Sam's Blog

What I Learned

Sam — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:16:33 +0000

WHAT I LEARNED

I-Search: What I Learned

Samantha Markley

May 10 , 2010

paragraph 1: My first research question is, After a brain trauma, how are the lobes of the brain affected? Well the frontal lobes affect memory, emotion, and language. The frontal lobe is one of the most effected lobes of the brain. The temporal lobe has to do with recognition of people. This hurts the victim when the have a family and come back with TBI and don’t remember anyone. The cerebellum affects the movement of the body. If this was affected then there was the possibility of paralysis. One of the information sources I used was DVBIC(Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center). The other one being Brainline. Both of these sites had a lot of useful information that I could understand. My thoughts on the answers I found were shocking. They are shocking because if just one lobe is affected then the whole brain and body is affected.

paragraph 2: My second research question is, How do the occurrences of short and long term memory loss affect the victim? The answer I found was that no matter if it were short or long term memory loss it still impacted the victim quite a bit. For short term they can forget their name, the people that are close to them, but it would come back in like a couple months. For long term memory loss they sometimes can not remember what went on as a child. It takes lots of therapy and rehabilitation to get back to “normal”. For this I also used DVBIC and Brainline. Plus some articles I read during this whole process. I have discovered that we can not judge victims based on their injury because they could not help it. We need to do our best to try and help them out of this situation.

paragraph 3: My third research question is, If your brain activity (IQ) is affected, do you have to start learning as if you were a child again? Well this answers really depends on how severe the damage is. If it is a mild TBI then no the victim does not have to start as if a child. This is because through therapy the victim can recover. Although if it is a severe TBI then yes the victim would have to start as if a child. This is because depending on what was affected would determine what the victim would have to learn again. Also again I used DVBIC and Brainline to find these answers. I have to say that these two sites in particular were very good. I have learned that everything just depends on the severity of the whole trauma.

paragraph 4: One thing I am proud to have done during this project is my Netvibes page. I love that this resource allows me to add everything I could imagine I might need. I feel I did this requirement well because I have added a lot of extra things that are not just filling up space. I actually used this stuff. Also I think I did a good job of keeping up with my Google Site. This is because I updated everything as i went. I did not try to do it all at the last minute.

paragraph 5: If I had the opportunity to do this project over again I would change the expert factor. My reasoning for this is because for this projects I think my teachers relied to heavily on it. With contacting people you never know if they will answer back and then if they do they are most likely bias and not telling the truth. They just want to say whatever will help whoever they work for. Also I did not get the point of having everything we did in like three or four places. If it is in one I would think that would be enough.

paragraph 6: For this section I would have to give myself a high B. I say this because for one my time spent on this project could have been a lot more then what was actually spent on it. I am still a bad procrastinator. As far as my Netvibes and Google site go I feel that I have done well with those. I say this because compared to some others I have more items added and have kept up with things. For my literature reading and circles I think i did well because I read, had my blog done, and had questions to others blogs. I think I took criticism well. I feel that that is one of the things I am better at. I have to say that Evernote is one of my best friends. I love this resource because it allowed me to bookmark anything and everything I may have needed during my project. Looking back on my presentation i feel that I did not get to say all that what I wanted to. I do feel that I improved though from the first semester. For my multi-genre I feel that I could have spent more time on them, but with everything that I have going on I think I out as much as I could. My process with my expert is still ongoing to this moment. I have been through about four people and eventually found this amazing website. Through this website I have found most of my questions answers. I definitely need to work on organization. This has always been a problem for me, and need to fix it now. My improvement from last semester to this has come a ways I think. My research skills improved by learning that I have to search through many things before I find what I need. Although I think my project work has been about the same. My curiosity for this project was huge. This is because I have a very close uncle who, luckily, just retired from war. But at the beginning of this project he hadn’t so I wanted to know what to do in case something happened to him. I think overall I did an okay job and definitely could of done better, but I am happy with the way things turned out.

paragraph 7: Of the two, Netvibes and Google site, I think that Netvibes explains my process a little better. Netvibes let me attach pictures, videos, and RSS feeds. There are just so many things you could do with it. So many gadgets and essential widgets to look through. At first it is a little overwhelming, but after a while you get very comfortable with it. I think through Netvibes you can see that I enjoyed finding new videos and feeds. For my Google site I think in this one you can see that there is not as much freedom with this. It is more structured and has certain things that have to go in certain places. With my site it shows that I have not done anything extra to it. It is very bland in my opinion. Through both of these sources they help tell my story by showing the process of how I did my work. That is one thing I like about my site. It basically shows every step i took during this project. Through Netvibes it will show how my creative side came through.

