in chapter ten part two of Rain of Gold, Dona Margarita and her family have been under circumstances that have challenged them to question and doubt how strong their family really is. Dona Margarita cannot take it any longer that she decides to go into town and see if she can “work” for some money to feed her children. Dona Margarita sacrifice her self to go in to the town and beg for money so her family can at least have food in their stomach and not spend another day with the pain of an empty stomach. This was a sacrifice I believe, because it took a lot for her to stoop so low in order to get some money. She had to deal with the belittling comment of the towns people the embarrassment of people staring at her with disgust. But since Dona Margarita has that love and respect not only for her family but her self it made the need to sacrifice for her family a task that needed to be done, with respect and love, for them.


Question: What it the value of family?
Response: I really don’t think there is a concrete answer for this question. I believe that the value of a family varies in everyone. There’s different people In the world that to them their family is all they have, all they know. To others they never had the opportunity to have a family or never the less experience the feeling of love that a family gives. For example in the book Rain of Gold , Lupe stand up for what she’s values in her family. Lupe stand up for the lies Rose-Mary was saying the first day of class in front of her classmates, about Lupe’s family. Lupe corrects Rose-Mary by saying that she might not have a lot but what they have is what makes them a happy family. So for Lupe the value of her family might not be having all the riches and luxuries as Rose-Mary has, but the value she values is the love in her family. Another example from the book to show contrast on what family value is how Juan Salvador another character in the story views his family. In chapter ten section two, Emilia and Juan Salvador find out that their mother has become a beggar in order to provide the starving family food. Emilia has this image in her head that they as a family are becoming gente sin nombre, people without a name. As Juan tries to stay optimistic he later come to realization that they indeed are becoming people without a name. The value Juan Salvador’s family use to see in his family was faith, honor, hope and the pride of being descendants of Don Pio the great founder of Los Altos. But slowly its drifting away from what use to be the value of their family. The value of family, I think has many different answers but for me the value of a family is knowing your family has a meaning in this world.

Giovanni Advice

Some

What causes digital immigrants to feel they are subservient or less than digital natives in a society?

I think what causes immigrants to feel subservient to digital natives, is the lack of not having those resources they need to be up to date with the rest of their new society. Also the fact that in a every day basis immigrants are exposed to technology, in witch they have no idea what to do or ask if they need help. Primarily i think the reason why they might feel less than a digital native is that fear or doubt that their going to be belittled or embarrassed and not in tune with this digital world.I think what also contributes to this is how society treats immigrants. Since most immigrants are judged by people who think they are Superior, i think it also physiologically brings them down. Making them question them self's and doubt their ability they have to learn and get accustomed to technology.

Reflection on Munoz

I think the consequences in assimilating To “American” culture is that it slowly makes you forget your roots. I think once you cross the border you are tied down to what you were taught back in your motherland, but once you cross I feel its slowly changing you as a person. As the years go by you forget were you came from, sometimes your language and your culture. Also by assimilating to the American society you kind of give in to what the society norm in America wants to see. In America you need to be a whole different person, a person needs who needs to start their life as a whole different person with a whole different name. I think when you cross America it strips everything you stood for and it slowly manipulates you to become another of the low paying minorities, who later on are blamed for taking “all” the jobs in this land. For example, my mother once had this job cleaning law offices, primarily filled with Anglo Americans. I remember when I use to go with her to work they people that worked in the office would call my mom Mary. I first I was dumbfounded I didn’t understand why they were calling my mother Mary if her name is Maria. They changed her name without my mothers consent. Even though I was still a child I question why do they, they as the people who worked in the office have the right to change someone’s name, they had no right. But its that feeling of being superior than others, that makes them feel they have that divine right to do so. The consequence of assimilating to America are many, but as minority we need to know when we are assimilating to much to a society that just wants us to be their puppets.

