Module #9 Discussion

10/26/2013

(1) The writing is a daunting process; one in which few students really engage into correctly. Through your 3-week process, you have been learning more about your own writing process and preferences. Take a moment to reflect upon your process and share some techniques you employ in order to maintain time management and work through difficulties. Also, note some habits which you may want to try to improve.

(2) As your writing process nears to a close, you are continuing to prepare for the oral presentation. Discuss how you will prepare for your presentation and what you think makes an awesome presentation/presenter.

Please separate your posts as is done above.
Be sure to respond to a minimum of one (1) person during the discussion.

Cristina

10/27/2013 02:54:09 pm

1) My writing process is the same no matter what I am writing and I find this quite funny. In creative writing, Mr.Kleist would tell us what we were writing and give us a time limit and the first thing I would think of was the opening line. I do this with narratives and research papers as well. One would think the first thing to think of would be a thesis but not me. It always helps me if I have a really strong first line because I believe this will help me have a strong paper. The weaker the opening is,the worse my paper is. It is a very odd fact about my writing but I have always done this. After the first line I come up with my thesis and from there I keep building on to my paper.

2) I am preparing for my presentation by reading and rereading my research paper to make sure I am familiar with my work. I am taking the sections from my paper and putting them onto the slide as well as my personal ideas and research I have done. I think the best presenters are those who have vocal variety and aren't afraid to make eye contact with their audience. No one wants to listen to someone speaking in a monotone voice who is staring at the floor. They must be prepared and they have to take risks because you want you audience to pay attention to the information they are receiving.

Samantha

11/1/2013 08:26:59 am

I find it peculiar that you work from your first line and on. I, personally, work better when I start with a thesis. It is interesting to see how differently people start their writing process. Reading your paper over and over is a great way to prepare for any oral presentation. I agree that no one likes to listen to a monotone presentation. I will have to remember to try and take risks. I get very nervous when presenting and tend to talk fast or mumble. I plan to use your advice and methods while I prepare my presentation.

Tori

10/28/2013 04:43:02 am

1. I agree with Cristina, the thesis would be many peoples first option to work with; however, I focus more on the topic sentence in the first line of each paragraph. I believe if you have a catchy first sentence or an idea that fantasizes people the paper can be written much better. My writing technique that I have gotten used to is taking a lot of notes and jotting down all the ideas I would like to have in my paper then rearranging them into a particular order. The more notes I have the more in detail my paper will be.

2. What I am doing to begin getting ready for my oral presentation is creating note cards. On the note cards I have a specific topic and everything I need to know about that topic on there. Th note cards help me memorize and plant the information into my head, also they keep me more organized with the way my paper is set up. One quality that I lack and need to work on is making my presentation interesting. Like Cristina said, no one wants to listen to a whole presentation of someone who is talking in a monotone voice. However, I struggle with making my presentations interesting because I never knew the information perfectly. So for this presentation my goal is to know all the information.

Cristina

10/29/2013 04:30:56 am

I think that making a topic sentence first is a very interesting concept and I have honestly never thought of doing that before. I believe that would take my writing down a different path. I also find it somewhat similar to what I do for my writing because I write the opening sentence of the whole paper first. I also like that your goal is to know everything that you can about your topic so that you are better prepared for your presentation. It is very good to use note cards because it will help you get ready in case you need to speak publicly for some reason. You will need to know how to use your note cards properly.

Sam

10/29/2013 07:55:59 am

1. When writing, I generally reserve a 3-4 hour block in my schedule to make sure I have enough time to accomplish what I need. I don't really go back to my work during the week as small, short intervals to fix or improve on what I've already written. I try to get everything done at once and wait to improve or change what I've written for the next block of time I will have.

2. To prepare for my presentation, I will have to know what I will be saying before going in to the class. This means practicing what I need to say and how to say it will be important. A good speaker needs to know what they are saying at all times. On top of that, good speakers need to be confident, which I am not.

Steven

10/29/2013 11:33:21 am

I agree with what you are saying as far as not going back during those small intervals to change whatever is there and that there needs to be a long time period that we can work on it in order to get the paper done. I disagree with the fact that you lack the confidence, though. Yes, I know you are yourself and that I cannot tell you what you are feeling, but with every presentation I have ever seen you give, I know that you get up there and do your thing so I don't really understand why you say that you lack the confidence needed in order to be a good presenter. Other than that, I do agree that a good speaker needs to practice what their speech in order to be able to maximize what they are going to talk about.

