Thursday, November 5, 2009
Challenges
I began this class with much confidence I breezed through English 102 and I figured this class would be the same. Maybe not a breeze because it is 103 but I didn’t figure I would struggle nearly as much as I am. I find this course to me one of the most labor-intensive classes I have ever taken, and considering I only have three classes left before I’m finished with two AA and transfer that’s saying a lot. With this being said the amount of extra help that is offered is a God sent. The peer reviews have helped me so much, it’s just gives me that extra heads up to whether or not I get what the task is. It is really nice to have feedback from your peers, its way less intimidating then submitting it and instructor. I also really like the blog’s I find them to be a nice addition to the class. It’s a place where we get to be ourselves and our thoughts are not critiqued. Sense this is an online class it’s really hard to get to know anyone so reading the weekly blogs really give me a glimpse as to who my classmates really are. As far as the group work goes eh, I have mixed feelings about this. I for one have been a very bad group member the deadlines that are set forth and the communication it takes I am horrible with that. I took an online class so I didn’t have those types of deadlines and restrictions. I see the benefit of them but for me this semester has been hectic, and signing on to communicate with my groups and what not just didn’t work. Now if it were a text or if blackboard worked on my phone it would have been much easier. As far as the discussion boards go, I think they are cool, its pretty standard in an online class I think to have to post discussion threads, I think it would be cool if in addition to posting we had to respond to peoples post. I mean really read and respond to them not just respond to the new question that was posed. Now for the fun topic the essays! I think the first essay was a nice get your feet wet kind of essay. But it did in no way prepare me for essay two; I have never scored so low in my life on any essay. I think for me the directions to the prompt got lost in communication somewhere. It’s hard for me because I don’t “not get” things very often. And I just didn’t understand that assignment at all. Essay three I really enjoyed I don’t know how I did yet but I know I felt good about it I really like Animal Farm a lot and I think the choice in prompts was a very helpful idea. Essay four is a collaboration effort we have to kind of take everything and apply it, I think it seem very daunting and I was terrified upon first glance but I think it will be ok. The prompts seem to be fair and direct which I appreciate and I think it helps. All in all I think this class is really challenging me to step up and be a better writer. The additional help is much welcomed and appreciated as well.
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Hey Rosie, like I told Andrea, it’s nice to know that we are not suffering alone. I too feel like you, that this is the most labor-intensive class I have taken. The one consolation is that all of the work we have had to do seems relevant. Want to hear something funny? I know for certain that in all of my writings in this class I have not used the word “daunting”, and I’m pretty sure that I have not seen anyone else use it either, but in this week’s blogs I have seen it used three times already. I will make it four by agreeing that yes our next essay looks daunting. Don’t feel bad about scoring low on essay two, I too scored low on an essay for the first time, which is kind of funny because Jennifer said it was “a fantastically written essay… but it had one fatal flaw”. Anyway, there goes my theory that online classes would be a breeze. My question is; how does Jennifer do it? The good thing is, since you started this class with confidence, you can leave with confidence knowing it has helped and that you survived it.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost congratulations on all the hard work you did and being so close to having your AA! I must say I was relieved to read your post and know that I was not the only one that felt overwhelmed with the work load in this class at times. It helps knowing someone who has been successful in school still struggled at times, so thank you for the honesty! I agreed completely with you on how much peer editing helps and how much less intimidating it is to get help from a classmate on a first draft then immediately from the instructor. At times I will get my first draft back after it has been edited in my group and I will be so grateful the mistake was caught before I truly submitted it. I also agreed that the blogs are a fun way to get to know our classmates in an online class; everyone’s blog speaks differently to the audience which reflects the writer. Finally, again I loved the honesty on your essay two score! I got an okay score, but was somewhat questioning my writing skills. Here’s hoping we both do better on essay three! Good blog!
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