I Spy!

I received an assignment in class
To analyze my mates
For fifteen minutes of silence
To describe our surrounding place

I first noticed our gender
More women than were men
And as if It were planned
We all wrote notes in pen

Two people spoke through colors
Both wearing a bright red
While others wore more neutral colors
A boring expression said

If walls could talk what would they say?
Our roof discussed chap stick
While our door was taped clear
Unnoticeable longing for Balsamic Vinaigrette

The weather in Miami
Consists of sun and rain
But oddly enough
were snowflakes on our windowpane

Time slowly crept by
And we all sighed in relief
Surprisingly for some of us
How we perceived our environment differently

Moving Forward

Over this week, I have decided to develop possible items for a survey. The survey items will assess different attitudes toward women in general and they way they dress. I am looking for participants to give stereotypes of women in general. I am also developing photos of a woman who is dressed in different clothing attire so that I can start having participants give perceptions of the woman based on what she is wearing.

The City of Sports: Miramar, Florida

              The city of Miramar, Florida is located in Broward County. The city has twenty-two neighborhood parks and five community parks. Miramar,  contains historical sites like the Stranahan House, the Bonnet House and the Museuem of Discovery and Science, which numerous children visit on class field trips.
              Sports is a huge attraction in Miramar and there is a stadium that is the home of the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers. Sports, is one of the assests to keeping children from developing identities as trouble makers. Jay, a resident of east Miramar stated that there was an issue with children and gangs, however, sports programs that include football, soccer, baseball and basketball have been a tremendous assistance in keeping children away from crime.
           Jay has participated in various sports programs while growing up in Miaramar and as an adult, he now coaches optimist leagues in Miramar. The Miramar Police Department has done its fair share of keeping children positive through sports programs. The Department has developed a Police Athletic League in which children can participate in activities such as cheerleading and football. Jay holds a positive attitude toward Miramar's Police Department because he believes they strive hard to reach out to the youth in the city.
           After explaining that in May of 2009 there was fifty-three registered sex offenders living in Miramar, Jay was surprised at the fact. He explained that he does not believe he has come in contacrt with any sex offenders in his area. We brifely spoke about the issue with Miami and sex offenders being forced to live under bridges on the beach. Jay explained that "it is not fair for them to be forced to live out there but it is not fair for them to be in neighborhoods with children, you know, being the way they are".

          Jay enjoys Miramar because there is not such a high rate of crime compared to other cities in Miami. However, he does plan to leave Miramar and move near the Beach an area in which he loves. The only negative comment Jay held about the city was children being involved in gangs that claim to be smaller branches of the Crips and Bloods.  At the end of the interview, it all came down the the sports of Miramar. Jay was most proud that Miramar High School won their first 6A Football Championship last year which is a great accomplishment for a city who strongly identitfies with sports.

Creative Literacy!

           Today I conducted an interview with a fellow classmate who I have given the name "B".  We discussed the origins of her first literary moment. She explained that she could not remember the exact moment but more important to her was the fact that her mother was very proud of her. "B" felt as though her cultural background did not really influence her litaracy because it is so diverse. Her Dad is from Puerto Rico and her Mom is from Trinidad and Tobago. She was raised in New York so she experienced numerous ethnic backgrounds and languages. Moreso than her cultural background, her parents pushed her to read and be successful because they did not come from places where education was excellent.
          "B" explained that growing up, she was surrounded by kids who did not read much. People in the older and more popular croud did not read or read only to get by on their course material. "B" recalled that younger kids who looked up to those older students adopted the views of reading from their older peers, however, she was more resilient to her own beliefs about reading and took her own perspective on literacy.          
           "B" does not see an issue with ethinicity and upper level courses. She feels as though it is not the ethnicity  that plays a part in the way that students ride the wave of literacy but moreso the way those people were raised. She experiences upward comparison and motivation when she sees others in her classes who are passionate about Enlglish and writing.
          "B" states that hardwork and dilgence were the two factors that assisted her progress in literacy. She would always read a little more than what was required, not to be an over achiever but to be prepared. "B" has tremendous future goals which include conducting business for music, going to Law or Grad School and opening a Christian club. "B" plans to create an affordable music program for children since many schools are doing away with the arts programs. One inspirational quote from "B" to those students who are are continuously told that they cannot red and write is that no matter what aspect of life is reviewed, whether it be school or something so colloquial as texting, reading is required. Take charge and learn to do it!

Sources: So Helpful!

This week I focused on discovering sources for my research project. I had trouble finding sources through the library's catalog. To my surprise, Google was of  much more assistance. I found many articles that related to my research topic and even some experiments that were conducted extremely similarly to the way I plan on conducting my research project. The different articles relevant to my project gave me hope and showed me different ways to make my project concrete. I saw how some researchers were able to make their projects different from others by adding different factors of how people rate women based on their clothing as associated with things like intelligence, school major etc! I thought some of these factors were really cool! I am looking forward to conducting my project and after a few more sources I will begin actually collecting some data. That is if my proposal is accepted!

Proposal

 I've made up my mind on which topic I am going to do. I really wanted to switch it because I was not sure that I could present a huge problem for the topic that I have chosen. However, I feel that this topic is one that many women, including myself can relate to, thus, there needs to be further recognition of the topic. I spoke to a classmate who was very helpful in assisting me with this decision. I am worried that my topic is one that is heard a lot by many people, however I feel that the issue must be continuously advocated. So, I am hoping to propose the topic in a new light so that it will not get rejected.