End of Class!!!!

Good Morning,
Writing Composition II has been a great class. My first suggestion to upcoming students for this class would be to stay on top of your assignments. It is one step at a time process. Once you decide what you want to research spend some time to find out if there is a lot of information on your topic. Highlight or take notes on your reading material. I printed my information out and highlighted the information that I wanted to incorporate into my paper. Once you decide what are the key points you want to cover in your paper then I found the outline method worked the best for me. From the outline you can make your flow of your paper from least important to most important. Paraphrasing was a challenge for me, trying to put my interpretation of the author's information can be hard some time. I feel good about this class and I walked away from it with a better understanding of how to be a better writer. Have confidence in yourself and you will be fine.

The writing experience

Since starting composition II I was a little apprehensive about my writing skills, I realized that I passed composition I with an A- and thought what else is there to learn about writing. Well I learned there is a lot more to just writing down on a piece of paper what your thoughts are. I have learned to recognize what is a reliable source and not just assume that everything you read is a true statement. I am still trying to get a handle on paraphrasing but I feel the more I do it the easier it will be. I had never heard of the paramedic method of revision before and I can see that a lot of what we write can be construded as useless words in a sentence. By using that method we can have clear concise sentences that make our paper easier to read. I have enjoyed this class and feel that I have come away with skills that I will be able to use in all my classes as well as work and personal writings. Thanks Dr. M you are a great professor!
Have a great day!
Deb

Peer reviews and my interpretation

Good Morning,
Sometimes I can be overly sensitive and I can take constructive critism to heart. By being a student now I have learned that we need not take constructive critism to heart but have an open mind and learn from it. I have learned alot from the discussion board and how others percieve your writing or your thoughts on certain things. It can give you a different view on topics.
I think this blog has been fun, you can use it as a journal and just write whatever is on your mind. It might be fun to keep it going and I think I might just do that.
Have a great day!
Deb

Dealing with Life

For the past six weeks I have been dealing with moving, taking care of my Mom whom has Alzhiemer's, Finding out that my sister whom I am very very close to has recurring Cancer in Stage 4, Christmas, getting sick with Bronchitus,traveling and trying to get my condo rented out. Boy when I read this it can be overwhelming. I have finally accepted that life has it's ups and downs and if God brings you to it he will bring you through it. I have to realize that someone else out there is worse off than I am and I should just know that I will get through this. Dr. M told me what she lost within 6 months and it impacted how I was feeling sorry for myself, so I snapped out of it and I am thinking positive. Thanks Dr. M.
Have a great evening!
Deb B

AH HA Moment

Good Morning,
After seminar 6 I had an AH HA moment related to the post draft outline. By listing the main points in your paragraphs it makes you aware of the flow of your topic. It helps you see what needs to be researched more and what you have repeated. I had never done that before but it will be a part of my writing from now on.
Peer reviews, I like the fact that you can have someone review your work and give you suggestions. I can handle constructive criticism cause I am here to learn, just by the discussion board alone we learn from each other. Another set of eyes always helps.
I hope everyone has a very happy Holiday and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Challanges we face day by day!

Good Afternoon,
The qusetions that I need to address on this post is a little emotional. I have a challange with trying to keep on top of my school assignments and the time that I need to travel 4 hours to see my sister. She has cancer all over her body and has started radiation as well as chemo. She is in the hospital so they can manage the pain that she is in with morphine. She has it in both lungs, ribs, lymphnodes, and bones. This is a hard time for me to try and stay on top of my school work. My goal is to succeed in my classes but also to be there for my sister and her two kids and husband. This is a very hard time for us, so if you believe in prayer we need it.
Thanks Deb

Academic challanges

Good Morning,
After reading the prewriting styles I have chosen two that are more compatible to me and they are, brainstorming and informal outlining. Brainstorming enables me to just list my thoughts about the topic and the outlining keeps me a little more orgainized.
I found the reading about note taking on index cards was a great tool for me to use while I am reading my research papers. That keeps me organized with writing the cite on the top of the index card and the notes under it. For each research paper that I am using I use a certain color index card and that helps me as well.
For academic challanges up to this point I can get stressed out with trying to stay on top of the work required to maintain A's. I found out by attending college that I am somewhat of a perfectionist and really that is not a good thing. Not in my world anyway. This is my third term at Kaplan and prior to that it was forty years ago since I sat in a class room. At this point I am very proud of my accomplishments and I love being a student. I can see that every term is a little more challanging and when you can complete it with a passing grade you feel good about it.
Have a great day!