I believe in the power of urban education.

For the most part, I believe like my TIB is complete the way I want it to be. I am happy with the outcome. Somethings that I want feedback on is how my essay reads along with my photo essay. I want to make sure that as my essay builds the pictures go with it accordingly. I also want to make sure that my essay is coherent and organized. I have not added any music or anything because I wanted the presentation to be to the point, and simple. My audio recording still needs to be rerecorded, so I would like for my partner to not listen for errors, but just that it makes sense. That is all I think I need for my TIB at this point.

The photo essay that I viewed was titled, "When a Kid's Bedroom Isn't a Room". This photo essay was very thought provoking. I had never considered the idea that the idea of a bedroom could serve as something other than what I imagine a bedroom to be. This particular photo essay allowed me to not only step into bedrooms across the world, but give me an understanding that I would have never had. Not only did it allow me to see bedrooms around the world but reminded me about the different cultures and lifestyles that that people have around the world that I never even ponder. The essay grabbed me emotionally and for some of the pictures I felt for them and others I smiled with. I felt as if I was standing next to them in their room and suddenly became a part of the experiences, interests, problems, etc. that they have endured within this room. It was amazing to see that some kid's rooms served from things like a holding place for their acheivements, or a waiting room for a pregnancy, or even an entire home for a family of four. The picture of the kid who lives in the room juxtaposed to the actual portrait of the room was very powerful as well. It was like the expression on their face almost said aloud what emotion their room provoked within me. What I took away from this photo essay was not only the understanding of different cultures but the realization that things are very different in my own country as well as others.

For my own photo essay I have created it already and it is located on my TIB page. I tried to tell a story by starting with pictures of Camden, NJ that some people may already envision in their heads when they think about this location. The beginning of my essay talks about how some people view children in one way and think that because they come from a bad place, they are incapable of amounting to anything. I use the pictures of Camden run down to show the fact that yes, they do come from a part of NJ that is full of crime and considered "ghetto". As the essay moves on to a positive note, so do the pictures where they show the elementary school that I talk about within the essay, and show pictures of smiling children. I plan on using the basic slideshow feature that Weebly offers, and the photo essay can be found on my TIB page.

I believe in the power of education. More
specifically, I believe that no student is "too bad" or "cannot be reached". At
a fresh nineteen, I entered a third grade classroom in H.B. Wilson Elementary
school located Camden, NJ. In the first few moments, I gazed around the room in
awe. Why are their uniforms ripped and
stained? Where are their book bags? A shining white smile stopped my
thoughts for a moment. "What is your name?” a friendly third grader asked me
with excitement in his voice like I was some type of celebrity. "Angela", I
replied trying to take in all that was staring at me in this small classroom
students and atmosphere alike. Thirteen students, three teachers. This classroom
had been named the one with the "behavioral problems" but after about three
visits I quickly learned that the only problem that these boys had were being
too excited about school. Perhaps it was an escape from their anxiety ridden
lives at home where they were left wondering if dad would come home safe or
waking up to deafening gun shorts. Nevertheless, the students were yearning for
more, and more information. I have never seen students so excited in a
classroom, I was awakened. I had never seen students so willing to work together
and achieve things with one another, as friends. Previous schools I had observed
were just like the classrooms I spent the majority of my childhood in. They were
full of cliques, uninterested students, and better yet a teacher whose
priorities may have not always been about reaching her students. My future
career goals quickly changed after my experience at H.B. Wilson.


I was inspired to become a teacher who
would transform her classroom into a community of students who were all friends,
with all sorts of problems, but who shared common ground and truly understood
one another. So this is what I believe in...I believe in the power of education.
I believe that no matter where a student comes from, what type of problems have
been piled onto them, or what "disability" has been attached to their name for
the rest of their academic career is no disadvantage. Children who come from
communities that are fallen apart, where crime is knocking at their backdoors
(literally) can be reached. This is where my belief comes from. My belief was
planted in the third grade classroom at H.B. Wilson Elementary school. My roots
grew as weeks and weeks past that I spent time in this classroom. What bloomed
was an inspiration that I plan to carry with me for the rest of my life.
Breaking down the barriers and defying odds are what to plan to do. I plan to
create my own flowers that will shine and bloom regardless of where their seeds
were planted.

