Lauren Thomas

Future educator - Small scale writer

[smikoola]

What I Like Most

The thing I like most about my essay is how I was able to relate all of my learning to my future career. I think that was the most important part of this final reflection. I was able to practice and/or learn all four of the major employee skills throughout this course, and it was interesting to be able to see that through my look back on our learning.

[simplylaurent]

Hello Smikoola! I enjoyed reading your thoughts about how the class and the essay were able to be applied to your career. I feel like that is the biggest application to take away from the course; how writing is universally needed. For me, I discussed how my writing needs to be audience focused as I will be commuting with students, faculty and parents in my career of education.

[kylahtillotson]

What I like about my writing process

I like how I start my writing process early. I like to work at it in chunks rather than get it all done in one setting. I think this helps with how creativity flows to allow me to come up with new ideas or topics to talk about. I also think working in stages allows you to go back and reread with a fresh and open mind. This also helps with not being overwhelmed and stressed doing writing assignments last minute.

[simplylaurent]

Hello Kylah! I too like the notion of starting an assignment early. It allows a person to think of their writing in detail instead of writing to get it done immediately. I at times will start a piece early, outlining it, to then edit it the days before it is due. Rarely would I write a paper last minute as I feel it would take away the nature of it appearing as my best work.

[simplylaurent]

Favorite Part of Essay

It is hard for me to identify the best part of my essay. I tend to be a little too self-critical and in many cases, I don't like what I wrote. If I were to highlight any part by chance, it would probably be my introduction paragraph where I define the central premise of writing as communicating meaning and how writing is not a unary process. I had the most fun writing that portion of the assignment as I rarely found myself encountering “writer’s block” and my outline was of a solid standing.

[simplylaurent]

Favorite Part of Learning

The one thing I like the most about my learning was how it was applicable to future circumstances. Unlike most classes that have a person memorize a fact only to then forget it by the next test, this course had me apply my knowledge of writing concepts. I got to test my conception of the textbook’s information and I received feedback about my areas of struggle. Even though I already did have a decent grasp of what writing is, I found myself more interested in visual design now that I found that writing could involve units such as color and line shape.

[simplylaurent]

My Favorite Sweet Snack

One of my favorite sweet snacks is chocolate chip cookies. I may be basic, but chocolate cookies are a comfort food for me. They are a small sliver of peace for me in the last weeks of the semester. I bake and eat a LOT of cookies with milk when working on projects.

[aaronwilhelmm]

What is learning?

Learning is the act of absorbing information, and then applying it to show comprehension of that information. I choose this definition because if you absorb something and never end up using it, it can be quickly forgotten, so in the end you didn’t really learn anything. That’s why for comprehension tests, it is testing you on what was taught to see if you can apply it in life - thus having learned the skill/ information needed.

For this class, we test what we’ve learned through these Tumblr posts and projects throughout this semester, and looking back on our initial posts to now there is a level of comprehension that someone just entering this community now would have a lot to catch up on to fit how we communicate.

[simplylaurent]

Hello Aaron! I liked your insight that learning typically requires people to digest a piece of content and apply it in multiple ways to comprehend it. As us education majors, we are constantly reminded, that children learn best when they are completing a task. "DOING". By using the content we are learning in a physical way, we derive meaning from our tasks. Learning is much more than a memorization of facts but an application of knowledge.

[kylahtillotson]

Skills: Communication

I understand communication by being present and understanding. Putting your full attention on whatever communication is happening whether that is face to face, over the phone, etc. Communication can be expressed in so many different ways, but being able to understand is a key part that has to take place. I think using Tumblr for this class is a great example way to use communication. Understanding different ways of writing and understanding each piece of content written by students with responding with your own thoughts.

[simplylaurent]

Hello Kylah! I too agree with your take on communication. It is a process of both sharing and understanding content. It is expressive as it is recessive. So many people seem to forget that effective communication involves meaning and that the receiver can understand what you are saying. I really love your insight that communication could involve many forms of expression but that "being able to understand is a key part". What is the point of talking to a person if your words don't make sense or if they cannot effectively comprehend you?

[simplylaurent]

How I Understand Communication

I value and understand communication as a skill that allows for unity and societal evolution. Being one of two features that place humans above other species, communication allows people to exchange information in a meaningful and fluent way. For communication to work, words must hold meaning and have definitions to be understood universally or in a territorial region. Communication can include expressing information from speaking and writing to gesturing symbols through body language. Something as simple as a smile can be a form of communication that derives a message like “being happy”.

[simplylaurent]

What Is Content?

Content can be anything and everything. Content is dynamic and free-flowing articulation of thought that could be composed into any form whether that is physical or abstract. For most people they see content as a subject or topic that entails a list of knowledge, however, content can be impartial and false as much as it is scientifically true. Content can be a simple thought passed by mouth or a piece of well-developed legislature that was reconstructed thousands of times. Content is essentially “a piece of information “. Not a concept defined by specific parameters but something that holds meaning to be communicated. Content can be; written, visual, or auditory; truthful or false; and shared once or infinitely.

