Thursday, December 10, 2009

PLN Reflection

I want you to take some time and really reflect on our use of Personal Learning Networks. Think about the following questions and compose a detailed and thoughtful response in order to guide our use of PLNs for second semester. Please use complete sentences and proper mechanics. You must incorporate #8, #9 and 10 in with your response.

1. What do you like about PLNs?
2. What are some challenges of PLNs?
3. What do you think of the PLN presentations in class on Fridays?
4. Does it help you to get the reactions of your classmates to your presentation? Should we be reflecting, in writing, on each other’s blogs more often?
5. Are the categories of your subscriptions helpful?
6. When you don't complete an assigned PLN, why don't you?
7. Are there any suggestions or changes you think we need to make for next semester or the next year?
8. What skills do you think you acquired? What will you take away from these assignments? How will you improve and hold yourself accountable to do that?
9. What did you learn about your writing or thinking?
10. What is the value of your learning NOW? Would you see this as valuable if you weren’t receiving a grade? Is learning important to you?
11. Was the feedback you received helpful?
12. Do you feel you will continue to expand your personal learning network?

27 comments:

  1. When we do PLN's, I always liked how it gave me a chance to voice my opinion on articles, other blogs, etc. I felt like I had a cetrain amount of power when I was writing them. The PLN's made me challenge my thinking, and I had to get outside of my little bubble and contribute my thinking to my blog. I think the PLN presentations on Friday were a good idea because it gave us a sort of break, and we could tell as an audience what we thought of the speaker's thinking. I really like it when other people comment on my blogs, because I feel like they took the time to comment on it and read it so obviously I must have done a good enough job to deserve recognition. I like having the categories for blog subscriptions because it narrows down what would get us a good grade, and what would really help your thinking. I think we should have two or three blog days a week so the audience can have more time to discuss one topic with the presenter, and we can get into a good debate. I realize now that I can have a blog or piece of writing and I can infer ideas that pop into my head about them. I feel like I understand how to expand my thinking, and I learned that I am a questioner. I always find questions to ask about one topic or another, and that is why I am a good thinker. the value of my learning is to help me for my future. Even if I wasn't getting good grades on these, I would continue to make blogs and work on thinking about reading. I think the feedback I got back from my blogs was very helpful because it told me I needed to expand my thinking, and I taught myself how to. I hope I can continue to think in a more productive way so I can contribute to things later in life, like jobs. The PLN's always helped, I feel like I will get a lot more out of my learning now that I know how to think, in the way that will get me somewhere.

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  2. 1.I liked PLNs because they gave us (the students) a chance to tell what we think about a subject. There were not as many guidelines as we have in most of our writing. For me I liked it more when You chose the topic because it was very hard to find a good topic that wasn't about someone dieing.

    2. Some challenges were finding a good topic that was original. Also it was also hard to find a topic that you could write a lot about.

    3. I really liked the PLN presentations because it gave people a chance to show what they have worked so hard on. It is also sometimes fun to teach the class.

    4. I like to be able to show off my work to the class but i wouldn't really like to reflect on other students, it could cause drama.

    6. I didn't complete a few of them because I just got to busy and spaced it. I was also hard for me because I left on a lot of thursdays and couldn't do it on friday.

    7. I think we should not be able to do things on sports or the local newspapers. Its fun for the students but I kind of got tired of people writing about shootings. I liked the topics made by education writers.

    9. From the PLNs i was able to learn how to really get below the surface of the writing and find a meaning of it for myself.From these assignments I think I am better at understanding hard writings. Now I get more meaning out of annotating writings and will do that in the future.

    10. Theses PLNs would be meaningful to me no matter what. Learning the understanding and writing skills has helped me so much for my comprehension skills. One of the best skills I learned was the different levels of asking questions.

    11. The feedback was very helpful for me because it told me if what I thought i was doing well was actually true or not. It is also to have some thoughts from someone else.

    12. I dont know that I will continue doing the PLNs but I know that I will use all of the skills that I have learned in all of my reading and writing.

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  3. I like PLNs because they helped me think more about the things that are happening in my life. Some challenges of these are that I had some trouble taking my thought deeper than I was comfortable. I think that the presentations on Fridays are good because they tell us about stuff going on in the world that we might not know about but I think that they could be improved because sometimes it is hard to stay focused. I think it does help to get comments on my blogs but I do not think that we should write about them because I feel like verbal feedback helps me more. I think the categories are helpful but I wish that we could choose more of our own topics. A change you should make is to let us reflect more or let us do more posts. I acquired the skill of trying to think deeper. I will take away the deeper thinking and I will hold myself accountable to this by using the sheet you gave us to take my thoughts to the next level. I learned that my writing could be improved by adding more detail and my thinking that it could be taken to deeper levels. The feedback was sometimes helpful but then at other times it was kind of confusing. At this point I don't think I will expand it but then as I go on I might later on.

