First Quarter Reflection

First quarter went by pretty fast. Faster than how it would go by in sixth or seventh grade. I guess you really become more aware of the time going by once it's your last year. Anyway, first quarter has brought me quite a few things.

First things first, the forty book challenge. So far I've read three books (four books if you count one I read outside of class) and will be done with my current book pretty soon. In these few books, I've learned more about what genres I prefer and what I like in books. It's making reading more enjoyable for me. I didn't really have an idea of a genre I liked last year, so I didn't read many books. I didn't want to read something I didn't like. Already this year, however, I'm noticing that I'm actually wanting to read. I'm hoping that I'm going to read a lot more books this year now that I know what I actually enjoy.

Blog wise, I honestly don't think my blogs have changed very much since August, but not in a bad way. I feel pretty satisfied on my writing with my blogs (unless I'm not focused when I'm writing them...then that's pretty bad...) so I'm glad I haven't changed much. Obviously, you can always improve, but I'm happy where I am.

My blogging strategy is definitely not the best...and that could completely be improved. My blogging routine usually goes like this:
1. Read the book.
2. Time to turn in blog!
3. I don't do the thing.
4. Read some more.
5. Don't do the thing.
6. Finally turn in my blog like two days late.

I have trouble doing the thing. You know what I mean. Not procrastinating. Not doing the blog. It's a terrible process. I think I do this because most of the time, I don't feel like doing it. So I don't. And I know this is bad. Another thing is the fact that some weeks, I feel I haven't read enough, so I take another day or two to read some more before diving into a blog. To improve, I could definitely read more during the week so I don't have to take extra time to read and end up with a blog two days late. That could definitely be improved. Other than that, I feel pretty good about my blogging strategy!

I've learned quite a bit about the world from first quarter. A big thing I've learned about is the Ebola virus epidemic this year. It's really cool (and kind of terrifying) to have learned about the epidemic when it was just a quarantine and worry in Africa. Over the course of a month or two since we learned about Ebola, the virus has spread to multiple countries. Including the US. It's cool to have seen it grow and learn that these things really do happen, but it's kind of scary. On another note, I've also learned about different perspectives on things. When we do class discussions (of sorts) on the world issues we've learned about, it's interesting to hear everyone else's opinions, takes, and solutions on the problems at hand.

It's hard to say how my research skills have improved...I mean, I don't really know what they were like before so I feel I can't accurately contrast them with my skills now. However, I'm going to assume that they have. I think now I'm willing to check many more websites/sources to get the information I need. Before, I might have just stuck with one or two sources and called it a day. Now I feel much more willing to find better and stronger sources in order to get good information to prove my point or include some information. But still, I'm not very certain (sorry).

I'm feeling pretty good about this quarter though! It kind of makes me dread the end of the year with saying goodbye to everyone, 'cause I feel like I've had a pretty good time so far.