coming upon the end.

As we reach this time of year I find myself coming upon the common feeling that has become a natural sense of my personality roughly twice a year- the end of semester panic (appositive phrase offset by a dash?). It has become apparent, as it does at the end of every semester, that the pieces of my life that have been left out in the open need to start finding their place, and the time that I have to make that happen is running out. You would think, this being my fourth year attending this university, that I would have somewhat adapted some qualities or skills like time management and a better sense of organization and planning- you would be wrong (using a dash as an emphasis).  I am still as scattered and absented minded as ever, and it always tends to hit me during this time of year just how much I wish that wasn’t true. I wish that somewhere along the way that I had picked up on those qualities possibly helping me make my life a little easier rather than letting my disorganized chaos run the show(use of than and a participle phrase).   I wish that instead of feeling the need to keep myself awake doing paper after paper and sleeping my day away that I felt the desire to actually get up before the afternoon rolled around and do something productive.  I wish that every meaningless task around my apartment, a pile of things that I would have no desire to do otherwise, didn’t seem to become a priority when I know there are other things I need to be doing (appositive phrase offset by commas).  I wish that my desire to stay on top of thing out weighed my perpetual nature of putting everything off till the last possible minute, but I haven’t been so lucky. The constant panic, avoidable and nagging, has already settled in with no intention of leaving until my tires hit the pavement leaving this semester behind (adjectives out of order). You think if I knew it was coming I would try to avoid it, but you’d be wrong again. I’ve come to the conclusion that my mind (a chamber of non-understandable secrets) has come up with its own coping mechanism to deal with the aftermath of its exhausted destruction (appositive phrase offset by parenthesis). It’s not until the next semester is coming to a close that I seem to remember that sleep deprivation and last minute cramming and planning isn’t a good idea. Then, as the memories from previous semesters begin flooding back, the panic returns and I find myself right back where I was just five months before (use of then). Is it normal to keep putting yourself through a draining perpetual cycle? Is it healthy to repeatedly create your own chaotic mess?( rhetorical question) Maybe that’s the lesson. Not to try to try to break a habit that has become engrained in my personality, but to instead learn how to embrace and manage my chaos. Maybe that is secret to preserving my sanity: an embracing of my chaos not the destruction of it (appositive phrase offset by a colon?).

if only i could be a blogger. - blog nine

Blogging for me is something that I don’t think I can ever be good at. Why is it you may ask that I have an issue with blogging? (a real question)  Well I feel like sharing my thoughts and ranting about how I feel and volunteering my social comments just isn’t always the best idea because either their not always appropriate or they don’t really matter all that much (Simple compound sentence connected with and’s). With that being the said I think I can confidently add blogging to the list of things I won’t be doing as a career choice, or that I will be choosing to do on my own. However, as much as I don’t connect with blogging, I do think that writing for yourself to clear up those thing in which you might share in your blog can be beneficial (use of however).   I write all the time for my own benefit but I think the difference is I know no one is going to see it, and that makes me far more comfortable than knowing that anyone can read it (use of than). That’s probably what’s at the core of my insecurities with blogging or any type of visual presentation of my writing really is: I can’t control the way it’s interpreted. When I’m ranting, raving and sorting out what I’m thinking I think that for the most part that I should figure out what out all those things are and what they mean and my position before I allow someone else to try to figure it out . I think that’s only fair (Long Sentence followed by a short sentence??). I think it’s brave that someone can share their thoughts then sit and wait for someone to comment on it or make an opinion on it because I know I just get far too anxious (use of then). How does anyone get past that anxiety? How does anyone open themselves up to that? (Rhetorical question) I guess that’s the real issue- not knowing how the effects of opening yourself up to those you don’t always know (using a dash for emphesis?).  I guess I can continue talking in circles about my insecurities with my writing being read and my thoughts being analyzed, but the fact still remains blogging and I we don’t stand hand in hand. We stand more toe to toe locked in some sort of battle to see who can come out on top, and I never seem to be able to win.   

  

its blog eight.

I can’t seem to find a piece of writing to revise or revisit for this week’s blog. I can no longer stare at my past works, a black and white jumbled pile of letters, trying to manipulate them into being something better than what they are now (Appositive phrase offset by comas and a Participial phrase ) . That’s not saying that they are already perfect, because that would be far from the truth, but instead I believe I am say that my mid semester burn out has seem to hit me this morning and my brain has gone blank. I now find myself- a blank chaotic mess- writing down this piece trying to capture all of this week POWS while also seriously reassessing my life(Appositive phrase offset by dashes). It seems like it’s a really serious task reassessing my entire life, but I have come to the point where I don’t believe I have very much energy left and new life goals are in order. If I’m being honest here, I also think I’m being a little lazy and bitter (a deadly combination) due to the fact that editing everyone else’s papers is my job, so trying to build up the energy to rework my own words and thoughts has become nearly impossible (Appositive phrase offset by parenthesis).  My brain, fading and lost, has lost all hope in productivity in pretty much any realm today and so I find myself in a very cynical and pointless state of being today (Adjectives out of order).  I also feel as though I am looking out for the well being of the on viewers here:  you really wouldn’t want to read about how the individual functions within a larger group as through the lens of the seven different novels I’ve read this semester (Appositive phrase offset by a colon?). You also probably wouldn’t want to reread my Dora piece, nor would you care to relook at my goals, so in all actuality I think I may be doing you all a bigger favor than I am doing myself.  So we will chalk this blog as a benefit to not only my mental health but possibly for yours as well and here's hoping I have more energy tomorrow.  

