Group Work Ideas!

For the third and last project of this semester, I would like to really focus on supporting some types of nonprofit organizations in Chicago. There are several in the city and as it has been mentioned before, no one really thinks about the importance that these organizations bring into our society. For instance, I work at Carson Pirie Scott and they do an event twice every year to help these nonprofit organizations that help abandoned children and also those that are against the abuse of women. Twice every year, Carsons hosts an even called Community Day. In fact, this weekend the store was packed with customers supporting the event. The event involved of selling a booklet with coupons for customers to do their shopping and the money they gave towards the booklets where donations for nonprofit organizations. However, even though the store does this even, they do not really stress the importance to the customers of helping someone. That is why these booklet sales do not always go that great. Prior to this weekend the store sold only about $2500 dollars worth of booklets, but this sale has been going on for about two months and it could have been a lot more money if the store did more advertisement explaining the importance to help these organizations trying to help women and children. Even though during the event the sales of the booklets grew, it would have been a lot better if prior to the event the sales where much more.  I think one way that would be really helpful that Carsons didn't do is send out fliers, brochures, posters, anything that catches the publics attention in order to stress the importance of helping out an organization in need. When it comes to the roles, as explained before, I'm more of a supporter and facilitator rather than a leader because I really wouldn't like to make any mistakes when doing this project.

Role in groups

Throughout my years in school, and now that I have started working, there have been moments where I have to be involved in some sort of group project and I have to admit sometimes it can be a little hard working with other people rather than working on your own and doing your own work and not depending on other's to do get the work that's supposed to be done on time. There are actually times when the whole process has gone really well and the outcome turns out to be really good. However, there are other times that the process can be really painful and the outcome doesn't turn to be as good. I think the biggest factors in the success of a group is that everyone works really hard together to achieve their goal. It's very important that no one slacks off and forgets to do their part because this is when things will start going wrong in the assignment. It is very important to always stay on task. The key factors of a group that is guaranteed failure is of course a group that does the exact opposite of what a group should be doing in order to achieve their goal. The success is actually connected to the roles that people take because if someone is given a role that person is not used to or not exactly sure how to deal with it, the outcome might not turn out to be too good, but if everyone assumes the role that fits them the best, the outcome should be successful. I think I would have to say I'm torn between being a supporter and a facilitator because sometimes I tend to do both of them. I tend to take this role because I certainly do not feel like a leader and I am not a problematizer either that's for sure. This role has led me more times to success than to failure because I do the work I'm supposed to do and I do it right and since I know that's where I'm good at, those are the roles I always assume. This role has only caused problems when no one assumes the role of a leader, because then there's no one to follow. There has been the rare occasion when I have to assume the role of a leader but I do not like it because I know I'm not good at it, and no not really I've always liked the roles I always take. My biggest concerns in a group project is that it doesn't get done the way it's supposed to get done just because some people may not assume the roles they should.

Southside, Chicago

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the southern part of the City of Chicago.

The South side of  Chicago is one of the major parts of the city's land area; it covers around 60% of it. The south side is 10known for having large cultural attractions. It is known for having a variety of people from poor to working class to affluent. [9][10] The reality is something else. The neighborhoods in the south side are infested with crime and gangs. The south side cover many neighborhoods, but one that especially is infested with violence is the neighborhood around 38th. That neighborhood, even though does have some places that are actually working on delivering help to the youth to prevent them from getting into gangs, there are other structures that are of really poor conditions which are creating more hangouts for crimes and gangs to happen.

There are many neighborhoods within the boundaries of the South side, including Hyde Park, Armour Square, Back of the Yards, Bridge Port, all of which are known to have more affluent citizens.[2] Without a doubt, though, the neighborhood around 38th is the worst of them.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Nathan Davis School

Nathan Davis School is an elementary school consisting of grades pre-k to the 8th grade. Although the school has been known for providing a good education to all of its students throughout the years since the , inauguration of the school about a 100 years ago, the reality is something else. The education system at this school just like at most other schools around the south side neighborhood is lacking and disapproving for the youth of today's society. The educational system now a days does not provide the proper instructor to these schools that will be responsible for the future of the youth that are starting an education. One of the basic mistakes that always happens in this school is that most teachers are not there to teach but simply just to receive a paycheck. There are teachers who do not care if the student understands the material, they consider "doing their job" if they get the student to do the homework and go to class. Educating the youth is a lot more than that. It's proving them with the porper education and motivation so they can feel the need to continue on with their education and eventually attend college. The school has a very poor security system, the kids can easily ditch school because their isn't a security guard at every door like their should be. Students are able to hang out outside of the school property after school hours, and that creates the bringing of gangs to the infest the school too. There are a few teachers who actually try to get their students somewhere in life, but if the educational system does not get fixed and if no ground rules are established to prevent the gang hangouts after school, then this neighborhood will only get worse.

