Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hello All,

This week has been intense. I already have started writing I have about 10 pages but I am having difficulty structuring my paper. For example, do I define bullying first ? Do I give a literature review first? Do I explain what is the problem and why we should care first ? Then I stop and I try to collaborate it all into one big intertwined piece where different paragraphs reference each other. I don’t know I have always had trouble with this part of writing projects.  I am now organizing my presentation for tomorrow, I still have alot of work to do, its overwhelming but I do have my argument, reasons and evidence down so that puts me at ease. I still am unsure about my counterargument I have a few and Im unsure which one I want to choose I want to make sure that I stay within 10 minutes so I will begin rehearsing that now. I just realized we only have two classes (excluding the last class)so its crunch time!

Hello All,

I have to admit I’m completely exhausted from writing the annotated bibliography’s  I have always found that to be one of the most challenging in any research class because of the deep analysis that is required for it. As intense as the past week was, the assignment really clarified many concepts up for me. Also, the past few days while I was going over some of my sociology papers from previous semesters , I came across a few sociological theories that are perfect in strengthening my article and really putting things into perspective. To my surprise I found some incredible articles that analyze bullying through these specific theories.

To be honest, I have not even started to work on my presentation. I only have my ideas, which I still have not organized . I will make an appointment tonight with the writing center to begin working on  organizing it. I think once I get the paper started (tomorrow) I will have a better idea of how I want to present. right now I have a bunch of scribbles on a bunch of papers as well as a notebook full of my own thoughts and analysis but now its time to put the pieces together.

Hello all,

I hope everyone is doing well after this stressful week. The sources I reviewed this weekend seem to present similar arguments regarding the relationship between social policy expenditures  and regime type.  According to Tor Jacobsen, written in the study ” “Welfare Attitudes and Social Expenditure: Do Regimes Shape ?” Attitudes are often rooted in value structures and the value structures are influences by national contexts, like regime institutions.(Liberal, Conservative and Social-Democratic) Leftist attitudes are   synonymous with opinions that are pro collectivism,and favorable of state responsibility and equality of incomes. Rightist s attitudes on the other hand, are characterized  by a preference for individualistic values and income differences and a more negative stances toward government intervention.

See  you all tomorrow

In working to develop an argument that propels a greater discussion around effective methods toward increasing retention within community colleges, I have directed my study toward the effectiveness of career-focused or vocation programs in community colleges. According to “Pathways to Prosperity Project” at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 30 percent of African Americans and 20 percent of Latinos in their mid-20s have earned an associate’s degree meanwhile a growing percentage of jobs are expected to require a postsecondary education. Providing students with a quality education and driving college completion has become a national imperative. Efforts made include summer bridge programs, monitored progress and creation of a tracking system, learning communities, mentorship programs, and college affordability initiatives among many others. Yet career focused programs are exhibiting success both in terms of retention and expectations, where students are transferring to four-year colleges in higher percentages. Elena Nitecki in “The Power of the Program: How the Academic Program Can Improve Community College Student Success explores two career focused program that have successfully raised retention in an urban community college that has been been ranked for having “some of the lowest community college retention rates in the state” (Nitecki, The Power of the Program: How the Academic Program Can Improve Community College Student Success, 2011). The value presented resides within experiential learning, which has been shown to elevate college expectation among high school students. The vocational programs created a strong culture of preparation and support that center on the specif profession track and provided students with consistent exposure. My argument is focused on supporting the effectiveness of vocation program in raising graduation and transfer rates, given careful attention to implementation measure and experiential learning.