 

it's productive to revist your goals. -blog 7

Throughout my educational experience I’ve had few things that I have had issues with. I’ve never been strongly suited for the sciences, measuring substances and identifying rocks are not my thing; mathematics never really caught my attention, invisible numbers and letters as numbers should not be a thing;  but social studies and English that’s where I shine a little brighter. (semi-colon as a super coma?) I never had to put too much effort into the areas that already caught my attention because (because at the end without a coma) they already came a little more naturally than the other subjects. Writing as a whole is something that has come naturally to me throughout my education, but it’s the little issues in my writing that have slid by. I sometimes over look the distinctions between there, their and they’re or you’re and your, though I know there different purposes and uses, without a second glance. (though used to insert a side note) I naturally slide comas in where they don’t belong as well as forgetting  to put them where they should be and my sentence variance isn’t always as strong as it should be. Because (start the sentence with because) the basics never really became habits for me, I am finding it more difficult to make them habits now. As a writer, over the course of this semester this is what I want to focus on; as a writer I want the basics to become habits. (Semi- colon used as a mirror?)

Another thing I would love to get a better handle on over the course of this semester is creating a greater sense of variation in my in punctuation.  As I sit here reflecting on the work I have done up until this point in both my educational career and personal writing a lot of it is very one dimensional in a sense. Most of this I understand has been my lack of desire to do so, but I also don’t ever really recall being told or taught what my options were. Now I am not using that as an excuse because like I said I haven’t put in the strongest effort to learn something new and put it to use in this area, but now I seemingly have the perfect opportunity to do so. I want to be able to incorporate semicolons, dashes, and parentheses to give my sentence structure something different; to give it depth. (semi-colon used for connection to a short sentence)

blog #5

Re-Visiting Dora (again)  

                While reading the Dora article there were a few things that caught my attention when it came to the teachers teaching methods and how Dora applied what she was being told.  Reading through the lens of the day to day contact, focusing on what the learning steps were for Dora and better understanding why it was necessary for the steps to happen the way they did made understanding what works a lot easier.

                When it came down to the teacher’s day to day actions with Dora they made sure that they respected and acknowledged the natural progression of what it would take to get Dora on the right path for her writing development. The teacher also does a good job of complimenting her natural progression and encouraging her to move forward(COMPOUNDED SUBJECT WITH TWO OR MORE PERSONAL PROMOUNS. ALSO IM NOT SURE IF IM RIGHT HERE) Even when she was just acknowledging that letters go together to make words and sounds was a step in the right direction and allowed her to naturally progress to the next stages on her own without being stifled. From what I saw when the teacher did step in, she did so in a fashion that asked for the student to observe what it is she needed to work on next. The teacher, who  is to encourage and cultivate a learning environment were the students are able to rely on one another to help build their own skills with collaboration, does so by providing her students with different tools, such as a mentor text, for guidance. Not only did this interaction better the teachers ability to assess the point they’re at in their writing development it allows them the ability to asses theirs as well.  Dora and her classmates were given enough freedom to explore their sentence syntax while still having some guidance and a steady frame work to help make themselves better. The teacher then follows that up by reassuring them when something is done correctly making for a very strong writing technique in my opinion.  

                When it comes to how Dora picks up these concepts I think it’s natural that she had some difficulty with it. Turning sentence fluency and production and creating your own syntax into something that becomes a habit for you is something that takes time and practice. It’s hard to be able to pick up on the proper use of where punctuation should be placed and its purpose and the fact that Dora always keeps trying to push forward is a success in itself. Another way to look at how long it took her is that the teacher never truly gives her a direct “rule” she has to follow but instead encourages her to observe and build those writing rules for herself, which makes the time it takes her acceptable when she’s developing something from scratch(IT ALSO SEEMED TO BENEFIT DORA THAT SHE WAS NEVER GIVEN A DIRECT “RULE” SHE HAS TO FOLLOW BUT INSTEAD IS ENOURAGED TO OBSERVE AND BUILD THOSE WRITING RULES FOR HERSELF. BEING ABLE TO DEVELOP THISE RULES TAKES TIME MAKING IT FAR MORE ACCEPTABLE IN MY EYES THAT SHE MAY NOT BE CATCHING ON ALL THAT QUICKLY.) Instead of being given an archetype to follow, she’s given the opportunity to build her own and test out the boundaries making her ability to latch on to these concepts a little stronger or so it seems to me.