DeSean Petty-Ignite Talk

Course Reflection Blog

When we were first assigned the publications assignment I thought it was going to be very tedious mainly because I despise writing, but it turned out to be a pretty interesting assignment. The writing became interesting because we were allowed to write it in our own way instead of having a set way or writing like we normally have to in English courses. This made my publications easier to write and it made the other publications easier to read because they were not boring like most assigned writings are. Working in a group also made the work easier because we only had to focus on certain aspects of the assignment instead of having to do it all by ourselves. Overall though the responses is what really made my writing less complicated because it allowed me to see what specific changes I needed to make by listening to the readers of my publication.

Now for my learning process...When we first started this course we were supposed to find out who we were as science learners and writers. At first I was thinking those two things have nothing to do with each other and there is no way I'm a scientist because I hate science with a passion but now I think I understand what it means. Scientists analyze and write about their studies before they perform their experiments which is a form of making. From Make Cycle 1 to the current assignment we are doing now we ourselves have been analyzing (especially in Make Cycle 2), making (Make Cycle 1-3), and writing (G+, daybook, and publications) throughout the course. So even though I still hate science with a passion I understand that we are all scientists in our own way and that science occurs everywhere even in an English course.

Writing Process

In my opinion I really did not have a writing process because after I used the flash cards we did in class to get my ideas flowing in my head, I just went straight in to writing my drafts. Well actually that's a lie because I left out the biggest part of my writing process which is procrastination. It took me so long to get started on the drafts because I got caught up in the many distractions in my dorm, mainly the video games. So after I got past that part of my process I really had no problem finishing my papers. Another tidbit of my process I left out is choosing a call to write for but I really think that is self explanatory because that is what started this whole process.

Toy Hack Reflection

When I first started on my toy hack I was a little confused on how I was going to symbolize a problem with toys. So I definitely had to put some thought into how I was going to complete it so I decided to write down some ideas on a word document first and then choose one that I thought would be best. I finally decided to use some Lego's to create a robot and also create some humans to represent the problem advancing artificial intelligence/technology can cause humans in the future through a slideshow. When I actually made my toy hack I had to tweak my idea of using Lego's (mostly because I'm not creative and I don't know how to create a robot or a human with Lego's), so after I realized my initial plan was not going to to work I decided to use a Batman toy that looked like a robot and some Lego's men that were already put together. The slideshow turned out well and it was pretty easy to put together once I got an idea of what I was going to do. Overall I think this project was pretty interesting and it was not as complicated as I initially thought it was going to be.

Midterm Blog

After reviewing my previous posts I have realized that I have made some improvements in my learning during this class thus far. When I made my first blog I didn't know what I was doing because this was the first time I had blogged about anything. My first blog post consisted of me explaining what had happened in class the first week and what intrigued me about each class activity. Some of the random activities we did like the improvisations and taking scientific pictures of things around campus were really cool to me because it's not your typical classroom activity but I liked it because I hate doing the same things over and over again. My second post expressed my thoughts and concerns about the field experience/one pager assignment we had to do. I was worried because I didn't really know the campus that well when this was assigned so I had no idea where I was going to get my ideas from. My third post explained how I went about doing my one pagers and the make I created after writing them. While writing these papers and creating my make (which was a campus map explaining where I had went and what I learned at that location) I learned that science is all around us and that all you got to do is open your eyes and notice it. So midway through the semester I am noticing how science and writing relates to each other more and more as this class progresses and I'm starting to tap into my inner scientist more because I'm becoming more observant of the science happening around me. I believe when this class is over I will fully understand who I am as a science learner and writer.

Make Cycle 2 Reflection

These past few weeks I have been writing one pagers about my field experiences on campus and the questions I developed from them. I was nervous about this at first because I had never done anything like this before, but after I did my first one I got the general gist of it. The questions that I pondered on during my field experiences were things that I hadn't really thought of before this assignment, an example would be that I never actually thought about how important plants are to humans until I did a little research on it after visiting the gardens on campus. This experience and research taught me that plants actually provide us with a lot of necessities like food, air, lawn beautification, and a lot of them help produce our medicines. Another example is that I really never thought about how much technology controls our lives and how much it progresses or improves every day because of new ideas about technology being brought up or invented. All of the one pagers helped me construct my make cycle 2 which was a map showing where I had been on campus and what questions I had developed at those locations, and I also included my theories on the questions (Example How far can technology go? Who knows? New technology is being invented everyday and we never know what the next big technology idea will be). Overall this was a fun experience and it brought out the inner science learner in me.

Blog Post 2

So it's officially been three weeks here at college and I think I'm becoming more and more acclimated to this new experience each day. My classes are still going well and it's very comforting that I've learned how to get to each one of them on time. English class is still my most entertaining class but I'm nervous about my upcoming assignment which is to write a one page paper on any science field experience. This assignment concerns me for two reasons and those are I hate science and I have no idea where I want to go for my field experience or what to do when I get there. However after I do my first one pager I should get a feel of what is expected of me when I do my next three one pagers in the upcoming weeks. Overall though my assignments so far have been relatively easy but I know that's just because it's the first few weeks and I have to prepare for much tougher assignments as the school year progresses. :(

Here's a collage that I made for Make Cycle 1