Overall, I really enjoyed this readings for this class. I
thought the variety kept me on my toes and never feeling like I was reading the
same thing over and over, as in many classes. Sometimes reading ten articles on
the same topic or subject can get very repetitive, so it was nice to know in
the class I would always have something new. And the ability for us to choose
from the untextbook was very nice. I have very different interests from a lot
of people in the class, as I got to see through their storytelling and
storybooks, and it allowed us to each create our own “textbook” filled with
only things that interested us. The overall balance between reading, writing,
and commenting was difficult in the beginning but I learned the best strategy for
me. I liked to do only half the reading and take notes and then do the other
half, rather than read it all at one time. Sometimes I felt my comments got
repetitive and maybe commenting on 3 people’s storytellings was a little
excessive. My suggestions would definitely be to stay on top of it. Get the
readings, storybook, and essay done by Monday or Tuesday so you can get the
weekend stuff started on. Another suggestion I have might be to get rid of the
essay blog post. I felt as though sometimes I was struggling to come up with a
topic. My diary already covered much of the information from the unit so I did
not want to be repetitive, and then I found myself just writing about random
things that I was just writing to write. I think you did a great job including
images and so that is not an area that needs to be improved on. Some of the introductions
could be expanded upon. I thought you did a great job in the Ovid units of explaining
any significant animals or symbols. Making the anthology units sounds like a
great idea!! I know I would really enjoy being able to compare Hawaiian love
stories to Japanese love stories. Another idea I had would to be a free choice
week. After reading some of the storybooks, I really wish I would have had the chance
to read the Hawaiian unit but the week had already passed. It might be nice to
have a week where students can go back and pick one or have the option to pick
a new unit.
Emily, thanks so much for doing these two posts as you finished up the class: it is SO HELPFUL to find out from each person just what works well and not so well for them in the class, and also to get advice to share with future students. I am excited that you lik the idea of the anthology units because I know I would have a lot of fun doing that too... so I am thinking that might turn out to be my summer project. Anyway, thanks again for all your feedback in these two posts - I really appreciate it!
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