Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Blog # 5


October 2, 2012
Dear Dr. Jones,

Reflecting back on how this class is going thus far in the semester, a few words come to mind: educational, helpful, and enjoyment! I have really enjoyed this class thus far. I really did not know what to expect coming into the my first semester as a grad student as well as one of my first electives. The course caught my attention from the name, I am not a great writing and at times I have difficulty reading. The fact that the course said Improving Reading through Writing incorporated both of the skills I wanted to improve on, it seemed to be a course that would not only help me as a student but also as a future teacher.

The other words I used to describe this class were helpful and educational. I am learning different techniques that are helping me as a student improve my reading. During one of our first classes we discussed using a found poem to help with comprehension of our text. This was a completely new take on a found poem for me, I had only used it with lyrics from a song never with a book. It opened my eyes to topics in the book that I seemed to have over looked, those little details that slip through the cracks when I read began popping out to me and giving me a better understanding of what I was reading. All the different techniques and skills being taught to me are really helping my writing and reading improve as a student. When we received our genre pieces project, I was not sure what to expect, however, I have learned so many different ways to work with the topic that I never expected to use. Through all the group/partner work we do in class I find myself learning with an open mind and accepting others ideas and welcoming change into my thoughts. 

I have never been much of a writing or a reading, after beginning this class I find myself writing more often, I found my passion for poetry again! I had never thought it would come back. Although recently I have been writing more, I don’t truly allow myself to think as much as  I could. My writing recently has been a therapeutic way of dealing with things. I don't believe there is really any reason why I am not choosing to engage in thinking much when I am writing. If I work on engaging my mind more in writing I feel it will improve the overall feel of my work. I feel it will add a more meaningful voice, I will get myself to dig deeper and push myself to use a more engaging voice. 

Many different activities that we have worked on in class have influenced the way I will teach in my future classroom. I really enjoyed learning about the different journal entries, and how to get students to think deeper in their writing. I also really like the card strategy activity, it really allowed me to see my thoughts from a different perspective and it allowed me to think deeper as to why I thought the way I did. Being exposed to writing a blog is also something that is new to me. It has allowed me to use technology more and think about using it in my future classroom. I like that I can view my classmates blogs and I can see how they feel about certain topics they choose to write about. Overall I feel this class has given me so much and I look forward to continued learning in this course throughout the semester! 

Sincerely, 
Jaimie 

1 comment:

  1. Jaimie, three words I would use to describe your progress thus far in this RW Blog (as well as the class overall) are insightful, progressing, and enjoyable.

    I do believe you are gaining insights into your professional knowledge and your preferences as a teacher of writing and reading.

    In addition, with each entry you are showing progress at using writing as a tool for learning/engaging in critical reflection. I am quite sure you will continue to refine your abilities as you continue to write in the blog this semester.

    Finally, it is quite enjoyable to witness your level of interaction and engagement with your peers. It was particularly rewarding to see the work you and Gretchen did last week on your presentation materials. If your effort last week is any indication, the class is going to learn a great deal from you both about the Expository Genre.

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