Churches

Our Lady Of Fatima Church

The Churches in the neighborhood of 38th are actually a good example of institutions that are trying to make a change in the youth of the city of Chicago. Our lady of Fatima is an excellent example of an institution that is trying to make a change in today's youth. Volunteers at the Church know that regardless of the youth, the neighborhood is also infested with crime because of adults too but the youth are known to be the most problematic in this neighborhood, and they are tomorrow's future. They are the one's who can make a change to the South side. The Church is aware that many young people are involved in crimes and gangs due to lack of jobs in the neighborhood, lack of a good educational system that provides after school activities to keep young kids occupied and away from crime. Therefore, the churches of the South side do not intend to preach kids on what is good and what is bad. Their intention is to get kids involved in extracurricular activities to keep them busy and away from the dangers of the streets. They provide fun-filled charity events where young people are always interested in participating because it provides entertainment for them. The Church occasionally sponsors dances and fancy dinners at a reasonable price that gives all of its money to charity institutions and not only do they get the satisfaction of having helped someone, they get to have a great time doing something healthy like dancing, eating, and hanging out with the right crowd. Places like this is what the city of Chicago needs in order to pull young people out of the crime-infested streets.

[EDIT]

 

Doubts about our Community

As I'm investigating more about my community I have come to realize that there is a lot of things that I haven't thought about. I know the basic things that everyone knows and that is heard all over the news or on the internet. That the south side is a dangerous neighborhood, that there are a lot of gangs in it. There's always assaults, murders, disappearances and even robberies, and that most of that is all to blame on the gangs. I've also heard that our neighborhood is no longer safe at night because there's a lot of shootings also going around. However, what I don't know is why this all got to be this way. This neighborhood was not like this a few years ago and I would know since I've lived here for the past 15 years of my life. It was a lot safer back then and gangs were not that much of an issue and now that's all you hear about, and how kids are dying everyday because they are involved in them. Most of the times I wasn't close to the people that died but there was a case where a kid who was with me in the third grade and was murdered about four years later because he became involved in gangs, that one affected me more than other times because this time it had been someone that I had known that had been killed. Even though all of this has happened I have never really stopped to wonder why this neighborhood became this way? Why hasn't anyone tried to do anything to stop all these murders? Most of all I would like to know why haven't educators at school actually tried better to get kids out of any bad habits, like by involving them in activities that would take their minds off gangs and drugs? Why haven't parents put more attention to their kids and haven't tried better at getting them out of the dangerous path they are going down on? Not only that but, why haven't the proper authorities created more jobs to help this community? The number one cause I believe that this neighborhood became so dangerous is because truth is people have no money, and they are doing anything to seek it one way or another. So if officials know this, then why haven't they devoted more attention to this community? Instead of spending money on war, why haven't they spent it on schools and new jobs to be opened? The questions are simple but the responses can be numerous because no one really knows why anyone has not being able to make our community a better place to live in.

Our Community

The south side is the community where I live in Chicago. The basic things that I know about my neighborhood are the same one's that are the most heard all over Chicago. That the south side is infested with crime and with gangs that are to blame for the crime happening in the south side. That the families living there are mostly poorly resourced families that have to work all the time to have a piece of bread to their mouths. However, there is a lot more to the south side than I've heard about and even though Wikipedia also only gives a brief description about this community, it's a lot more information than the one I had about it. It is kind of an upsetting fact to admit since even though I wasn't born in the south side of Chicago, I have lived in this community since I was 4 years old. However, back in the 1990's, Chicago was somehow different than it is now, when I moved into this neighborhood it used to be a lot less dangerous than it is now. There would be no curfew's or people afraid to walk the streets at night because they were afraid to get attacked by gangs or any crazy people out there. It used to be a cleaner neighborhood too, less fights, and more freedom for the kids. Now, because of everything going on with these gangs, kids are not as free as before. Everyone has a curfew and it's not as easy to be outside as it was before. Wikipedia also states how the south side is mostly known for their gangs and their crimes. However, it specifies that it is not only made up of poor neighborhoods but of a working class, middle class, and upper-middle class. It also tells how the south side has some cultural and social offerings like professional sports teams, landmark buildings, museums, educational, and medical institutions, besides the CTA that also forms part of our community. Wikipedia talks about how the south side was founded and about its history and how it used to have a racial segregation. These are actually very interesting facts that I had never really paid any attention to about my neighborhood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Side,_Chicago

Our Neighborhoods

After doing some research about bad neighborhoods in Chicago, I found out that one way or another all of them are dangerous and people have to be careful in them. Most bad neighborhoods deal with crime, robberies, and assaults against not only criminals themselves but also innocent people. All of these bad neighborhoods according to my research are responsible for most crimes of the city due to the gangs in our neighborhoods.

