Final Assessment

When we first started this course I didn’t think it was going to be like a normal EH101 course, and I was right it wasn’t. I was afraid we weren’t going to learn about the “normal” things a normal English class was going to learn about. I think in this class I have learned more than I would of learned in a “normal” English class.

The first major thing I learned in this course was to really think about why the writer is writing this piece. All writers have a reason why they choose to write a piece.  We see this in Stephen King’s On Writing. Through this book we learn about Stephen King and his life as an early writer. We go through his life as a child and into his later years. We learn about his mother, and his drug addiction. All these things play a massive role in being writer. In my post Inspiration I talk about how every person has their own inspiration for writing.

Secondly, I learned how to use my newfound writing skills in my other classes. I write about this in Essay Erosion post. I learned how to organize my thoughts correctly, and take my audience into consideration. I knew I wouldn’t be reading these essays I was writing for my history class, but my professor would be reading them.

I also saw improvement in organizing my thoughts in each blog post I did. Success is one of my best-organized posts. I try to organize my paragraphs by age. Starting when I was younger, and then leading into the present day. I also talk about how important school is to me. Not just only for my grades, but also being able to march. Passion is where I talk about why school is so important to me. I feel like my thoughts are organized pretty well in both of these blog posts.

Lastly, in Visualize I learned how to incorporate others ideas into my writing and into my work. In the DS106 course we had to take others ideas and do them ourselves. So it was like being in a class but not exactly. This course was extremely helpful in learning how to look at others ideas in relation to yours. I loved going through and looking at other people’s projects.

The last things I want to discuss are the few things I still have to work on in my writing. I have always known I have trouble with commas, and proof reading my paper. I always go back and reread it, but I guess I don’t know there are errors I have made because I was never taught about most of them. Hopefully I can learn to really look into my writing and catch my errors before I take my EH102 class. I feel like that is my biggest problem I have with writing.

This course has helped me with more than just normal writing techniques. It has taught me to look deeper into my writing and take other people beside myself into consideration. I’ve learned to take my audience into consideration, and I have learned to make my writing better through so many other things!

Dut Dut out!

So this week for my last DS106 assignment I did a video assignment. This assignment is called Self-Documentary. It is a short video about something that you do, like a hobby or something you enjoy. I decided to do something a little different this week, and when I found this assignment I thought I could do a good job on this.

So, I decided to do my blog post about guard. I could go on a rant about guard for days and days. My video is a little long, its about 20 minutes long, but I couldn’t fit the point of my video into 5 minutes.

In this video I refer to quite a few videos, the first video I refer to was my sophomore year. Our show Las Vegas was the first show I ever marched, and boy did I suck!  The second video I refer to is the first winterguard show I ever marched, entitled Truly Blessed. This show basically shaped me and made my guard career. It helped me through a lot, and showed me how a little hard work can go a long way! The third video I refer to was my junior year when I marched  Rhapsody 3. This year was absolutely amazing, and another big year in marching. We won 2 out of three competitions that year.  The next refer to was my last year with NCWG (North Cobb Winterguard) was when I marched A Story to tell. This was a good year also, not amazing, but not bad! And last but not least the final video I will share with you, entitled Fire&Ice, was my first year with The Marching Southerners. These are some of the most talented musicians and 400 of the  most amazing people I will ever meet!

My video Is a little long, but feel free to watch! I talk about a few things, like my best friend, and some of the people who inspired me! I couldn’t fit as much information into a short little video, so here it is,  and I hope you enjoy!

Breakup iTunes Song

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do for my assignment this week. I wanted to do something a little different, but i really wasn't sure what to do. I found this assignment in the visual assignments, and after I read more about the assignment I thought to myself  "Oh, this will be easy to do." I was wrong.

Trying to write a story with song titles is hard. You don't really have any words like the or of,  basically you are writing a story without any of these filler words. As I looked through my library of music I didn't want to make  my story super long but I didn't want it to be super short either. As I continued looking I started to pick out song titles that appealed to me, then realized my "Story" was starting to become about a break up. I pictured a male finding his girlfriend with another guy.

