Tuesday, June 1, 2010
This was not my first English class and I do not know that it will be my last. I do know that I have learned a lot from this class, a lot more than I have learned from any other English class that I have taken. It seems as if I have been in school forever and it also seems as if I have taken too many English classes to count. In elementary school, junior high and high school you have to take so many classes and many of them seems to repeat themselves, for example have taken Biology classes three times, once in junior high, once in high school and here at Antelope Valley College. To be honest taking an English class has always felt the same. I never really got something drastically different from each class. I think though that when I got out of high school i really assumed that every college class that I took would be so much more fulfilling and interesting but the truth is that many of them are not. I took an English 101 class and it was also online but I was really let down by it because I did not get very much out of it. It seemed as if the work was somewhat pointless and it did not really change the way I looked at English class or the way I approached writing. When it came time to take this English 102 class I really felt that it would be a risk because after taking that other English class and not really taking anything away from it, I was worried that not only would it be hard but it also would be really boring. I was really surprised however and glad to see how different this class was formatted though. From the first week when we were asked to introduce ourselves and give a brief overview of who we are and what we are about I felt that this really helped me, and im sure it helped everyone else too, it helped to feel that we were actually connected and interacting with real people. When it comes to online classes or projects, I think that it often seems as if you forget or fail to realize that you are interacting with other people. I really enjoyed the fact that although everything was done online, we all seemed to feel connected like in a real class that you physically go to. I enjoyed the fact that the majority of our assignments depended in part on the interactions w had with other class members. For example, I think that the Peer Draft Reviews that we had to do really allowed many of us to look at our own papers as compared to others and not only help those others to improve their own papers but it also helped us to improve on our own. So I would have to say that I am really glad that I took this class, even online, because I do think that it has helped me analyze not only education subjects but also life issues. A lot of our work depended on analysis, including self analysis, and I think many of us forget to do this sometimes because we have so many other things going on.
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I couldn’t agree with you more Stacey. So many times we repeat classes and they do nothing but make us hate going to school. I was one of the students (I’m sure like many others) that hated going to school. The only thing in my mind that has ever been good about school is being able to see and socialize with your friends. When it came time to go to college though I was a little more excited. I have been at AVC for almost three years now (sigh) and I’m afraid that feeling has come back, it was definitely not as exciting as I thought it would be. There have been a couple of classes that I have taken that have been really interesting though and I’m glad to say that this one is one of them. I really enjoyed the way that Professor Gross taught this class and I hope that she teaches some other classes that I can take with her. I am glad to hear that other people in the class have enjoyed it as much as I have. The PDR’s were one of the things that helped me the most as well and I really liked the fact that even though we were an online class we still had multiple opportunities to interact with each other. I hope you have a good summer girly and good luck with your finals!
ReplyDeleteI read your first half of this blog and help but admit that I feel the SAME way. All my English classes have been the same up until now. I always had some lame teacher, giving us lame assignments. This class was different though I actually enjoyed some of the assignments they were very thought provoking. There have been many classes when I would read stuff and I never got anything out of it. I hope this is my last class not that I hate English it is just not my cup of tea maybe because I feel like I am not good at it. If I was it would be a different story. I really enjoyed reading your blogs through out the semester they were really in depths and you really presented yourself well in your writing. I admired the way you articulated yourself and hope that one day I too can express my self half as good as you would. It was overall very fun, something I never though I would say about an English class or a class in general. This accomplished feeling is what makes it all so worth it though, knowing it took work but that we made it. I hope all goes well in your future as far as goals and family. May God bless you immensely.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that I feel like I have been in school for ages, because well, I have. I also feel like I have taken the same classes dozens of times, and every time it seems to be the same thing. I did however, enjoy this class very much, and it did not make you do things that were unecessary at all. Everything had a valid reason and point to it. I really enjoyed the interaction of other people. In a regular class I would not have been this active in a regular discussion, I am very shy, and tend to keep to myself, not that I hide behind a computer or anything, but it has forced me to give my opinions and own point of view, which I have greatly enjoyed doing. I loved analysis part of this class, and will be doing this more often with my readings. I never thought about looking deeper into something, I like mindelss reading, and as it turns out I like mindful reading just as much. I really enjoyed the actual English book too. Most English stories and readings I really do not get into or enjoy, but these stories, and poems I truly enjoyed reading and would find that I would get so into them I would forget I was doing it for a class, and this is always refreshing. I think if you enjoy what you are doing, then things will go a lot better.
ReplyDeleteI loved this blog as much as any because I feel exactly the same way. I came into this English class not only unprepared for the workload, but also not expecting to learn much. I have never really felt that I got much of anything out of an English class before, and my 101 class was the lamest of all in that area. It was easy, we just listened to the teacher lecture on random topics twice a week and that was it, but I did not feel that I got much out of it. This class though, I feel has really allowed me to reap benefits from the work put in. I have actually enjoyed some of the assignments and I honestly feel that my writing has improved thanks to the constant requirement to do just that, write. I also loved the sense of community we had, I never talk to people in my actual classes so it was nice to at least talk to people through this course.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, great blog, great course! Time for a great summer!