Week Eight: Famous Last Words

So this week I am getting back into the swing of things with this class. I have had a brutal two weeks in my other classes and I was—luckily—pretty far ahead in this class. I decided to relax my hard work in this class in order to give myself more time to commit to my others classes. I had a teaching presentation, an exam, a quiz, and a mid-term essay! It was not fun at all! My essay ended up being much more difficult than I had expected; I barely finished it by the deadline! I was stressed out and cranky all week long! But, it is all over now and I can enjoy that this week has gone much better and been much less stressful—especially because I did not have class on Wednesday thanks to the snow! J

I spent the weekend and yesterday (Wednesday) playing video games, drinking wine, and eating pizza (and tipping the poor delivery guy four bucks every time, out of weather-associated guilt). Needless to say, I got some much needed relaxation time thanks to the snow. However, it also made it nearly impossible to motivate myself, in light of the weather. I also had to cancel all of my plans I had this past weekend because no one wanted to drive. L I was supposed to meet up with my friend from high school, who just recently moved to Oklahoma City, on Friday for dinner and drinks so we could catch up. On Saturday, I was supposed to go to lunch with my Arabic language partner. Even though I am no longer learning Arabic, we stayed partners because she really wants to practice her English and we enjoy hanging out a lot. Saturday evening I was planning to hang out with a friend who I recently connected with. Unfortunately, all of those plans had to be cancelled thanks to the weather! And then on Wednesday I was supposed to have dinner with my brother who just moved to Oklahoma City from Fort Worth! I think I need to start watching the weather before making plans… Here is a picture of myself and some friends, including my friend Logan, whom I was supposed to see this past weekend.

(Personal photo of myself and my friends)

Commenting Review Week

I really appreciate comments that have details, as I said in my previous post about writing. I hate hearing “you need to work on your [insert vague grammar point here] without being shown at least a few examples of the issue. I also hate being told “great writing” without specific points being made. What did I do that was good? How can I repeat it if I don’t know what it is? I like to read through the comments on my storytelling posts when I am preparing my projects. That way I can remember all the corrections pointed out to me. I usually focus on an aspect of a story that really stuck out to me, when leaving short comments. Sometimes the formatting or grammar of a story is so bad that it really takes away from the story, in which case I will focus on that. If the story uses bland, repetitive vocabulary, I will focus on potential ways to improve that. I have not had a class before with this much peer review/commenting. I have mixed feelings about it. It gives several perspectives on each story I write, which is nice. On the other hand, its frustrating because so many comments do not have any real benefit because they are so vague or because students just tell me good job without giving any real critiques. I think it would be interesting to require at least one small critique per comment, which might encourage students to do more than just say good job. It is okay to politely make suggestions!

Wikimedia

Writing Review Week

I cannot decide which one is my favorite story. So far I have written two different stories which I really like—one was about the Ganga coming down and the other was a reworking of Sita’s reaction to Rama’s rejection and judgment. I enjoyed the language I used in order to describe the personification of the Ganga, quite a lot. I am really proud of the way I used the story of Sita to demonstrate my own beliefs and the hypocrisy that we see in society even today. I really hope to continue putting my creativity to the test with this class, while also improving my grammar by learning from my mistakes and the corrections I see. I like getting the feedback, although I honestly value teacher feedback much more as it feels not only more experienced but less biased in nature. I had a student comment on my story of Sita and tell me I had changed it too much from the original, an idea I immediately disregarded but it was annoying all the same. I appreciate feedback about specific things, not vague comments like “use clearer wording in your story”. Where is my story unclear? I don’t know, because the commenter did not tell me. I really do enjoy getting most of the feedback I receive. For one, it is generally very positive and encouraging. It makes me feel proud of my work. On the other hand, when it is critical it is usually—though not always—beneficial to my writing. I chose the image below because it is my favorite storytelling picture.

(Wikimedia)

Reading Review Week

My suggestion for future students is to focus on the reading for Monday, because it is the one assignment I have struggled with. I would often finish the weekend assignments at the last minute and think I was finally finished, only to remember the reading coming up. This was especially problematic if I waited until Monday morning to do the weekend assignments! I haven’t had any overlap in this class and my others, though three of my other four classes overlap quite a bit at the moment. They are all discussing antisemitism in one way or another, which can be rather difficult to read/listen to day after day, but I feel I am learning something important and beneficial for my career and personal growth. As far as the reading diaries go, I do not usually review them for doing my storytelling assignments, but I do feel they help me nonetheless because they allow me to collect my thoughts in a concise, clear, coherent manner which makes me remember what I have read much, much better. I have found that it is best to note DETAILS of the reading. I will remember the general plot, and if I don’t the reading guide will be there to save me. However, I often forget details, which can be very important for the storytelling assignment and help to tie in your new version of the story with the original, should you choose to do that. I also like noting character names and brief descriptions, because I am horrible with names. I chose this image because it is from my favorite scene in the battle for Sita!

(Wikimedia)