Mid-semester course evals

In my paper I talked about how writing in college is different than writing in high school. We always seemed to have peer edits, but they never seemed to matter.  I would always find myself tailoring my paper to however my English teacher graded.  In college I have learned to take a different approach.  I write about what interests me, not what I think other people want to hear and I think that I still need to learn how to take criticism from my peers.  I am so used to having what other students say not "matter", but now I think it does because I want to make my writing as good as possible, and an important factor in that is listening to what people think about it instead of just brushing it off because it doesn't "matter to my grade.  

I also said that I enjoyed reading Fun Home because it was a nice break from the essays that allowed us to apply our ecological perspectives to a work.

To start off with, this class works. It works on so many levels and for so many different reasons, I don't even know where to begin. So I will start off with Professor Dalke. The amount of planning and thought that went into creating our "sylaship" is amazing. Each class flows seemlessly together, and every word we are assigned to read is  thought provoking. I also think we as a class deserve credit for how well it works. We show up to class every day, we do our assignments, we are engaged, and we have really great discussions. Out of everything we have done so far the areas I think need the most improvement are our interaction with the enviornment and some of the works we read at the beginning of the semester. I enjoy when our class has the opportunity to meet outside, but I think it can be very distracting for the individual, and not necessarily the enviornment most condusive to learning. However the course is titled "Ecological Imaginings" and I think if we never went outside it would be a mistake. So I propose that when we are outside next we try and focus less on how the enviornment is impacting us and more on how we are impacting it. I think it would be an interesting exercise to try and see ourselves from the perspective of the plant and animal life around us. Secondly I must say I found some of the essays we read at the beginning of the semester to be a little bit of struggle. Not that I think it is bad to be challenged, I think it's good that we are, but I especially think the essays pertaining to the rheomode and other ways of changing our grammar to be more "green" were frustrating. They were too theoretical to practically apply, and I still don't see myself incorporating them into my writing. I most enjoyed "Vaster than Empires, and More Slow" by Ursula LeGuin, and I look foraward to reading the selected books and the discussions they might lend themselves to.

For me the best part about the class has been the writing. In both the papers and the postings, I enjoy being forced to sit down and do it. It helps me, and forces me, to let my thoughts develop quite a few stages further than they otherwise would. I find that whatever the prompt, and whatever the structure, I find myself expressing thoughts and feelings that are important to me. The class discussions, as well as the (almost non-existent) on-line discussion, are a bit frustrating. We don't seem to have time to really interact, or to get into any free-wheeling discussions: perhaps there is just too much material. Still, many people have interesting things to say, that I would not have thought of myself. I love the diversity of the class. I feel that meeting outside, and in a different place each time, has added a lot of depth. The readings-- some of them really satisfying and stimulating-- and the general topics we have touched on, leave me a bit confused still about what we mean by ecology. But in another way the whole approach feels holistic, forcing us to integrate in  a non-linear kind of way which seems appropriate to the subject matter. The Serendip site is not completely easy to use: hard to find things, sometimes I have written a comment without realizing that I haven't logged in, then it won't accept it and the whole thing gets lost. A few times I have given up! (It just happened to me again! Fortunately I have figured out I can copy and paste, not start all over again...) All in all I enjoy working my way from confusion to some kind of awareness I didn't have before.

Aside from some consistent writing, I don't feel like I am becoming a better writer yet. This course has allowed me to become proficient at crafting a first draft, but I'm afraid that beyond that I am still as helpless as I was at the beginning of the semester. I've explored a lot of new ideas, which is great, but I'd like to be able to write polished essays that express my thoughts. Also, writing the same essay every week (3 pages, due at 5 pm on Friday!) is getting to be monotonous--I don't feel like my writing is developing in a meaningful way. I think this course could do with a little more loosening--try two short essays one week, instead of one?

These online postings also seem to be redundant. We don't converse with each other online after we post, so it is a bit like speaking to an empty room with no listeners. If your Facebook post about your cat got no likes and no comments, would you want to post about your cat again? Probably not. What I am saying is, what is the point of posting if nobody is going to respond? Also, these online postings about our nature places do not need prompts. I am sure all of us, being the smart and creative women that we are, are perfectly able to come up with interesting and inquisitive ideas all on our own. After all, prompts aren't just readily available to pick out of a hat at will in the Real World. We should be learning to be creative ourselves. We have enough time.

In discussions during class, I wish everybody would talk! It would be much more interesting. 

"One of the best things about the course, to me, is Serendip’s online conversation. It is a wonderful way we have been using to share our thoughts.  For me, going back to the old spot every Sunday and writing about my experience is a ‘strange’ task. I often found myself use some free time to visit the longue behind Rhoads, trying to notice something instead of fully “getting lost” in nature. I do not really want to force myself into thinking of something to write about (I would appreciate any help with dealing with this difficulty!). However, the exercise has been rewarding to me. I realize that I am beginning to pay more attention to the environment around me, which in some way shapes me who I am. Also, as I read others’ posts, I learn from them the way people observe and think...

However, I think our online conversation has not been what it is supposed to be. I realize that I myself as well as some of other students am still not using the advantages that the forum provides. One of the reasons might be that the online forum is a little hard to track as everyone’s post tends to be mingled. One can easily miss out some post. We can actually engage in the conversation more by commenting and interacting more with each other, on a regular basis."