"This is the best day ever" was the start of the story from the very beginning. Then confessing "I don't love you" and "I know you know", as he catches her in the act. As he catches her, so ironically he tells her "Put some clothes on", "You've made your bed" "Playing the blame game." She had been blaming him for cheating on him, while the whole time she was cheating on him. He gives her a moment to explain, "Speak now, Im listening" then cuts her off with "I. D. G. A. F", obviously telling her that he doesn't care what she has to say.

The story just happened to come out the way it did. I guess it kinda stemmed from being cheated on in the past but either than that the story just developed. And I love how it came out. As I said before I thought this assignment would be really easy, but trying to put a story together out of song titles is difficult.

Eyeballing

So, for my first DS106 assignment I created my own assignment. Originally I was planning to do the Defamilurize assignment, but today when I was taking pictures of my boyfriend I got a photo of his eyes. I don't think I have ever seen such unique eyes. People think our eyes are one pure color, but they aren't. His eyes are green around the pupil and fade into a blue. Its extremely noticeable in the sunlight. I created this assignment and I am hoping people will find it interesting!

Visualize

I am extremely excited about this DS106 class. It seems like a great way for a lot of people to do really well in this class. I feel it caters to the needs of every student. You can choose what assignment you do and do that assignment how you want. Everyone has a different style of learning, may it be visual, hands on, aural, or speaking, and this course really allows you to be able to do something that works for you.

I have always been a hands on and a visual learner. It was always hard for me to be interested in the class if I couldn’t be hands on with the work. I think that’s why art and colorguard come so easily for me. In art I can get my hands in the paint, or on a paintbrush, and in guard I actually have the flag in my hand. History and English was not my top subjects because it was so hard to sit and listen to someone lecture about stuff that happened years ago, or to write a paper on something that I was not interested in. This course gives you a range of things to choose from, so you are able to do what actually interests you.

I looked through the DS106 page and I have found quite a few things I would absolutely love to do. I was planning on doing one this week with my blog post but I got caught up in a lot of other stuff.  I cannot wait to do some of these photography projects. DE familiarize is the assignment I am most excited about doing. You take ten photos of things that are familiar to you but you take them at odd angles, or edit them to make them look unfamiliar! I absolutely cannot wait to do this assignment.  Normal to Extraordinary is also another assignment I would like to do. Take normal photo of a friend, and then with the next photo make them look extraordinary! You could throw some glitter and some paint on them, or even dress them up. I am excited to be creative!

I think this is an AMAZING website. Whoever came up with this type of course is an absolute genius. There are so many assignments to choose from. You have such a wide variety of topics. It should really not be hard to find something that sounds fun but at the same time can educate you. It’s also great that you can receive feedback on your work. All in all I am extremely excited to do a few of these assignments. If we had a class here at JSU like this I would be enrolled!!!

Techknowldgy

What was it like when we didn’t have itty-bitty cell phones, or computers that we could carry around in our backpacks? How did we survive? It’s a question I often ask myself. We were a generation that grew up in the midst of a t technology revolution. We wonder how people ever lived without being plugged in at all times. Our generation is connected at al times, whether it be via Facebook, Twitter, text messaging or Internet, most of us are connected 24/7. But what if we went a day without our technology?

We are so connected to the world it seems like we forget to take the time to appreciate the things that we tend to forget about. Like how the sun shines on a beautiful day in Jacksonville, or how the grass is green. We take so many little things for granted and we don’t realize it. I grew up playing outside and eating whatever came out of the garden that week. The first time I remember using a computer was in third grade. Until then I had no idea they basically existed. And now, I can’t even go to school without my computer.

 I wonder how my dad did it when he attended Mercer? I know he used computer labs and everything, but that was such a long time ago. They didn’t have online classes and hybrid classes like we do now. He didn’t have access to email and Google+ like we do. Imagine how hard it was for him to complete his work when he had to type something and 6 other people were trying to use a computer.

