Class Reflection

The course overall to was stressful to me. I did not have a lot of writing skills when I first came into the class. Everything I was taught in high school was completely different than what I had to do in this class. Since I did not have lots of skills for writing, I had to learn a significant amount to make my writing more successful.

          What I have learned from this class was how to make a thesis statement the best it can be. It was more than just stating the points that were going to be throughout the paper. Also I learned different ways to reword essays so I am not repeating the same thing over and over again. What I have learned the most in the class was how to research scholarly sources. I never knew what they were until this class. I always thought scholarly sources were just any source that was online that could back a paper up. In school I never had to use anything like that. Whatever I needed to write in school I was able to just use internet sources. Doing this research really helped me a lot.

          What I learned about myself was that I had lots to learn about writing. I knew coming into the class I was not a good writer and that it was going to be difficult. In matter of fact, the class was very difficult for me because some things we needed to use in the essays just were not clicking in my head. I would always get stressed out about having to write these papers. What I learned about myself while doing this is that I need to focus at one thing at a time. I needed to take a deep breath and conquer the essay. I knew that if I needed help that the writing center was there to help me in any way. I knew if I focused on what needed to be done and do it the right way I would be a better writer. So what I learned is that I need to slow it down, take more time and get help when needed to become the writer I want to be.

          Nothing in the class made me surprised. I somewhat knew that the class was just going to be on writing papers. Everything that we did in class actually did not relate to me. The Glass Castle I had a family that cared and provided things for me unlike the Walls. The movie was not related to me either. The only thing I did not really like in the class was the first paper we had to write on whether class and education were related to one another. I really thought that was a hard paper to write.

          What I will probably do to keep practicing with writing is each time go to the writing center for help. Whether it is just to read over or to get ideas. I could see a big improvement since I started going there this semester. Otherwise, I really do not know how I would practice. Basically just when I have a writing assignment will be to go to the writing center and to learn different material to make it the best it can be.

Research Reflection

When I was doing the process of finding scholarly sources it was making me mad because I had a hard time finding sources that had fit my topic. I had changed my topic so many times that it was making me really frustrated. I had done two research papers in high school, but it was nothing like I had to do for this paper. So compared to this research paper from high school I had lots to learn.

          What I learned while doing this research paper was how to find scholarly sources and what they actually were. This was the first time I actually had to use scholarly sources and how to use them. I also learned what an annotated bibliography was and how to do them for our research paper. The process of this research paper took me a long time to do because I wanted to make sure I was doing it properly. Things like this paper gave me such a hard time with it because I had no clue what I wanted to do, but once I came down to my topic it got a little easier.

          When I was conducting my research I learned that it made my research paper better because of the quotes I was using. The sources I used for my research helped me get ideas on topic sentences for my main focus on each paragraph. The sources helped me to gather information to support my topic and the point I was trying to make. Learning how to conduct the research that was helping me make my point get across made me learn about research itself. Overall, this research was really hard for me because of finding sources that work for my paper and trying to make it a good one.

Queen of Versailles

In this movie, I viewed Jackie at first a women that just likes to get dolled up and be like a princess all the time. When she would show off all her shoes and clothes in her closet I could not believe it. Having all those clothes and shoes is not necessary. But as the movie was playing I started to like Jackie even more. She started to show a caring side of her. She cared a lot for the pets that had either died, or went into hiding and she cared for her children. Even though there were nannies to clean and take care of the children, Jackie still cared and showed love towards them. Sure she would spend a lot of money that they did not have when the market crashed but she did buy gifts for the kids. Jackie showed how she cared from her own perspective instead of maybe how another mom would show love.

I could see Jackie differently if it was not for her husband David. The way he acts and how rude he is to Jackie I did not like. When the market crashed he could have taken it a little less harsh. I understand it is upset to lay people off and lose money but it should not have been taken out on the family. He did not even acknowledged the family like a father should. The way he acts I believe has an impact on Jackie because he never tells her anything and she feels left out. I believe when she shops it makes her feel better and when she gets her face done it makes her feel good. Things that are not necessary make her feel good since her husband does not make her feel important.

If the 2008 housing market did not occur the movie would be a different. The family might show and act more as a caring family instead of the dad being rude to the family. Since he would not be stressed out then he could spend more time with his kids and actually be part of the family. Jackie and the kids might take different actions if they were more of a family, for example, Jackie might not shop as much and the kids might not talk back to him like they do. The family would be more of how a family should and they would take consideration of one another. Also the main difference would be is they would have no problems to talk about in the documentary because they would all be a family and none of their problems would not have occurred.

