Quote =)

my friend had this quote as an away message and I'm not too sure why but it caught my attention.. ponder this if you wish:

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.
-Yogi Berra

..kind of obvious, but it makes you think, I think =)

hello hello =)

hello everyone!! hope you all had a good Wednesday.. i didn't lol I'm still sick.. for almost a week now, which stinks, clearly. I had work today, all day, worked overtime because I was too sick to go to on Monday. I was actually suppose to give blood today because my company was doing a blood drive but I wasn't allowed to, which stinks also lol. On another note, I'm about 90% sure that I got the other two people in my office sick, which is kind of funny, i think. Other than that, nothing really happened, just a terribly long day at the office. Now, off to do some homework.. Have a good night =)

V.Q. Questions

*Page 18 Questions - The Writing Center *

1. Did any of your former schools have a writing center?

Yes actually, both my high school, St. Francis Prep, and my elementary school, St. Nicholas, both had writing centers.

2. Have you ever gone to a writing center? If so, what is it like?

I went to the writing center my Senior year of high school. It was actually very fun. I had gone to the writing center around the time where I was sending in my applications for colleges. I knew that I was a good writer but I figured that if I wanted to get into a good college, and I had the resources right in front of me, why not use them.

I sat with a teacher in one of the rooms on the west wing of the school and we would read my essay and make corrections. The teacher would give me pointers on how to make my essay sound more interesting as well as grammatically correct. I went back a couple more times until I thought that my essay was perfect.

3. How can the writing center here at St. John's help you with this course?

The writing center can help with every aspect of this course, especially since it is an English Composition course. It is designed to help with writing and research. Since we write in our journals or our books or even in essays, the writing center is a great place to go if we get stuck at any point. We can also get help on how to correct and revise our writings.

4. What facets of your writing do you want to work on?

Overall, I think that I am a good writer, and i know how to organized my thoughts and put them onto paper well, but I always seem to get stuck on the opening paragraph. After I get through that the rest is easy, but the opening paragraph is key if you want your readers to be interested in your writing from the beginning.

5. If a WC consultant asked you to describe your writing process, what would you say?

My writing process is simple. If it is a research paper, I fist look up as many sources as i can and read through them to get an overall idea of what I have to write about. Then I take key phrases from those sources and write them down, because they help me to remember what I am talking about and to stay on track. After that, i type my essay, and leave it alone for a couple days. Later, i come back to it and proofread it, fixing things that I did not realized the first time around. After I think my paper is complete I print it out and hand it in.

6. Have you hugged your writing center today?

I don't exactly know what this question is implying, but i think that my writing center is my mind, and if so, then I haven't hugged it, but the day is still young, so there is always time for that later =)

* Page 20 Questions - Our Classroom *

1. How do you like our classroom?

I personally like the classroom. I like working in classrooms that are smaller so that I can interact with my classmates.

2. How does it compare to classrooms you've been in before?

It doesn't compare to any other classrooms I've had before because I've never been in a classroom with such few students.

3. How's the light? The air? The view from the window?

The light is fine but the air is much too cold. I know that it is like 25 degrees outside, but i sit on the opposite side of the room from the windows because I want to be away from the cold air, and yet it still seems to be there. The view exactly a view; we face another building and I think a couple of trees. Nothing too exciting there.

4. How are the chairs arranged? How could they be arranged to facilitate our writing 'community'?

The chairs are arranged like a normal classroom, in rows and columns, which is really not much fun at all. If we want to interact more with our classmates then we could split the desks down the middle and have them face each other, so at least we are looking at each other's faces instead of the back of someones head.

5. How do you think we should use our classroom space?

Our classroom doesn't have too much space and the space that it does have it being occupied by empty desks, so we can take out the empty desks and have some more room (even though this is very unlikely).

6. What might be some good general rules for classroom conduct?

The only rule I can think of for a class like ours is to not interrupt people when they are talking. Since it is such a small classroom and there are only a handful of us in this class, we should especially be more respectful towards the others we share the room with and listen to what they have to say.

*Page 24 Questions - The Discussion Board*

1. Have you ever participated in online discussions? When? Under what circumstances?

I recently participated in an online discussion for work. We were suppose to do a conference call but instead had a discussion board online. We had to talk about many things about the company and there were about 15 of us in the discussion. It was nice because online, you can see who is saying what, as opposed to on the phone where you have to guess who is speaking, especially when there are so many people on the phone at once.

