In my annotations, I try to color code so that when I go back I have a general idea about what the annotation is. For most of my annotations, I highlight in pink and leave a comment as to why I highlighted it. These include questions I have, summaries, or sections I just like or think are important. I also use a light blue pen to underline things when I think there is a section that describes deep learning. Next, I use a turquoise pen, and I use this to underline and comment about a text-to-text connection. Finally, I use a dark purple pen to underline areas that I believe are surface/strategic learning. I think this method helps to keep me organized and make me see more clearly that I am making all the necessary connections.
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In high school, I know that there were times when I had the mindset of a strategic learner. Especially when it came to classes that I wasn’t quite as interested in, I worked hard to get the good grades but I was only doing it so that I could move onto higher education. I wasn’t thinking about it in the sense of how I could use the information later in my life. In What the Best College Students Do by Ken Bain, he states, “‘Strategic’ learners primarily intend simply to make good grades, often for the sake of graduate or professional school.” In other words, Bain believes that these “strategic” learners don’t truly care about the information and actually learning, but instead just strive to get the good grades so that they look good when moving forward. I think one example where this has applied to me is my senior year of high school in my AP calculus class. When I was taking the class, I did everything I could to learn the material so I could do well on the quizzes and tests and get a good grade in the class. This was my goal because I believed that getting a good grade in this AP class would look good to colleges. Looking back, I wasn’t thinking about how learning this may benefit me as a learner and a student, but instead, I wanted to get the grade because I believed it would look good. In this sense, I agree with the points Bain makes about being a strategic learner, however, I also know that there have been instances when that isn’t my only goal. For me personally, I believe it has to do with whether it is a subject that I find particularly interesting. Therefore, moving forward, I need to keep in mind that even if a certain class isn’t my favorite the information if being taught for a reason. I need to have a growth mindset and try to think like a “deep” learner. This will allow me to realize the importance behind what’s being taught so that I will be able to take the information with me and apply it elsewhere in my life.
The podcast The Editor explains the story of Robin Woods who was sent to prison for an extended period of time and came out as a completely changed individual. The podcast was done as an interview in which Daniel A. Gross asked Robin questions about life in prison and what changed him. In the very beginning of The Editor, Robin began by describing the place in which he committed the crime that sent him to jail for a long time. That crime being that he had stolen over $20,000 worth of office equipment. Robin then started to sell the equipment until someone he knew ratted him out. He was then arrested and sentenced to sixteen years of incarceration for not only that crime, but as a result of other charges as well that had built up over the years. Robin expressed that this was a significantly harsher punishment than he should have received because his other charges were minor, but he quickly moved on. Robin then goes on to report how abusive the guards in the prison were. He claimed that they would find any reason—including looking at the guards the wrong way—to beat the prisoners brutally. Robin describes an incident when some of the prisoners decided that they were not going to leave their cells. Because of this, a group was sent in to harshly beat the inmates. The next day, when other prisoners heard about what had happened, they were so angry that they worked together to attack a group of guards and steal their keys. Daniel Gross then claims that Robin was charged for starting the riot. As a result, 7 years were added onto his sentence, he was moved to a different prison and classified as one of the most dangerous prisoners.
After this, Robin admits that he was put into Special Education when he was in grade school. Therefore, during school, he would collect attendance sheets and stack milk crates in the cafeteria. He was told that a kid like him didn’t need to learn things like math. They made him think that he couldn’t learn like the other kids at school. So, by the time he got to prison, he could barely read. However, his life began to change when he was in prison and decided to borrow two books. When he read he realized he didn’t understand half the words and was only able to understand the basic gist of each book. Next, he explained that he got a dictionary and wrote down the words he didn’t know as he read so he could then study them. Reading made him feel free and he realized he wanted to learn everything he could about the world. He eventually built up his own library in his cell and read hundreds of books. Eventually, he decided he wanted to try a Merriam-Webster encyclopedia. He began to read through and soon came across something he believed was an error. After reading it several times, he knew he was right. So, he decided to write a letter and send it to the editor of the encyclopedia, Mark Stevens. Shortly after he received a letter back in which Mark thanked and congratulated him for finding this error. Robin claims that he soon realized that people had lied to him as a child. They told him he was never going to be able to do things so they didn’t even bother teaching him. Robin knew at that point, however, that not only could he learn all these things, but he was able to teach everything to himself. As Robin continued to read, he found more than a dozen errors and wrote many more letters to Mark Stevens.
Later on, Robin was transferred to another prison, but they refused to return his belongings to him. This included his library that he had built up over time, and most importantly his encyclopedia. Robin insisted that he was so distressed about this that he refused to eat until he was able to meet with the Maryland Commissioner of Corrections. Once Mark Stevens heard about this, he wrote to a warden at the prison claiming that what they were doing to Robin was cruel and unnecessary. Robin explains that soon after this he had his meeting with the Commissioner of Corrections. During this meeting, Robin explained his relationship with Mark Stevens. Not much later, Robin was told that he was on the path to freedom and ended up being released several years early. Upon being released, Mark began to send Robin money as a gift. Then, after ten years of writing letters back and forth, Robin finally met Mark at his house.