My neighborhood is an example of a semi bad neighborhood, well actually it is a bad neighborhood because it is covered by gangs. To me sometimes it doesn't seem like it is such a bad neighborhood because I've lived here since I was four years old and I know most of the people that live around here so therefore sometimes I think that I shouldn't be afraid of the dangers that occur in my block. In reality though, there's been murders in my block just like in any block where gangs exist. I've been lucky that I haven't been through any specific danger, but that's because I try not to be out in the streets not doing anything not useful. What seems ironic in my block is that there are a lot of things that as I'm growing up, I'm finding out about my block. Like for instance, that if a gang banger is around, a car can't pass with his or her music blasting to full volume because gang banger's take that as an offense against them and can be at risk of getting killed. If someone drives too fast, that's something they do not like either. Truth is, our neighborhoods are completely unsafe because of the lack of liberty that gangs provide us with. Who would have known that driving too fast or blasting music is an offense against gang banger's. It's just too ridiculous.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Illinois/Chicago-777256/Warnings_or_Dangers-Chicago-Comm

Immigration

I read the article about Lake off and one about the immigration reform in Arizona. Reading these articles anger me because i do not like the way conservatives refer or frame immigrants. Just because they aren't born here and cross the border that makes them criminals now? They are desperate families looking for a better future, for a better like. How does that make someone a criminal? Anyone that wants to take care of their loved ones would do just about anything for them. These conservatives talk like that because they have no idea how it is to have to work everyday for so little pay. That's how it is in places like Mexico for instance. I've visited Mexico, in fact I have family over there and I get shocked when I see the amount of work they do and how little pay they receive. Some of the people over there work full time jobs everyday and yet get even less money than I do at my job working for less than twenty hours a week. If I complain about how much I get paid, I imagine how horrible it probably is to get paid how people in Mexico do and that's why families over there try to find something better out there, even if it means having to risk their lives for that, therefore it shouldn't make them look like criminals. I know some friends that are just my same age and are immigrants and have lived here since they were little girls. They pretty much always had the same rights as I did except when we started growing up, I'm able to go to college because I get financial aid help and it's not as easy for then to get help therefore they do not attend college and it makes me wonder, how are they different than me? How come I get all these benefits but they don't? It just doesn't seem right. Also, they aren't able to get a job so easily because they don't have papers. Framing is wrong because unless we are in a person's show we cant form a proper opinion because we do not know what it feels like to be in a situation like that.


The Link: http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2010/06/14/indian-tribes-oppose-new-immigration-law/

Strict vs. Nurturing

When I read Lakoff's article about the differences between a strict father model and the nurturing model parent, many examples came to my mind in terms of my own life and also other people in my family, or just what I see around.

Lakoff intends to explain that mostly in every family there is someone who is the strict parent and someone who is the nurturing parent. The strict parent is the one that usually sets the rules and wants things done his or her way. In most cases, it's the father in the family that is the strict parent, in other cases it happens to be the mother. The strict parent can be the one that sometimes we might be afraid just because they show so much authority that we feel like we have to obey all the time and if we do something wrong we are scared or worried about the consequences.

The nurturing parent is a whole different story. It does not mean that the nurturing parent is not respected or obeyed, it just means that as kids it's easier to be less obedient with the nurturing parent because that parent is not as strict and can be a lot more forgiving than the strict parent.

In my case, it kind of goes both ways because, my situation changes constantly. Both my parents have a side of strictness and also of nurturing parents. When I was very small, I've been told that I was very attached to my mom, and I don't really know why since my dad spoiled me more than she did because my brothers came along and she had her hands full; she had to be equal with all of us. I guess it's because at the age of two to five years old it's normal to want to be around the mother more. When I was older, but still a kid, I started wanting to be around my dad a lot more, simply because since I'm the only girl he spoiled me a lot more than he did the boys. In a childish kind of way, I knew how to bribe my dad to get what I wanted, and with my mom that was impossible to do and she was stricter with me than he was. However, I was also very afraid my dad because even though he spoiled me, he was also very strict and wanted things done his way, I wasn't scared of my mom even though she wanted to be obeyed too because she was a little bit more lenient when it came to punishment . When I was small, I didn't really have a problem with that though. However, when I reached my teenage years, I started considering my mom the nurturing mother more just because she's a girl and she understands the issues that start to show up as teenagers, like when it came to boys for instance. My dad could be a really hard head when it came to stuff like that, he simply didn't understand, and wanted me to pay attention to stuff that actually mattered like my education, so I saw him later on more as the strict figure.