2. How is online 'discussion' different from f-2-f conversation?

In an online discussion, is it easier for many people to talk together and in a more comfortable setting. F-2-f conversation is when two people are speaking to each other in person, which can sometimes make some people nervous.

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of online discussion?

An advantage is that many people can be involved in a discussion all at once and there is no chaos as to who is speaking and saying what. A disadvantage is that if for example there is a professor in the conversation, many people who cannot type well, or correctly, would become nervous and probably not speak because they don't want to show their professor their bad habits.

4. Do you prefer one to the other?

I don't mind either way. I think that both ways are effective and therefore I have no preference.

*Page 26 Questions - Assignments *

1. Do you like your assignments spelled out for you explicitly?

When I do not understand or don't like the topic I prefer it to be spelled out explicitly, but if I am writing about something that I love to do, or something I know well, all I need is the guidelines.

2. Would you rather come up with your own assignments, on your own terms?

I wouldn't because I know that I would make the assignments either very easy or very difficult.

3. What assignments have you enjoyed in the past?

I enjoy writing about things I know or that interest me. If I have a topic to write about that I enjoy, chances are I will write a great paper because I want to write it more than I actually have to.

4. What assignments have you not liked so much?

I dislike the boring old assignments that are given on a topic that not even the professor cares about, and somehow I am suppose to make it sound interesting and fun, and get a decent grade on it.

5. If you were given the assignment to come up with a dozen or so writing assignments, how would you respond? Would you like that assignment?

Honestly, I would think that I'm in great trouble. I would probably hate the assignment and after class I would go around to friends and ask them if they could help me out because I know I'd be terrible at it.

6. Is there another word, other than 'assignment', that might serve to better indicate the kind of work you've done or will do in this course?

Tasks? ..Projects? ..I don't really know.

* Page 28 Questions - Grading Zones*

1. Do you like this poem?

Sure

2. What does it mean for you?

To me, it means that there isn't always a concrete way or system of grading. Sometimes the difference between an A- and a B+ is slim, sometimes is can be broad.

3. What parts of the poem are clearest to you?

The part about Heads and Tails, because they are both so true and I can relate to both sides.

4. What parts are fuzzy?

The second to last stanza, "Once in the grading zone, there's no turning back?"

5. If you were to write your own poem about grading, what would the first line be?

Grading is not as simple as A or B...

6. How do you feel about grades?

I feel that the student receives the grades according to how he or she performed in that class. The student receives a grade, which is contrary to what many students believe when they say "Professor Whatever gave me a C!!". The student should get the grade that he or she deserves, and if he or she doesn't like it, then try harder next time I guess.

What's your name?

My name is *Efstathia Maria Pavlakos*
but everyone calls me Effie =)

I got my first name from my Grandmother, my father's mother, because it is a Greek tradition that the husband names his children after his parents, so I got stuck with my name.
Effie, in the Greek culture means serenity, peace and kindness, which for the most part I am =)

My middle name, Maria, was given to me by my Godmother because her name is Maria also and she was jealous because she doesn't have any sons so her Grandchildren wouldn't be named after her.

When I was younger and I would tell people my name, for some reason they couldn’t pronounce it, and so I would tell them that my first name is Maria because that seemed more normal to me.. When my grandmother found out of course, she wasn't very happy with me because she takes great pride in our name (which I didn't). But now I have grown fond of my name... Even though I never tell anyone (except for anyone reading this) what my full Greek name is)

My last name, Pavlakos, as many last names, also comes from my father's side of the family. As in most traditions, the children take the father's last name, and so, as did I. I honestly, have no idea where my last name came from or what it means. The only thing I know about it is that it is a Spartan name because my father and his father and so on, were born and raised in Sparta (which in Greek is actually pronounced Sparti).

Welcome =)

Hello all and welcome to my page!

If you are reading this you are probably (and hopefully) in my English class at St. John's University, which I know you all love =)

Anyway, I'm just trying to figure out how this entire thing works, so if anyone has any pointers on how to add friends, or anything else you've discovered I would love to hear about it.

Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow =)

Efoula<3