Nowadays, at the age of 54, Robin admits that he doesn’t read very much. He explains that he read in prison because it connected him to the outside world, but he no longer needs to do so.
After looking through the pictures, most of the authors had pretty tidy and organized workspaces. However, Ray Bradbury’s was very different. In the room where he worked, you couldn’t see an inch of the floor. There were things piled up everywhere and even the desk he was sitting at had a large pile of papers. I think this kind of workspace would cause me a lot of stress. Although I wouldn’t say my workspace is spotless and completely organized, I try to only keep out what I need at that moment and leave everything else put away.
The first place I went to do homework was the second floor of the commons. I have found that I am able to do my homework best in this space because it is quiet. This keeps me focused and I don’t find myself looking at my phone or getting distracted nearly as easily as if I try to do homework in my dorm. Once in a while—if it’s during the day—I will find myself looking out the window at the water for a few minutes. However, this isn’t so much of a distraction as it is a chance for me to collect my thoughts and continue my work. I also find that I work best when I go by myself because I am more likely to get distracted if I’m with other people.
The second place I went to do homework was outside the commons in the chairs by the fireplace. I was able to get a decent amount of work done, but it was not the best place to work. For me personally, working outside is a bit more difficult. I would find myself getting distracted by the temperature and the breeze blowing my papers. It was also a little wet outside when I went. I think there are a lot more distractions for me outside which make it not a great working environment. I think for some things, such as reading, it would be an okay place to work if there is good weather. However, when I am trying to write and take notes, being outside is a bit more difficult.
When I annotated Carol Dweck’s TED Talk, I tried to use a pattern that made the points she was trying to make clear. Since she used a lot of comparisons when it came to a “fixed mindset” and a “growth mindset” and how these two grading systems affect students, I annotated each side of her points differently. When she spoke about something in a negative manner, I would highlight it. However, when she was praising something, I underlined it. I liked this method because when I look back on it, I can easily see her main points and distinguish between what she’s encouraging and what she’s trying to prevent. The only exception to this is in the first paragraph. I decided to use this technique after I started and had already highlighted a couple of things. Also, in the end, I made a few notes on the bottom of the page. These were my overall thoughts about what she said and what I got out of it.
When I began my freshman year of high school, I decided I no longer wanted to play soccer. Instead, I wanted to try field hockey. I had had a little bit of experience with the sport earlier in my life but there was so much I didn’t know. I hadn’t played it for a long time when it came to my freshman year so I was nervous to start and try to play with all of the other girls who had been playing the sport for years. However, going into I didn’t expect myself to be as good as them. I knew I had a long way to go in order to have the skills to make the varsity team and ultimately the idea of playing on varsity pushed me to do my very best. I went into every practice and embraced challenges. Every time my coaches gave me feedback I would become determined to keep them from having to tell me again. In order to try and get better, I would watch the older players who were on varsity. I would take mental notes on defensive tactics they used and how they carried the ball close to their stick.
Eventually, all of this paid off. My sophomore year, I was made a swing player. This meant I played on both the JV and varsity teams, however, I practiced with the varsity team. This wasn’t the end though, next my goal was a starting position on varsity. I reached this goal during my junior year in most games but not all. Finally, my senior year I reached the point of being a regular starter on the varsity team. Having this growth mindset allowed me to continue to grow and surpass all my original goals.
When I looked at the comparison of my two drafts of the essay, I realized that almost, if not all, my revisions were surface-level. When I edited my essay to get to the final draft, I looked mostly to things like rewording to make everything sound clearer and more concise. For example, I tried to take out unnecessary words such as “really” and change phrases such as “are able to” to “can” to make my paper concise. I focused most on these types of edits because these are what most of my peer edits were about. Looking back, I think I did most of my global revisions during the first stages of writing my essay. However, there are ways I could have edited the structure of my essay for the final draft. Right now, it has a very standard format and I could have changed that up a bit.
Most of the comments I left were suggestions on grammar and punctuation fixes. I hesitated and didn’t leave some comments that I thought about because I wasn’t sure if they would be super helpful. These mostly included switching words around to make something smoother to read. Looking back, I probably should have just left the comments as something for the reader to think about whether they would have wanted to change it in the end or not. I also tried to leave a comment about something in their piece that I thought was really good. I believe these suggestions are helpful because it allows the writer to see something that they are good at. Also, there may be something from their perspective they weren’t sure was completely necessary, but from the reader’s perspective it could be important information.
Looking back on the comments I received, I thought the most helpful ones were about rewording something to either make it clearer or more concise. One comment in particular was about how I was introducing a quote. I knew when I wrote it that it sounded a bit awkward but I wasn’t quite sure how to fix it so I just left it. However, one of my peer reviewers gave me a suggestion to fix that and it was actually very helpful. These comments will shape my reviewing process because I am going to look through my paper and see if there are any other spots where I could be clearer or more concise that they might not have commented on. I also got a comment about a word I accidentally put in that I didn’t notice which was helpful and an easy fix.