Research Reflection

Sam — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:38:16 +0000

The way I went about finding my expert was by reading through my articles. I figured that there would be some names of really good people within them. The person I found was within the article itself which meant that he actually was talking to that person. When I saw that I was like I like the sounds of this guy. The only time I used the search engine on my person was to make sure they qualified for my standards.

The process of my email was first I came up with my research questions. I did this because I didn’t want to send the person an email without already knowing what I was going to ask. Then I made sure to make it formal and clean of spelling and punctuation errors. Then I had my teachers read it and have them approve of it. And finally I sent it to the person.

Well my expert hasn’t given me answers to my questions yet, but I did get a couple of good sites. By the sites I have been able to learn a lot about the topic on my own. Although she has not emailed me back I think I am doing fine.

With the process f finding a person takes a while because after you find a name you have to go look them up. In looking them up I made sure that they were real and had some experience behind them. I didn’t want a newbie. While in contacting my person I have had some issues, I have learned that it wont always work and that you have to be patient.

My advice for another student would be that don’t rely on the expert too much. Yes you can but for minimal. You yourself have to do some research in order to get anything done. You just never know whether or not the person you picked is going to email you back. Also that you must have many people because of this. Do not just pick the first one and say I’m don you have to keep going. And finally don’t give up because even if they don’t email back your teachers will help you out with that. That I have to say has been the big thing in my project.

Research Reflection

Sam — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:02:46 +0000

One of the top sources I am using is Brain Injury Prevalent In Army. It is a video I found on CBS. I find this video very helpful because it shows one of the reporters talking to actual victims of TBI. It gets me the point of view I need to fully understand my topic. I mostly get the facts and points from professionals of even family members. It is not that those are not useful as well it just not what I need for this particular project. I have found it within this. I found this video by typing it TBI into Google and YouTube and there came up millions of videos. I just sat down and found a few good ones but I really liked this one. Another thing I like about this video is that it is from a credible source. Another source I am using a lot is For War’s Gravely Injured, Challenge to Find Care. I found this source through one of the databases and have found it very helpful. This article in particular gave me the person I wanted to interview who then recommended me to another TBI specialist at the same hospital. I believe that the sources credibility is good because it was on one of our school databases. Those are always good to get things from. I picked this article to use for the person, but also because the information in it is really helpful. They go into depth about everything. For both of these sources I am working on y Noodle Tools for them so I will get them to you shortly.

One new research skill I have learned is that I cannot just pick the first of everything I look up. Granted this isn’t necessarily a new skill but I definitely have realized that you will get nothing good from trying to rush things. I am usually the one to click one the first like and of I go, but in doing this project I have noticed that I can go pages and not find what I am looking for. Yes it sometimes gets on my nerves but it will be worth it at the end. This skill is one of the most important I can get down and I think in doing this for a month now that it is stuck in as a habit.

Multigenre Musings

Sam — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:38:50 +0000

Well for this project a major aspect of my grade are the multi-genre projects. For one of the four I am going to create an art piece. This piece will represent a cut open brain and all of the works that go one in there. For this project I need to not procrastinate and I will be fine. For my second multi-genre piece I am going to create a trivia game. The board will be cut out to match the shape of a head and all of the questions will have something to do with my research questions. For my third multi-genre piece I am going to do a Bubblr. I find this interesting because I will add all of my links and make it look professional. For my last multi-genre piece I want to do either a blog for a person or some type of poem. Which ever one I choose would talk about their journey through TBI and how the veteran is coping with it. Get the story from their view and not from the doctors or family members.