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  4. 1. My PLN helped me find my voice. I enjoyed writing about my own beliefs and it taught me to use my inner voice.
    2. The PLNs were sometimes challenging because when you write about something that you believe in you want it to be very convincing and well written. This makes it hard sometimes because sometimes I take to long trying to make it perfect.
    3. On Fridays I get so excited for PLN presentations because we don't do a lot of class curriculum. Instead we get to relax while we debate and discuss our thoughts on the PLNs.
    4. I don't think that we need any more reaction to each other's blogs. We already spend a whole Friday to do it.
    5. Breaking the subscriptions into groups is helpful but not particularly necessary.
    6. I have completed all mine.
    7. Not for now. Right now things are going well.
    8. I acquired the skills to put my voice into words. Before I used to not know how to turn my beliefs into a fluent writing.
    9. I learned that my writing is much better than I thought it was. My thinking is more comprehensive.
    10. Learning is so important because that is what you need to live your life the way you want to. I do care about my grade but it isn't nearly as important as my learning.
    11. I haven't done my PLN.
    12. Yes, my thoughts have expanded further allowing me to create more blogs.

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  5. 1.What I like about Personal Learning Network's is that when people do them it is a way for people to express themselves and show to others what they think about themselves and what they like, enjoy, believe, trust, etc. for the subject they chose. Also, many people seem to have a comfort for the topic they chose and I could see a different side of the person going when they presented, it opened me up to the way they roll and I felt a more deeper connection with that person's interest.
    2.The challenges I have had with these are choosing the topic I am going to discuss. The writing isn't so hard but when it comes to what I choose it is hard, because in my opinion there are a lot of topics to chose from and I am one of those people who think of ten different things but can't decide which one to choose.
    3.I really think that Laura did a good job, because I agree with her and I'm one of those guys who likes a girl for the way they are,not what they look like. Inner beauty is what counts and I'm not a big fan of make-up. They shouldn't change a person just because they want more views on whatever they are doing.
    4.Actually the reactions in my opinion, do. It opens me up to other people thoughts.
    5.In my opinion they are, but to others they are probably not, and I'll just have to deal with that.
    7. Yes, I would definitely chose something that I can make clear and get more info so I don't seem like I'm on crack.
    8.I acquired the skills of not getting too nervous that I can't speak my beliefs. I think I could definitely do a much better job than I did. I will make sure that I get more info and practice, practice, practice.
    9.I learned that I am a descent writer but need to commit and try more.
    10.No, my learning to me is not that important, I put most of my learning skills into my beliefs and the Bible.
    11.Kinda, it was more bashful and against what I was saying.
    12.Yes, I hope to because I could show more of my side and how I think and feel about things.

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  6. I like PLNs because there is hardly an outline of what you have to do or write about. You can pick what you want to write about, and write what ever you feel like. A challenge of PLNs is trying to go deeper in to your thoughts and what you write about. The PLNs in class are all different, some are fun to talk about, but other I just can't connect to. I think it's fun to get reflections on my blogs, and it's helpful. I think we should reflect more often. I have only missed one PLN and thats because I forgot about it. I think you should go a little easier on grading, because I always tried as hard as I could on the PLNs and most of the time I would get less than an 80%. I mean, it's not my fault I don't have the best inner voice out there. The PLNs deffenetly helped me develop a better inner voice and have a strong opinion. The PLNs taught me that I don't have a strong voice in my writing, and need to work on it. Learning is somewhat important, but I don't know if it would be as big of a deal to me if there wasn't a grade associated with it. Yeah the comments were helpful. I might continue it, but it's not likely.

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  7. 1: There are a lot of things I like about PLN's. One thing is that you get to read about subjects you would never even knew about if you didn't look for them in the first place.
    2: Some of the challenges for PLN's is that sometimes it is difficult to find something interesting to write on that you learned something from.
    3: I love them because not only do you get to share something interesting that you read about but every week different people find different cool thing to write their blog on.
    4: I like getting reactions form other people in class because it tells me that other people are interested in the same topic as me.
    5: They are not always helpful because you can always find anything in the news but other that that yes.
    6: …...............
    7: I think PLN's are great for the most part except choosing a subscription. This is hard because there are so many to choose from.
    8: Some skills that I learned is how to make a better thesis statement that agrees with the rest of my blog.
    9: I learned that there is something to learn from anything whether it is good or bad.
    10: I think learning to me is something to be treasured forever and even if these PLN's were not going to grade I would still take pride in it for my own interest.
    11: The feedback I received was helpful because the next week I could change my mistake.
    12: I think I will still expand my PLN even after this year and once I am out of this class.