Then I look at my situation. Being in an online class and having to do assignments online. Our classes are listed online, we don’t have to go and register in person for them. Click a few buttons and it’s done. Then we complain when we have every thing we need for success at our fingertips. Then I look at my brothers. Tanner who is 9 and Tate who is 7, and I cant even fathom how different their schools are going to be when they get into high school or college. My brother knew how to use a Mac by the time he was five. Can schools possibly get any more advanced than they already are? Of course they can. It seems like eventually we won’t even have to leave our homes to go to school. How easy will it be for them?

I think its crazy how things can change so rapidly in just a few years. From no one having a laptop, to almost everyone having one. How much easier can school get for us? But my real question is how much will future generations complain when they have everything at their fingertips?

Passion

A lot of people say you have to go through things that you don't enjoy to get to the things that you do enjoy. Just recently I have fell victim to this. Doing things that I do not enjoy to be able to do those things that I have a passion for. As I have stated in a previous blog post I never liked school. To this day Its not one of my favorite things. I think if I didn't need an education to be successful in life I am not entirely sure I would be here today. Although I know school is important for my future, I am also here because of another reason.

Some of you may or may not know that I am a Southerner. I don't play an instrument but I am in the guard. The things with the flags, ya know? Well thats colorguard. For the past five years I have marched fall and winter seasons. During fall its normal Marching Band, and during winter its something called Winterguard (its more about the guard and not the band!). I was captain my senior year (fall and winter seasons!). And here at JSU I am apart of the Southerners colorguard. I never found such a passion in something as I found in being in guard. It has slowly taken over my life, and slowly become something I cannot live without. This winter season I was not able to march, and its killing me. Although it was probably a good thing so I could focus on school it still kills me when I hear people talk about how good their show is, or how much fun they are having.

Until recently my grades never had an effect on if I could march or not. This upcoming marching season its different. I have to have a 2.5 GPA to be able to march on the guard. When I heard this it completely changed my outlook on school and my grades. Grades had never been more important to me. And with the news I received last night(I cant say what the news is but its freaking amazing!), grades are my top priority right now. It is so important to me to do well in classes the rest of this semester and during the May and Summer terms. Right now, school has never been more important to me. Grades have never been more of a priority.

I could lie and say that I came here to go to school, but thats not the real reason. I came for the band. I came to fulfill my passion. This is why school is so important to me, and why I try my hardest to do everything I can to do well in school. While some people are here just to be here, I am here for a reason. I am here working my butt off to be part of something that I can not live without.

Inspiration

Every artist needs inspiration as does every author. I would know. I am a photographer and a painter. I have always been artistic in my own way. Ever since I was little I knew what I wanted to do when I got older. When I was little I thought It was all about pretty pictures, paintbrushes, and amazing stories. I never thought about the emotional hardships that one would go through in attempting to be creative.

We tend to forget about the things an author goes through that brings out the best in him. The emotional turmoil it must take to write a book. The toll it takes on his family to sit at a desk every day of his life. I am pretty sure we know that authors do not sit at a desk 24/7, 7 days a week. I am pretty sure they would go absolutely nuts. Most authors are pretty crazy though if you really think about it. There is a toll taken on a writers life when he chooses to become an author. The effort it takes to produce book after book after book. You would think they would run out of ideas eventually. Just as artists have their inspiration so do authors. A time in their life that is sad may produce a novel that brings tears to your eyes and makes you think about your life. Or a life changing event may lead an author to write a novel that will change your life. So many things can determine the outcome of a novel.

Just as a painter paints a scene, an author paints with words. An author must depict emotion through words. He can make you feel sad, or make you feel happy. It is all set in the tone the book is meant to be set in. What the author is feeling while writing this chapter determines where the story leads. Its like a roller coaster. Up and down and down and up! Most authors plan the end of the book first, then let their minds take them through a maze trying to get to the end.

As an artist I can understand about the emotions needed to create something amazing. Its hard to not let your emotions control where your work is going. When I do photo sessions with a family, its hard to work with someone who is sad and down and un inspiring for me to shoot. Authors do the same. We all as artists need some form of inspiration so we can create.

Success

I never enjoyed school. NEVER. Not in elementary school, not in m middle school, and defiantly not in high school. I hated getting up early, getting on the bus, sitting in class hour after hour after hour. It felt like pure torture. Eight hours a day, every single day except Saturday and Sunday. I always hated homework too. In all honesty, I never studied in school, and I rarely did my homework. I always knew I was smart but I just never applied myself. I cant really give you a reason why I didn’t apply myself. Maybe it was because I was bored with what we were learning or that I was distracted. I don’t even have a clear answer for myself.

