Reflection Weeks 8-15

The second half of the semester was just as fulfilling, thought provoking, and behavior changing as the first half of the semester. There were many activities that we did that I was able to take a lot from.

Web Groups & Share and Voice
This activity we did taught me a lot. We switched web groups up this semester, and I was able to learn a lot from three new people, and all of the different things they learned I was able to learn a lot from. I was really fond of Cole, Niki J, and Shelby, and all that they were able to teach me. Every week I took something different from them, whether it was Cole's great recycling ideas, Niki's advocacy for clean water, Shelby's great input on recycling, I really enjoyed having these people in my web group this second half. After all of these different share and voices were done I learned how to hook up to a linky party. This was awesome to be able to see what everyone else in class was doing as well. I was able to easily locate this, and explore from there. I had never learned how to do this until we did it in class, I really enjoyed the linky parties!

Junk Project
Whenever I had trash, or something that I thought I could not use anymore I would just simply throw it away. However, I learned that just because you think something is broken if you actually take a moment you can see all that it really can be, and nothing is really junk. I was able to take an old mirror that I thought was broken, and turn it into an earring tray, or even a candy tray, or serving dish. I now find myself looking at everything in my house and thinking of a ton of different uses that I could turn it into. I have learned to look at my "junk" differently, and find different uses for me. My classmates had so many cool ideas that I found really aspiring, and I am excited to redecorate my house now from this project. I really did learn that what is someone elses garbage really is someone elses treasure.

Advocacy Projects
After doing all of these different advocacy projects I really learned  a lot. It was not until I actually did these assignments that I even knew who represented me, or anything about them. I learned who actually represents me area, and all the different bills that are trying to be passed, and how difficult it actually is to get a bill to pass, and make it all of the way through, no matter how good it is. I liked looking at the one I did in regards to making less air pollution, because we are all the ones who are affected by this. I learned a lot more about politics that I ever have before, which was something I never took an interest in before. I also learned what it meant to actually advocate for something, and truly be apart and have an impact on an issue, or idea. This was something I had never known or learned before.

My Own Blog
I have learned a lot about blogging in general. Even though at first I was a bit frustrated with the whole blogging idea as I had never used it before, and was a bit overwhelmed I have come to learn that it really is a great tool that is very beneficial. I learned how to put my own ideas, view others, and comment on them to actually learn what they are saying while offering my own input. I believe blogging is a great way to interact and learn from other people as well.

Final Thoughts
During this second half of the semester I have learned so much in regards to blogging, being environmentally friendly, simple ways to change my behaviors, and that everything we do has some kind of consequence, and that if we really want to change we can. I learned so much from all of the different share and voices about where to shop, food labels, recipes, books, and many more things. I have created a list of everything I want to experiment and learn about. This really was a very beneficial class that I learned so much from that I am going to use for the rest of my habits. I have so many new, improved behavior habits that I am really proud and happy about.