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  8. PLNs let me show everyone how I feel about topics today. That is why I like them so much. Also I helped me find out how to use my voice in a more effective way. Sometimes they can be hard because on some topics it hard to express myself. The PLN presentation really showed me a different side of my classmate. It showed me who they really are by how strongly they stand for certain things. I went first so I didn't really have anything to base my presentation on. I think it would be better if we had to write on peoples blog's more often because if people did that I would know what they thought of my PLN and what I could change. If I didn't finish a PLN which I only have once but the reason why is because I forgot. I know that not a very good reason but thats what happened. I think that why should have to show the class our blogs more often. These PLNs really made me want to show the world who I am. I learned that that the mistakes that I make in my writing actually make my writing better. Even if I wasn't getting a grade on the PLNs it still could of help me but I don't thinking that it would as much. The feedback helped me so much. I really like doing my PLN so I think I will keep on doing it because it has help my writing a lot.

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  9. 1~ While doing PLN's I was opened up to knew stories. I liked how we got to see knew stories and we got to express our thought.

    2~ Some of the challenges for the PLN's were extending our thought and having to get up in front of the whole class and presenting.

    3~ I think the PLN presentations are a good idea. They get us thinking and open us up to knew ideas.

    4~ I think it helps to get the feedback from other people because it helps you improve upon your writing.

    5~

    6~

    7~ Next semester, I think we could improve the PLN's by editing each others pieces and getting feedback from more people.

    8~ I have learned and acquired the skills of getting better at fluency and diction. I will take away these skills by thinking about it every time I write.

    9~ I learned that I need to work on some skills that I didn't even know about when I came into this class. For instance, fluency.

    10~ I value my learning a lot and I think it is one of the most important things in my life. On my PLN's I wouldn't try very hard at all if I wasn't getting a grade on it.

    11~ My feedback I received was very helpful. It helped me not only improve my writing but also my presentations for other classes.

    12~ I probably won't expand my PLN if I won't get a grade for it. Maybe if I find something really interesting I will write about it.

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  10. 1. What do you like about PLNs?
    I liked the creativity aspect you can use. You can embed videos, pictures and several other possible elements. I also liked how we could choose from several different articles, videos and storys to respond to.

    2. What are some challenges of PLNs?
    The challenges I faced as a blogger were choosing the right article to reflect upon in the right way. Some articles are to impersonal and just facts to reflect on and state your opinion creatively. Another challenge was not procrastinating, honestly I think the 4 days to do the blog is 2 much because I would forget till the last minute to complete it. If it was a 1-2 day assignment I think I would have gotten more done.

    3. What do you think of the PLN presentations in class on Fridays?
    The presentations were very fun, I looked forward to the discussion and debates every week. Seems like every time we had atleast one good topic that got the whole class thinking. I like the discussions because a lot of the time I was on the majority of the discussion stating our opinion to show others, especially in the evolution and god in school topics.

    4. Does it help you to get the reactions of your classmates to your presentation? Should we be reflecting, in writing, on each other’s blogs more often?
    Yes, I believe that the reactions, questions and disputes caused by a presentation really helps the presenter. It really helped me, I'm not sure if it helped anyone else though. I think having everyone comment on blogs would help everyone with how they can show there opinions and convictions better.

    5. Are the categories of your subscriptions helpful?
    I found that they weren't that helpful to be honest, I had to search other news sites I didn't subscribe to a couple times.

    6. When you don't complete an assigned PLN, why don't you?
    As I said in a previous answer, the long time for the assignment made me forget about it till it was to late, or a couple times I couldn't find a good article to do it on.

    7. Are there any suggestions or changes you think we need to make for next semester or the next year?
    Personally, I could use a shorter time period, also being able to report on controversial or political sports subjects would be fine, like the Tim Donaghy scandal or Michael Vick.

    8. What skills do you think you acquired? What will you take away from these assignments? How will you improve and hold yourself accountable to do that?
    I think it really helped me with showing my convictions is my writing.

    9. What did you learn about your writing or thinking?
    I learned when I try, I can represent every thing I want to say easily through my writing.

    10. What is the value of your learning NOW? Would you see this as valuable if you weren’t receiving a grade? Is learning important to you?
    If I wasn't receiving a grade, I probably wouldn't worry about not turning it in as much as I do with it being graded. Learning is important to me, without learning I wouldn't be able to succeed in life or any job besides flipping burgers.