All I knew is that my parents wanted me to do well in school, and they pushed me and they pushed me hard. They would yell at me, take my phone away, cuss at me, they tried everything to get me to be the perfect “straight A student” that they wanted. It had always bugged me that they wanted me to do what they wanted, and not let me do my own thing. My parents both have very well paying jobs and both have very high educations from top of the rank schools. My dad a graduate of Mercer with a degree in Environmental Engineering and my stepmother a medical school graduate(I don’t know which school). My parents, both extremely successful in school, wanted me to be successful also, like any other parent. They wanted me to attend a top of the line school and have a high end job like them.

Well like any child if you push them too far they will rebel. Me being me and the personality that I have obviously rebelled against them. Not ever doing my homework, not making straight A's or bringing home A's on my report card. Not to say I was a bad student(B's and C's) but in the back of my head I knew it was what my parents wanted and not me. And that bugged the living shit out of me.. It bothered me that my parents didn’t see what I did well, and what I couldn’t do well. They pushed me and pushed me until I was finally fed up. I did nothing. No homework, no studying. I took notes in class and took tests. But I never attempted to push my self farther than that, because I knew they wanted me to make the grades for them, not myself.

It was second semester senior year my parents finally gave up pushing me to do my work. They said if I wanted it, I would have to do it on my own(this wasn’t the first time nor the last he would tell me this). Every class second semester I made an A in, besides math. I finally was doing it for myself.

I thought the pushing from my parents was gone, until first semester at JSU came around. They started back up with “this is what we want for you.” And it killed me. I made some pretty stupid decisions last semester that left me unsure if I was coming back for a second semester. These decisions got me kicked out of the house, and left the relationship with my parents non-existent. My father told me he was tired of trying to instill what he wanted in me, and that he would no longer support me. It was an hour later I decided for myself that I would come back to JSU for a second shot.

So, here I am. Sitting at my desk, in my dorm, doing my homework, on my own time. With no one pushing me, or bugging me to get it done. Only me, myself, and I. I am doing this for myself. I have responsibility. There is a reason I enjoy this course so much, and a reason why I believe I will be taking more online classes and hybrid classes in the future. I have to make myself do it. In an online class you don’t have anyone there over your shoulder trying to make sure you get your work done. And I like that. I think I found the right type of class for me. To make myself successful.  

Essay Erosion

My My teacher for my western civ class only gives out three tests a semester, so you have to do good on all of these tests to be able to pass the class. He also does powerpoint slides, with very little information. You have to listen to him and write down the key points, and decide what you think is important. If you miss something, your screwed. Well, over the past 6 weeks I had taken 23 pages of notes in his class. A week and a half ago my computer decided to crash, which means I lost everything. My music, my pictures, my files, my english documents, and of course my 23 pages of notes.

Now, my main concern isn't that the notes are gone, or that I am not going to remember the material. The test is tomorrow, Wednesday. My main concern is that 80% of his test is essay questions. I thought this would be a good topic to write about for my blog because what history class makes you write essays for your test? He wants 3 complete essays, 4 paragraphs each, and he also has short answer questions(a paragraph each, which isn't too bad).

So as I sit here and freak out about my essays and my paragraphs, I recall everything we have talked about in the past few weeks in english. How everything about writing essays is bull shit. But I have to wonder, Does my history teacher think that everything about writing essays is bull? Or  how I choose to write going to be a problem, or will it fit up to his standards? Aren't we supposed to take what we learn from our english classes and apply it to every aspect of our writing? But that poses my question, What if my history professor doesn't like how I go about my writing?

What if I fail because of how I choose to write, or how I choose to organize my information.


What if..

Personality Profile

How do the people in your group affect the outcome of your work?

