Famous Last Words: Innovative Note Taking

(Boy studying  --  Lewis Hine)
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Reading this week was very different than any I had done before. Well it actually was the note taking within the reading. Usually when I read, I focus on the plot sequence for the most part to get a grasp of the story. Then I hone in on the details that add to the story. In this situation, I had to stop myself from taking notes about the story's makeup of events, which was extremely unusual at first. I did enjoy the readings during the week, but I had to become accustomed to a new style of notes. I felt as though I was randomly making comments on things I liked versus didn't like (exactly what I did). After finishing the reading and writing my own story, I think I will be able to improve my note taking in the future. In the first week, I didn't read with my story in mind. Now that I've started week 3 reading, I am keeping what kind of story I want to write in the back of my mind as I go along. Then I jot down notes about details I like that will help my story grow where it needs.

I was impressed by the writing skill and creativity this week by my fellow classmates. I did both the blog comment assignments (usual and extra credit), so I was exposed to a lot of different material. It's great seeing how they take the original story and transform it into their own. I also did a tech tip on how to customize our canvas page. After choosing all of my options, I liked looking at other students customized pages to see how they differed from mine.

I have started week 3 assignments, so my main goal would be to get at least a week ahead in the next week, but I also have smaller goals. One of those being improving my writing and storytelling. I felt pretty uncomfortable with my first storytelling experience, but now I can tell that I am becoming more accustomed to do so. I haven't hit great strides of advancement with my writing technique, but there is a lot of room to improve so hopefully over the course of the semester that will come.