Week 8: Reading Diary Self-Assessment

Going back and reading through the instructions of the reading diaries, I have realized that I have drifted a bit from what the reading diaries are supposed to be. I have been writing my reading diary based on the main ideas and summaries of the chapters, while the point of the diary is to reflect on how you feel about the readings and what stands out to you the most, as well as character development. For my reading diaries, I have pretty much had a different strategy for each post. One week I will pick a couple main characters and write about them, while other weeks I will write what stands out to me from each chapter, and others I will simply write bullet points for what happens in the readings as I go. I haven't really found a strategy that I like best yet, I just kind of see how I feel about it each week and choose. Typically, my diaries are around the same length each time since all of the readings are about the same length. Sometimes I will put in my favorite quotes or what stood out to me the most in each reading. I did that more so in the beginning of the semester than I do now, but I definitely want to start doing that again. I do not add images into my diary posts, which I also think is something that I want to change. I think adding in an image would really summarize and put the diary to life. I would definitely say that I remember the readings better in this class since I am not being tested over it. I feel like I can just enjoy the readings and reflect on what I think about it, without having to worry about what I think may or may not be on a test or having to remember technical things. Overall, I would say that I am doing pretty good with the reading assignments. I haven't missed one yet, so I feel caught up on everything. One thing I do find myself doing sometimes is skimming through some of the chapters. I do need to work on more detail and really reading into the stories and reflecting on that rather than main ideas or summaries.