I listened to the Serial podcast Dustwun (season 2 episode 1) about Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl. I liked the structure of this podcast, because I think it would be able to keep the listener interested. The podcast was mainly in a narrative format with the narrator explaining Bergdahls story and time held in captivity by the Taliban. The narrator introduced the story and then used music and it went to a commercial which was a good cliffhanger. Towards the beginning of the podcast snippets of other conversations related to Bergdahl were inserted regarding his release which I thought was interesting. Bergdahl isn’t interviewed directly by the narrator but clips of him talking are inserted. The narrator also interviewed a few soldiers who were in Afghanistan at the same time as Bergdahl.
Month: September 2019 (Page 1 of 2)
During this revision process I thought that highlighting where we used different resources and our own personal experiences was helpful. It showed me if I was using too much of one resource in one spot or too little of another. My use of personal experience Bain’s writing and Dweck’s TED Talk were pretty evenly spread out throughout the essay. This process is pretty different from other revision methods I have used. The one thing I didn’t like about this was with this method that if I go back on the paper to highlight or edit again, most of the paper is already highlighted and might be harder to figure out.
Most of the comments that I received for my peer review were pretty helpful. I like peer review because whoever is reading my paper usually finds some errors which I didn’t catch beforehand which is helpful to me. I think that I will use some of the suggestions from the peer review comments in my final essay.
I downloaded audacity and made a Soundcloud account to prepare for the podcast. I practiced recording and was able to download it as an mp3 file. I think everything is set up and working well.
The annotation method I used for this section of Bains Chapter 2 “What Makes an Expert?” is the one I typically use. For this section of annotating I looked for summary, quotes, different learning styles, and text to text connections. With the annotation method I use I highlight important segments of what I’m reading, and how they relate to the task at hand. Then I will usually make a few notes about what I highlight to analyze and remind myself why I highlighted it if I end up going back to the reading. I find that this is a pretty effective method for me.
After reading Bain’s Chapter 2 “What Makes an Expert?” I feel that I have been a surface learner in many instances. For example, last year when I took AP Chemistry I really struggled in it and never got very deep into the material being taught. I resonate with Bain’s point as he says surface learners “looked for facts and words they could memorize, attempting to anticipate any questions someone might ask them”. During chem I would always try to absorb as much information I could from the textbook, even though the majority of the class was application based. Being a surface learner did not work out too well for me in that class because I failed at least half of the tests. As Bain puts it “surface learners usually focus only on passing exams, not on ever using anything they read”, which I can completely relate to. Since I had a lot of trouble with this class I wasn’t really focused on learning more on a deeper level. I never really focused on expanding my knowledge of the subject. Like Bain says “if you try to remember something as you attempt to understand it and relate it to other topics and questions, that is fundamentally different than simply trying to poke it into your brain to pass an examination”. If I utilized this strategy I probably would have done better in AP Chem and would have been able to learn more. My experience does relate to Bain’s observations on the drawbacks of surface learning as I feel I did not end up retaining much information and didn’t do well in the class.
“The Editor” podcast tells the story of Robin Woods and his unlikely correspondence with Merriam Webster editor Mark Stevens. Robin starts off by discussing the crime that sentenced him to 16 years in Maryland Correctional Institute. Robin had stolen twenty thousand dollars worth of office equipment and was turned in by a friend. This prison sentence was not justified to Robin as he had been to prison before and was never in for this long. MCI was the worst prison Robin had been held in, as the guards were very brutal and often beat prisoners. He described the atmosphere as “every man for themselves”. Robin was later charged for inciting a riot, was beat by the guards and then transferred to another prison and was classified as one of the most dangerous prisoners in Maryland. He knew he was not dangerous as he had “seen the worst of what man can do to each other”.
As a child, Robin started off really liking school but was put into special education and did chores for the school, never really learning how to read. In the new prison he was kept in mostly solitary confinement and one day heard “Library Call” so he picked up two books. Originally he could understand 30-40% of the page but it got easier for him as time went on. Finishing his first book was life changing for Robin as he had defied what people had told him he could never do. Robin wanted to learn more about the world so he ordered a Merriam Webster encyclopedia in 2005. He eventually found an error and wrote to the editor Mark Stevens. Mark responded to Robin congratulating him on finding the error, which Robin described “felt like getting an A in English”. Over the next two years Robin found 12 more errors and continued corresponding with Mark, who began to think of him as a freelance editor for the encyclopedia.
In 2006 Robin found out he was being transferred and couldn’t take his books with him. He wrote to Stevens, who then wrote to the warden and shortened Robin’s sentence. He was released with fifty dollars cash and had trouble finding work and paying rent. However, Stevens would send Robin money throughout their correspondence. Robin and Mark finally met after a decade of correspondence, and discussed many different topics. When Robin got back he found his house was broken into which he found ironic. Robin says he doesn’t read as much anymore because he now gets to experience the outside world, and Mark was laid off from Merriam Webster because people do not read as much anymore. I really enjoyed this podcast, I thought it was very interesting to see the different perspectives that Robin and Mark both had.
Yesterday I did homework in the library from about 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. I felt pretty productive and got most of my work done. However, I was with my friends so I did get distracted at some points. Today I did homework in the commons from about 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. I also felt productive here and was able to spread out all of my work, which was good. However, I was pretty tired and kept zoning out.
After looking at the photos of famous writers from the past I feel that my workspace was most similar to Dorothy Parker’s because I like to do homework outside and it helps to have all my work out in front of me. I also thought my workspace looked similar to Emilie Zola’s because it can sometimes gets cluttered and I have a lot of stuff on my desk. He also looks stressed which is how I probably look when doing homework.
When annotating Carol Dweck’s TED talk I mainly utilized highlighting, underlining, and summarizing sections of text. In this text I highlighted important information regarding the argument, and Dweck’s views on the topic. I also highlighted the differences between the growth mindset and the more fixed grading mindset. I underlined a few quotes and anecdotes that I also thought were important to the argument. After highlighting and underlining I went back and made some notes summarizing both views and wrote down some questions I had. I also made notes about my views on the topic. When annotating I typically use a structure similar to this because I feel if I highlight and take notes I have a good understanding on what the topic is about.
One event where I had a growth mindset was when taking AP Statistics last year in school. I had never taken honors or AP math before and I would always take easier math classes because I didn’t think I was good at math, but my precalc teacher encouraged me to take the class. I was somewhat nervous to take AP Stats because I thought it would be really difficult, as I never really liked math. However, I feel that I went into the class with an open mind, and I put a lot of effort into the work from the class. I found that the more effort I put into a chapter and completing all the assignments to the best of my ability, I would do better on the tests. Something that was helpful to me and encouraged a growth mindset, was that after tests and quizzes we could go over any problems we had gotten wrong to see where we had made mistakes and learn from them .
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