What I’ve Learned

Through these past weeks I’ve learned:

•  Different social learning structures
• The benefits in proper feedback
• Pro and cons in Standard format
• Multimodal
• How language impacts authority

English 431 and my internship with International students has brought out these five points. I’ve never paid much attention to how social interaction or how feedback contributes to a thriving learning environment. When I began my English 30E internship, the pace of the class felt somewhat dead. Students barely addressed the questions being asked, and communication, in general, was lacking. Only after persistence and positive reinforcement was the Mentor able to motivate most of the students to participate. Through this class, I have come to understand the importance of language and space. Their English ability was never ridiculed, and most of the time their conversations were in Arabic. However, I felt the class reached its peak once students began to use humor in their discussions. One thing I did notice in English 30E class was that most of the assignments contained the Standard Essay form. First of all, I’m not 100% against the Standard Essay. Structure in class is necessary so things will not fall apart. However, the educational realm should balance out the writing styles given to the students. We live in a world of diversity, so writing techniques should be expanded. Students should be able to express their ideas in a way that could reach all levels. Imposing too many regulations and standards can make individuals stressed and disinterested in writing. I believe that multimodal texts allow students to think outside the box. Their minds become stimulated, and critical thinking kicks in. Of course, it’s not always easy using multimodal, as more responsibility is placed on them, but I feel its worth it. In my project, I decided to focus on how social interaction has helped me learn. I will pick five different things I’ve learned through the aid of someone and inanimate objects. I plan to incorporate images and lists into my assignment.

The last topic I will discuss is the challenging task of feedback. Now, a few questions come to mind when discussing proper feedback. What should be my primary focus? How do I address the issue? Will the student get discouraged? When we practiced feedback in class, I felt anxiety when I was faced with a paper which needed different areas of corrections. It’s strange how mistakes are the first thing that pop up when reading. (I’m sure I even have a few here and there.) However, I tried hard not to get distracted and figured out a central point. After all, the context of the paper should be a priority. The writer needs to know how to grab the attention of the reader and establish an understandable topic. I hope to be able to provide appropriate feedback and a comfortable environment for my future class.

 

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”

-Bill Gates