On Monday, my group and I presented our Prezi about Structure and Symbolism. It went much better than expected, but that's really not saying much considering I thought I would make a fool of myself. I feel like I did fairly well, although there is always room for improvement. It was suggested that we as a group need to work more on making sure those we were presenting to got a better grasp of the concept. For me personally, this is important for more than just class presentations, because I want to be a teacher.
Ways to improve at being a presenter would be to make sure that I am not reading directly from what we had written. This is somewhat difficult for me because when I present I get very nervous and my mind gets wiped clean, and all I can think to say is "Uhhh" or "Umm", which isn't exactly the point that I'm ever trying to get across. Another thing I need to work more on is providing examples for the materiel I'm explaining. If those I'm presenting to don't understand one concept I'm saying, and all the other topics go along with the original one, they will be lost throughout the whole thing. As a presenter and a teacher, the ultimate goal is to be understood, so this is something that I definitely would like to improve on.
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This week was a very busy week, so I am glad that it's over, but it was a very productive week. My group had been struggling with finding an angle that we wanted to take with the stories, and this week we accomplished finding one. Once we did that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. This week my main focus was time management. I have a very bad habit of making lists of things I need to accomplish, getting stressed about said list, and then not do any of it because I am too stressed to function. However, this week I worked very hard with time management, and I am very proud of the progress I made. I learned that sometimes when you're so stressed out that you don't know what to do, just begin writing your thoughts down. Usually, there is something in the jumbled mess that will help you find a starting point. Once you have a place to start, the rest is smooth sailing. Time and stress management will not only help me in English, it will help me all through my life, which is a good thing because stress and time management consume me most days. With the group presentation and paper due soon, time management is needed in order to get them done in time. Not only done in time, but done with care and quality. For me, this means working on the prezi in class so that my team and I can take advantage of the time we have together. Digging deeper into the poetry from this week we've mostly been working with our groups, and I am trying my hardest to learn how to be a team player. I'm trying to open up when it comes to being sociable in group projects, because that is a thing that I repeatedly struggle with. Learning to work in a group and accept criticism is important, especially for me because I am aspiring to be a teacher.
We've also been learning how to explicate poems, which is really helpful when we are writing about the poem. I am a huge fan of poetry, and learning how to dig deeper is very enjoyable. Not only is it enjoyable, it is also a very helpful tool to know when wanting to express one's interpretations. Digging deeper into the poetry for me involves trying to delve into the copious amounts of symbolism that one usually finds in poetry. The explicating we do in class will help me in my own poetry because it teaches me to look at poetry on deeper levels, and not take everything at face value. When I write poetry, I tend to be far too literal. Reading all these poems, and explicating them gives me examples of different ways to correctly use symbolism -- and not be too terribly cheesy. In order to become a skilled writer, one must experience writing in all sorts of situations. Working on an essay as a group will definitely help us all grows as writers. Although it is difficult to work in a group, and compromise your ideas, it is overall very, very helpful. Sometimes we get to wrapped up in our own head, that we will not realize that the things we are saying, or the points that we are trying to make, make absolutely no sense. Working in groups is a thing that I always have struggled in, because I am very opinionated, but I also hate conflict. So, working in a group helps me become more vocal, and helps me break free of my introvert tendencies.
Writing essays in general always helps me grow as a writer. Personally, I enjoy writing poetry and fiction. I enjoy having free reign and little to no structure in my writing that I do. Writing essays and such helps me learn how to format things in a more professional matter. Not only that, but it helps me to revise my works, instead of just stopping after the first copy. In every field of writing, one will have to do revisions, so it is something that will come in handy no matter the career you choose to pursue. This week, we learned how to look deeper into poetry. This is an important skill to learn because then you can apply this knowledge to novels and other pieces of writing. We utilized this skill when we read the poem "The Eagle". What I find fascinated is we were all taught the same way to explicate a poem, but absolutely everyone in my group interpreted the poem differently. Another important skill to have whilst learning to explicate poems is that it's perfectly fine for others to have different interpretations. You have to remain confident that the way you see it isn't wrong or dumb just because it is different.
All that being said, I definitely need to start being confident that my interpretations are valid. It's easy for me, or anyone, to feel unsure about their thoughts, especially when they tend to be so different than others. We could lose out on some great thoughts if people continue to feel self conscious about their beliefs. The first week back to school is always difficult, and this week was no exception. There are many things that I need to work on, in order to have a successful senior year. I really need to work on getting used to writing again. Over the summer I mostly did journal entries and poetry, so I need to get used to writing pieces that are longer and more formal. I think it will take me awhile to get accustomed to writing again, but once i do, I won't be able to believe that I went so long without it. Another thing that I need to work on is being able to express my feelings by typing on a computer. I struggle greatly with it, and I am able to write much better using pen and paper. Alas, technology isn't going away anytime soon, so learning to type will be a good skill to obtain. In general, I make more mistakes typing than with paper and pencil. I would like to get to the point where I can type just as good, or better than I can write. I've been resisting against embracing technology, and I think that senior year is a good time to work on that. |
Mattie BarberAP Lit student. |