    11. Was the feedback you received helpful?
    It was it really helped me develop my writing skills.

    12. Do you feel you will continue to expand your personal learning network?
    I would but not as blogs. Daily I learn new things from several sites I visit.

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  11. I really enjoyed doing the PLN's. I felt that they really helped me with my writing and reading. The feed back also really helped. Some of the challenges I faced with the PLN's where choosing the right article and making sure to proofread before I posted it. As time went on I began to read more articles and began to proofread more of my assignments. The PLN presentations I think were a good thing. We were able to voice our opinions and get to show the class what we believed. It was especially a good thing for me cause I am a shy person and the presentations really gave me the chance to share my voice. With the presentations came great discussions and different opinions were brought up. For me I personally would rather have the teacher reflect on my work rather than class mates. Cause I know that I miss things while proofreading and sometimes people don't really take the time to read someone else's paper. I think the categories that we had to choose from where good. They really placed us in real life situations. Such as in the world or our everyday lives at school. The free choice ones were really good cause it gave us a chance to show some of our likes and dislikes and so on. I don't really have anything that I would change. Maybe more free choice but other than that I thought the PLN's were very beneficial.

    Overall what I took away from the PLN's was better writing structure. I learned how to proofread and comprehend articles better. I improve each week I think, each week I tried to focus on not making the same mistakes as I made the previous week. It really made me take a interest in reading and writing. I learned that I can think for myself and that I can read if I take the time to. I really value my learning. I realized that I shouldn't take my learning for grated. How much a good education matters in the world and that I am being prepared for jobs that don't even exist yet. Thats huge and if I want to go to college I have to want it and take pride in my learning. Definitely the feedback that I received was helpful, without it I would never know what I was doing wrong. I took every piece of advice into account and tried to improve. I do think I will try and continue to expand my personal learning network. Its very important to me because I am able to share my voice and opinions about the world.

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  12. 1. The thing I liked about PLN's is how much of a better writer I have become. It made me really expand on what I have to say, and really express my thoughts about that topic.

    2. Some challenges of the PLN's are what the grade rubric is made up from. Every week we try to meet the standards that Mrs. Comp has set from the previous blog. That is what makes it challenging because you always have to go back and look it over more than once. Even though it seemed like they all went pretty easy, they really weren't. They always took your though to the next level.

    3. The thing that I remember most from all the PLN presentations on Fridays were all the great conversation that came up about the topic. Also many times we found ourselves arguing about another topic that came up with all the talk having to deal with that topic.

    4. I think that interacting in person is also beneficial as well as blogging. I really liked talking about the presentations every Friday.

    5. They are helpful for different reasons. First it helps you to know what is out there. It keeps you updated through the modern web. Also for example education is something that we have to do with every day. It is cool to see what is coming up in the next generations of education.

    7. Not wait until the last day to do them. I always waited for the last day to do them because I just put them off until then. The one week that I did the PLN early, the week was a lot less heck-tic.

    8. I have acquired skills of writing better. I come out of writing all of these in better shape for the writing portion of the CSAP. This year will hopefully be significantly better than other schools.

    9. I learned that I can come up with what I have to say in my mind, but when it comes to putting it on paper, it is a lot harder than I thought. I have to expand my thoughts every time that I write.

    10. Learning is very important to me. I could not say that I would write them if I was not recieving a grade because I am a busy man and don't have the time.

    11. The feedback that I received was very helpful. It showed me what I do well and what I did bad. It showed how much I had changed in my writing from the beginning on the year.

    12. I feel that I will continue to expand them because they are for a grade. But really I will always expand my thought into every piece of writing that I do.

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  13. 1. The PLNs make us open up to the world around us. We never know what is going on unless we do the PLNs.
    2. Some of the challenges are writing about what effects our lives. You ask us to write about something that affects us. Sometimes that isn't as easy.
    3. The presentations are interesting. Some of them pertain to me more than others. It is interesting to hear someone else's voice. Overall, I would say they are worth taking the time.
    4. I think other classmate's points of view are important. Without them, we wouldn't know what to fix or get other ideas for future PLNs. I do think we need to reflect in writing more often. I think people are afraid to speak out in front of the class. If we reflected in writing, people might have a stronger voice.
    5. Yes, it makes the articles easier to find.
    6. I have completed all of the assigned PLNs.
    7. Just reflect in writing more often.
    8. I learn how important it is to give credit to the author. I will totally make sure to do that more. Especially when it is getting put out for everyone to see.
    9. I realized that I am a stronger writer than I originally thought.
    10.My value is: you must be willing to learn. If you don't want to learn, then whats the point of living? No, if I was being graded, I would be a little disappointed. Learning is a way of life. It is a necessity. We all learn; and learning requires mistakes. That is why I would not like to be graded on it.
    11.Defiantly, it improved my writing drastically. Without the reflections, I would have made the same mistakes over and over again.
    12. Maybe, I don't think I will though. It takes up alot of time to write about each one.

