Learning Profile

Many of the themes that we have learned about and review over this semester have a great deal in common. We did activities to improve test taking skills, reading skills, academic honesty, our academic plan, community service to help others, and time management. These all make our lives easier and are very beneficial for our futures. Students don’t always know how to improve on these skills and have no one to ask for assistance. Our Student Connect book had outlines of many different topics that improve learning, as well as ones character and values. Students can all relate to these topics and need assistance at one point or another in their college career. The theme is bettering us all as individuals and as a group of young people. By bettering the students we are bettering Butler County Community College and the colleges that we chose to attend after Butler. We are bettering the work forces that certain student may choose as a career and we can improve others lives in the future. You wouldn’t think that a Student Connect book at a junior college could change some ones life but every little thing helps and these skills help us become great people, as well as great leaders.
Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses. We are all good at some subjects and topics more than others which is normal and perfectly okay. As a learner I believe that I am stronger in the reading area. I enjoy reading many types of books and articles. I love non-fiction articles and books to learn about truth but I also enjoy fiction to see what others come up with and think and feel. We did multiple class activities where we were asked questions and then got a chance to respond and discuss this with the other student in class, as well as the instructor. These activities made class interesting and exciting. It was not just a lecture. We could interact and share our ideas. This makes learning enjoyable and is much easier for me. If a new student was to attend this class I would suggest not to just hurry through the daily activities as if they were nothing, but to really concentrate and try to get the most out of them. Learning can be a fun experience if you let it. We get out of things what we put into them.
As a learner, I have several weaknesses. First, that I don’t always manage my time. I tend to put assignment off because I get caught up in work or other things. I saw other student that kept up with their work and prioritized and it really made me want to become more organized and improve my time management skills. As far a courses in school, I would say that my weakness is in the math department. Math has never made sense to me no matter how hard I try to understand it. The numbers seem to be a blur to me and the problems get longer and harder as the class goes on. I am still trying to find a strategy to help me with this and improve my grade in this area. If I took a similar course in the future I would try to interact more with the students in that course and discuss more political and social issues. This would be another way to learn because everyone views these issues differently. I would also communicate with the instructor on a more regular basis to improve my knowledge about the course. This would make it easier as well as more enjoyable for myself as an individual.
When I found out that Student Connect was necessary for me to graduate from Butler, I was not thrilled. I thought it would just take up time and that I would not benefit anything from this course. As I continued this course and am now reaching the end I realized that it is much more than it is made out to be. I learned many skills that I will take with me throughout the rest of my college experience and in my career in later years. I have learned that the little skills that we learned in grade school and in middle school are skills that we carry with us all the way through college. I learned how to better myself and improve my reading skills and my time management. These will both be very important in years to come. In my career of elementary education I will be teaching these same skills to my students and can remember what this class had to offer and the way that our instructor taught us. I think that the next semester at Butler will be much easier because of what I learned in Student Connect.
As I said earlier, the class consisted of activities that involved everyone in the class could get involved. In many other classes that I have taken student just sat in the class and listened to lecture, not having a chance to express their feelings towards the subjects we were learning. These activities made me feel as though we were all of equal importance and that our instructor wanted the best for us in our school work and as people in general. One specific activity I remember doing involved note cards that asked us all questions about personal situations that we preferred compared to another. For example, if we preferred pro-life over pro-choice we moved to the right and if we chose pro-choice over pro-life we stepped to the left. Everyone could learn about each other in the activity and we could express ourselves. We also did exercises on the laptop that challenged out reading skills and this could show us where we were at and what we needed to improve on. I don’t recall an activity in this course that I did not find beneficial. All of the things that we did we relevant and meaningful to me and I would not change a thing about this orientation class.
This course was a great experience for me and I would not change anything. The instructor was very interested in the students as individuals and chose activities that she thought would be interesting and enjoyable to us. This is one class in my lifetime that I have really related to and was totally productive. The course worked well and seemed to be productive to almost all of the student who attended. The work was evaluated in a very handy way. We used a syllabus to give daily participation points and to check attendance. We had several questions each class period on the back of our syllabus that reflected our thoughts about what we discussed on the certain day. This kept our memory fresh on what we had learned. The rest of our assignments were posted on out blog which is easy for the students and the teacher as well. If there was one thing that could be added to this class I would have the president of Butler County Community College come talk to our class and discuss college resources or issues that we might want to know about. This would show even more personal interaction.
For those who may take this course in the future I would suggest that they come to class as much as possible so they don’t get behind on assignments and can connect with other students and the instructor. Being connected is what this class is all about. The course is not hard. It is here for us to help students learn about the college and learn skills that will we need to know for along time. It is an easy going course but do not forget to do any of the major topic assignments. These are simple yet extremely important to succeed in Student Connect.. We learned how to create a blog and we stayed connected through this entire semester using this to post out assignments. Make sure to frequently check your pipeline because that is that main source of communication for this class. The instructor is definitely here to help so feel free to ask her any questions.
This class was a very laid back environment and helped me to learn better than the normal classroom environment. The instructor explained things very well and was very understanding if we had to miss an occasional class. Now that I have learned about these skills and knowledge I am a lot more responsible and feel that I can do much more on my own and to help myself. I feel that I also know more about diversity and other peoples point of view. This will be just as beneficial in life as the skills we learned because dealing with people is such an important thing in todays world. The instructor did a great job of using lessons and experiences she has dealt with when explaining things that we were learning and talking about in class. When you hear examples it is always easier to understand and relate to people. I have learned new ideas that involve dealing with people, which will be helpful in group projects and for career opportunities and studying habits which are useful to me right now as I am going through college. This is a great class to take and you learn so much in such a short time. I have really enjoyed this course and hope I can take another class similar to this where the instructor is as willing to help and the information is as helpful. This has been a great experience and I think it will help me a great deal.