Now that I'm older I realize that the mother is always the most nurturing one because even though she didn't spoil me as much as my dad, she's always the one that worried about my health, if I eat everyday, she worried about us being home, not out onto the streets till late. My dad didn't really do any of that, I know he cares but he's not the one staying up late at night if any of us is sick or worrying about us eating everyday. I have to admit his strictness along with personal experiences made me a strong, independent woman. My mom taught me to care about my family, she showed me the responsibilities of being a mother so if one day I were to have a baby of my own, I would know how to take care of my family.

Points of View

I read the article about the air racing events that go on every September and about the accident that happened on one of those events. The article says that one of the planes crashed killing the pilot and eight spectators that were in the very front seats where the plane landed after it crashed. A lot of people were injured in this incident and among the witnesses there are those that explain how the horrifying event happened but no one can actually explain what caused the plane to crash. The speculations begin and people start suggesting some reasons as to why the plane probably crashed. What is portrayed in this article that I didn't agree with is that some people begin suggesting that maybe it was the pilot's fault because of his age. They begin believing that because of his age he might have had some health problem that might have stopped him from doing his job right. I do not agree with this because from the article it is also stated that the man had perfect health conditions and that he has been doing this for a long time, therefore he knew what he was doing. Truth is, like any other accident that happens, no one is absolutely sure why they happen, the causes can be numerous. It could have easily been something wrong with the plane itself. However, I can understand why the investigators of the crash might think of the pilot's age as a possibility for him not being able to control the plane and use that as one of the possible causes of the crash. When events like this happen, it is easy to blame the person who was in control and not the plane itself. That's why I believe for those who wrote the article it seemed like a likely possibility to blame the pilot and his age for losing control of the plane even though they also agree that there could be other possibilities for the reasons of the crash, as stated, with cases like this, some may never know.

The link to the article is : http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/18/scene-deadly-reno-air-race-crash-shows-planes-missile-like-impact/

Links

Here are my links:

http://mluna-liveyourdreams.blogspot.com/2011/08/1st-blog.html?showComment=1316239175560#c6621137350539584843


http://tchurley216.blogspot.com/2011/09/work-is-just-that-workblog-assignment-2.html?showComment=1316240015069#c8095242834522671279

Frames upon frames

All the articles in our group's packet were mainly attempted to frame violence. Every article that we read discussed nothing but about the violence that exists in Chicago and how many offered some solutions to try to minimize it but nothing really seemed to work. Frames were built implying that especially teens were the reason for so much violence that has been happening. Poverty was also another frame that was portrayed because it was basically implied that poverty was the main cause of violence among teens, and that the development of new laws to prevent so much crime were needed. There was a lot mentioned about African American neighborhoods about being the worst when it comes to violence and that is kind of a stereotype because in Chicago every race is in a way involved with crime, not just African Americans. The way that both of these articles try to offer the truth in a different way is by attempting to come up with solutions to eliminate the violence in the city with no such luck, because if the reason for violence is poverty then that is what has to be changed. More availability on jobs is absolutely necessary, because the lack of good jobs is what is making teens turn the wrong way. Some of the articles however, spoke in resignation as if there was really nothing to do when it came to crime in Chicago and they try to develop their same truth by showing how the city is not really doing much to stop all these crimes happening. These articles actually make sense since violence is something of concern today, it also makes sense that crime in the city is a lot more overrated than it is in the suburbs and that's because violence is not as common in the suburbs so it's a lot more shocking when it happens in places that are not as busy as the city streets. These frames reflect differences in power in the way that the less power someone has the more dangerous that person can be to a society because they are those who are trying to seek a better life by making other mistakes. Whether someone that actually has a lot of power and should have the ability to make the city a better place doesn't really do it because it doesn't affect them directly since they aren't those that are going through the poverty that other's are going through and which is causing the outrage among youth.