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  14. 1. When we first got the worksheet for PLN's i didn't want to do them at all. I couldn't believe we had to write one every week and present them. Writing them wasn't that much fun, only when we did any topic we wanted to. Presenting days were my favorite days because we all got involved.They also were relaxing days because we just had to talk about other peoples topics. Overall PLN's are my favorite thing we have done this year.

    2.It was always a challenge to write them. I never knew if mine was good enough and tried not to leave it till the last minute but most of the time i did which really didn't help.

    3.I love the presentation part of it the most because it gives us an easy day to relax and just listen and sometimes respond. I was always excited to hear what the next topic was going to be.

    4.Yes, rather than everyone just clapping at the end they say there thoughts and people react off of that. I don't think it would be the same if we wrote responses because responding in person to them is more engaging.

    5.They are kind of helpful, but i would rather just look articles up on-line because it's so hard to find a good one under the subscriptions.

    6.Did them all.

    7. Being able to look up any article on-line to reflect on.

    8. I learned how to make my writings flow better. It makes me question topics instead of just going wow thats scary or i cant believe that.How i would hold onto this is just thinking in my mind when i read pieces of writing.

    9.I learned that writing is a lot more than just what comes to your head and responding is what comes to your head. Also you have to question to learn.

    10.The value of learning is to make me a better person and prepare me for life ahead of me. I would see this as valuable if i wasn't receiving a grade because I would know i was bettering my writing. Learning is important to me because i know i will use it later.

    11.Yes because i knew what i needed to improve in my writing. It also showed me the more i worked on them the better grade i would get in the end. Overall I was glad we got an explanation to our grade.

    12.I would like to say yes but in reality i probably never will go on my personal learning network other than maybe to look back at what i wrote.

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  15. 1)It's a easy way to keep in touch with what is happening in our world. Thats what I like the most about PLNs; but I also like the fact that most of the PLNs have to do with us. Also it's a way to voice your opinion.
    2)The most challenging thing about PLNs doesn't have to do with them. To me it's when the computers aren't working. Yet another challenge is trying to find a good topic that can get everyone involved.
    3)I personally like the presentations. They all were interesting and none were exactly alike. Each person added their own personal touch which kept my attention.
    4)The reactions help a little for me; but for my PLN presentation what helped me was the feedback I got from Mrs. Comp. Now I know how to make them better for the feature blogs. Though having their opinions on what I did right helped out a little too.
    5)Yes, but I like when we get to choose any kind of topic. When we get to choose our own I can choose something I'm truly into.
    6)Usually when I don't my computer crashed; but I take credit because I could have went to the library.
    7)No real changes are needed to make this better. I like this the way we have it now.
    8)The ability to add my voice to my writing instead of just answering the questions given to me from the handout. I took away how to write on blogs.
    9)I learned that if I really think I can write work that actually is good. I mean my work was good; but not as good as now.
    10)My value of learning has definitely gone better and has definitely gone up. I value it way more than I did before. I might still think the same because this could definitely help me in the future.
    11)The feedback is really important to me; it helps so much with how I can improve on my next PLNs. Like my learning I value getting good feedback.
    12)I will definitely continue my PLNs because the more I do them the more I like to write them. I love putting my voice into my personal learning network.

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  16. 1.I like that you can choose subject in a blog.such as doing what you want and you have the freedom to write what you feel.
    2.The challanges are that you have to have it at a certan lenghth.
    3.some are very long and intersting with alot of detail and facts.
    4.Yes, becuase it shows what you can do and what you did wrong.
    5.Kind of there is not much of choice now but we should have more choice to write.v
    6.Usaly becuase i forgot or did not fell like writing a blog.
    7.No
    8.the intros and the transitions.
    9.that i need to use more fluency and punctuation.
    10.umm, that is to answer i think it is like i can not discribe.
    11.Yes becuase it shows what i need to learn and what i have done in skills.
    yes

