Effective Page Design

Page design is important when it comes to professional documents.  The design is the first thing that a person notices when looking at a document.  Designs give an impression of the document before it is read.  A document that is clean and sharp exudes professionalism.  Documents that are bold and colorful  can give the come off as informal.  If the content of a document contains important information such as financial records or employee notices, it should not be designed like a birthday party flyer.  The design should complement the message that the author is trying to convey.

Furthermore, poor design could lead to the document being discarded before it is read.  The design of a document should draw people into it.  Designs should be appealing to the eye, not gaudy.  I think an individuals personality comes through when he or she designs anything.  Mood can be expressed via color, while attitude can be expressed through content.  Impression is an important concept when it comes to page design.  Even if the author doesn't intend to show his or her personality in a document, the readers of the document will make assumptions based on what they see.

Habitat For Humanity

Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 and has charged to the fore front of creating solutions for worldwide poverty.  Before becoming an established non-profit organization, Habitat for Humanity was just a small concept that was being practiced by Clarence Jones and Millard and Linda Fuller on a small farm in Americus, Georgia.

They began building homes at no-profit, no interest, for people who disparately needed them.  Monies and supplies are raised and donated by supporters.  Any leftover monies and materials went toward the building of the future houses.

Today, through the collaboration of Habitat for Humanity, churches, and community groups, over 500,000 houses for over 1.5 million people in ninety countries worldwide.

In this service learning project, we are helping to spread the message and mission of Habitat for Humanity.  Relaying their message to the public creates awareness, and with awareness we can rally more support.  It is said that many hands make light work.  Respectively, Habitat for Humanity has been working with relatively few hands.  The services that the class is providing for Habitat for Humanity aims to bring more hands to to the work that is being done.

Collaboration Annotated Bibliography

 

Dubner, S. J. (2005, July 5). How Did This Collaboration Work? Retrieved from Freakonomics: http://www.freakonomics.com/2005/07/12/how-did-this-collaboration-work/

Stephen Dubnar talks about how he and fellow Freakonomics co-host Steven Levitt collaborate in order to provide an interesting look at some of life’s nuances that we take for granted.  Mr. Dubnar is a journalist, while Mr. Levitt, is an economist.  This article describes how the two blended their respective professions to create not only one, but two, best-selling books.

Eustice, K. (2012, October 20). Exploring student collaboration in schools - live chat. The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/2012/oct/20/student-collaboration-teachers-schools-live-chat

This article from The Guardian looks at how teachers and student are collaborating to make learning more effective.  I think this article poses an interesting question.  Do students learn more if they actively participate in the academic structuring of a classroom?

TED. (n.d.). Collaboration. Retrieved March 18, 2013, from TED: Ideas Worth Spreading: http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/name/collaboration/page/1

This is one of my favorite websites.  It contains brief and engaging speeches about a wide variety of topics.  Listed here are nearly sixty short, compelling talks on collaboration, filmed live at the TED Conference.  They feature experts from all industries, sharing their work in 18 minutes or less.

Service Learning Annotated Bibliography

Birdsal, J. A. (2003). Community Voice: Community Partners Reflect on Service Learning. Butte College, Career & Employment Services. Retrieved from http://www.mesacc.edu/other/engagement/Journal/Issue5/Birdsall.pdf

This report looks at the benefits of service learning.  It evaluates its effects on the community, organizations, and individual participants.  The report attempts to improve the service learning process through reflection and evaluation.

Cohen, S. W. (2013). Without Limits-National Youth Leadership Council. Denver. Retrieved from http://servicelearningconference.org/2013/

In March of 2013, there will be a National Service Learning Conference in Denver, CO.  The purpose of this conference is to help teachers, administrators, and students explore the benefits and social impacts that service learning can provide.  The message is that real change can come to fruition through service learning

Eby, J. W. (1998). Why Service-Learning Is Bad. Messiah College, Sociology. Retrieved from http://www.greatlakesed.net/Resources/documents/WhyServiceLearningIsBad.pdf

This report addresses how service learning, while generally beneficial, can give inadequate conceptions on needs and service.  Overall, service learning can only make an impact if it is practiced in a focused and efficient manner.

