Final Assessment

     In my final assessment for this English course I will discuss the goals I have improved on and achieved on. In the beginning of the semester I was very hesitant and skeptical with this course. I felt as though it was way to much work given for no reason. I thought all of the website accounts we had to have was a waste of time. I had a very bad attitude for this course, I felt like I wasn't going to learn anything from an online class. I felt like I wasn't going to get the real English class feeling. I didn't like the fact that we were writing blog posts instead of actual writing papers like the typical English class. But through it all, I managed to have a different mindset as the course went on. I realized that the assigned work we did was actually beneficial. My professor, Mrs. Sasser, also helped me have a change of heart for the course after my first couple of blog posts; I thank her for that.

     One of the goals I have improved a lot on is learning how to brainstorm and map out ideas for my writing. I have always been able to brainstorm ideas for my writing but this course has helped me improve on different ways to brainstorm and keep them organized. A well organized brainstorm equals a well organized paper in most cases, and it really helps out a lot with a finished product. One of my piece's of writing that demonstrates brainstorming is http://skittlezzzz.blogspot.com/2012/01/as-writer.html because before I posted this blog I mapped out my ideas on what it takes to be a writer. I then wrote down my strong points in my writing and my weaknesses in my writing. After I had everything mapped out and organized I was able to write a decent blog post.

     My second goal I have really improved on is how to effectively compose a rough draft. I can't say I have really achieved this goal perfectly but I have greatly improved on it. I have always had trouble composing a rough draft because it seems like I'm always leaving something out that needs to be included. In this specific piece of writing http://skittlezzzz.blogspot.com/2012/03/if-its-boring-to-you-its-boring-to-your.html I actually wrote it as a rough draft before I posted it. Since I got the topic from a post Mrs.Sasser put on the Google+ site I figured it should be up to her potential when she reads it. I know it's not perfect but I actually did brainstorm, mapped it out, and wrote a rough draft before I posted it to my blog.

     Another goal I have learned so far is effective consideration of writing purpose. In the beginning of the semester I had no idea what it meant to write with a purpose. I didn't know how nor had I heard any other English professor talk about it. So I was clueless. I believe in this certain blog post, http://skittlezzzz.blogspot.com/2012/02/improvement-throughout-years.html, I achieved this goal. The purpose of this blog was to explain how my writing has improved over the years. I feel very confident with this certain blog post because I know I wrote with a purpose. I expressed how I've never really been a good writer and I'm showing improvement and also how my mother can see improvement in my speech.

     My fourth goal I have learned is how to have effective consideration of audience. The audience is a big aspect you have to remember when writing a paper, blog post, or etc. I never really understood how important the audience was until this course. The audience is more than just someone who reads your writing, but also someone who has to "feel" and relate to your writing. I think this blog post really appreciates my consideration for the audience http://skittlezzzz.blogspot.com/2012/02/ithoughts.html. I feel like the audience can really relate to what I wrote. Some people use the same writing techniques that I wrote about in this post and because of that they are able to relate to me. I believe I kept the audience entertained, and that is also a very important thing to remember when considering your audience.

     My final goal I have improved on and learned is how to have effective consideration of my role as a writer. Like in my previous paragraph I explained you have to entertain your audience and try to get them to relate to your writing. That is your role as a writer, to entertain, to persuade, to express, to describe, to explain and to inform. I believe this post, http://skittlezzzz.blogspot.com/2012/03/procrastinator.html, really shows how I have given the audience a chance to relate to my post about procrastinating. I expressed and explained how I have a problem with procrastinating. I entertained the audience with personal issues they can relate to. I persuaded them that nobody can procrastinate forever and there must be a breaking point for this bad habit.

     These are some of the goals I have improved on, achieved, and learned so far in this English course. The goals I have yet to achieve and need more help with are: how to effectively revise my writing, how to effectively edit and proofread my writing, how to develop a thesis, and how to support my thesis. I know these are major aspects when it comes to writing and I plan to make a lot of effort in learning how to achieve these goals in a timely manner. I will be taking your English 102 course this summer Mrs. Sasser, and because I know I learned so much in this English 101 course I am very confident I will learn a lot more and will achieve the goals I have not met yet. Even on my own I will continue to work hard towards my goals and learn more about the goals I have achieved already only to better myself in becoming a better writer.

Movie Trading Cards

For this assignment I had to make movie trading cards. Similar to Pokemon cards that us teens use to trade with our friends in elementary school. I used my all time favorite movie for this project, Titanic. I used the main characters of course which are Jack and Rose Dawson. I would say these cards are the exclusive cards, and only 10 of them were printed and sold. I showed that the cards came from Titanic INC. and are $1.00 each. I had really fun doing this assignment because it's different. People can trade these cards for other characters that were in the movie as well, or people can collect them and keep them forever.

Deserted Island

I really liked this project on the DS106 website. I felt like I could get really creative with this because I wanted to use real-life photos of me instead of photos off the internet. Growing up people have always asked me what I would take with me on a deserted island. My response would always be "Well, you know... my cellphone, etc, etc.", basically materialistic items that doesn't have any worth. But doing this project really opened my eyes because all I would really need is my friends to keep me occupied, my parents because I wouldn't want to leave them, and food to eat so I can survive. Who needs a cellphone to text from when you have your friends right there with you? That's how I view it. I feel like if I really was on a deserted island with these 3 things then I would have the time of my life. I would have so much fun just hanging with my friends and family, relaxing on the beach, playing in the water, then sitting down eating dinner at night like one big happy family. I would love that actually. So yes, these are the 3 things I would take with me on a deserted island. :)

What People Think College Students Do

This assignment is called "What People Think I Do". I addressed doing this assignment in my last blog post so here it is.This is my perception on what people think college students do. Nobody really knows what we do unless their living our lives. But until then, these are their assumptions. I think a lot of students can relate to this because they'll also think it's true.

Our professors think we study for all of our tests, we don't. Our society thinks we only come to college to party, we don't. The police think all college students smoke weed, we don't. Our friends back home think all we do is drink and get drunk, we don't. Our parents think we're in class being studious 24/7, we're not. To be honest, the only thing I really do... is sleep and eat. Yeah, we party and have fun but some of us also have limits on the partying we do so we can still accomplish our class work to the best of our abilities. We just want to have fun and also learn in the end.