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  17. 1.The PLN's were a great way for me to voice out my opinion on an article I chose. It gave me the opportunity to write what an article said to me and how sometimes we could write about whatever we liked and wanted to write about.
    2.The challenging part about PLN's was to be able to sit down in my busy week and write a piece that I put total thought into. I have a very busy life outside of school and its hard to balance all my classes assignments and give 100% on all of them.
    3.I think PLN presentations are a great idea and really get the class talking and voicing opinions. It also gives students a chance to share what they wrote about and how their topic influenced them.
    4.Yes to me it did because I didn't want to just know my opinion of my writing and article. It starts up conversations and many different views of one topic. I think if someone has a really good topic they should sign up again to share so we can discuss it or we could vote on whether we want to discuss it or choose another.
    5.The categories are helpful for the presentations and overall blog writing because we have choices and it organize it more for us to be able to choose a article.
    6.Always did mine :)
    7.Next semester I think you should make the deadline shorter because then it would force kids to actually do their PLN and not blow it off and forget over the long week while they are embedded in other assignments.
    8.The skills I acquired would be that I learned to proof read my writing a lot better. Also I think I was able to put more voice into my writing to make it more my own. With the more writings I do I will try and make it more my own and put my voice into it.
    9.I learned about my writing that sometimes I need to put in more about why it matters to me and how it over all effects me, to back up why I chose my topic.
    10.Learning is very important to me and I always think about my mistakes from my last writings to fix in my current writing. From last year in my 8th grade LA class I still remember how to write thesis statements and multi paragraph essays that I have carried to this year.
    11.The feedback I got from my PLN's were very helpful and I still look back on them to help in my current writings. I really helps me when I get feedback on my writings from teachers.
    12.I believe I will because it has been a totally new experience and I'm going to just keep adding to it and expanding on my thought and making it more my own and more creative.

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  18. 1.i have always liked PLNs because you have more options to write on and to help make your writing stronger
    2. The challenging thing about the PLNS are you haver to write more then you would on paper. you have to work a little bit more then you really have to on paper.
    3.i think the presentations on Friday are really cool. we all try to get involved with the topic and we learn more everyday from the cool things to the bad things in the world.
    4.just from the PLNs i have gotten to write better, my writing has changed a lot sense the beginning. I have always wanted to write like this and it has come true.
    5.When I read the articles I see what the earth has to give and how the acts o n both sides.
    6.Well I have always turned in mine but If I don't I would try to do it the next night.
    7.I think we should add in more opinions we should have like forensics or science fiction to use. Maybe sports.
    8.I have a great description on what I have to share in this world I try to be like Seth godin and James Patterson.
    9.I learned to be more specific on my writing.

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  19. 1. I really enjoy doing the blogs. Even though they were a lot of work, I feel like I learned a lot by doing them. It was a lot of fun reading all the articles and hearing about all the stuff happening. I really enjoyed being able to voice my thoughts and say what I felt like saying.

    2. Some challenges of the PLN's was the work. I would usually put it off until Thursday night, then do it as fast as I could. When I didn't procrastinate the quality of my work was so much better, and it made a huge difference in my writing and the topic that I chose.When I did wait to do it, it was such a pain to finish. This made it harder to do because I didn't feel like doing it then.

    3. The presentations were so awsome on Fridays. I always looked forward to hearing someone else's blogs. I think that hearing them was really beneficial because I could incorporate other's ideas in with my own, getting a new perspective on topics.

    4. During the presentations I think it was pretty helpful, however during mine, not many people talked:( I don't really know why, it could have been the topic wasn't as easy to talk about as some of the others, but I thought it was interesting. I think that we should have commented on each other's blogs more often, I think it was more beneficial for someone to write a paragraph about it then just say a couple words.

    5. The categories were so helpful. They helped so much to choose a category and give ideas as to what to write about. Especially when Mrs. Comp gave us a specific topic to write about.

    6. I always did my blog, I don't think I missed one.

    7. Not really, I think that they were easy to do, and there isn't anything that would help anything.

    8. Some skills that I learned from doing these projects was to listen to others and incorporate their ideas into my work, I learned to reflect on the things that I read, and interpret the text in a different way. I will take away the skill to respond to others in my own way. I will try to continue to do my blogs and work on the things that Mrs. Comp suggested to me.

    9. I learned that I need to work on my sentence fluency. I often create many comma splices, and sometimes fragments. I notice that I use fragments to emphasize my points. Like if I'm describing a place, I begin with a one word sentence, or just a noun or description. I think it sounds cool when read aloud, but it doesn't help my sentence fluency.

    10.I think that learning is a value to me, but it definitely ups the value when a grade is added. Like if we automatically got A's then I definitely wouldn't work as hard as I do now. Learning is important to me, but not as important as my grades. That goes hand in hand, for with good grades comes learning.

    11. The feedback was so helpful. I really enjoyed hearing what Mrs. Comp had to say, and I tried to incorporate what she said into my next writing.

    12. I would really like to. If I have time, I would like to write a response to something. Not all the time but as much as I can.

