First Semester Reflection

This first semester I have learned so much. I believe that I have learned new skills and have also gotten better at skills I already had. All of the things we’ve done this year have played a part in my over all learning this semester and I really think that my classmates and I will learn even more in the second semester.
Writing is something I’ve always had a problem with. I would either procrastinate or I would just write a really bad paper. This year, I’ve already been able to get better at writing. I think that I truly have gotten better at essays, blogs, etc. I’ve learned about the format of papers and I’ve learned how to take a position when I’m writing. I’ve learned how an article may be confusing and that people may only be able to see the tip of the iceberg. They might not be able to understand what is truly being said. I had that problem at the beginning of the year, but now I am learning how to make sense of things and to make sense of how to write my own papers.
I also think that all the reading we’ve done has helped me learn a lot too. I am probably the slowest reader on the face of the earth, but I can tell them I’m, getting better at making sense of things and being able to read a paper and understand what’s going on. Whether it’s a whole book, a short story, or an article from the news, I’m learning to be able to get through a piece of reading and not fall asleep or just give up and not even work towards understanding the meaning. Before this first semester, I had no idea what it meant to understand a piece of reading. That sounds like it doesn’t make sense but I would just read through things and wouldn’t even think about whether I understood the meaning or not. This first semester I’ve learned a lot about regular language arts class subjects like reading and writing, but I’ve also learned a lot about history.
So far, history and culture have played a huge part in my learning this year. I’ve known about diversity and the problems that other places have gone through but I was not aware of what other countries like Australia, South Africa, or Rwanda has gone through. I’ve learned about what hard times they’ve gone through and what has happened to their cultures over time. Learning about these kinds of things really helps me to understand the world around me more. The thing that has helped me most this year has probably been a mixture of writing and learning about history and cultures. When I’m asked to write about the Rwandan Genocide or Aborogines of Australia, it usually is hard at the beginning but I’ve really learned how to put two and two together. Writing about these kinds of things really helps me gain skill in writing and helps me understand the world more.
Learning about grammar, usage, and mechanics was really helpful. I had obviously already known where to put periods and question marks, but it really helped my writing especially to know more about grammar and punctuation. I can easily tell which letters need to be capitalized and where apostrophes need to be. I can write and use grammar appropriately more easily now than I could before this first semester.
Listening to stories also was a good thing to learn about this year. When we listened to “Man in the Well” I think I developed more skill in being able to listen to a story and being able to imagine what’s going on and how to understand it when I’m not reading it or writing it. It helped enable me to hear a description of something and be able to see it in my head.
Watching videos like Rabbit Proof Fence and The Power of One helped me understand more about colonization and the troubles of other countries. Although I didn’t see most of The Power of One, I did see a few important parts and it showed me the struggles that the native people went through. Watching Rabbit Proof Fence showed me how bad some people had it and it helped me learn and understand things like that and how truly awful they are.
This first semester, I’ve learned so much. Not just these things, but all of the others things too, have really helped me this year. So far, I think the class and I have been learning really good techniques and we’ve got a pretty good perspective about different topics now. I’m really happy with what we’ve learned and I hope that the second semester is just as good.