Week 8 Famous Last Words

I really enjoyed this week of class. It was nice to take a break from the reading assignments, look back at what I’ve accomplished so far, and plan ahead to see what the rest of the semester will (hopefully) look like. I am excited about the reading assignments I have planned out for myself, and look forward to getting started.

I’m having a lot of fun with the storybook assignment. I especially enjoy the creativity it allows. However, I think I have a lot of room to improve in the mechanical aspects of my writing. I think the storybook assignment will help me with that because I am not only telling stories, but also revising them.  

This week was a weird (but wonderful) week for me in my other classes. I didn’t have any tests and there were only a few small homework assignments to do. It was kind of nice to have a relatively light week of school work so I could spend some more time investing in my extracurricular activities, spending time with friends, and keeping up with current events.

I saw the musical Ragtime on Thursday evening here on campus at the newly dedicated Elsie C. Brackett Theater. It was a phenomenal performance, and if there’s still an opportunity for you to go I highly recommend it! The costumes, special effects, acting, and singing were all topnotch.

Ragtime Dance Joplin Cover

Author: Scott Joplin, Date: 1906, Source: Wikimedia

Unfortunately, I was only able to see highlights from the democratic presidential debate. I am trying to be better about keeping up with all of the candidates on both sides for this election. Hopefully I will be able to find it online and will watch it sometime this weekend.

Next week will be a bit busier in my other classes, so I hope to spend some time tomorrow getting a head start on this class. 

Week 8, Reading Plan

One of the things I love most about this class is the many options available to students. Specifically, there are many different reading options. This allows students to explore topics or authors that are of particular interest to them. I think this teaching style recognizes that a course experience doesn't have to be "one size fits all."

So far I have had the opportunity to experience Indian epics through prose, online editions of stories, and film. Since I really enjoyed the film-version of the reading assignments, I will finish Brook's movie online which will account for one week of the reading assignments.

I will also read William Buck's version of the Mahabharata. I chose this version because I find it difficult to read stories online and prefer to have a hard copy of a book in my hands. I had already purchased this book before the course had begun because I saw it was one of the recommended readings online. Since I already own the book, I will go ahead and use it for four weeks worth of reading assignments.

The movie and the book will take up five weeks worth of reading assignments. That means there will still be a one week period I will need to fill. I plan to choose this reading later on after finishing the book and the movie to see if there is a specific character or topic I wish to explore further.

I look forward to getting started!

Girl reading a notebook,

Photographer: Karolina Grabowska, Date: October, 2014, Source: Pexels

Week 8, Reflections: Looking Forward

One thing I think I could do to improve my writing in this course is combine stories from this course with stories I'm familiar with in the storytelling assignments. I have noticed my classmates do this in their work and  it adds a new level of dimension to their stories.

As far as the reading goes, I need to be more intentional in getting started early. I know that I take a long time to read, so I need to account for this when scheduling for this course. My new goal will be to begin the reading assignment for the next week on the Thursday before it is due. If I can at least get started, I can gauge how much time the reading will take me and determine if time needs to be set aside over the weekend to read for this course.

In my interaction with my peers, I hope to become more specific. I have seen how beneficial constructive criticism and feedback has been for me, and I want to be sure that I am providing this for my classmates.

My goal is to end this course with and A, not just because I want the grade, but because I feel like that grade will reflect the level at which I have mastered this material. It is less important to me that I finish early, however, it would be nice to be finished with this course before dead week. I am on track (according to the chart provided) to make the grade I want, however, in order to finish early I will need to start engaging in more of the extra credit opportunities. I think a good goal would be to complete at least one extra credit assignment a week. Specifically, participating in the growth mindset and curation extra credit activities will not only enhance my grade in this course, but also my overall abilities as a student and a learner.

This class is flying by! I have learned so much already, and am sure I will continue to reach my learning goals if I remain focused, organized, and engaged with my peers and professor.

We Can Do It!

Author: J. Howard Miller, Date: 1942, Source: Wikipedia

Week 8, Reflections: Looking Back

I have really been inspired by my classmate's weekly stories. Specifically the imagery, word choice, and general creativity has motivated me to enhance my own writing. After the first week I noticed a lot of my peers were re-writing stories in a more modern context. I tried this for the first time in my week 2 storytelling assignment, and I enjoyed it so much that I've written pretty much every other story after in a modern setting. I think having a weekly storytelling assignment has encouraged me to be more creative, thoughtful, and has generally improved my writing skills.

My favorite reading so far has been The Ramayana A Shortened Prose Version of the Indian Epic by, R.K. Narayan. I was not expecting to get so "sucked into" this book. I truly couldn't put it down. There were so many different kinds of characters, so many elaborate stories, and lots of twists and turns in the plot. I think my favorite character in this story was Sita, however, I longed for more of the story to be from her point of view. That is why I enjoyed the next reading assignment where I got to watch a film that told the story a little more from Sita's perspective.

Ravana Sita Painting,

Author: Nina Paley, Date: 2008, Source: Wikimedia

As far as interactions go, the commenting and feedback from our professor has been really helpful. I like how each week after I've completed my progress on my storytelling assignment, I get personalized and specific feedback from professor Gibbs. This feedback has been encouraging, but also constructive, and has taught me a lot.

I usually work on this class between my other classes. I have random large chunks in the day between classes that are long enough to get something done, but not quite long enough to walk all the way home. I am very fortunate through my major to be allowed access to the Industrial and Systems Team Room. Basically it's a lounge with couches, tables, a refrigerator, a microwave, and computers that ISE students have access to. When I'm not in class during the day, I'm usually there either doing homework or working on this class and eating.

I feel like through this class I've grown in my understanding of Indian culture and literature. I also feel like I've learned a lot about learning online. One major lesson I've learned is how crucial it is to keep yourself organized, and that there are lots of tools that can be manipulated for the virtual classroom. Bookmarks have been the most helpful tool for me. After using them for this class I started using them to keep all of the links for my med-school secondary applications organized and in my other classes.