Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar

Glass Mason Jar from Pixabay

This week, I want to try doing one of the Learn by H.E.A.R.T. challenges. The one I chose is the Happiness Jar! I think this is a cute little idea. I plan to open up this post every day this week and add a new happy thing that has happened to me. If you care or are interested in the things that happen to me every day, check it out. If not, that is fine. This really is something for me anyway!

At the end of the week, I will review the things that have happened to me and reflect on how they made me feel. I have never done this sort of self-reflection, so I expect it is going to be interesting.

Monday: I had dinner with three of my friends, and it was quite fun. The food was good and we laughed a lot. I expected to only eat with one friend, but was happy to see two others tagged along.

Tuesday: I worked out, even though I didn't want to, and it made me feel accomplished.

Wednesday: I got to spend some quality time with my younger sister. We don't spend a ton of time together since we are both always in class.

Week 8 Progress

The End of the Road by Juan

Alberto Garcia Rivera from Flickr

I am a little bit disappointed with my progress so far. I have been slacking a little bit, letting assignments fall here and there. I do have a weekly routine, but it is one that has me doing most of my assignments last minute. Honestly, I don't know if I will change. I have always been this way, and even with proper motivation, I fall back into my old ways within a few weeks time. I do extra credit once in a while, but I am not properly utilizing it at this point.

I am managing to pull a very high B according to the chart. If I do some extra credit over the next couple weeks, I am confident I can pull my grade back up to an A. I need to stop falling to the temptation to do my assignments during the forgiveness period (I have been taking advantage of this far too much recently). I also want to try avoiding having multiple assignments in one night (on Sundays) so that I don't feel the time pressure as much.

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

21 Components of Effective Feedback 

from GrowthMindsetMemes

I chose this image because I felt like it was something that

I needed for my own feedback. I struggle to give feedback,

so hopefully, this will give me a better framework.

So far, I have liked the comments and feedback I have been getting from my peers. I especially appreciate the comments I have gotten on my comment wall for my project. Someone mentioned adding dialogue to my story, for example, which was something I had neglected to even think about. I really appreciated that comment in particular! I also like how random the commenting is, because I get comments from new people all the time.

Personally, my feedback for other people could probably improve. I always talk about the good things on people's post, but I don't really know how constructive these comments are for them. I rarely suggest anything purely because I am scared that I am going to offend them or something. Sometimes I can overcome that fear, but for the most part, giving constructive critisicim is hard. On the other hand, the stories that I read and really really like are super inspiring. So while maybe my feedback isn't that great, I get exposed to some awesome work.

I think in order for my feedback to be better, I need to read more stories that I actually want to read. Reading random stories makes it much harder for me to get into the story.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Giants Causeway by Amanda Slater

I chose this image because this was my favorite 

place and inspired the topic of my project.

Overall, the assignments so far have been working well for me. The only thing for me is that I am a procrastinator and have been guilty of skipping a few assignments. That is more of a "me" problem than an assignment problem though. 

The readings are interesting and writing the stories isn't too complicated. I am actually pretty proud of my reading notes when I write them, but I don't really look at them later when I go to write my story. The one note-taking strategy that I have grown fond of is to focus on one character in each story. This has helped me figure out how to build characters better in my own stories. I kind of wish I didn't have to read stories from specific units, but I have been exposed to great stories because of the unit requirements, so I have grown to be okay with this.

I have been pretty excited to work on my storybook so far. I am happy with my topic. The only thing is that I am not super confident on my idea of telling it from a spectator's perspective. I think I may need to change things just slightly so it is more interesting to read. I am fond of the giants though.

My biggest accomplishment while in this class so far has been my project. While it isn't finished, it is the piece of homework that I am most excited to work on. Also the feedback I get back on it makes me excited to work on it.

For the future, I just need to work on my own motivation. There isn't really anything I would change about this course.