Paper 2 Reflection

When I sat down to write my second paper, I felt more confident and broke my process down on what I needed to do to make this paper stand out. I took different approaches because the feedback I got from my first paper was not what I expected at all. This second paper I went in with an open mind and started coming up with topics to write.

          The hardest part with this paper was coming up with a theme. The themes of The Glass Castle were all good, but just picking one was tricky, let alone trying to expand on your theme to write the paper. Going into writing the paper with an open mind helped me and also writing key points in each theme that happened from the book. Whichever one I had the most key points written down was the theme I was going to use because I then knew I would have an easier time expanding it to five pages.

          The fun part of this essay that I enjoyed was picking out quotes from the book and from my articles I found. I put them in the paper to make it feel like you’re actually there in person living the life they are. Feeling like I was actually there in person helped me to write the paper because I felt the situations they were going through. Having the ability to feel that gave me a clearer picture on how I was going tackle this paper.

          One more thing I did differently with this paper was I went to the writing center. I did not only go once, but twice so I can make this paper the best it can be. It was easier to understand where I needed help in some areas. It helped me to revise my paper more thoroughly so my paper flows and makes more sense for someone that might had never read the book before.

          After I was done with this paper I felt that I changed my writing process more. I made sure I went in with an open mind and not being terrified like last time. Going in with the open mind helped me think of possible ways to write the paper. Another big change was going to the writing center. Instead of trying to do the paper all by myself, I made sure I had someone read over it to give me tips on how to make myself better at writing. With this said, I feel more confident in this paper and I think I will follow this process more often.

           

Glass Castle Perspective with Life

My description of home is wherever my heart is and the people that are in it. Family and my closest friends is what I determine home, not some big, fancy mansion with 6 bedrooms. Material things is not what family or home is really about, it is the people that care about you. Almost like what the Walls is about, not having the material items and money but about caring for one another and just getting by on what is important.

          To me, what I think a typical America culture scenario is just the basics. Both parents having jobs, trying to support one another and children if they have any and living in a nice home. Sure almost every family goes through a tough situation every now and then, but they do just fine and move along like the Walls family did. Some days were better for the Walls then others, when they would go out to eat and have the fridge stocked full with food. That was a typical good day for them, when they wouldn’t go hungry. Our days in America culture are not quite as bad but bad things do happen to us. For example, a parent losing a job, might have an impact on the bills getting paid and shortage of money. Things like that happen and we just try to survive on the positive things in life and that is exactly what the Walls did in this situation when the dad gets fired from his jobs.

          As of right now, the way I think an America culture is, fits my family’s description. My mom and dad both have good jobs that keep them going. Then tend to make enough money to keep a roof over my head and my stomach full with food. The way I live is quite lovely and appreciate everything I am able to have. We live the typical everyday life and there are some rough patches along the way but with each other’s support we do just fine.

          Sometimes when I see how my parents struggle with life it makes me sad. It makes me feel like I have to find a way that will make things all better. We are never really in a hole like the Walls family is but sometimes if work is slow for my parents we may have less money than the previous week that to me is when I see the struggle in my parents face. But nothing like the Walls family compares to my family. I cannot imagine my life like the Walls family, they get by but sometimes it makes me sad because they live a rough life. We always have the basic necessities that we need for daily life unlike the Walls family. We have food on the table, clothes on our backs and the love of one another in my family which is all we need. So all in all, my family’s life goes strong and with the love and support of one another we make it through together, through thick and thin and live the typical American life.

 

Education Reflection

When I had to write my first college paper for Writing 100 I was full of mixed emotions, but mainly I was scared. Writing papers is not really my specialty. I am always afraid that it is not going to be good enough no matter how hard I try. I could never get my ideas down on paper, but actually when I am scared it helps me to put thoughts down on paper and that is how I began to write to my rough draft.

          My first step that I did was write my rough draft. What helped me in the process was being scared, it helped me too push myself to put my thoughts onto    paper. While I pushed myself I began to say “oh my god how am I going to get this done or what am I going to do”. All these things began rushing through my head. Little sayings like that help me to write. But one of my biggest concerns is I feel like it has to be perfect even though it is a rough draft, also if what I am doing is right. Sometimes I get all in a panic and be like “I’m I doing this right, maybe I’m not.” I panic over the little things. I strive to do my best so I can show the teacher what I am capable of. Also listening to music puts me in a good mood and motivates me which can help me put my thoughts on paper.

          Afterwards, is revising my paper. Even though we did peer revisions in class, what I also do is go to my mom for help to read over it, she helps me be motivated by the words she says to me for example, “Aww you did a good job writing your paper, it is clear, understandable and you get your point across”. She always seems to tell me that I did a good job but there are a few spelling and grammar mistakes. Now I feel like my mom just says that to be nice which some people I am sure can relate. But I think that is what moms just do.

