Rimmel London

SO- I recently received the #RimmelLondon voxbox complimentary from influenster.  This included "volume flash scandaleyes mascara", "stay glossy lip gloss", and "natural bronzer"(021 sunlight shade).  I have to admit, I've been a pretty dedicated Maybelline user for quite a while.  After using the Rimmel London mascara though, that may change!  I love this mascara!  The brush is big and is easy to apply.  I also really like the bronzer.  It is true to its name and gives a "natural" look.  I hate when bronzer has glitter in it and this is a nice, matte bronzing powder.  The lip gloss is alright.  I'm not a big lip gloss person but I will keep trying it out!

Neutrogena Naturals: Day 2

STILL LOVE THEM!

I've used these wipes morning and wipe and I definitely still love them.  My skin is soft to the touch and feels clean.  I love how these wipes leave no residue or greasiness on your face. 

Overall verdict: highly recommend!

Neutrogena Naturals

I just received my FREE @Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Makeup Remover Cleansings Wipes compliments of @Influenster in the mail and couldn't wait to try them out!!

First impression: These smell great!
While using: Wipes do not scratch your skin and really do take off all make-up!  I personally wear foundation, eye shadow, liquid eye-liner, and mascara... these wipes took it all off with no problem!
After use:  This product leaves your face feeling clean and soft to the touch.  I love it!

What I would change:  The packaging.  These come in a little pouch that has a sticky opening.  The wipes will dry out if you aren't diligently assuring the package is completely closed and there is no air getting through.  A plastic snap package or even a zip-lock top would definitely be better!

Recommendation:  Try these!  On top of all of these good things, it helps conserve water!

@Neutrogena @Influenster #WipeForWater #Contest

Course Reflection

Overall, I really enjoyed this course.  I like English classes and writing to begin with, so I wasn’t really worried about it before hand.  I think that the group of students in a classroom can make or break the class experience, and I definitely enjoyed ours.  I felt as if the students worked well together and made class interesting through participating in different discussions.  Sometimes I felt as if the readings we discussed didn’t always relate to what we were learning, but I usually enjoyed the discussions anyway. 

I really liked learning about different styles of rhetoric and ways writers make their writing interesting, unique, and effective.  I think what I most benefitted from through the course was exploring different ways of setting up an essay, other than the traditional 5 paragraph.  I really enjoyed writing in open as opposed to closed from and seeing how it can be effective in different situations.  It was initially hard to get out of the habit of writing introduction, thesis, body, conclusion, but when I did I found my writing actually flowed more and made more sense…instead of trying to fit it into an exact format all the time.

I also really liked the peer editing workshops.  Sometimes though it was hard to stay focused and care about someone else’s paper.  I think this could be done better if we had a sheet with specific things to look out for like we did for our final paper…that helped a lot because we had a specific reason to read and edit the paper.

Although other people didn’t like them, I liked writing blogs!  I thought it was a good way to stay focused in a class that we only have twice a week and to keep up with writing regularly.  I don’t mind taking time to write out a blog because I like how free the assignments were…not looking for an exact answer, just writing what you want. 

 Finally, the final paper was hard!  I didn’t think it would be as hard as it was to incorporate so much research into a paper and have it still flow and make sense.  Learning to incorporate research to defend your point rather than just plop quotes down was difficult.  Writing the paper was definitely time consuming, but I enjoyed being able to pick a topic that interested me and was relevant to my personal life.  I also enjoyed the presentations, both listening and giving them.  I incorporated questions people asked in my presentation in my paper and think that just saying my information out loud helped me organize my actual paper. 

Overall, thank you for such a great experience in the class, I really enjoyed it!!

Reflect on Presentation

I think my presentation went pretty well overall.  After watching some of the others before me, when I got up there I felt like I had way too much information!  I'm pretty sure I talked really fast because I wasn't sure how much time I had, and didn't want to be obnoxiously long.  Overall, though, I felt really prepared for the presentation and as if I had solid information to discuss.  I am a little over half way done with my paper.  What I have done so far, though, took FOREVER. Like, hours.  So I'm dreading starting back up to finish it.  I'm planning on going to the library at noon on Wednesday and just staying there until class at 4 to finish it.  That's how I started it.  I think that my presentation helped me to get back in focus on my paper and motivate me to finish it.  Additionally, some of the questions people asked afterwards will provide me with additional issues to address in my paper.  I think the topic of my paper is very relevant and significant to my future career and I am actually enjoying writing it...as much as you can to write a paper.  I am glad I chose to interview Mrs. Forsyth and am really happy with how incorporating and relating Sean's story to the topics of my paper is working out.  Furthermore, I think that this paper is really helping me get away from the 5 paragraph form!  Since my topic is so complex, a 5 paragraph format would not even fit it very well, but I probably would have used it anyway prior to this class.  Oh, further reflecting on my presentation, I wasn't really nervous at all and think that helped!  ....I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH THIS PAPER. haha

Open Post

Phew!  Finally caught up with blogs.  Honestly, I kind of forgot about them until today!  But since I am pretty far in my paper it was easy to catch up.

