The best way for students to actually start doing homework is to start paying them! The founder and CEO of Mathspace Mohamad Jebara in his TED talk “This company pays kids to do their math homework” , suggest that the best way to get students to do homework is through a money incentive. Jebara supports this claim by narrating his once personal struggle with math and how he found a new appreciation for it, he then provides statistics of how many high school students struggle and don’t follow through. His purpose is to improve student engagement with mathematics in order to change the decline of students who aren’t understanding the subject. He establishes a friendly, informal relationship with his audience at his TED talk and for anyone who watches it. Jebara’s point that he is trying to convey is…

• I am a writer who can listen well

• I am a writer who can use imagery in my writing so my audience can visualize

• I am a writer who works diligently to make sure my work sounds good and is acceptable

• I am a writer that accepts other peoples views and won’t backlash anyone in my writing

These are the strengths I have in writing but I believe I over use these qualities of mine. I am hoping I can add to this list and become a better writer.

Q: What type of content are your top three posts (or most recent) on your timeline? Is this pretty typical for your timeline? What kinds of social groups/communities are you a part of? Compare what you see with what your peers see. Are there more similarities or differences?

A: The top 3 posts on my Instagram are ESPN’s post about the FIBA World cup. Followed by a friend who posted a picture of himself in a joyous mood. Finally my last post was a meme from a meme page. This is a good summary of my timeline since this is what usually entertains me. One similarity I had with a person from my group, we both had sports related content in our feed. Another person in my group also had a picture of her friend on her timeline. The difference was her friend was not in as much of a good mood as mine.

Q: What is the relationship between what you see in your social media timeline and what you know or believe?

A: Social Media does educate me a lot on what is going on in the modern day. When I follow reliable news sources I do believe I am learning a lot from those sources. However, whenever I do see something offensive or questionable, I either shy away from the report or look for other sources to confirm.

Q: How does your social presence compare with the professional/student biography that you created?

A: My biography gives an outside look into who I am, but it does tell a lot about me and where my priorities are at. There is a little bit more to me when I am a more social person.

Q: Where do you find examples of bias in your social media timelines?

A: I do not see much, but it may be just because I tend to agree or believe a lot of the sources on my timeline.(aka my own bias) If I can I’ll try to find a a two sided story, but one will usually find a biased story when it comes to social media.

● Answer: who do I potentially influence on social media?

I don’t think I influence anyone in particular on social media, but if I had to choose it would probably be my friends and family.

● Answer: who do I engage with most on social media?

The people I engage with the most on social media would be the same people that I probably influence(my friends & family). Sometimes I’ll try to talk to a girl with the occasional DM too.

• Family
• Religion
• Respect
• Knowledge
• Stability
• Success
• Responsability
• Authority
• Happiness
• Justice

As a person I identify as an 18 year-old guy who usually goes with the flow and does what is necessary to get by the day. I believe that I need to be a person that at least puts effort into everyday. If I do not try to be better or learn something new each day, then I do not believe that I am doing any good for myself or anyone else. As a writer I believe I am too “wordy” and that I play to much by the rules of writing. Writing is not my favorite subject since I am more of a logical and one answer kind of person. However I, do enjoy writing on subjects that interest me or are about me. As a student I am a visual and hands on learner. I understand better when there is an example or a model to follow. My role in society is a full-time student at Pima Community College. I am also a brother and son and grandson to my family.

Fact: “More than 3,000 student-athletes in Greater Lansing will compete for their schools throughout the year.”

Opinion: “Participation in high school sports – and other extracurricular activities – provides the perfect training ground for what the world will be like post-graduation.”

Factually Supported Claim: “There is a lot of science that supports community connection as a benefit for young people. Regardless of weather you have children, it is important to show your support.”

The Lansing State Journal posted a compelling editorial piece “Sports help shape young people”. The article explains how much of a positive effect sports have on the youth. Many parents are afraid of their child getting injured or emotionally hurt when they lose. If parents do not support their children in theseWhat parents do not understand is how sports can tech students to be successful. Legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant once said “sports is such a great metaphor for life.” A few years after retiring from the NBA; Bryant became successful business man and an academy award winner. Although this article was published in 2017, this topic is still controversial to this date. Recently Dick’s Sporting Goods has started a campaign to help underfunded youth sporting programs. It is not only sports that are being affected but many extracurriculars too.

The way I find motivation is when others motivate me to do better. I find when others believe in me, I am fueled to also believe in myself. I figured out that I am an obligor. Someone who looks for mentors/others during any situation, so they can believe they are doing good. Usually I do whatever is instructed, as long as I am morally okay with doing it. If I do not meet the expectations that were assigned to me I feel like I am in trouble, and some how need to ask for forgiveness. If I let someone else down I know that I let myself down too. Personally my problem is I am not good at time management. I tend to panic with due dates and end up immensely stressed. As I do my work I end up losing track of time and become distracted. The best way for me to thrive in school is to surround myself with people who can help me stay on task.

The essay “Why Blog? Searching for Writing on the Web” by Alex Reid gives a good insight on as to why an online blog can be beneficial to a writing class. When writing an assignment paper there expectations to be met in order to receive the grade that one would like. Where as, in a blog it is self motivation that pushes one to write down what they believe is worth telling. Reid states that “you will find it easier to translate that motivation into your academic writing, and later into your writing as a professional.” This explains, there are no limits when writing an online blog, the effort that is put down in the writing class will be translated in the future.

I am excited to begin blogging, but I am a bit nervous about being graded on this. When it comes to punctuation and word choice I have never quite been able to improve the same way as my peers. I hope that when I blog my effort to be a better writer can out weigh the little mistakes. If Alex Reid is correct keeping a blog should improve my writing, because in the end blogging is about having the passion to share your feelings.