Mistretta, E. (2012, March 11). Service learning helps elementary students see ‘big picture’. Chicago Daily Herald. Retrieved from http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120311/news/703119898/?interstitial=1

This article in the Daily Herald focuses on a school district in Chicago that starts student on a path of service learning at an early age.  Students start as early as kindergarten by participating in food drives.  This continues into middle school, through high school, and ultimately for the rest of their adult lives.

Service Learning Experience

My initial understanding of the service learning project was that we would be providing a quasi-charity service for an organization within the community.  Now that we have progressed into the bulk of the service, I am beginning to see the benefits that we are providing for an organization whose main objective is to help others.  It is a circle of paying it forward.  The skills that we possess as a class are extremely valuable to an organization like Habitat for Humanity

I expected to do some work that would be of little significance.  I thought that our labor would do more to lighten the load of work that the organizations have.  After having a chance to review the organizations current documents, research their cause, and visit the ReStore, I see many ways that we can, and are, helping to project their cause into the lives of the people who need their help.

I was afraid the work we do would be rejected by the organizations that we were trying to help.  After seeing some of our finished products, it is obvious that we possess the skill set to create quality, professional documents.

Proposals

Proposal letters are used to address many forms of audiences.  The one thing that these audiences will have in common is that they will have some general authority over a procedure, project, plan. or situation.  The purpose of a proposal is to promote an agenda regarding the body of work that the audience has control over.  A strong proposal will be able to influence this audience to consider you or your suggestions for future implementation.  This could include improvements to a city park, reworking company safety policy for better efficiency, or higher quality meals from a school/university cafeteria. Anyone who submits a proposal to an audience must be ready to persuade that audience to buy into the content to his or her proposal.  Furthermore, a proposal should be adaptable for adjustments.  By this I mean that the proposal should have room for tweaking to the audiences specific needs before an agreement is made.  The proposal should be complete before it is submitted, however the submitter should anticipate potential changes that the audience may want to make at the last minute.

In 2009, two friends and I submitted a proposal to the Chesaning City Parks Committee.  Our proposal was unsolicited, and addressed the installation of an eighteen hole disc golf course in Showboat Park.  The course would be complete with  eighteen baskets with two placements for each hole, long and short tee boxes for each hole, and proper signage to aide navigation around the course.  Our proposal included a time frame, background information about the game, benefits for the local economy, and paperwork outlining the exact cost of material beforehand.  The labor would be provided by local clubs and the total project would be complete within two weeks.  In the end, our proposal was declined, and in 2011 the city installed a nine hole course without the guidance of experienced players.  Because the city decided to use its park maintenance crew instead of knowledgeable players, it remains the most underplayed and poorly designed course in Saginaw County.

In my personal opinion, our proposal was the ultimate proposal.  It had all the key elements of a successful proposal such as cost, time frame, economical impact, social impact, design, testimonial from other city park committees, and growth trends of the game itself.  In the end, I believe that our proposal was more than the committee was ready to hear.  Due to the fact that it was unsolicited, the city was not necessarily looking to expand on the functionality of its park.  Several years later, the idea had  found its way to the park's budget.  Unfortunately the installation was done in house.

Professional Language and Culture Annotated Bibliography II

lawschooladviceguy. (2011, November 8). Law School Advice 1: Is Law School Hard? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=lGmaeW3x6UI

In this video blog, Lawschooladviceguy talks about the difficulty of law school.  He doesn't drone on about the material or the amount of work that must be done.  Instead he talks about the differences between undergraduate study and law school study.  In particular he describes how undergraduate work involves regurgitation of information and affirmation of direction.  Whereas law school involves application of information and discerning the application on your own perception of right and wrong, this is often difficult for some students.

Legal, T. R. (2011, August 18). Welcome to Law School: The One Thing a New Student Needs to Know About Law School. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF13ATz-DBc

This video short contains a compilation of students, advisors, and professors giving advice and insight to L1 students.  The advice is often contradictory.  This suggests that everyone experiences law school differently.  However, there is a common theme expressed by all interviewees, and that is the importance of balance.

UVALawSchool. (2009, October 29). A Day in the Life of a 1L Student. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=risHT_ccvWM

Here we follow a L1 student for a day of class, studying, and recreation.  It gives a brief experience of what a prospective student may encounter while making his or her way through a regular day during a semester.