Week 6 Reflection
This week I showed up later than usual for class. I fell asleep on the couch. I have no regrets. I was never one to take naps, at least not since I was age 2, but as I burn the candle at both ends by waking up early and going to bed late, naps have become a necessity. I hit the road late but traffic was minimal. I parked outside the stem building and hurried to class.
Anna and Emily were sitting on the concrete benches.
“You dyed your hair”, Emily said.
“Yeah, I stay blonde like 1998”, I replied, “It looks like you colored your hair too.”
“I did. Thanks”, Emily said.
Anna talked about how she has been working a lot of hours at her job. John came down the hall and sat on the bench. Professor Mangini walked down the hall, resourced his phone for the door code, plugged the code in, unlocked the door, and entered the classroom. We took our seats.
The professor drew the T chart on the board. On the left side he wrote what we’d be doing in class. On the right side he listed our assignments due by next week. There was only one thing listed on the left, informal presentation of AMA. There were 4 things listed on the right side of the T; Blog #12, Optional Bonus Blog – How to Tech, Revise AMA, and Revise sites. The focus points of site revision touched on navigation and links. Make the site easier to navigate.
The student presentations began. Melissa Barry went first as we presented in alphabetical order by our last names. Her AMA was very descriptive in defining banking concept and problem posing educations, and growth and fixed mindsets. The class recommended that she add personal examples from her life in the essay.
Next up was Ben Bond. Instead of reading his AMA Ben paraphrased. He chose the topic “Raising my child” and wrote about his niece and her father, Ben’s older brother. When he spoke about the love parents have for their children, I actually had to hold back tears for a second. It is obvious that Ben loves his niece as his own child. The class recommended that he focus more on explaining how he’d raise his own child to have a growth mindset.
I caught the tail end of Dan Durst’s presentation because I ran off to use the restroom as he got started. His focus was about “not giving up on the bad kid.” I wish I saw more of his presentation. I read his AMA today and I like the perspective of a security guard witnessing how teachers treat problematic students.
Zack Furterer’s AMA was about his challenges with dealing with authority figures while being the new guy at work. It was recommended that he revise his essay as it doesn’t focus as much on a growth or fixed mindset, but more on how he proved himself to gain respect from an authority figure.
It was my turn to present my AMA. I had previously recorded myself reading the essay. I clicked the play button and sat back. Students offered their opinions about my essay. I got a lot of positive feedback. It felt good to hear Dan say that I inspired him to try and find more time to write. What I took as most valuable from the positive criticism is that I need to work on how I transition my piece from a third person narrative to a first person. I was also told that my spin is a predictable cliché. I explained that I wrote in the third person because I don’t believe that I wrote about myself, but rather a person who I used to be. The professor stated that he can accept that argument regardless of whether or not he likes my approach. One sentence in the essay stuck out to me as my favorite. I struggled with whether or not I should keep it. The professor asked the class if any particular word usage in the essay stuck out to them. Kylie White said, “The ghost of ambition. I liked that line.” It made me feel really great inside that a classmate recognized my favorite line. Professor Mangini recommended that if I want to try and get the piece published for ThisIBelieve.org, that I cut down my section that is addressed towards incoming freshmen and focus more on myself. I’m going to work on that revision this week. Courtney Huff jotted an extensive list of notes while students commented on my AMA. She’s good with details.
Courtney Huff was the last to present the AMA. Her essay detailed in specifics what she has gone through while striving for perfection. I believe that her revelation of not embracing a growth mindset is the strongest part of her essay. Professor Mangini gave the suggestion that she could start her essay by describing that moment and then flashing back to the events that lead up to it and what happened after. He mentioned the movie Goodfellas as an example of starting a story at the middle. I think that’s a great idea. I know Courtney felt a little bummed about the criticism, because perfection is what she strives for. In my opinion, perfection isn’t a destination but a journey. We learn as we go. Whether or not Courtney realizes it, I believe that the reason she loves this piece so much is because when she sat down to write it, she got in the flow. She enjoyed the process of writing it. That is priceless. I only hope that she takes her professor and fellow classmates opinions as a positive thing and gets back in the flow and enjoys writing her revision. I am excited to read her revised AMA.
So Aside from our presentAtions, we were told thAt we will be hAving one on one interviews with our professor to Argue our grAde on week 8. I’m not pArticulArly looking forwArd to this. I hAte to sound negAtive. I feel that I deserve An A, but I feel thAt regArdless of whAt grAde I receive, I ActuAlly leArned something this semester. The knowledge obtAined outweighs the vAlue of the grAde, but seeing my hArdwork Acknowledged on pAper with An A would not only be nice, but is deserved. I hAve to write An elevAtor pitch to give to professor MAngini during our interview. MAngini told us A story About his elevAtor pitch thAt he gAve to A professor once. I wonder if Any of my clAssmAtes recAll whAt he did in his pitch. Anyhow, I guess it doesn’t mAtter too much.