Lit Circle Response

Sam — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:03:36 +0000

The passage I choose for today is “After graduating from high school I was planning on going down to Patagonia and doing some ice climbing. Then one night I was watching a movie, Behind Enemy Lines, and I saw the part where the marines go and fetch their friend and all that, and I was like, wow…that’s pretty cool. So I went down to the recruiter’s office the next day to squelch my curiosity and the recruiter kind of pressured me, and when he got done giving me his spiel, he said, “Are you ready to sign up? Are you ready to be a marine?” This was December 21^st, 2001, and I told him, you know, I need to go talk to my mom about it first and he said, “Well, you’re a grown ass man, aren’t you?” And me with challenges do not mix well because I’ll always take them, so I said give me the pen and signed up right away and I didn’t go home that night because I was in the Military Entrance Program”(Wood 269). I choose this passage because it reminded my so much of All Quiet on the Western Front and how they got persuaded as well. I guess that was the thing for the recruiters to do? Even the none recruiters were doing it. I think that is wrong because they have not even experienced life of the war. I don’t think that they have the right to be telling these young men that they can go do something and not even have the slightest clue on the consequences. Through this recruiter Travis didn’t even go home that night because he was nervous to talk to his mom. He didn’t even get the chance to go over it with her before he signed up. I find that sad because you should be able to go talk to your parents even if it is about something like the war. Also Travis took the offer because the recruiter was challenging him. He said in this passage that he didn’t do well with people challenging him so that was one of the reasons he took the offer. I can relate to him a little in this aspect because I love the fear of a challenge as long as I know that it is not something that is going to get my hurt. I think that is why he took it. Travis didn’t know the full extent of the aspects of war so it really didn’t bother him.

Netvibes Narrative

Sam — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:34:38 +0000

So far the content I have added has been the requirement items. I am getting much use out of these things. For example, the pathfinder and Gale have helped me a lot. The pathfinder has helped because in just one website and then a click it has everything I might need. It literally has everything I might forget and need to know for this project. I love having Gale on my Netvibes because now I do not have to remember any extra URL. It is right there for me. Using Netvibes has made my research experience so much better than I thought it was going to be. I like it because it keeps all of my important things right there. No more taking half the class to open all of my sites. It is now all in one spot. I love it. I have to say it is an essential tool that is helping me. I think it is because my blog and comments are right there so I can check to see if I have gotten any new comments at one click. Also I have videos and pictures that I am planning to add this week so it is going to start looking interesting. With the new things I add it will separate mine from my other class mates.
A particular thing I like is that I can add pretty much anything I want to. There are really no limitations. I really enjoy the essential widgets tool. I like how it has everything from school appropriate things to not necessarily school appropriate widgets. Also to add something to your page it is very simple. For example, for me never using this site has found it very interesting and fun to use. One thing that I do not like is that sometimes it takes forever to load just one thing. Usually I wouldn’t mind but it always seems to be when I really need to get something done. That is my only negative about it. My Netvibes says that as a learner I am still learning many things. It will show that I am very interested in my topic and I am having fun doing this. As a researcher is shows that I am finding a lot of great things to use in my final presentation. This portal shows that I am learning my way around Netvibes and that I have learned many new skills with it. I am so excited to show everyone my final project.

Research Reflection

Sam — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:25:47 +0000

For my research this week I have come up with some research questions. One of them being that What would be the differences if any in the lobes of the brain? Another one is Is there any kind of memory loss that comes after the TBI. Lastly, Would there be any change in the brain activity. Example being IQ. I have picked these questions because I am very interested to find out the answers. For the different lobes I want to know if they would have to cope with the difference of it not functioning. Also for the IQ would they need to start from fresh as if they were little kids again? Lastly, would they remember the people in their lives before they went to war? I would hope they would because even without TBI they are going to have a hard time getting back to normal life. Also these questions have helped me to format my presentation. One thing I am having trouble with is picking out my multi-genre projects. I just do not know which ones would keep my interest and be good for TBI. Also how many research questions do we have to have? Is there a minimum that you would like? I have some but I was wanting to know if I needed more.

Lit Circle Response

Sam — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:29:03 +0000

“ I’m like, oh fuck, if we land I’m just gonna keep one bullet for me. This is right around the time that the guy Nick Berg got his head cut off, and there’s no way I’m gonna have my head cut off. I’ll take everyone out and then I’ll just keep a bullet for me. I’m not going to have these guys humiliate me n television. So I’m like, fuck, man, and I started praying”(Wood 169).