Framing

It is not clear what were the intentions of the network by editing this video. It does seem kind of racist because they were advertising this like if the boy wanted the gun to be a murderer. They referred to that as "scary". However, like the person that posted the video up in youtube it is "scary" that there is people out there that are trying to frame little kids who are just growing up and don't even know exactly what is going on around them. It is true, an environment influences a lot the way a person acts towards other people or things, but that little boy clearly stated that he wanted the gun because he was going to be a policeman and he wasn't scared maybe because he felt he would be able to protect people by being a policeman and having a gun. This video is a re-framing of what really happened because it's as if the network is trying to make like boy look like a future murderer, because of course when someone hears a 4-yr old boy say he is going to have a gun when he grows up, that person will immediately think wrong. This video does portray some wrong stereotyping because it provokes the viewers to think that only because it's an African American boy, the network edited this video to make African American people look like they are abusive since childhood. The last part of the interview that was cut off works against the stereotype because the guy posting the video shows that what is in reality scary is that there's people out there that would go through such extremes as making an innocent boy sound like a future murderer. If I were to write my own version of this story, it would be concentrating on how of course its damaging for a kid that age to experience an event like that but they can  be given the proper guidance so that they don't grow up wanting to be murderers or anything that will screw up their lives. For readers or viewers the frame that I would be trying to make would be about understanding the danger that especially children go through because of the shocking events that they witness as they are growing up but that there is something that we can do to prevent anything from shocking children and marking them for life.

The significance of work

When it comes to the term work, I have several different reactions that have changed throughout my life. Back in elementary school I wasn't really good at doing school work nor homework. It's not that I didn't want to do it, it's just that I had a really hard time concentrating on what I was doing, I'm guessing because work didn't really mean much to me then. As I grew up though, I started trying harder especially on school work, I always wanted to get my things done and have them done the right way. I would still slack a little when it came to homework because again I would devote my attention to other things. However, in high school homework and school work all became very important to me, that's what I would be doing most of the time. I wanted to set my future straight and I know in order to do that I had to work very hard in each course. After graduating high school, I got a job to help pay for college and for my own necessities and of course it was a new type of work that I had to get adjusted to. So now I deal with three types of work, school work, homework, and work in general. Dealing with the three of them at the same time can be very stressing but I take it very seriously because all the work will make me the person I'll be the day of tomorrow. They are different types of work but all of this is work nonetheless and it has to be dealt with the same way. When I imagine someone working, I picture someone doing all in their hands to get their job done the right way without slacking off and having responsibility to do things right. This image makes me feel that people actually take their responsibility seriously and that we can all work together for a better life. The reason why I now feel so strong about work is because I've witnessed all my life how my parents works everyday just to give my brother's and I a better future. Working has actually made me a responsible person with a strong attitude towards life. When I think about work, I also think of responsibility, commitment, patience, and of course strength. This suggests that our brains relate certain terms to others because one way or another they are all connected. Most likely other social classes think about work very differently. For instance, wealthier people might not see it as much as a necessity as those with fewer resources, therefore, they might not take it as seriously. I could think of work as an imprisonment, as something preventing me from having nothing to do at all, but that wouldn't be a more productive way of thinking simply because it would lead me nowhere in life.

ways of education

Elementary school and high school were actually very different for me. As I started out in elementary at first when I was smaller, I can be more compared to the lowest level of class education because my teachers didn't really show an effort in teaching the class. They were more concerned with giving us orders, and disrespecting us as students than teaching us the material. Therefore, I didn't really show an interest in school at first. I was kind of a bad student. Most of the time I would not really pay a lot of attention because simply the teacher wouldn't do anything to try to gain it. However, as I reached the sixth grade and so forth, I had an amazing teacher that actually respected us as students and more importantly didn't tell us what to do all the time, she would still give us instructions but she would state the purpose behind her directions. She was committed to teaching her class so those years can be compared to more like middle class school. High school was a whole different situation for me. I enrolled in honor and AP classes therefore everything was so much more difficult, but it was like the elite school because our teachers were strict yes but they explained the material correctly and let us make our own decisions on what would be the best fitted answer; these classes made me think a lot. I can truly say that those teachers that were actually committed to my learning are the instructors that influenced me on becoming someone independent that seeks a better education and wants to be someone in life. Thanks to those teachers I can stop spacing out and I can actually concentrate on my reading and writing and do a decent job on it. The schools' system in the U.S is kind of messed up because now a days everyone wants to be a teacher but they do not really have the passion for it. It should be more than a job to them, it should be what they love to do. Thanks to the encouragement of my latest teachers I'm prepared to conquer the world if necessary. I determined to work very hard to reach all of my goals, therefore I'm taking on a world full of challenges.