Literature Circle Blog 1

The first scene I drew was Emilia and how she was raped and by the humiliation brought upon her caused her to go blind(pg102). I selected this scene because I feel its important to understand what young innocent Mexican girls back then in the time of the revolution were experiencing. The torture of foreign soldiers taking advantage of you because you are the innocent enemy. In this scene I learned about Emilia that she is very pessimistic. She views everything that has happened to her is a punishment from god. What I learned about the political view on this chapter just by reading what happened to Emilia is that the war like any other war was corrupt and unfair to those innocent people had nothing to do with it, and that the president Don Porfirio did noting about it. The second scene that I drew out was when Dona Margarita goes out to beg without her children knowing. Then one day when Juan Salvador goes to town he sees her in town begging but does not recognize her ,he hears people speak badly about her and so does he but when she turns around he realizes the disgusting old rag is his mother(pg150-151). I think this scene is very powerful because Juan didn’t want to tell his mom that he saw her so she wouldn’t be embarrassed, because after all she was the daughter of the great Don Pio and was educated by the best, so he felt it was wrong to belittle her in that sense. That show how much respect and love he has for his mother. The respect he has for his mother makes Juan Salvador change and commit to never see his mom beg for money never again. The economy during the war was rough , Dona Margarita had to beg for money because money back then was impossible to receive since the government was mostly spending it on the war.

My Digital Life

Living in a digital world I find my self in a love hate relationship with technology. I say a love hate because, I mean technology has improved so many things and in a way has made my life a lot easier. I didn’t really grow up with technology because my family didn’t have the money to provide me with a computer or anything else that involved technology. I started using computers when I was in seventh grade. I felt so behind because all the other kids in my class already new how to change the picture on the desktop and I was barely learning how to turn on the computer. But once I started getting the hang in how to surf the web I thought it was the best thing that ever happened in my life. As the years went by and I was growing older I began to notice that technology has been taking over are life’s in a fast paste. Now why I hate technology, I think that technology is making people lazy. For example the Nintendo Wii, this game has made playing sports as a sitting down in your couch for five hours while eating junk food a fun entertaining thing to do. Even though technology has improved are communication abilities it is destroying are way in how we read peoples emotion perceive the intention of their words, and losing that special connection that is different from the connection you get when you log in to the chat rooms. Technology most of the time is appropriate when us in the correct forms, like to email, work on projects, looking for a place to eat, or doing homework for your professors. Its not appropriate when technology is use for malice, its just sad on who ever is doing it and perverted in so many ways. Well were I stand in still in the same place that love hate relationship with technology .I admit it technology has made life a lot easier but at the same time its making us rely on it to much.

My Motivation Tto Attend College

Family, Pressure, and that scary feeling of failing in life have motivated me to pressure college. I need to be honest in high school, senior year to be exact I was at a point that I really didn’t want to attend college. I didn’t really see a valid reason to go and waste countless hours doing homework and paying so much money for something I wasn’t really interested in. College was drifting away from my future slowly every day. As days went on and my high school graduation just around the corner I had this epic moment that probably everyone has once in their lifetime, I remember that I came from school I said “ what’s up” to my mom working in the garage ,and I saw how tired she was. I said to my self “man , she look dead”. I realized that those thought of college that where drifting away slowly came back to me in hyper speed. I notice how my parents work so hard and how its so hard to get good descent job nether the less a job these days . That I realized if I don’t want to be in that positions were my mother is at I need to attend college, I need to strive for a successful future. I Started to think and I really want to be the topic of my moms conversation in every family party, I want to be her pride and joy just like my other sisters are to her. So I guess the root of my motivation would be myself and the fears of letting my mother and family down. I see how hard my mom works to support my sisters and my education, that the pressure of me being some one in life so one day I can pay my mom back for everything she gives us and offers to us ,serves me as the biggest motivation I have put on my self. I feel that Puente with the help and advice of my professors Voltaire and Susie, is going to be one of the foundations in building my dreams of my future, that I am and will succeed in.