This passage on pg 169 says a lot. First if I were Paul I think I would also want that mind-set to be ready for anything. If I knew that other people were being massacred then I would probably shoot myself if I knew for sure that was going to happen. Just reading it though makes me sad that they might have to do something like this. For him to have just seen the other guy with no head just put everything into perspective for him. No seeing that has gotten him scared and that is never good on a battlefield. They have to be on their toes about everything. I would rather shoot myself than have my head shoot off. Just knowing that I did it and not the enemy would make something less wrong about it.

“ My body temperature started rising and I kept on asking for water, you know, because I was sweating, I was sweating a whole lot. They took my flake jacket off and everything, and my helmet. While they was putting the tourniquet on, one of the guys noticed the fire in the vehicle. Also the weapon that was in the turret had fallen into the vehicle and was cooking rounds. A round actually hit me in my thigh and then came out again. When they cut off my cammies they saw that I had a baseball-sized hole in my thigh. I had a chunk of meat missing from my leg. It was a 240 machine gun that hit me. The corpsman started freaking out when he saw that wound and he put pressure on it until the medics got there” (Wood 255).

This passage was true to me because when I am playing softball and I am geared up and don’t get any water I am going to faint. So for Adrian to not get the water he needed hit me hard because I kind of know what it semi feels like. Also if he were injured that badly you don’t want him to pass out on you that would just make things worse. Another thing is that where were they for Adrian to get shot with a 240 machine gun? Did the not know that they were not in a semi safe place wherever they were? And taking off everything and leaving him unprotected did not rub me the right way.

Research Reflection

Sam — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:40:42 +0000

For my research I am having trouble finding a good video to count as my one requirement. I have tried everything in the search engine but nothing seems to work. I would like to know if there are any sites that you particularly like that might be helpful to me. I am loving Evernote. I like it so much better than Diigo. The only problem I am having is that it is taking a long time for all of my articles to show up on the internet Evernote. I just get confused with what I have bookmarked and what I still need to do. One thing I need to do tomorrow is to set up an alert for the trauma articles that come through Google Alerts. I think that that would help me a lot also. Also I do not know where to start to look for a person that would either be a veteran or a professional on trauma for my interview. Do I start to look on the internet or do you have a specific page tat has people on it? Also how many questions do we need to have for the interview? Do you know if anyone else is doing trauma and if they have found a person. If they have I would like to see where they got the name of the person.

Lit Circle Response 4-1-10

Sam — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:43:05 +0000

” We had done some recoveries, and this was our biggest one the whole time we were there. It became the landmark event for us. Everything got treated as reverently as if it were a whole body. Even if it was just a leg or an arm or, God forbid, a hand or, you know, a torso…everything got treated the same. If you put four marines to work on a body, then you had four marines doing the paperwork on a leg, and it got its own body bag and its own tag, and it got carried onto the plane on its own stretcher just as a full body would be. So if you got…you know, nine arms and ten legs and parts of another one, those would all go in separate bags home. We’d get them all in the same plane so that they all would get home together at the same time, but every part got its own bag. The chaplain said prayers over the body parts. I don’t think he saw the shit in Vietnam that he got to see in our unit, but he was an awesome old man. He came over no matter what time it was” (Wood 137-138).

In this passage the imagery is amazing. It goes into great detail about the body parts and for most that would scare them but I enjoy it. It adds good tension in the story. Even though I thoroughly enjoy reading about it, I don’t know how much I could actually handle in real life. If I were the character, Daniel B. Cotnoir, I can’t see myself having to bag each and every single body part as if they were still intact. A part that made me giggle was when Daniel says ‘that the chaplain had not seen anything in Vietnam until he got to his unit. Daniel calls him an awesome old man. Just with this I have this persona that comes into my head for him.

” I don’t like talking about the war. Me and my friends will talk about the friends we had —– not during the war but when we went to a bar and had a good time before we went to Iraq. Friends dying. Losing my friends. The war is just something I don’t want to recall. Bad thoughts” (Wood 145).

Just in this little passage Toby Winn is saying so much. I think this is such a good example about the after thoughts of war and how even to this day Toby does not like to think about the war. He does not want to think about it because it makes him think of the ones he’s lost. If I were him I would not want to be reminded of that every time I thought about the war.