In Class/OutClassed

I feel like I have experienced a lot in only 2 months. I have never really been in an environment where discussion is so open and productive as it is in ESEM. I think over the past weeks our class has grown to become comfortable with one another and we always end up running out of time every class period. I think Serendip is ingenious but I still feel like some of classmates continue to be hesitant about what they post on here. This class has allowed me to improve the way I interact with people and how to create ideas from one's thoughts instead of just recieving information from a teacher. I also learned how to frame my questions so it's asking a more general question that can be built on when I post my thoughts on the internet. I think my writing needs more work in ways like how to argue more effectivly and how to reach a larger audience. I can't wait for the rest of the semester.

I feel as though this ESem has given me the chance to grow, not just as a writer, but also, and especially as a fellow student and participant in class discussions. The dialogic nature of our class has constantly made me feel more dynamic of a learner. With every comment made in class, I've felt as though I've not only gained a new perspective and another facet to my beliefs and my opinions on certain topics, but I've also been inspired- both to change from just sitting back and listening to the inspiring things that everyone around me is saying, to being one of those people inspiring my fellow classmates while always maintaining an open mind about other perspectives. This idea will help me continue to learn and grow and develop and apply this multifaceted perspective to a grander scale. I know that this ESem and the conversations that I've had the opportunity to engage in will continue to teach me to feel comfortable and contribute in any class, and to allow myself to remain open to changing my opinions-whether that means adding another dimension to them, modifying them, or completely changing the position of them. And I know that ESem gives me the resources and company with whom I can continue to grow as a learner.

It's been a big challange but it's also a great chance for me to read and write the analytical essays. The class, both classmates and teacher, helps me push myself to get my own ideas systematically and deeper. I did not usually ask myself why I think in this way or that way. But now I started asking myself more questions. I found out many things that I am not sure about, and I started doubting them. Since I am from China, and I have been received Chinese education for my previous school education, I like to compare the things in education between USA and China. Education purpose, education method, students tendency or common characters, etc. Through reading lots of different kinds of opinions, I get to know what other people think about the questions in education. I shall get to talk more next half semester. Overall, it's been really nice. Thank you guys!

Everything got better and better, or, it was I that tried to make it better and better. I started to say my opinions out without worrying about whether they are the right answer for teacher and other students; I check the talking notes two days earlier before the class to ensure I won’t miss anything that needed to prepare for the class; I make appointments in the writing center in order to improve my writing… I began to enjoy the seminar. Though I still can’t talk as fluently as I hope, everyone listened patiently whenever I was talking; though sometimes I still don’t understand the idioms used by my American classmates, I dare to ask questions without feeling bad about myself; though sometimes I still feel pretty struggling about writing a great paper without small grammatical errors, I know I am on the way of being a better writer.What is more important, I began to understand the essence of critical thinking. I found that education, a word that occurs in my life so often, is actually not as familiar to me as I thought. Every time I read a new reading assignment, every time I wrote a new paper, I gained a new perspective about education. I started to look back my life, to examine my choices, my school performance and people around me along my road of my education. By this kind of reflection, I not only learned more about education itself, but also learned more about how to critically consider a social issue. 

As a class, I feel we've made much progress towards getting comfortable with each other and really discussing matters of class and education. It is no longer uncomfortable to talk around each other. I also learned how to analyze non fiction writings for interpretations that could not be taken shallowly. My writing style got much more formal coming from a very casual writing style stemming from my freelancing. This visit to Parkway should be fun because  it'd be different if it were the beginning of the semester but now, we know each other well enough to really get something out of this visit.

While I was writing my paper, I reflected on the changes that I've seen in myself and a lot of those changes resulted from many of the topics that we discussed. I didn't think learning about the different types of education that children receive all over the nation would have some sort of affect on me. For example, after writing my paper about access to education, I spent a lot of time outside of class thinking about my thesis. I've never had that type of experience before. After getting a grade on a paper in high school I would just toss it to the side and that would be the last time I thought about my argument. After discovering the huge impact ESL classes had on my learning, I was eager to come home to relearn my native language and interact with my grandparents (who mainly speak Khmer). I wanted to gain back what my childhood education took away from me. I never thought hard ahout how education extends beyond the classroom.

After looking over the essays I've written and notes I've taken for this class, I've noticed that my work has become progressively more analytical. At the beginning of term, my writing mostly relied on personal narrative to convey my points, but as I've read more and begun making increasingly broad connections to outside sources, I've relied less on myself and more on my research. I think I've become a better researcher, though I still have much to learn. I also think I've been better able to maintain a cohesive claim in my essays – though I'm also still working on that. I often come away from class discussions that I have a difficult time decide what it is exactly I want to write about. And once I've decided, I often have trouble staying on one train of thought as so many factors can be addressed and focused on with each topic. I do think it's becoming easier for me to stay focused, though, and I plan to continue working on that with the rest of my writing.

As we have approximately reached the half way point in the seminar, this weeks assignment of a self evaluation was fitting. My focus in this seminar has been on my writing, so that is where my paper was focused. High school gave me plenty of experience with academic writing, but personalization and opinions was generally secondary to grammar and factual content. In reviewing my essays from this seminar, fortunately the primary growth in my writing does seem to be in the personalization of my papers. The value in including personal annecdotes and opinions in academic writing has become clear to me. Particularly in the process of revising my essay on disability and access to education, personalizing my essays has become more natural. This has created a small problem, however, with the tone of my writing.  In this process of working on the personalization of my papers, I wrote almost too close to the manner in which I speak. This produced rather informal writing and while maintaining a voice is important, a casual tone can lessen the authority of an academic essay. The next step in the process of fine-tuning my writing is now finding the balance between formal and personal. 

I’m really enjoying class this semester.  I feel like I’m excited to learn and the readings all seem really informative and interesting.  I feel good about the workload as well even though it can be tricky having to write a paper a week.  Even so, the papers really force me to reflect back on what I’ve learned during the week.  I’m not a big fan of the online forum, but I think we could use the two sections a little more but in different ways than we have been.  I’d also like to use Class Matters more since it’s so relevant to our class.