Week 8 Progress

I am happy with my progress so far. I have missed a few assignments here and there, but I have done extra credit to put me back in the high A range! I enjoy reading the units from different geographic areas to see how their folktales are different and similar. The website has gone really well so far! I actually read the Looking Glass unit and was able to put that as an extra credit assignment. My routine has ended up working out to where I try to do one assignment every day starting Monday so that I am ahead and if I get busy one day I do not miss as assignment deadline. I really want to do more extra credit assignments each week and stay on top of the commenting assignments. I have only missed deadlines twice, but they were both for feedback. I also think the extra credit opportunities offer very interesting material that is worth reading!

Image Information: Motivational Message, Web Source: Flickr

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

The feedback I have received for my storybook project has been the most useful so far! A couple of students said that the background image behind the font for the introduction page was either hard to read or clashed with the rest of the project, so I made some changes. I think constructive comments are most useful because they help me improve my writing moving forward. The quality of the feedback I am receiving from other students is excellent! I really think the WWW and TAG assignments helped me gain techniques to use when writing feedback for other students in the class. It is so easy to tell someone what you liked about their story, but it is difficult to give suggestions on how to improve their writing. I think using a technique like asking a question in order to recommend adding a part or changing something in the story makes providing feedback much more doable. Reading classmate's introduction posts before reading their stories helps with having a connection with the writer and I think this benefits the reader's experience. I need to work on leaving more suggestions on everyone's stories instead of mainly discussing the parts of the post I enjoyed. I chose this image because I thought having this list could be useful if you are fighting with a spouse or friend. You could keep these suggestions in mind when you sit down to talk things out. This helps diffuse the situation in a healthy way. 

Image Information: Illustration from Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. Web Source: growth mindset

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I am really happy with my work so far for this course! Honestly I was really worried about having a class that involved so much writing and creativity, but the outcomes have been better than I expected. I am happy with the blog layout I chose and writing the stories are not as hard as I thought it would be. I really think reading a full unit before creating your blog post is helpful. My first story for the storybook project went really well, but I do need to add a bit more to the end before starting the next part. I would have to say my biggest accomplishment would be the Alice's Friends website. I do need to work on giving classmate's feedback because it is difficult for me to read another person's story and give criticism. The reading note strategy that has worked best for me is picking out what stands out about each story. This can mean talking about the setting or a certain character I really liked or even disliked. The strategy helps me remember which story was which and gives me ideas for all aspects of my own story. My favorite readings so far have come from the Looking-Glass stories. I think having students write stories biweekly instead of every week keeps the energy up! I should put more effort into 'reading like a writer' when I am commenting on classmate's work as the class moves forward. When it comes to writing I think I can work on my creativity skills and word usage. I chose to include the pomegranate photo because the Mythology Crash Course video was my favorite assignment outside of the unit readings from class.

Image Information: Pomegranates, Web Source: Pixabay