It is BEAUTIFUL outside!  I absolutely love this weather and am SO SO SO excited for spring.  It is getting really hard to concentrate in classes and buckle down and do my work!  Kids on my floor and I have been watching videos from 8 fest and getting so pumped for 9 fest and fest season in general!  We are even trying to make pinnies or something for them.  Spring is my absolute favorite season...especially after a rough winter (which we didn't have this year, not complaining!).  I get so excited and want to be outside non stop.  It's going to be a completely different experience this spring than I have ever had in my life!  For the last 4 years, I have been literally swamped busy with musical around this time.  My spring was defined by racing to musical practices and working non stop.  Although chaotic, it's what I lived for and the time was my favorite of the year.  I definitely am going to miss that.  With the weather so nice, we would go through the whole town selling advertisements for our program, putting up signs, and going on picnics before or after practice!  This year is going to be wayyyy different but definitely fun!  I am so excited to experience fests and awesome parties.  I got my schedule for spring quarter and I have no classes on Friday's!  I'll definitely have to remember to keep on top of my academics and focused.  I am here first and foremost for an education and will be paying this off for the rest of my life!  I put so much into getting good grades and don't want the excitement of spring to blow that away...and my mom would kill me if I failed!

Piece of Final Essay

This is the third section of my essay.  It continues through Sean's story and explains the different extents of inclusion as well as their benefits and negative aspects.  This section shows that the issue of inclusion does not have a simple yes or no answer, but instead is very complex.

1. Section 3: Different extents of inclusion
   Continually, just as laws regarding inclusion prove complex and not easily defined, so does the exact definition of the term inclusion itself.  Although inclusion is practiced in many schools, it varies on the extent.  Sean Forsyth’s Asperger’s Syndrome is a mild intellectual disability (MID).  For students such as Sean, to benefit most from their education they must learn in the least restrictive environment possible and participate in regular classrooms.  Students with MID have many options and levels of inclusion they may participate in.
1. Full inclusion defines the situation where “the student with special needs is provided with all of his or her special education services within the general education classroom” (CITE SROUCE 4).  In a full inclusion setting, students with special needs are completely immersed in the standard classroom, expected to both behave and perform up to par with the other students.  A full inclusion setting has both positive and negative aspects to it.
1. To begin with, a full inclusion environment provides “opportunities for the student with MID to learn appropriate social skills.”  Additionally, a study performed on students in Australia showed that 89% of students made with mild intellectual disabilities made their friends in schools (CITE SOURCE 4).  Essentially, a full inclusive learning environment benefits the student as they learn to interact with other peers as well as make friends.
2. On the other hand, full inclusion poses many challenges for the students as well as the teachers.  Some teachers, specifically in rural settings, “feel unprepared to cope with a much larger range of learner needs within the regular classroom for longer periods of time” (CITE SOURCE 4).  Evidentially, if a teacher feels uncomfortable and unprepared to teach students with MID, the student will not receive an equal education as other students and may even suffer neglect in the classroom.
3. To fully include students with MID into regular classrooms, teachers must be trained not only in general education, but also in areas regarding special education and possible disabilities a student may have.  When a teacher cannot accomplish this, partial inclusion may become a second option for a student with a disability.
2. Partial inclusion involves a student spending some of their learning time in a general education classroom and some in a special education classroom or other services.  This form of inclusion allows a student to both interact with students in general education classes as well as receive individualized attention and teachings accommodating their personal disability.  
3. Continually, another form of inclusion exists called mainstreaming.  In the practice of mainstreaming, students in strict special education classes have the opportunity to participate alongside with students in general education classes in courses such as music and physical education classes.
1. Unfortunately, the common practice of mainstreaming has negative effects on the students with special needs.  Other students often see these students as different and lack the understanding and acceptance students with disabilities deserve.  When a special needs student is only presented to others in classes such as these, they often receive discrimination, bullying, and judgment.  Derk Stephens, a writer for an education magazine, says that “emotional difficulties and interpersonal difficulties (of students with special needs) affect others perception of them, as well as the child’s own self-perception” (CITE SOURCE 5).
4. All together, the different levels and extents of possible inclusion further complicate the issue regarding the integration of special needs students into regular track classrooms.  What one may observe, however, from the results of each of these extents of conclusion, is that the special needs child definitely requires interaction with other children and greatly benefits from this interaction.