Body of Christ link

10/31/2013 02:54:31 am

I really admire the way you work. I wish I grew up with your specific habits. It is a great idea to try and get everything done all at one time, but to also give yourself plenty of time to be able to go back and revise your work. That way you have plenty of time to perfect your work, add more information if needed, and tie everything up. I have to disagree with you though. Although you say you are not a confident speaker, the way you present yourself while speaking is not only entertaining, but also very informative. Even if you are not the most serious person to be speaking, your speeches usually acquire a lot of important information, and by presenting them in the way that you do, I retain the information better.

Jess

10/31/2013 11:02:48 am

That is how I am too. I would rather work on something all at once rather than in short time intervals. It helps me keep focus on priority on what I am doing and motivates me to continue if I aim to finish right away. I think it is important for you to practice what you will say before going up to your oral presentation so it is good that you realize that. Also, yes, confidence is key to a great presentation.

Steven

10/29/2013 10:06:07 am

1) While writing a paper, I have realized that generally I do it all at one moment. Being a busy student I have realized that if I need to do a larger piece of work that it needs to be done in a larger time slot. I look at my week and try to decide a moment that would work the best for me. Basically just a time during the week that gives me the longest time period in order to put in the most effort to my work. Toward the beginning of the writing process of this paper, I tried to break up working throughout the days but I realized that I lose the taste for what I am writing and that makes it more difficult to put my all into a paper.

2) Going into my presentation, I will be prepared on what I am going to be saying before I walk into the classroom. In my opinion, a good presenter is a person that can give the information to the people that they are presenting to, rather than just going off of what he or she has written on their slide. Watching presentations I always feel more engaged with a presenter if they are presenting the information rather than just reciting what they have written. Therefore, I try to do the same as far as my presentations go. This also means that I will try to keep the information on my slides to a minimum and be an expert on what I want to get across to my audience.

Cristina

10/29/2013 11:32:22 am

I agree with you that if you stop writing and wait a couple of days it will mess you up and you will lose the spark. I know that if I walk away from my computer for an hour or so it will be hard for me to continue writing fluidly. At the same time I feel like if you sit down and write for a long period of time you will lose your "voice" and you will start to repeat yourself. I find that if I stop at a solid place in my paper I can pick up where I left off the next day so that I give my brain some time to refresh and new ideas can form.

Tori

10/31/2013 04:45:04 am

I can relate to what you are saying because I do the same thing. I plan when I want to do my paper during the week, for instance the day that I don't have anything to do. I will give myself plenty of time to get it done because I like to write my paper all in one night because as you said you can lose the interest or ideas you have for your paper. I write everything I need to do that night then other nights I will go and add in more detail or information I may have forgotten. Also, I agree with what you are saying about it is easier to get into a presentation if someone knows the information perfectly and not just what they have written. It makes the presentation a lot better.

Sam

10/31/2013 07:50:03 am

"Basically just a time during the week that gives me the longest time period in order to put in the most effort to my work."

I'm just letting you know that this isn't a sentence. There isn't a verb. Come on, Steve. This is your senior year of high school. You also need to fix grammatical and punctuation errors. For example, you said:

"Toward the beginning of the writing process of this paper, I tried to break up working throughout the days but I realized that I lose the taste for what I am writing and that makes it more difficult to put my all into a paper."

Aside from being a run-on sentence, a rookie mistake that we've gone over since 9th grade English class, you are missing a comma. The comma should be put as "...days, but I realized..." instead of what you already have.

Just some tips to help you succeed. You might ask, "Is this really that important?" In that instance, I would answer your question with another question: "Is it that hard?"

Sam

10/31/2013 07:52:01 am

*These are some tips to help you succeed.

Oops. That would've been embarrassing.

Christine

10/29/2013 11:37:15 am

While writing any paper, I always am guilty of pushing things off to the last minute. When I do take the time to sit down and work on my essay, I find myself stumped and not able to know what to do because I waited until the very last minute. I then begin to freak out and have a minor anxiety attack. I tell myself I will never get into college, my life sucks and finally I will be forced to work a minimum paying job for the rest of my life. Finally, I end up pulling an all nighter to try and finish it. Although I always tell myself I will not push things off until the last minute for future papers, I have never been able to ignore this terrible habit of mine. Aside from the actual research my motivation to do the paper is my biggest set back.