As I stated in my last post about group work, I don’t enjoy it. I worry about how the others will do working in the group. There are some people who help in the group and then there are those folks who don’t really care about anything. For some reason, I always got put with the group of slackers. Maybe because the teacher thought I could motivate them to do work. Well, that was not the case. It happened all the time in my English classes. And honestly, it started to piss me off. I started to hate group work, and when we did have group work I would beg my teacher to let me do a project by myself. I usually had a good argument, and ended up doing projects by myself. 

It makes me nervous to do group work. I am afraid that people wont pull their weight and leave one or two of us to do the entire project. And in the end their name gets put on the final project. 

When we were assigned our groups for out Wikki page, I was a little concerned. I hadn’t ever talked to either one of the people in the group, and I hadn’t read any blog posts from either of them either. I was nervous. So when our new groups were assigned, and Ms. Sasser asked if we wanted to be in new groups I was thankful. I was excited when Christian claimed me. It seems like he and I are one of the very few who talk in class. I am a talker, and I enjoy participating in discussion. I wanted a group where I could have a good discussion with the people. People who are shy aren’t good group workers, in my opinion.  When Shelbi and Christian were paired with me I was quite excited. Christian talked in class and I knew Shelbi was a hard worker. I knew that we would be a good group. I am happy to have these two in my group for the rest of the semester.

The personalities of the people in your group are a big factor in the work you put into your project. I think if you can get along well with your peers and create a good friendship the project will be a success. If you are kind of standoffish, and don’t talk in your group, then well your group is going to be awkward and unpleasant. In the end it all matters about how you build that relationship with your peers. 

Concerns in the Class.

My main concern in this class is working with groups. I am not keen on working in groups. I feel like I work a lot better by myself. I don’t feel like my grade should be a refection of others work ethic. I have been in positions where working in groups have been successful, and other times working within a group has been disastrous.  My grade should be a refection of my work, and no one elses. If  a group project is done, there is really no way to know who did what work, and who did no work.  I really have no other major concerns about this class. I am quite fond of the learning style, and only having to come to class one day a week. I like the blogging, and I think this is a good way to learn. For my self anyway.

How has literature influenced my writing?

How have writing styles influenced my writing ?

In the past I never enjoyed writing. I had always hated it, until I  met my eleventh grade English teacher. She taught us the importance of different styles of writing and literature. I believe that literature influences everyone who writes. Every author has had some sort of influence for their writing style. Mrs. Porter, my eleventh and twelfth grade English teacher, taught us to look at every type of literature, and to think about what the author was thinking about at this time. Although it’s difficult to understand why an author chooses to write what he or she does, we have to think of all the possibilities.  Looking at all the different literature really influences how you choose to write what you do. It also shows you the different styles of writing you can use. If it is mystery, suspense, romance, drama or comedy. My favorite of the American authors is Henry David Thoreau. In his novel, Walden, he recalls the places he lived before settling down at Walden Pond. He uses his experiences to guide him, and therefore leading him to the pond.  He chooses to create his own sanctuary at Walden. I guess you could say a paradise to live the simple life. He writes in such detail, you can almost picture it in your head. As I wrote my paper in Eleventh grade, I always seemed to refer back to Walden, and other works of Thoreau, I remember the detail he puts into his writing. And when I attempt to write, I try to put as much detail into my writing as I can. I want to paint a picture for my readers, to help them imagine, and have a mental picture of the idea I am trying to portray. I believe it is important to engage your readers, or try to engage them.

In twelfth grade, Mrs. Porter was my British Literature teacher. She forced us to read all these different stories and novels. Beowulf, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. British literature showed me how not to write, not that I am British or anything. It just seemed so dry to me, and I was extremely bored. Jane Eyre was my favorite novel in the class. The others made me want to shoot myself! Mrs. Porter introduced us to many different styles of writing, although each period in time has a different style. It has helped shape my writing and helped me become a stronger writer.

Ramble..Ramble..

Its so hard to write about a topic unless you are really interested in it. And when you have nothing to write, its hard to fill a paper.  The problem i am going to have to overcome is rambling. You just go on and on, on a subject you pretend  to know about. But we all know, that we could care less about a paper. Its an awful truth to admit, but its true.  I want to learn not to ramble, to actually make my paper interesting, and not have to worry about boring my readers half to death.