Week Eight: Reading Diary

When doing the weekly reading diaries I've created a pretty good routine. I read through the entire reading unit and take notes on each story. In the beginning I was probably spending way too much time taking notes. It was taking me a few hours just to get through this single assignment and writing the reading diary was the easiest part. Taking notes was really helpful for me, because then I could refer to those notes when I was writing not only my reading diary but also my essay and my storytelling posts. However, as the semester went on, I became more and more pressed for time. I found that shorter notes still served the same purpose and I wasn't spending hours trying to get through a single unit. Now, I can write a few bulleted points about the plot and still remember what the story was about. I usually do the reading post, essay and storytelling post all in one sitting. That way, the stories are fresh on my mind and I can get it all done in one day. It makes me feel better to have most of my week done in this class early, because I work, have other classes and other commitments that take up most of my time.

In general, I would say I remember almost everything I've read in this class. I think that's because we have so many assignments over each unit. I have to write about what I liked or didn't in the unit, draw connections and then create my own story from one in the original unit. All of these posts mean that I can remember many of the stories I read throughout this course.

I noticed that throughout my reading diaries I pretty much talk about similar topics. Since I focused mainly on folktales and fairytales from each culture, I could draw connections and overarching themes between them. I discussed my favorite stories, what shocked me, what I noticed and what differed between them. I also noticed that sometimes my reading diaries and my essays overlapped. I would briefly talk about something in my reading diary and then discuss it further in my essay. I think that's my high school writing coming into play. I have never just said, "I like this because..." or "I don't like this because..." since I was expected to analyze why I thought these things or why they were important. I think this training shows through as I talk about each week's unit. I focus a lot on the big picture, which is a produce of the International Baccalaureate Program.