Famous Last Words: Week 14

Your reading for this week. 
I did not have to do any reading for this week. I actually have not done any reading in a couple of weeks. I was lucky enough to be able to watch the videos. They were so interesting and it definitely helped with the name pronunciations.

Your best writing for this week.
I didn't really do any writing this week. I was able to finish the revisions on my storybook and I am feeling really good about my storybook. I am quite proud of how it turned out. Hopefully everyone is enjoying it but even if they aren't, I still like it. I am really glad that it is finished now too. I feel like I put in a lot of effort for the storybook so it is definitely a relief to see it finally completed.

Screenshot of my storybook. Rama and Sita: Not So Happily Ever After

Other people's writing.
I got to read a couple of storybooks that I had not read yet and I am so glad that I did. All the storybooks are coming out so good and they are all so different. I am enjoying reading as many as I can. I am probably going to be reading some in the next week just because they are so interesting to read.

Your other classes.
My other classes are not going as well as this one is. I am getting so close to the end but I have a couple of partner assignments and my classes are all online so it is very difficult to be able to communicate. I am having to work on everything last minute and it is becoming very stressful. Hopefully everything works out.

Outside of school.
Since it is so close to the end of the semester and  I graduate on the 18th, my life consists of school and that is pretty much it. I manage to set aside some time each day to spend with my kids but other than that, school is keeping me very busy.

Reading

* What readings did you like best?The reading that I liked best was the Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. I thought that it flowed really well so that the story wasn't hard to follow at all. I didn't actually have to read it either, I was able to listen to it which definitely helped because at first I was not able to pronounce any of those names! I really enjoyed this reading section though and it was definitely my favorite.
My most favorite "reading" was actually the video, Sita sings the blues. I really enjoyed the movie and it was a nice break from reading about Sita to actually being able to watch it.

* What reading diary strategies were most effective for you?The reading diary strategies that were most effective for me were mainly just jotting down some important parts of the stories and also making a note of anything that I found to be interesting. I would also make comments about what I thought of the particular parts. I found that this made it easier for me to be able to remember the important details of the stories and it also gave me ideas for my storytellings.

* What did you think of the overall balance between reading - writing - commenting in the class assignments?I honestly love how this class is structured. It is the same basic concept almost every week, so I didn't really even have to try too hard to remember what was due and when it was due. I just knew that every week was virtually the same. I loved the idea of doing the readings, then writing, then commenting. It not only let me be creative and retell the stories how I wanted to, but it also let me see how other people thought to change the stories. 

* As you look back from the end of the semester, what advice about the reading do you have for students who will be getting started next semester?
You may want to break the reading up a little more than they already are. Sometimes it gets a little tough to try and do so much reading at one time. Also, when you get your free reading options, really look through the options so that you are sure to read something that you find to be interesting and something that you are able to understand and then enjoy.

Reflections

I loved this class. Before this semester, I knew virtually nothing about the Indian epics. I found this class to be so interesting and I loved learning about all the different gods and goddesses, especially since I knew nothing before.

The main thing that I learned from this class was how to tell a story. It was always fun to be able to rewrite the stories that we read to make them just the way we wanted. There were numerous times that I would just think "I hate that it ended that way" or "I think that should have gone differently" and then I was able to change the things that I didn't like.

I think that this class is so beneficial. I got to learn about something that is completely different than anything that I know. My major is psychology so there doesn't tend to be much room for complete creativity. I'm glad that I decided to take this class.

I have to say that the thing that I am most proud of would be my storybook. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope that others like it as much as I do. I feel like I worked really hard on it, so its nice that I finally added the last story. I still have one more round of editing the story, and then a final edit for my storybook, but so far I think its going really well.

Smiley faces on the moon. Source: tumblr