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  20. I think that the PLNs are great for us to learn about what is going in in the world. It lets you express your views about some posts.
    I think that the most challenging thing for me is finding an article that I can really relate to and then expanding on the topic.
    On Friday, when we do the presentations, I enjoy hearing others views on things but I personally don't like presenting mine in front of the whole class. It makes me really nervous and then I forget what I was supposed to say.
    For me, I think that it could help but overall I don't think that anyone is really going to remember what everyone said about your blog. It could help though to hear others suggestions.
    I like having different categories to look through on my subscription. I think that it helps us find things that we can relate to easier.
    The only thing that I really don't like is presenting them in front of the class.
    I do think that the PLNs have helped me improve my writing. I still need a lot of practice though. It still takes me a while to write a good paragraph. I will continue to practice and do better on my writings.
    I learned that I need to work on expanding my writings and vocabulary.
    I think that it is very important that we learn the things that we are learning. I would think it is important even if we weren't being given a grade because this will help us a lot later in our life.
    The feedback was helpful to know what I need to work on in my future writings.
    I hope that I will because it can really help us learn more than you might think.

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  21. 8. With the use of PLN's I have incorporated new knowledge by reading different articles, stories, thoughts, and books all written by someone who just likes writing. I have also gotten to watch videos and movies, listen to soundboards, podcasts, and music. All of which I get to write about in my own opinion. Ive been able to have discussions with the class about my writings and thoughts based upon articles I have read. Getting to have my thoughts published for anyone to read and develop in their own words has made myself feel good. Talking to the class about the man that was arrested in his own house for being nude made me feel good because so many people agreed with me. I loved that feeling.
    These Writings let me think about who I actually am and what I can grow up to be. I don't need to improve or be accountable for myself growing up because it happens on its own and I grow with my thoughts and I become myself by just living. There is no need to hold myself accountable because I just let time and mind take me.
    9. I didn't learn anything from my writing or thinking. I acted on my writing and thinking. When someone writes, they put thoughts on paper. Nothing to learn from that because you learned it when you thought it. Not when you wrote it. My thinking didn't get me to learn. It got me to act and do. I live off of my thinking. Develop something in your head and act on that. No learning required. You learn by doing, thinking is just something you start with.
    10. Learning has no value. It is endless, you cant put a price tag on something you get for free. For example: You see a man riding a bike and goes into the turning lane. He puts his hand out to signal he is turning left. A car turns the corner and kills the man. You witness this and learn that you shouldn't take a left turn on a main road while only holding onto the handle bars with one hand. You learned that for free. Learning is free for the man with the brain.
    Grades have no point, whether it be from a test or PLN. Grades don't show your intelligence. People learn differently and people decide to put a label on everyone. See a cocky jock with a sweater vest and get the idea that he is a B+ student. See a guy with no backpack, long hair and get the idea that he is D's or lower. No man should lead a group because you are your own person. No labels should be put upon us.
    Learning is the one most important thing on this strung out over barren planet. You learn everyday. You know it or not you always do. Without learning you would get no where. Learning may not seem important to me or you but some things I find more important than others. Finding myself is one of those. Deciding how to find the best way out of my labyrinth is a dead second.
    11. Many people find feedback helpful. I do not. Feedback is only helpful to me when I am showed what I could improve on. If I got feedback on the things I actually enjoy doing would be good. Get feedback from a website I design or a story I write. I don't need feedback from my opinions. There my opinions.
    12. Whether I know it or not I will be continuing with my PLN's. I probably wont use this same account because I would rather start fresh at a new stand point I've possessed from writing these PLN's.

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  22. 1.This semester PLNs were really fun. It was really fun because in class we created Google Reader accounts and subscribed to websites to do blog posts on. For example, when I subscribed to ESPN, I remember doing a blog post about how Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants' Pitcher, was pulled over with misdemeanor charges and marijuana under his breath.

    2.The most challenging part of the PLNs for me was trying to think “outside the box” because coming up with connections to my life that relate to the article and connections in the world today relates to that article.

    3.PLN presentations on Fridays in class are fun because than we get to discuss our blog posts and

    4.Getting reactions from my classmates makes me think better because then I can think of a question, thought, or connection I want to share in with the article of the PLN. I think we should be reflecting, in writing, on each other's blogs more often because we can see what others are thinking and saying bout our and their blog posts. Also it helps to start a discussion and share ideas about the PLN.

    5.The categories are helpful when they are something I can relate really easily.

    6.We should change it so we can do PLN projects with partners and do it as a partner project.

    7.I can acquire the skills to become a better thinker and be more creative to these PLNs.

