Class Improvements

Change Review Weeks to Planning Weeks: I really like this idea because I wish I would have taken more time to plan out my schedule. At the beginning of the semester, I set a schedule, but I definitely did not follow it. I hadn't had the chance to get a feel for my semester, so I found myself motivated by deadlines more than anything. By having built in planning time, I think students will be benefited.

Expand the Story Planning Option: I loved being able to plan my stories. It is really hard to sit down and write a story that I am immediately happy with, so being able to plan actually made me enjoy the writing process more. As for the storybook, it would be nice if we could do planning assignments and get feedback from other students. I got feedback after writing a story, but by then, my main story elements were in place and the feedback really couldn't help shape or influence the story as much.

Create more audio recordings: This would be a really great idea for this class. It is sometimes hard to find time sit down and read, but there are plenty of times I could be listening to something (like while driving). I also think having it as an extra credit assignment would save you from recording so much. My only concern with this idea is that it would be much harder to take notes over the reading. I don't know if I would look for storytelling ideas while listening to a story.

Create writing tutorial videos: I think my students would appreciate these kinds of videos. It has been a while since I've taken any grammar/writing classes, so sometimes I find myself making mistakes, too. I also think it would be really helpful for less common types of writing like dialogue. I, for one, had done very little dialogue writing prior to this class, so it would be nice to have a reference when doing it.

Create thematic reading units: I really like this idea! I'm just not sure what themes you should do since many common themes are present across the different cultures the reading materials come from.


One suggestion I have would be to push the storytelling assignment back to Thursday. If the story is based on a reading done on Tuesday, it can really be hard to turn around and have a nice story within a day. Although the story planning option is helpful in this regard, I still think even the planning process can be hard when I've not had much time to think about it. Most of my a-ha moments for the storybook came after I thought about it for a couple of days. I also think the extra day would be helpful if a student were trying out a new way of telling a story. 

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I decided to add a weather widget to my site after seeing another classmate with it on his. I want to know the weather at any given time so I can be prepared. With Oklahoma's weather, you can never be too sure what's going on in the sky.