Progress Report

So right now we're trying to get out progress report together in an effort to finally send it off to Mt. Zion for their review. I was of a mind that a progress report would be quite easy and concise, allowing us to draft it momentarily even in professional format. But after reading chapter we had to go back and re-write the entire thing from scratch, amazing what reading can do for you(sarcasm?).

Anyhow, things are coming along slowly but surely now.. Everyone is so busy will this class and the others and the homework just keeps flowing in a steady stream.

Chapter 8 from Service-Learning

This chapter was probably my favorite amongst the rest as it provided some really detailed explanations on what you are supposed to have in a progress report. Through reading I realized just how different the actual format of progress reports are from what my group and I originally had in mind. I suppose we did not foresee these sorts of things as specific as they generally are.
The familiar purpose, audience and content are here though, and the intro body and conclusion are pretty much the same deal, just the design of the document itself was different. There was a section that focused on cutting out long phrases and using words with synonymous meanings to keep the report more concise, this was a big help when I re-read some of our earlier work.

Chapter 6 from Service Learning

This chapter seemed to be aimed specifically at me, obviously I am the group manager. While that does not necessarily alleviate all responsibility from the other team members, what it does entail is that I am supposed to be on top of things. Certainly this is something that can be difficult to accomplish while going to class full time and working, especially considering the amount of homework and other activities involved. None the less I am upping my abilities as much as possible without burning out. As stated in the last blog we have assigned positions in order to make the process that much smoother and communicate readily, had it not been for bad luck and busy schedules our foothold would have been much better. Taking cues from the chapter we like to treat everyone in our group as equal, project manager, comm. manager, design manager, none of it means you are above the person beside you and this allows us to have a clear/ creative outlook on our project.

Chapter 5 from Service Learning

Chapter 5 provides great coverage when it comes to refining projects, both general and specific. I think the best parts of the chapter were getting at organization and communication as a whole and how important that is as a key to success, both in these projects and obviously in life. My group readily applies these previously mentioned principles the best we can so that even in somewhat frustrating situations there is something or a form to circle back to for guidance. So far it has helped immensely even though we have encountered a few difficulties in our current endeavor. Planning, time lines and proposals are essential (though we are struggling a little in this area). We have assigned Maurice as our comm. manager, Brody as chief designer and myself as project manager, as such hopefully things will continue to move along to accomplish something great.

Trip to Mount Zion

Well, after listening to the director of the program I honestly did not know exactly what to expect once we arrived at the location of the building. After exiting the bus it became clear that communication was not in great effect or so it seemed because apparently they did not know we were even going to touring the facilities. That said, they are talking with us on handbooks, brochures and other things when perhaps there are many other things to be improved on. It more or less seems like a race for funding and a center that is not organized very well, thats how it appeared to me at least.

As far as this effecting my course project; we just need to get something together that looks attractive to companies that provide grants and the like.

Training

Overall, this had to be one of the more enlightening speaker presentations I have listened to. Most of this due in part to the fact that in the past one of the speakers had indeed been homeless himself, thus adding a deeper level of personal interaction. Not to say without him the project would not be as effective, rather just interesting and more oriented to the "pathos" or emotional side of things.

The presentation left an emotional influence and therefore was good. However on the logical side, there were things left to be desired. Understanding why surveys are taken is easy accepted, though the solution to the problem needs to be addressed in a better or more effective manner it seems.

All things considered, the different segments of the presentation when added are technical communication by definition. We have classic rhetoric involved here..

Chapter 3 from Service-Learning

The chapter of all chapters one could say.. whether it be ethos, pathos or logos all these things come together in order to form the continuity of modern rhetoric (as they did in the classical era). Quite possibly the most important thing in communication is the art of persuasion and most everything is directly connected with such. A high level of critical thinking id often required and every time you touch upon convincing another mind, these key concepts almost always show up. When this occurs it is certainly handy to be able to use such to your advantage.

In other words our class is fundamentally based in rhetoric from my perspective (projects where you are trying to get another party to agree). Other areas of study are of course present as well..