Reflections: Looking Forward

I’ve identified several shortcomings in my Looking Backward post so I would like to use this post to describe how I plan to improve my learning experience.

Although I have a functional blog page, I would like to make it better. I would like to add more images, gifs, or videos to my posts, find a more flattering theme, or add widgets to the pages. I feel like there is a lot of room for creativity and this is a wonderful opportunity to get more familiar with online format.

My biggest failure this semester has involved time management. I must, must, must get a regular schedule going and start working ahead. I find myself continually procrastinating until the last possible minute on all of these assignments.  My goal is to not receive a single declaration reminder for the rest of the semester.

(The old me summed up in a meme, Source: Quickmeme.com)

(Plan of Attack, source: alexvermeer.com/getmotivated)

By working ahead, I will have the opportunity to complete more extra credit assignments. In particular, I want to focus on doing growth mindset challenges. I feel like this assignment in particular goes beyond the scope of a M&F class to help students improve their learning experience and their life. I have nothing to lose from doing these challenges and stand to gain something truly valuable.

(The Wise Words of Twain, Source: Pinterest)

I would also like to work on following up on comments. During Blog Commenting assignments, I often leave questions for the authors but rarely make a point of following up on them. I have made a new bookmark folder specifically for this reason and plan do a better job of this in the future. I really should have done this in the beginning as was suggested.

The reason I chose this class in particular was to improve my writing skills. So far I have come a long way as far as being comfortable and enjoying writing but I haven’t challenged myself. I feel like I have a lot of room for improvement and I want to take this opportunity to grow.  I’ve chosen a more challenging reading unit for the second half of the semester and plan to attempt some new techniques in my writing.  I have always enjoyed stories told from multiple viewpoints (continuous story told through difference voices) and I would like to try a multiple point of view story.  I would also like to vary my narrative voice in other ways such as choosing an inanimate object or less obvious character to tell a story. I also think that some of these stories would translate well into a continuous stream of consciousness story. I think that a memoir type story or interview format could be fun as well.