I believe in the power of education. More specifically, I believe that no student is "too bad" or "can not be reached". A fresh nineteen I entered a third grade classroom in H.B. Wilson Elementary school in Camden, NJ. In the first few moments, I gazed around the room in awe. Why are their uniforms ripped? Where are their bookbags? A shining white smile stopped my thoughts for a moment. "What is your name?", a friendly third grader asked me as if with excitement in his voice like I was some type of celebrity. "Angela", I replied trying to take in all that was staring at me in this small classroom. Thirteen students, two teachers. This classroom had been named the one with the "behavioral problems" but after about three visits I quickly learned that the only problem that these boys had were being too excited about school, yearning for more, and more information. I have never seen students so excited in a classroom. I have never seen students so willing to work together and acheive things with one another, as friends. Previous schools I had been apart of were just like the classrooms I spent the majority of my childhood in. They were full of cliques, uninterested students, and better yet a teacher whose priorities may have not always been about reaching her students. My future career goals quickly changed after my experience at H.B. Wilson. I was inspired to become a teacher who would transform her classroom into a community of students who were all friends, with all sorts of problems, but who shared common ground and truly understood one another. So this is what I believe in...I believe in the power of education. I believe that no matter where a student comes from, what type of problems have been piled onto them, or what "disability" has been attached to their name for the rest of theiracademic career is no disadvantage. Children who come from communities that are fallen apart, where crime is knocking at their backdoors (literally) can be reached. This is where my belief comes from. My belief was planted in the third grade classroom at H.B. Wilson Elementary school. My roots grew as weeks and weeks past that I spent time in this classroom. What bloomed was an inspiriation that I plan to carry with me for the rest of my life. Breaking down the barriers and defying odds are what to plan to do. I plan to create my own flowers who will shine and bloom regardless of where their seeds were planted.

I have never thought much about my means of being an oral communicator. I was unaware that communication had so many different elements. Besides things like how body language can be interpreted, I never thought about how much can go into an oral presentation. I typically think about an oral presentation as me standing awkwardly in front of this class with the help of a power point. I am excited about using different elements within my oral presentation next time such as a voice over or slide show because I think it would make it so much more interesting. 
I have used Jing before and was not much of a fan at first. It just felt awkward and it took me like ten times to finally get my voice to sound just right. That’s where my feelings changed though… the things that you can do with your voice to convey a type of emotion is the magic of the presentation. So, to say the least I am now a fan because I think there is so much you can do with an oral presentation instead of standing in front of the class in that awkward position. As far as it goes with being on the opposing side of being the speaker, and becoming the listener I think I am more skilled in that area. I actually enjoy listening to people talk and like to take in their opinions, ideas, etc. Listening to people allows me to understand them better and sometimes build a greater bond with them. 

Thinking about myself as a “technological” person is interesting. I was never too savvy with computers, but after my course experiences as Rowan thus far I have found many technologies extremely useful for writing. One technology I find very useful and feel most comfortable with is Twitter. Prior to Intro to Writing Arts I just viewed Twitter as a worthless social networking site but now I find it extremely intriguing. I find it very easy to research and connect with writers who have the same interests as me. It is very easy to collaborate on Twitter by simply following hashtags about a certain topic. After being introduced to Wordpress.com last semester I also found value in blogging. Though I am still not completely confident with this technology I love the structure and basis of this writing space. I like that you can archive and connect with others. More specifically though, I like that blogs can be as short or as long as you like, they are dated and organized, and they also can include videos, pictures, etc. I still struggle with little things that come along with blogging but I have definitely found myself interested in other people’s blogs as well as interested in creating my own. Overall, I feel like I now view technologies as major tools that can enhance my writing in many ways.