Midterm Reflections: Oh crap, those were this week?

The biggest and most important thing I’ve learned in this class is how to blog. I’ve never messed around with blogs before, or even read them for that matter. This class is showing me that they’re really not that bad, and if anything, they can be pretty fun.

I’ve learned it helps a lot to blog about what I’m reading in the textbook. The class blog really helps me remember what I’ve read. I’ve also learned that my thinking and writing voices are different. When I try to write a personal blog post, I feel like what I actually write down is slightly different from what I was thinking in my head.

I would spend much more time studying the power tools if I were to take this class again. I joined the class late and the importance of the power tools didn’t set into my mind until I had failed a couple of quizzes. I would have loved a stronger start than I experienced.

At first I was going to talk about how obnoxious the quizzes are every class, but they really made me study the power tools more. I know I wouldn’t have studied them as much if we weren’t tested on them regularly. Honestly I don’t think there’s anything I would change about this class.

Power Tools – The power tools really help me keep an analytical eye on the media. Most of the power tools are just common sense, like using humor as a production technique, but it really helps to have those ideas on paper in front of me.

Course Blog – The course blog helps me remember what I read out of the textbook. If we didn’t have to blog about it, I would probably skim each chapter and not really get anything out of it. The course blog also helps because it gives an example of what a good blog should look like when I write my own blog posts.

Personal Blog – I groaned internally when I heard we were going to have to write our own blogs. I’ve never been much of a blogger, but I’ve found its actually pretty fun. I’m still not very good at it, but I guess practice makes perfect.

In-Class Quizzes – The in-class quizzes keep me on my toes. I thought I hated them at first, but they keep me honest when I’m doing my homework.

Films – I’ve really enjoyed the films we’ve watched in class. I particularly liked the one about the WDEV community radio station. The films teach us something about media today, and they help reinforce the power tools.

Book – This textbook is one of my favorite textbooks ever. When I think of textbooks I think of thick history books filled with dates I don’t really care about. This textbook deals with contemporary topics I can relate to.