Writing, Research, and Technology
Reflective Narrative
I'm going to start off by throwing it out there that I had absolutely no idea how much of an impact that this class would have on myself as an overall writer. I'm also not going to hold back that I did in fact enjoy the time that I spent on Tuesdays and Thursdays listening to the comedic ramblings of Professor Mangini. I know that when I first signed up, reading the title of the class psyched me out: Writing, Research, and Technology? What is that supposed to be? Obviously we will be writing, maybe we will be on computers, and the research, no way, not my cup of tea! Those were just a few of the many thoughts that were attacking my brain. I have always strived to be a "good" writer, whatever society might classify that is, and it wasn't until my eyes were opened in this class that I realized the many things that it takes to reach that type of achievement. Unlike other writing classes, a pen was not forced to a piece of paper, instead I was introduced to the ways my creativity and knowledge could be highly influenced by the completion of a few simple assignments.
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Weebly
Social media takes over my life, literally. It causes me to be a professional at procrastination, but I cannot help but be addicted. Although mine may not be as addicting as the popular sites such as Facebook, I am more than happy to say that I finally created my own website. Creativity is my specialty, and this allowed me to express it more than usual, which I am not complaining about. Weebly, a site introduced to me this semester was so simple and easy to use. I am big on perfection, but I am so indecisive, even when it comes to what I want to wear. The templates offered by this site, helped me overcome those aspects. I love that I could choose pre-made sites yet add the things I liked to personalize it. There were endless opportunities, which I took advantage of. Maybe a little too much, since my site was always changing. I even created a site with Weebly for another class, something that my professor was highly excited about. I know that in the future as I start teaching, it will be a great thing to use for my own teacher informational site.
Blogging/Twitter
It has always been a trend for me to start blogging or tweeting my life away and then suddenly ending that phase. It has happened countless numbers of time, and I was not too excited to begin the process again. Don't get me wrong, I love expressing myself, but I was over the repetivtive posts that I would probably never read again. Who would take time out of their day to listen to my rambling anyway? Because I know that it wouldn't be on the top of my to do list. This time though, blogging stuck with me all semester, and still now. We were given different topics to write about, along with multiple readings to help spark our thoughts, which really helped me. I was able to organize my thoughts, express my own opinions, and do what i'm best at, incorporate myself into reading topics.
As for twitter, I never saw the point of summarizing my thoughts in less than 140 characters, but when I was told to tweet observation I couldn't stop. It made me realize that writing is indeed comprised of multiple observations, big and small. Past tweets helped me write my Twitterive, post blogs, and create found poems (a new genre for me). Now when I write, even for other classes, I find myself glancing back at my twitter to help me decide on topics. My friends often make fun of me for tweeting so much, but hey its an educational tool. Right?
As for twitter, I never saw the point of summarizing my thoughts in less than 140 characters, but when I was told to tweet observation I couldn't stop. It made me realize that writing is indeed comprised of multiple observations, big and small. Past tweets helped me write my Twitterive, post blogs, and create found poems (a new genre for me). Now when I write, even for other classes, I find myself glancing back at my twitter to help me decide on topics. My friends often make fun of me for tweeting so much, but hey its an educational tool. Right?
Twitterive
Oh the complications of multi-genre, and the funny thing is, this semester I was stuck writing two. Not to mention these were my first times getting my feet wet with this type of writing. Of course this multi-genre was a little different then the hand written one I completed for another class. Because everything was completed online, there were no limitations as to what we could add to our final draft. I can say that this caused me to become overwhelmed. I couldn't figure out my place, how the heck was I supposed to narrow down the genres that I wanted to add to it? Even more overwhelming, we were instructed to decide on our place using our observational tweets on twitter, a site that I could not stand to use. Like most of my assignments, it took me a while to actually dig into it, but once I knew where I was going I couldn't stop. It was like writing an interative book, and even better was the fact that it was a personal story that my audience was going to read. I felt as if I was revealing a deep dark secret to complete and total strangers.
Besides general writing, a lot of technology went into this project, between creating playlists, choosing music videos, taking pictures with my digital camera, and using screen shots (for the first time ever!) I remember throwing hissy fits every time something didn't turn out how I wanted, such as the playlist deciding to delete itself twice. But the frustration was well worth the finished project. Who new that technology could add so much to the feel of a piece of writing, because when I look back on it now, if the pictures and videos were not added, it wouldn't be polished as my now finished project. I can also blame my over exaggeration on perfecting things as well, I guess my parents felt the need to pass on that annoying gene. I will remember to thank them later!
Besides general writing, a lot of technology went into this project, between creating playlists, choosing music videos, taking pictures with my digital camera, and using screen shots (for the first time ever!) I remember throwing hissy fits every time something didn't turn out how I wanted, such as the playlist deciding to delete itself twice. But the frustration was well worth the finished project. Who new that technology could add so much to the feel of a piece of writing, because when I look back on it now, if the pictures and videos were not added, it wouldn't be polished as my now finished project. I can also blame my over exaggeration on perfecting things as well, I guess my parents felt the need to pass on that annoying gene. I will remember to thank them later!
Oral History
I will be up front about this one, History bores me, beyond belief! I'm not over exaggerating either, I tend to fall asleep when listening to or even reading about history. Because of this, I was not nearly excited for anything entitled "Oral history". As a group Katie, Christie, and I decided that we wanted to find out the benefits of raising livestock through our oral history. I did not realize at first that it was going to be an interview, but even that intimidated me. Speaking is not my strong point, never has been, and coming up with questions on spot is not my cup of tea. Luckily, Katie did all the talking, while I got to sit back and enjoy the lovely video. No complaints there! We did however face complications with getting an interview though, not a surprise. We made countless attempts to snag interviews with Katie's father and friends, but in the end all we could do was interview two young middle school kids. It was stressful of course, but it was a great change of pace to a topic that is generally related to adults. After watching the interview I began to think to myself and realize that almost everything we learn in life comes from oral history. Whether its a story told by your friend that happened prior to your meeting, or a historical documentary, every story has a background. Now, that does not mean my love for history has grown, but it has made me aware that when writing, asking questions
Collaborative Research
Research? Ew! No way!Where is the creativity in an assignment like that? Well, actually, creativity is everywhere. My group and I were given the task to come up with our own topics and questions to use during interviews, that in fact uses a lot of brain juice. We found it hard to pick a topic and stick with it, our minds always changing at the last minute. This screwed us over, because it took over our interviewing time, and we were stuck rushing around last minute like chickens with our heads cut off. After finally succeeding with interviews, one day was left before our presentations, talk about disaster. Of course, finishing didn't come easy, Christie had difficulties uploading our documentary, and I was stuck waiting to finish our introduction and conclusion because of it. Pressure hates me, and from the time it took Christie to finally get the video to upload until our presentation, I was an overwhelmed mess. Things were constantly being changed around, and because I am my own worst critic, I was NEVER happy with what I wrote. I can say that a research project successfully taught me to always be prepared, to change my mind less often, and keep calm and push on when things don't go my way. Oh and as for procrastination, whether it is on purpose or it happens accidentally, is NEVER the answer!
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I cannot find the words to express how this class had better prepared me for my future as a writer. As much as I dreaded jumping into it, I am now walking away from the experience knowing that I will miss every torture I was put through on those Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Writing has gained greater value in my eyes, something that I never thought I could say. You don't always know everything, and that was proven to me this semester.