Natalie Brown

writing studies student

[mollypatches]

What I Like Most About My Essay

What I like most about my essay is how I connected it to class material to prove my point. I think that is a really important part of this essay. Especially for the parts where we explain the 4 critical skills, it is important to tie it back to projects that we did in class to show how we improved those skills. 

[nataliebrown02]

I agree that connecting how you learned and developed as a student to the material we covered and designed for this class is essential. You can't really reflect on and describe how and what you learned without discussing the things that helped you learn in the first place.

[rachelsartroom]

Proud of My Writing Process

I am very proud of my writing process for this particular essay for a few reasons. First, I managed my time better than ever before; I wrote my essay draft over a few days and now expect to have only a few revisions to make! Second, I began with an outline (just establishing what I wanted each paragraph to be about) and then allowed myself to jump around the paragraphs to write out of order according to which ones I felt the most comfortable/confident with. Lastly, I did a lot of reflection in my essay and I am very happy with how I connected all of my ideas.

[nataliebrown02]

I am so glad you had such a positive experience writing this final essay! Giving yourself several days to really brainstorm and write out what you want to say is so important and helpful. I found this essay to be easier to write than most since it was just reflecting on our learning and work for the semester. Good luck with finishing everything up!

[nataliebrown02]

Peer Feedback - Final Essay

This is the first body paragraph of my essay where I discuss critical thinking. In this section I discuss critical thinking, content, and my use of Tumblr. I am wondering if the flow of these first few sentences where I introduce these three concepts is okay, or if it too much and overwhelming. I struggled a bit to try to explain everything I learned that helped me develop the four employer skills.

[nataliebrown02]

What do you like most about your learning?

I like that the concepts and topics I learned in this class can actually be used in other courses and in my future careers. In most classes, I have learned things that I have not used since the classes ended. But after this class, I will continue to use the skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. I am glad I took this class and was able to learn the things I did because they are all extremely beneficial skills.

[nataliebrown02]

What do you like most about your essay?

I like that my essay allowed me to capture and work through all of the skills I learned and gained from working on the assignments and Tumblr posts this semester. I like that my essay showcases the connections I made between the four skills employers look for and how I developed each of those four skills through my work in this course this semester.

[nataliebrown02]

My Favorite Snack

Back home, we have a Trader Joe's which is my favorite store for all of their weird and unique snacks they constantly put out. My favorite snack of all time that they sell are their white cheddar corn puffs...I could eat a whole bag in one sitting.

[nataliebrown02]

My Writing Process

My writing process uses all of the ideas of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Before I begin writing, I brainstorm ideas I have for what I want to write about. This can include making bullet points for each part of the prompt I need to answer and creating a rough draft or outline of ideas. Once I have thought through the prompt and have an idea of what I want to write about, I begin to actually write. This writing is a form of communication as it allows me to communicate my understanding about a topic to others. After I have finished writing and communicating a draft, I collaborate with others to get feedback on what I have written. Collaboration is one of the most important steps in my writing process as it gives me ideas on what can be improved with my communication. After collaborating, I use my creativity to edit and revise my writing and make it my own.

[nataliebrown02]

How does writing demonstrate creativity?

Writing demonstrates creativity because writing allows us to showcase the unique way each of our brains comprehends the world. If thirty different students were all given the exact same prompt to write, you would receive thirty different papers back. This is because we all have different personalities and different ways that our brains think and understand ideas. This allows us to use our creativity in our writing to create written texts that are unique and personal to us. Everyone also has a unique and creative way of writing in their style and their prose. Even reading over several of my peers Tumblr posts each week, I can clearly see how each student uses their creativity differently in their writing. This is why I view all writing as pieces of art, because we put ourselves into all of our work and it is a showcase of who we are as people.

[egd2002]

Communication of Critical Thinking

Communicating critical thought automatically requires a keen level of understanding on a certain topic, one that goes beyond the ability to spout definitions and historical timelines and the like. For instance, being able to ace a set of flash cards about mitosis doesn't mean that I'm able to give a lecture on the subject or write an essay describing my insights on the process, it only means that I might be able to get a B on a quiz in Biology. Critical thought is a process that is complex and, in my personal experience, only comes about once I've achieved a sense of familiarity and passion in a subject that affords me a sense of expertise in it. This sense of familiarity while discussing topics you're able to critically evaluate and analyze really comes across in the fluidity of a discussion, as the ability to move from one idea to the next without leaving them half explored or discussed is a good sign that you're voicing thoughts that have been bouncing around in your head for a while. A few signifiers of critical thought beyond this broad example include the ability to link personal anecdotes to the topic, the fluid use of language connected to the topic, and the ability to utilize poignant metaphors that illustrate complex concepts within the area of interest.