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  23. 1.I like PLNs because it's interesting to hear about current events and what's going on in the world. I never would have heard about the technology revolution or the value of learning, if I hadn't done PLNs.
    2.One challenge for writing PLNs is finding an article you can take a stance on. I find it challenging to wright about an article or blog that I don't like.
    3.I love PLN presentations of Friday because I enjoy hearing what my classmates have to say about a certain subject. I love hearing what they have to say and what they believe.
    4.Yes, I like having feedback from classmates. I hope we can reflect more on our writings and work together. In one of the articles we read this year, employers are looking for people who workclass. well with others. To acquire this skill we'll need to practice it and work togeather more often.
    5.Yes, I believe the categories my subscriptions are in, are very helpful. The way Google reader allows you to organize your subscriptions was so helpful to me.
    7.I think the PLN process is great the way it is right now. The only thing I would change is the interaction with others.
    8.This semester, I learned to think for my self and come up with my own questions. I am so glad that we learned how to do this. Annotating, questioning and thinking for yourself are skills I will need for the rest of my life. I find myself using these skills daily. When I read books and worksheets I find myself questioning the author and the context of the article.
    9.I still believe that learning has no value or set price. But I think learning is worth more than all the money in the world. It's worth more than any material thing. I think that learning is still worth a lot , even without a grade. Learning didn't used to be so important to me. I used to think it was something you needed to do to just get a good grade or get through school. Now I realize that you can't avoid learning. You learn something new everyday. It just depends on how you choose to spend that knowledge. It can take you far in life. But how you use it, is your choice.
    10.I learned that It takes me awhile to wright something. I have to hit a certain point to wright well. Once I hit that point, Words magically pop into my head and I can't stop writing!
    11.Yes, all of the feedback I received was very helpful. I love hearing what other people think of my writing.
    12.Yes, I want to expand my personal learning network, but I won't do it as often as we have in class.

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  24. 1.i liked finding curret issuse to talk about that i found inserting to me.
    2. a challenge that I think is hard is to find mistakes in my writing.
    3. I like fridays because we get to talk about issuse a round the world. What i do not like is that we can not debat about on who is right.
    4. I think that we should have more disucus online so we can back up what we say.
    7. have a disscus on the weakend.
    8. I think i have gaind the skill of writing what i think. i shall improve by doing more of them.

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  25. What I thought about the PLN's was that they were fun. I liked to find all the topics that are in the news, when I get to pick the topic that is.

    The only trouble I had was when my internet was shut off and had to do all of it at the library.

    I like the friday was we all got to see everyone elses writing style and saw what everyone is like and is into.

    Yes it dose help to get everyones point of veiw on a topic you present, like if you bring up politics you can see what most people stand for. plus you I get the feeling that im a good wrighter

    most of the time that i dont finish my PLN it is because I dont have computer accsess

    I think that you should make all of them about what people want to wright about.

    I think that this made me less timid to wright and have other people look at my work. i know that im not the best wrighter and speller but now I dont find that as much of a problem.

    i learnd what type of writer i am

    yes learning is importend to me because so i can go into the millitary and have a good job there.

    no the feedback was some what helpful but it kinda put me down because i thout i did good but then i didn't

    i dont know if i will continue without a grade and an adiance

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  26. 1. I like a lot of things about PLNs including easy access, and that we get to voice our own opinions. However what I really enjoyed was choosing our own topic because I tend to write better about things I like.
    2. One of the challenges I experienced with PLNs was figuring out how to incorporate my voice and the required information, as these 2 did not tend to go hand in hand.
    3. I think that it would be better if we moved our PLNs to earlier in the week because the longer the deadline, the more I tend to put it off until the last minute.
    4. Sometimes, however some blog posts can be very personal and you do not wish to share them with your friends.
    5. For the most part I find the categories helpful, although they limit what we can blog about.
    6. I usually don’t complete an assigned PLN for 2 reasons. One I didn’t know we had one due, or two I put it off too long.
    7. The only suggestion I would have would be to be a bit more open with the topics and things you want in our articles.
    8. I feel that I acquired better fluency and public speaking skills, and that I will use them to become a better writer.
    9. I found out that although I have good self editing skills and voice, grammar and overuse of commas are still hard for me to grasp.
    10. To me my learning is extremely important, without it I will not be able to get the career I want or accomplish my goals. Even if I didn’t receive any grade at all I would still gladly put effort into it because all school is doing is preparing us for the future.
    11. Yes your feedback and the other students was very important to me, with it I learned what I do well and what I can improve on.
    12. Sadly I do not feel that I will continue expanding my PLN page because there are already similar sites that I use.

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