September 2020

Personally, I have always tried to ask myself these questions when watching commercials, especially political ones. With it being an election year it is really easy to believe everything you hear on these ads and not take into consideration what they are really telling you. These candidates are still trying to “sell” you something. It may not be a product but it is still an idea and a platform. Even if there is a statistic behind a commercial, an appeal to logos, you still need to do your own research to find out if those numbers are true and on what scale. I think these messages reinforce how easy it is to persuade an audience which can lead to a dangerous situation. For example, remembering how Hitler got a nation behind him and to point him as the head dictator was through propaganda which used RHETORICAL APPEALS. So it is very important for us to recognize these and to be able to make our own reasonable decisions with further information that just what we hear and see in an ad.

I definitely prefer inline feedback for my rough and final draft over the other types of feedback. I like inline feedback the most because I can see where specifically I did not do so well, or did. This definitely helps me the most with future writing whereas with the rubric only feedback method I wouldn’t be able to see where specifically I lost points. I like to know specifics because everyone has a different opinion and where I think I did well and deserved all the points, you, the grader, might see differently so it is good to know the specifics and be given explanations.

It will be helpful to be given inline feedback for my rough draft because then I can see what areas I need to work on. Then after I make those changes, or don’t, and receive inline feedback for my final draft I can compare what changes were made and weren’t and then have a better understanding of my grade.

Learning Types Pie Chart

This is the generalized version of my learning types. My learning types definitely differ with classes. I am very good at math so a lot of the time my percentage for “I already know this” is higher. My “just tell me what I need to know” is definitely my most prominent learning type. I am not a fan of all the extra “fluff” and unnecessary activities when it comes to a class. I like to just be told what I need to know and by when I need to know it by. I do not like being told how to learn the information. For example, one of my classes we are required to do group notes. I do not like this whatsoever because it is not resourceful in helping me learn. It is just an extra grade, an extra assignment, that I have to complete.

When I think of my worst piece of writing, there isn’t one specific piece that comes to mind.

When I don’t take enough time or when I feel passionate about the topic but execute the prompt poorly, I feel like those are my worse writing pieces. I feel like my writings also fail when I’m not passionate about a prompt and I don’t put enough effort into it. For example, prior to attending Ole Miss, I applied to Notre Dame where I was required to write five supplementals. There were some topics that I felt passionate about and some that I didn’t. I felt like I had really good ideas and could execute them very well, but I felt cut for time and had a very negative mindset that I wasn’t going to get accepted anyway. So, I executed the pieces extremely poorly and wish I would’ve set aside enough time and had a better plan to write those pieces. Sometimes I still think if I would’ve written the pieces the way I know I could’ve I would have been accepted.

1. Cognition (learning from experiences)

I would say cognition is the most important skill in the Common Reading assignment. Learning from experiences is not only important in everyday life but also in learning and for the better of our world’s future. Even just reading Chapter 7 of What the Eyes Don’t See, the problems presented are extremely important. I did have some previous knowledge on the Flint Water Crisis but regardless it is very present to learn from these experiences, especially being in the middle of a pandemic, the topics at hand and are very relevant to prevent things like that in the future.

2. Ethical Responsibilities

This is also an extremely important skill to have. In the situation presented in the book, she described that health departments were not taking action to help with the crisis because of certain jurisdictions. Everyone has an ethical responsibility to their well being and for thee future. If these people conformed to their ethical duties then the crisis could have been cut short or prevented.

3. Empathy

I feel like empathy is a very important and hard skill to learn. I personally struggle with this. When Hanna- Attisha describes the children and their conditions due to the water they have been using, it pictures a very sad and helpless community. In order to feel just how bad the crisis is, you have to have empathy to see it through the children.

4. Engagement

You have to feel some type of engagement to the problem to be invested. This also leads me to curiosity.

5. Curiosity

In order to be curious, you must be engaged in the topic. If you are not engaged in something, you are not going to be curious about it. Curiosity isn’t always necessary for assignments and topics.

6. Openness

I feel like this isn’t as important a skill to have relating to the assignment. In life, this is definitely one of the more important skills to have. But I feel like when doing the assignment, there wasn’t a need to be open. The topic was very factual and not opinionated.

7. Creativity

I feel like this is also one of the lesser important skills to have. It isn’t necessary.

8. Obsession

This is also a very unnecessary skill to have when doing this assignment. This would be needed if you wanted to go beyond the assignment and would be optional. If you became “obsessed” with this story of crisis then you could dive deeper into it, but is not necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

My ideal learning environment is a place where I am able to be flexible but at the same time a place where I am going to grow and excel. Although the Coronavirus has changed our learning environments dramatically, there are positive ways to look at these changes. Personally, I am pretty happy with the learning environment for most of my classes. I like when everything is due at the end of the week, whether it be a Friday of Sunday. It gives me the opportunity to decide when I will do my work, and I can do my work as early or as late as I want. I also enjoy the online part of my classes because it lets me do my work from anywhere. I also like the opportunity of being able to explore Oxford and campus. I am sad that we are forced to learn this way due to the pandemic and I wouldn’t say it is the absolute perfect way to learn but I am definitely glad the flexibility online classes gives me.