Week 8 Progress

While I feel good about my progress, my work schedule has become a little "last minute" for most assignments. I definitely have not been following the schedule outline that I set up at the beginning of the semester and instead tend to do things on their due date. That said, I've done every assignment except for one writing, and have done plenty of extra credit to make up for it.

Now that we're in the home stretch, I'm thinking about taking a week to really focus on this class and crank out a lot of the work. I think that over spring break I can do the last 4 weeks of readings, which should take a huge load off the rest of the semester.

A motivational quote. (Wikimedia commons)

I found the above picture while searching for something about motivation, and think it captures my mindset. A lot of stuff has to get done whether that's now or later, so it might as well be now!

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I think that the feedback in this class has been helpful not only as a way to get critique of my writing, but as a motivator to do well. The grades in this class are based on completion, and I'm honestly not sure that I'd be motivated to give it my all if not for the fact that other people in the class read my work. That said, the critiques themselves have also been helpful, as I can get a gauge of what's working and what really isn't.

I think that I have been able to give honest and sincere feedback on other people's stories. I think that if I struggle its in giving constructive feedback instead of flat praise. It's really easy to tell someone they did a great job and really hard to offer suggestions for improvement. Overall, I think I've struck a decent balance and hope that the other people in my class get something out of my feedback.

Blog comments have been a fun way to get to know the personalities behind the stories. I think getting to know our classmates has helped us in the other areas of the class. I do think that, to a degree, the introductions are effective in helping us get a sense of one another. I'm not sure that my "online" personality is the same as my "in person" personality, but it counts for something!

I think that I'm on the right track with my feedback and comments and will strive to continue giving quality thoughts to others about their work. As far as my blog goes, I do think that I'll continue to do "tech tips" as the ones that I have done have made my blog better (and have given me a grade buffer!)

A quality cat meme from Growth Mindset Resources.

We were asked to find an image that captures our thoughts on the importance of feedback. The above image is a great example, and speaks to the importance of feedback as a collaborative exercise by which we help each other reach new heights.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I've enjoyed most of the readings that I've done in this class, and I think that a big part of that is the freedom to choose what we read. There's been a couple times that I've started a story only to pick another one halfway through. So far, my favorite story has probably been the legend of Rasa Rasalu. I think his adventures are hilarious because of how wildly powerful he is. The reader is made to feel like the world is just a playground for this guy.

A painting of Psyche and her adoring crowd, created by Luca Giordano (Wikimedia Commons)

I definitely have a soft spot for the classical paintings inspired by greek and roman myth, so I liked the opportunity to see a lot of those over the two weeks that we covered this mythology. Above is one that I think is especially cool!

Looking ahead, I think I want to really seek out readings that help me to write my storybook. I'd love to base more of the creatures and magic on existing mythology! I've started to do that already, but there's always room for more.

Tech Tip: Canvas Notifications

For this week's "tech tip", I fiddled with my canvas notification settings. Generally, I prefer to receive email notifications even for insignificant things like upcoming due dates. These I selected to be daily notifications. I can always ignore emails, but every so often it could be the reminder I need. One thing Canvas has over D2L (rest in peace, sweet prince) is the notifications when grades are posted, even if they're on a bit of a delay.