[simplylaurent]

What Is Learning?

Learning as I see it is the process of coming into contact with new information and being able to retain said information, whether it is retained long term or only for a period of time. Seeing it as a process which leads to change, learning is the result of an experience which has the tendency to affect behaviors and knowledge. People who learn a topic typically do so by their own merit provided that learning needs the conscious cooperation of the individual. People cannot be forced to “learn” a subject when they can simply think of something else and zone out of the lesson or experience. Although learning is typically associated with school, learning is broadly accumulated to any experience a person participates in. People can learn who invented the lightbulb on paper as much as people can learn the sounds that an animal makes by visiting the forest. Learning can be transfixed from any sense of the body.

[simplylaurent]

Brainstorm: Critical Thinking

My understanding of critical thinking is set on the stance that it is an ability. A skill which can be reinforced and strengthened. In mention of my personal definition, I see critical thinking as the ability to assess a situation and act proactively through careful decision making. Critical thinking is essentially a “viewpoint” that people are taught to look through that examines one situation in multiple ways all to garner a well-developed understanding of something and to act in the best possible response.

[simplylaurent]

Favorite Snack: Berries

One of my favorite snacks to eat is a bowl of strawberries and blueberries. Fresh fruit in general, but berries to be specific. Because of my food allergy which is found in many popular snack foods, I am limited to what I can eat for pre-packed snacks. A lot of the snacks the class mentions I cannot eat, yet in spite of this I do enjoy eating fresh fruit when I can.

[simplylaurent]

Experience w/Content Creation

Content creation has been an uphill battle for me. A hassle and a mental burden. As I am sad to report, creating a TikTok has not been feasible for me due to scheduling difficulties. My sister was supposed to help me create a TikTok as she is a book-talk creator however with conflicting schedules it has not been possible. In spite of this obstacle, I have still been able to create content, just not videos. As people can see above I created a fake tiktok. This is an image I created through Canva. Every element above was constructed using Photoshop and likewise looks like a realistic TikTok post. If I learned anything about the project it would be to be flexible. I could have had a breakdown, but I merely changed my frame of mind. I still created content that showed what a successful TikTok should look like with several units highlighted in red, albeit in photo form. 

[egd2002]

Peer Feedback

One of the key pieces of feedback I received on my initial draft was the fact that I lacked an effective introduction, but I still feel like this one is lacking. I've explained how the audience will use the guide and why they'd need to, but I still feel like I might be leaving out some significant information. I think my initial hesitation toward including an introduction was because I didn't want to seem to expository or redundant in any of my slides, which I know have to be somewhat succinct, so I tried to keep this intro fairly straightforward and no-frills. Any input would be greatly appreciated, especially feedback on the design and structure of the slide.

[simplylaurent]

Hello, egd2002! I really liked the way you separated the HOW and WHY of the guide. Most content creators may not be knowledgeable about what a guide is or how it functions. In light of that mention, I like how your introduction dives into the premise of the project such that it is to help content creators thrive on social media platforms.

[starbug-art]

Feedback

I start my guide out with this here on canva in an infographic form. I thought it might be good to start the guide out with an explanation of what content strategy is and why content creators should have one so they know why they’re reading the guide, but dr. P mentioned on my first draft that I should have an introduction to the guide, so do you guys think I should add more to what or why they should use content strategy or even take away some pieces from this section - maybe a content creator doesn’t need to know, or would even care, what content strategy is?

[simplylaurent]

Hello starbug-art! If I were you would maybe separate your slide into one or two independent slides. Creators may become confused as to what they are looking at if several things are all being explained on the same slide. You really should add a title slide and maybe an introduction slide to narrate what the PowerPoint is, and then why the PowerPoint is necessary to read.

[simplylaurent]

Advice#3: Common Sense or a Helpful Reminder?

In creating tips for the HTWG I constantly worry if my slides are excessive. If there are too many slides or if my information is too overwhelming to read. In mention of this, I wanted some input into my slide on scheduled posting. Do you think this is a good tip to mention or is this slide chalked full of common sense that it can be deleted? I find that some creators post multiple times a day which can be good for exposure but annoying for their followers. One creator I researched posted 5-7 times a day because of that frequency I largely considered unfollowing her as her content overwhelmed my ForYou page. Do you think creators should be reminded that sometimes the audience wants a break from them? Or is that advice too blunt to mention?

[simplylaurent]

Advice #2: Too Analytical?

Part of my research from the content analysis project brought up and confirmed the research question that the audio/sound use of a video can alter the like/view count. In lieu of this, I brought up the vital tip that the audio a content creator uses is a unit to pay attention to. My question is if this slide is too analytical? Should I involve the chart which highlights the differences in audio interactions or should I maybe delete the entire slide and start over fresh? Does this slide look too much like a slide from the content analysis project or is it just casual enough that it could appeal to content creators? I wanted to add this slide in as a way to establish trust especially when I had written the guide for the creators I analyzed.