I have developed a lot of strengths in writing and analyzing through the online postings. The online postings allow me to think creatively, which was something that I always struggled with. The online meetings also have helped me look at the text more clearly and analyze each part of the story. They also help me by seeing my classmates points of views as well, and it overall will shape my understandings of the readings. The quizzes in class also help me by allowing me to not over analyze anything, they allow me to think more freely and put my thoughts into words quickly. In writing essays I need to analyze my quotes better rather than just putting them into my essay without a deep explanation. I also need to relate the quotes back to the point I originally tried to prove. I have always struggled with grammar and I alway have some type of grammatical error. I definitely need improvement in expressing my thoughts more clearly with my writings.
-Kelly Kay
Kelly, I can agree with your situation. I would read a text and try my best to over analyze because I felt pressured to. After meeting online and in class, I see how freely we interpret things as a group and individually. I also recommend that if grammar is a problem, to pick up one of the grammar books from the library or use the internet as a guide. Sometimes we highly depend on Microsoft word or automatic grammar correction systems, however having a good grammatical understanding and foundation can decrease this reliance.
I really enjoyed the quotes given to us to free write in class. I think it helped us to critically think and become better writers. Although I remember at times the quote challenged me because some quotes aren’t as transparent as they sound like. They might conceal a deeper meaning. I really enjoyed in class meetings because I feel like we were encouraged to freely express our thoughts and opinions on a question. The lecture classes has made the reading more clear. I think this class has also taught us more to analyze rather than just summarizing a story. I would say I have to improve in my grammar skills. I also liked the online work because I think they were doable. From the online homework I got helpful feedback from my teacher and classmates. I also liked how we got to see other classmates perspectives on a question.Overall, I think there always things to improve on and this class has made it helpful to better improve our skills.
-Gaga Kaur
Kelly,
I really liked your point about using the quizzes to think more freely. I think it’s actually a little bit counterintuitive, because anytime I hear quiz, I tend to think less freely since they are being graded, so I really appreciate that difference in perspective and will try to employ that mindset moving forward. Regarding your ability to express thoughts in writings, I felt that I pretty easily understood your thoughts just now, however if you were looking for any suggestions, one thing that has worked for me is thinking of a broader idea or theme, and then working that into the paragraph structure we worked on in class to help refine it.