          Lastly, what I do is my final draft. Once I have it revised and finished my final copy I submit my paper online in the drop box in my Writing 100 class. Once I have it finished I become happy and relieved that it is done and over with, but then I get in my panic mode for when it is time to hand back the papers to see what my grade is. I’m sure people can relate getting all afraid about getting their grade back. I just want to try my best and make the teacher want to enjoy and remember the paper I wrote. I want to make myself proud along with my parents and teacher. Each time I write a paper I am going to try to come up with new ways to motivate myself along with different strategies to get the paper done.

 

         

My Education Experience

Throughout my life I have went to three schools, Blue Mountain Elementary East, Blue Mountain Middle School, and Blue Mountain High School. These three schools, each a higher class of education has taught me well and got me where I needed to be today. Each of these schools had higher standards of one another, but that is of course expected because each school had higher grade levels that expected more out of you. But the schools I have went to, I cannot complain about because I have enjoyed those years very much and helped guide me along the way.

My first school, Blue Mountain Elementary East, consisted of kindergarten through fifth grade. Our school consisted of many different kids from around the world and of different living situations, but we didn’t really call ourselves a “class” but if it was a class it would be more likely the middle class. Some kids you can tell had more money than others but we all acted like we were the same. Those were the simple days. How this school had taught us was really just the basics. We learned the material that we needed to learn to proceed to the next grade. We were taught the alphabet, numbers, spelling, and mathematical problems. For example, the mathematical problems, how the teachers would teach us is by lecture. In the lecture the teachers would do practice problems on what we were learning, for example, fractions. Then she or he would give us homework for the next day to go over and to see if we had any questions, if we did they would show it on the board so we could see our mistake. If we couldn’t find it, the teacher was more than happy to help any kids after class.  The procedure for how we learned went basically for everything besides numbers and the alphabet, we learned them by saying it after the teacher said it. The way the teachers helped us after class and provided us with their attention helped my want to be successful in the near future.

 

(Blue Mountain Elementary East)

 

            The second school I went to that helped me along with my life/career was Blue Mountain Middle School, which held 6^th-8^th grade students. This higher up school was more in the middle class unlike the elementary school. This is when the kids would show off what they had that other kids didn’t. Also this school started to introduce technology usage on what we needed to do and the uses for it. For some kids it was harder because of their type of living arrangement. Some couldn’t afford computers or other electronic devices to help them practice using technology at home so when it came to class they needed more assistance. This is also when teachers would start giving us online homework assignments, so the kids that had low budget parents had a hard time trying to get the work done. The teachers though were really nice and compassionate that they worked with those kids at school to get them familiar with a computer and helped them with their assignments before they went home.

The way this school taught us was we had a set schedule of eight classes a day. Each of those classes was in different rooms with different teachers and students. This is when school became tricky because teachers were expecting more out of you then when we were in elementary school. Again, we learned the basic material we needed for to proceed to the next grade and to prepare us kids for the big board tests to show the board of directors how good the teachers were at teaching us, for example, the PSSA’s. Our school to would always come up one of the top five for our test scores, so their strategy of teaching us kids had to work and all they did was do lectures up in front of the class and did practice problems. On the other hand, we also went on field trips to make what we were learning fun.  This enhanced me to learn more because I enjoyed it. This then helped me get the grades for the goal I wanted to achieve.

(Blue Mountain Middle School)

 

            Lastly, the third school I went to was Blue Mountain High School. This consisted of 9^th- 12^th grade. Now this school wasn’t really associated with a type of class because once again everyone was helping each other out and everyone felt the same around one another. The middle school was an awkward stage where everyone thought they were better than one another but the high school everyone believed and saw that we were all equal again. Our school was good among the staff and students, like a big happy family.

            How we were taught in this school was having a schedule consisting of eight classes with a wide range of basic, college prep or honor classes that kids were placed in. Now in this school we had lots of speeches and projects to get us into the college experience and on the college level. For the one project we did the teacher put us in groups to present Greek Mythology.  We were graded harder based on projects, speeches and tests. The tests were still graded on a lenient side because we still got study guides when the teachers would finish their lectures but for the most part it was getting harder. The high school pushed us to be at that college level, especially for the SAT’s and the real world.  So the high school really affected my career because I felt I needed to get good grades to make it to college to become the nurse I wanted to be. So during these last couple of years of high school I pushed myself to strive for the best.

(Blue Mountain High School)

The different learning experiences got me where I am today and I am very happy that the Blue Mountain School District helped me learn everything I needed to. My school helped me get on the path where I wanted to be on and I couldn’t be more proud of being a Blue Mountain graduate.