To prepare for my oral presentation, I plan to read through my essay piece by piece, thoroughly and highlight the main points of the essay to present to my classmates. I then plan to write these main points bulleted on an index card and rehearse these index cards every night. I want to be able to know the information well enough that I do not need to read or even look at my cards throughout the presentation; but instead, just have them there in case of an emergency.

Samantha

10/31/2013 05:07:32 am

I LOVE how honest you were with your post. I, too, have a bad habit of pushing some things off until the last minute. My priorities have to be set straight early on in the process in order to keep on track. But do not worry, you will not be forced to work a minimum paying job for the rest of your life. You WILL get into college, and you WILL be successful. A research paper you wrote during your senior year will not define you or your future. I am sure you will do a wonderful job on your paper and presentation. Good luck.

Logan

11/1/2013 07:08:51 am

I too tend to push things off until the last minute (such as this blog entry). I always use the excuse that I do my best work when I'm under pressure, but I don't know if that is always true. I too plan to do the oral presentation like that. I will only use short, concise bullets to help me remember, though, because I like to present on the information in my head at that moment instead of a few days prior.

Jess

10/29/2013 12:44:17 pm

1) Some techniques I have used to help my writing process was to map out everything. I always scribble down a bunch of notes as I am researching into my notebook then go back when I am writing my essay and adding in things. Jotting down quick thoughts always helps me to remember everything I had in mind so that I don’t forget something that I wanted to put in my essay. Sometimes the things I write onto a paper is just as simple as a creative word I think would sound good somewhere in my final writing. Time management is the biggest thing I struggle with because of so many other things going on with college applications, my other classes, and much more. For me, I just keep a to do list and try to prioritize what is the most important to accomplish. With writing an essay I always like to just sit down, get myself comfortable and focused then work on it for hours until it is done. Sometimes when I space it out, I lose my focus and mind set.
2) I will prepare for my oral presentation by trying to get as much of a deep understanding on what I want my focus to be. I did take public speaking last year so I will probably review some of my notes and concepts of good public speaking skills. Also, I learn from previous famous public speakers who have overcome their fears in public speaking. I will probably practice what I will say and do in front of my family and then in front of my friends and get their opinions on what I can do to make it even more presentable. An awesome presentation is done by someone with confidence and knowledge of what they are talking about. Also, it is very important for the speaker to really engage the entire audience.

Samantha

10/31/2013 04:47:18 am

(1) Throughout the writing process, I found myself getting very frustrated. When this would happen, I took a break for a little while. I realized that working for an extended period of time is not an efficient way for myself to get my work done. The writing process went much smoother once I worked during shorter periods of time. I was able to focus on certain aspects of my paper, instead of trying to work on the entire paper at once. I suggest this to anyone who also gets frustrated when working on one task for a long time. Working in short sessions allowed me to work through any difficulties and tremendously helped me with time management.

(2) In order to prepare for my oral presentation, a visual must be made. A slideshow for this presentation should be very simple. The information that will be relayed to the viewer will be mostly oral. Key points will be shown on the slide, but index cards will allow myself to expand upon these key points. After the slideshow is made, the index cards will be written. After I have the material to say, I will practice reading the index cards without having my face glued to them. Also, I need to work on my voice. It must be clear and confident.
I think an awesome presentation or presenter has that clear and confident voice. The presenter must assure the audience that he or she knows what they are talking about. Also, an awesome presentation has a visual that is simple, yet engaging. You do not want to distract the audience with pictures or lengthy bullet points while you are presenting. Although, a flashy presentation is not the best, neither is a boring presentation. The presentation should be simple as far as text, but have a little something to spice up the look of the slides.

Logan

10/31/2013 06:41:22 am

1. Writing anything, let alone a research paper, can be a long process. Only through time management can one achieve an amazing paper. I have realized that spreading assignments across the week will make it seem much easier. An easy technique is rewarding yourself when you finish an assignment. Also, DO NOT try to do everything at once, especially the night before; it will not end well.

2. My best and worst character trait is my mouth. Even though it tends to get me in a lot of trouble in my regular classes, it makes me a great presenter. I always make sure I master the subject and then I barely need to prepare anything except a few bullets on a notecard and a few practice run-throughs.

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Module #9 Discussion

Mrs. Erdman

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