[nataliebrown02]

I completely agree with your statement about how you can only communicate about critical thoughts once you have a deep understanding about a topic because without that deep understanding, it may be hard to have a discussion. I also really like the example you provided about biology. Just because you may have some knowledge on a particular topic, does not mean you are an expert as there is always room to grow.

[jmorris220]

What is learning? (week 14-15)

I think of learning as absorbing any kind of information to build on your preexisting ideas or knowledge. In school, we learn from reading, taking notes, drafting, watching demonstrations, etc. since we are actively engaging with new information and absorbing the knowledge. This is very similar to learning outside of school, by watching the News, commercials, seeing informational posters and billboards, or even as simple as experiencing things in everyday activities. For example, watching your parent cook a meal, you are learning how to prepare that meal by experiencing and absorbing the information being demonstrated. All this information that we see and experience, adds and expands on our knowledge, which helps better our understanding.

#writ318mu

[nataliebrown02]

I think this is a great definition of what learning is. I like how you mentioned that we learn outside of school from media all around us. This is an important distinction because when most people think of learning, they specifically think of a school space. I also really like the image you included because it includes several of the different ways you can learn and some things you can learn about.

[nataliebrown02]

Brainstorming the Skills: Creativity

Creativity is the process of using your personality in your writing or when creating pieces of art. I consider anything that someone can make a piece of art, so this category is very broad. Creativity can come in many forms such as using figures of speech, or colors, or images. Creativity is all about making something special to you that gives the audience a glimpse of who you are and what is important to you.

[nataliebrown02]

Brainstorming the Skills: Collaboration

I view and define collaboration as the process of working with and including others. Collaboration is not just listing other people that worked in a group project with you, it is listening to the ideas from multiple peoples and really considering what they have to say. Collaboration helps us to deepen our understanding of concepts and think about concepts in new ways.

[nataliebrown02]

Favorite Motivation Snack

I don't like to eat while I am working on homework because I always get distracted by the food. But my favorite snack to get for AFTER I finish my homework is Ben and Jerry's. When I know I have a lot of work to do, I like to get a container to use as my incentive to do my work.

[nataliebrown02]

HTWG Feedback #3

In this example from my how to write guide, I wrote in a very conversational like tone to my audience...does this work? Or should I try to make it sound more professional?

[nataliebrown02]

HTWG Feedback #2

This is an example of one of my slides with one of my tips for my creators. Does this slide effectively convey my tip on choosing audio to the audience. Also, is the first paragraph too lengthy? Should I split it up into bullet points?

[nataliebrown02]

HTWG Feedback #1

This image is of my introduction/content strategy definition slide of my guide. Does this slide serve as an effective introduction, or should I add more to it? I want to keep the guide short and sweet but also want to ensure my audience is well prepared for what to expect in the guide.

[jmorris220]

How to Write Guide Feedback

This is another one of my how to write guide slides, which tells the creators to include playful puns/fun phrases in their caption. I saw this a few times by my creators and the comment section always put laughing emojis or commented about the pun, which adds engagement and personality to the content. Like the last slide I posted, it is similar to the emoji's since they relate to food and add personality to the accounts.

Questions:

Is this a useful tip to include on my guide? is it capturing how the creators needs to connect with their audience enough?

Is speaking about adding personality and a personal connection beneficial to the creators, or should the focus be on the ways the user can get the most likes/comments?

I showed the full post and a larger scale image of the pun used on this slide- do I need the full image, or should I just show the image that the pun relates to?

[nataliebrown02]

I think this is a great tip to include on your guide! I think you should keep the slide as is. Speaking about adding personality to content is a great tip because personality will make more viewers want to engage with the content. You could make a note about this connection on the slide so the content creators understand the importance and benefits of this tip. Also, just showing the pun is perfect, it brings attention to it so the content creators can have a clear example to follow.