Academic Plan

This fall semester I am currently taking Student Connect, Art Appreciation, College Algebra, Biology lecture and Biology lab. This consist of 14 credit hours. Before attending Butler County Community College I took night classes through another junior college and received 21 credit hours. In the upcoming spring semester at Butler I plan on taking my US History, physical education, child developement, and Music Appreciation. As of now I do not plan on taking any classes for a summer semester. My 3rd semester at Butler will consist of several electives and of child developement classes need for my major. I am almost done with my general education classes and will continue schooling by going into a program to receive my bachelors degree in elementary education. I want to attend Butler for 2 years and then transfer to Kansas State University. I will later student teach, hopefully somewhere close to Manhattan, Kansas and be able to start my career after that. I am interested in teach the 1st or 2nd grade levels. I have been interested in this profession for some time now and hope to succeed and help others along the way.

Academic Honesty

One of the most common forms of cheating is plagiarism, using another's words or ideas without proper citation. When students plagiarize, they usually do so in one of these way. The first is using another persons words without Borrowing someone elses paper or outline for a paper or presentation is cheating and plagiarism as well. Using sites online that has papers already written is continuation of this form of cheating.
I think that many students resort to academic dishonesty because they are insecure about there own work. This is only hurting them worse in the long run because they will never learn how to write a paper or express their own ideas. Even if you get away with cheated for a certain amount of time, it will catch up with you in the end.
Several ideas for keeping academic honesty is always citing your sources, use quotations around another persons work and not claiming it as your own.
Browse on websites and learn from that information. Exit out of those websites before you write a paper so you aren't tempted to use their words on your assignment. This will help you learn about your topic yet express your own views and ideas.
Students should study about academic honesty to help benefit themselves throughout high school and college. This is one of the most important things someone can learn and keep throughout their life.

Time Management

Time management can be a complicated thing, especially in college. You have to figure out what scheduling works best for you. Time management can take practice and you might even need some guidence along the way.
If you manage you time poorly this leads to stress and possibly unplanned problems.
To manage your time properly, you need to set a goal and know how to achieve it. Time managent is beneficial for you as an individual as well as the people you work with and associate with. This gives you felxability to do the things that are most important to you.
I am attending school full time as well as working 6 days a week. I have decided to take off several more days a week because my schedule has been hectic. My time management skills were not the best. I didn't have near enough time to study and I had no social life. I enjoy working and the money but I need to have a balance between the activities that I participate in. I keep a planner and write out my plans for the upcoming week.
In high school it seemed easier to manage my time because I had my parents there to help me. College has been a big step and I am still getting used to managing my time on my own and in the proper manner.

Community Service

Sexual Abuse is defined as undesired sexual acts of one person to another. There are three different types of sexual abuse: Non-consensual, forced physical sexual behavior such as rape or sexual assult, psychological forms of abuse, such as verbal sexual behavior or stalking, and The use of a position of trust for sexual purposes. There are many signs of sexual abuse. For example, unexplained injuries, torn or stained clothing or underwear, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), unexplained behavioral problems, depression, self abuse and/or suicidal behavior Drug and/or alcohol abuse, sudden loss of interest in sexual activity, or sudden increase of sexual behavior. If you notice these behaviors in someone, sexual abuse might be the problem.
I believe that sexual abuse is becoming a bigger problem in todays world. People take advantage of others and don't seem to have a conscience about the bad things they are doing. Being sexually abused is an extreme trauma and can change someones life forever. If there was a way to change the occurance of sexual abuse I would go to extreme measures to do so. If men are the abusers then something might be missing in their lives, such as a role model or loving parent. There is a program that can help called Coaching Boys to Men. This is shown to help show them morals and respect others.
In local areas we need to make people aware that this type of abuse is taking place in our comminity. If others are aware we will be more able to help. A support group can take place and think of idea to prevent sexual abuse.
No one should be afraid to report sexual abuse. There are many hotlines and website out there today to help!

Coping with change

In July I moved here to El Dorado in an apartment by myself. This was change alone because I had never been on my own before. I began workin two jobs and attending classes at Butler. This was very time consuming. I was also paying all my own bills, cleaning my apartment, and covering extra expenses on my own. Some people would think of this as stressful but I look at it as becoming a better person. I want to work hard and achieve things on my own, as a student and as a person.
Change can be very difficult because you have to cope and get used to something new. If you are used to a certain lifestyle and it suddenly changes it can cause alot of stress. Change is not always bad though. Change is necessary for everyone. It is a part of growing up and accepting responsibilty.
In high school, it is easy to get by doing things half heartedly but in colloege there is a whole new aspect on things. You must study alot more and there is must more responsibilty. Diversity is another aspect. There are so many new people with different views on life. This is why change is a great thing! Emotional and physical changes are natural and healthy. Everyone experiences them when they start doing important things in life for themself.
I personally like change and initiate it whenever I get the opportunity to do so. Change is so important is todays world and I have a very positive experience with it so far.

Butler Resources

This happens to many teenage girls and statistics show that the percent of unplanned pregnancies has increased in the past ten years. There are several options that a young woman can choose from: Raising the baby, adoption, and abortion. No one can make that choice but yourself, maybe based on religious beliefs or family morals. The websited down below have much more information and can show options and choices for a teen pregnancy. Here at Butler there is a day care which financial aid can help you pay for and many adults who can help a student in a crisis like this. If you think you are pregnant there is a free pregnancy testing here in El Dorado, Ks and you should definately check it out. There are also lists all over the web that have good diets and excersise for pregnant women. These will be very useful. I hope this blog and the websites can be of use to you.