Stephen A. Keates Weblog

8th

stephen56 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:25:06 +0000

So far in English 112 blogging has helped me exercize my free thinking skills in writing in my spare time. I have enjoyed all what has came about blogging even though at times can be very frustrating when you dont have the time to get it done. Blogging is a great way to express your ideas through writing. I feel that there is a sense of community that has devoloped with my classmates becuase of the responses that I have received concerning my post by being able to see how your peers feel about your concerns and problems. Blogging has helped me with my writing and the developing my ideas for my writing. I don’t think i will blog after English 112 is over, but its not a for sure thing.

7th

stephen56 — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 02:42:10 +0000

I have never really done blogging before until this class. It was new to me, and in the beginning was a bit confusing. As the more blogs I posted and commented on I felt I got more of a hang of it, and wasn’t so much of a hassle. I enjoyed being able to communicate with other classmates, since I really didn’t know any of them coming into the course. It has helped me network with other classmates and provided me a learning opportunity to do something new. The only thing that I really didn’t enjoy is always knowing you have to have a blog to do each week. Sometimes I felt I wasn’t writing for any purpose but just to do the assignment. It did help me clear my mind. It has improved my typing skills a little bit by forcing me to type, which is beneficial for a college student, but its not like we are on Facebook, AIM, or Myspace 24/7. I am really not sure if I will continue to blog after English 112 is over, I am really not sure. I can see myself at times bloggging when I have something on my mind that I cant get off, or if I am really stressed out about something.

6th

stephen56 — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:13:04 +0000

This past week of English went pretty well, and went by fast. I like meeting in the computer lab much better then in our classroom. It’s a closer walk and the last thing I want to do early in mourning is a walk in the cold. Plus I feel the computer lab is a friendlier environment. Going over MLA on Thursday helped me refresh how to do it properly and helped me out a lot. I’m glad we did that.

I feel more comfortable writing the MSE #1, this paper so far hasn’t been to difficult. Professor Coley is doing a good job on providing all the resources we need to a well job on it. I was ecstatic that I had passed my first paper, since it’s been the first paper graded for English in the last year. I was a bit scared on receiving my graded paper at first because I felt that it wasn’t well-written. I do have a lot of improvement on my writing skills though if I want to be a successful writer. I am not satisfied with the first paper, but this will push me write the MSE #1 to a greater extent.

Cannot wait till next week is over and spring break starts, I defiantly need a break from a school for a little bit.

5th

stephen56 — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:41:44 +0000

This week of English felt like it flew. We met both times in our classroom and discussed six total articles. I felt as a class we are improving with our communication with one another when groups lead the class discussions. The previous weeks felt uncomfortable for me and I can tell others too when doing these peer leading discussions. As this semester progresses it seems that were getting more and more work to do. All this work sometimes frustrates me because I have other classes and try to split time equally among them, I’m sure others feel the same to. Other then that it is already going into the 6^th week of class and I feel that I have learned a great deal with my improvement in English and becoming better at English in general, which is a plus. Getting up early still isn’t enjoyable.

As going for this new paper the MSE it doesn’t seem to be as complicated as I thought it would be. Some things I am still confused about, like the format of the paper. I hope Professor Coley shows us an example like how he did for our critique. That seemed to help me out a lot.

Fourth Week

stephen56 — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:58:41 +0000

As the fourth week of this semester ended in English, I’ve learned many new ways to learn in the class besides the typical lecture or teacher leads the discussion. On Tuesday and Thursday we were led by two different groups of peers to discuss on the reading that were due on that particular day. Both the groups performed very well, even though I sense the class doesn’t seem really comfortable with it. At times I, myself feel a little uncomfortable especially discussing topics and readings that I fully don’t understand and to people I really don’t know that well. I don’t like how were not able to collaborate fully on each of the readings because at times I feel that I might be missing out on important information I didn’t catch. If class was longer I think this approach would be far more effective. This makes me read more comprehensively and try to spend more time reading and re-reading while annotating. Time I feel I don’t have.

I really like how Professor Coley does the rough drafts with the comments on it. Even though this was new to me, I caught on very well with the whole concept. Our first final drafts are due this Tuesday. This makes me worry about the work I have done and the grade that I am going to earn.

Week Three

stephen56 — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:38:50 +0000

Going into Tuesday last week I was a bit nervous about the whole peer editing activity and interacting with new classmates. During this week I experienced a new way of reviewing papers. In class on Tuesday we met in the computer lab and examined our group members papers. This helped me out a lot by having other students read and evaluate your work. Having people there to help to out is a very good structural of learning. A lot of the time I miss common errors and your groups members usually spot them out. Having this type of learning helps students grow more effectively in the English language by peer editing. When reviewing papers you become more familiar with others work and their writing styles. This provides confidence to students who feel their not as strong in English as others in this class. This learning approach is new to me, I have never done this type of activity but, see how it is beneficial to all the students who attend class. I feel that I am going to benefit from this new way of learning and look forward to it. I learned a great deal from this activity and I am happy I was able to experience this way of learning.

Week Two

stephen56 — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:47:52 +0000

The second week of English went really well. Adjusting to getting up early in the morning is getting habitually.

This paper that is due in two weeks is going to be my first test for English 112. I have not written an English paper in roughly a year and a half. So I feel this will be my first challenge.

I’ve learned this week how to write a critique. In high school I never had to a paper of this nature. Writing this paper is going to be new for me but, yet exciting as well. On Thursday we had read and went over the structure of a critique and how to excel in writing a successful one. Going over this material in class is going to help me write a well paper. We went over someone’s past critique paper and learned what we should and shouldn’t do when writing one.

The WARAC book this semester is going to help me out greatly in being a successful writer in this class. The book contains a lot of useful information that I can use as a tool in being a fine writer. This book also contains an outline on the main components which make up a critique. This I will be referring to when I start writing my rough draft.

stephen56 — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:12:23 +0000

The first week of English so far has gone well. I thought getting up so early would be very difficult but, so far it hasn’t been.

The first day Prof. Coley was talking about the wiki and blogs it scared me off. I have never used a computer like we are in class in any other classes. I was really perplexed about the whole idea. I browsed the wiki site prior to Thursdays class and I really didn’t understand the whole start up process. After going to the computer lab and getting more detailed instructions it wasn’t so confusing after all. Using these tools online I feel is going to broaden my technology skills in the class room.

Hello world!

stephen56 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:01:33 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!