Notes Reflecting on Honors 201 Experience

Unit 1: Folk Knowledge

• Self Directed Learning:
• At the start of the semester, I didn't know what to blog about as there were near limitless possibilities with little structure. I based these posts off of my personal family experience and did little outside research, as it was difficult to connect something so personized. I felt unskilled at blogging and dappled in my family's history in Mexico and my recycling habits. However, my posts didn't feel connected. My self-directed learning improved as the semester went on.
•  Others' blogging:
• It was fascinating to see other's insight into everyday life. I especially appreciated how they managed to connect their personal experiences with history. My peer's posts inspired me to do better.I was impressed with their insights and desire to do extra research: such as Brenda's response post on trumpets.
• Collaborative learning
• We had not yet gotten the hang of collaborative learning as reflected by our grade for the unit. . . (which Dr. Burton and Dr. Peterson said wouldn't count against us IF we improved).  However, we did have some good conversions via comments that I remember.
• Projects / Activities: I learned the basics of the technically and art sword fight from my friend Tommy, which was out of my comfort zone and something I would never had done otherwise. Last week, I actually used some of my sword skills in a play for my Spanish class where I was the "bad guy."
• I shared my banana chocolate chip muffin making skills. Originally I wanted to teach how to make a complicated cookie recipe, but didn't have the ingredients and ran out of time, so I resorted to my favorite muffins. I shared the process of how I discovered the muffin recipe. My roommate and I found it online freshman year, modified it, and continue to pass down our version of the recipe to others. I remember being surprised of the basic steps I take for granted that I had to explain to my boyfriend.

 Unit 2: Oral Knowledge:

• Self Directed Learning:
• In this unit, I got to research something that interested me and that I had some personal experience with: The Maya Civilization. I was grateful to have some guidance for my posts and was excited to learn more about a culture I studied in the Spring.
• I wrote a bonus post about my New Testament filming experience and how seeing the scriptures spoken in context as a speech brings them to life. connection for King Benjamin's speech. Preserving feelings through oral knowledge. . . 
•  Others' blogging: I appreciated the posts on urban folklore and first aid. It's interesting to think about all that has been passed down orally, that I don't think of because its such a part of my culture and I take it for granted.
• Collaborative learning: It required effort in part of the entire class to prepare for this and perform this entire speech. Also, the group discussion 
• Projects / Activities: We memorized King Benjamin's speech. The words came alive for me and I saw the speech as more than just commonly quoted scripture, but as a connected, living work of art. I had no trouble memorizing my lines, as this is one of my talents.

 Unit 3: Written Knowledge

• Self Directed Learning:
• This was my favorite unit and magnified my best work. I continued researching the Maya civilization and became especially interested in the hieroglyphs.
• I went to Dr. Wright's presentation on the Misconceptions Maya Stella 5 , which helped me tie together the problems of passing down misinterpretations of the writings of the past. This was probably my favorite blog post I wrote the entire semester. 
• Bonus post I wrote about cursive that Alex's post inspired.
• experimented with learning how to write my own name in Maya, which proved to be challenging as there are numerous ways to do it. 
•  Others' blogging:
•  I began to browse other's blogs and connect with those who were also researching the Maya civilization. I left comments on posts that interest me and contributed to their discussions, especially the ones on maya ruins that I had visited.
• Collaborative learning:
• The Rosetta Stone Project required working in a group, as it was too much work for one person. We each took a piece of the project and got it done.
• Projects / Activities: The Rosetta Stone was difficult. I thought translating Maya to Akkadian was over our heads, but as a group, we did it! It just goes to show that you really can find the resources to do just about anything through people, the internet, books, professionals, etc

Unit 4: Print Knowledge

• Self Directed Learning: 
• With the annotated bibliography and research paper, this unit magnified self-directed learning. I enjoyed the traditional research method of browsing the shelves to find books.
• Going to the King James Ex
•  Others' blogging: I learned about opportunities such as the Mormon Mexican History Museum. . . Impressed with Erin's blog that compiled Students' reflections on King James.
• Collaborative learning: it was harder for me to collaborate on this unit as noone else researched my topic of interest. However, I was impressed with 
• Projects / Activities: Diving into woodcuts and illustrations. . . Took a lot of research to find a topic I wanted to study in depth. Surprised at how much I learned and synthesized in less than a week in a topic foreign to me. Saw limitations of traditional methods.
• Learned more about history of bible. . . especially about the flaws and problems that happen with print.