What My Students Learned This Semester

Taking inspiration from Jo(e), I passed out index cards and asked my students to write down one thing they learned in class this semester.  These are the anonymous responses I received in the order in which I received them.

I learned how to improve my writing skills.  Having to write an essay in under 800 words was a learning experience.  I also learned how to do a lot of work without killing myself of collapsing under the pressure.

I learned corn is in EVERYTHING and Omnivore's Dilemma is a terrible book.

I learned how to back up my claims better with good evidence.

I learned sooo much about the food industry because of reading Omnivore's Dilemma.  I also learned better writing techniques.  The papers we did in this class were actually interesting.  I like the freedom of putting a little bit of our own "umph" into our papers.

I learned how to develop a good and coherent thesis statement starting with although.

I learned that it is okay to have a working thesis and that it's okay to not have your thesis in the first paragraph!

I learned how to use Audacity.

Mostly the Audacity part of the class was entertaining and probably actually used in life.  Also, that I never want to read that much about corn AGAIN!

I learned how to use technology such as wikis and podcasts that I would never take the time to learn to use on my own.  I also learned that corn is BAD!!

How to write a better paper.  How to make my papers flow better.  A lot out of Writing Analytically.

I think the one thing I will take away from this class that I will value the most is the different types of sentences.  I am still very novice when it comes to using commas, but who knows, I may get better.  I also learned goat eyes are a delicacy.

I learned that it's not about the quantity of pages you have for a paper as long as you're clear and get your point across.

Not to be corny, but I learned about corn.  But seriously, twenty years from now, I will remember the food facts.  It was really interesting and really makes people think.

I learned that not procrastinating on my work really pays off.

I learned how to get A LOT of work done in a short period of time without pulling my hair out!! :)

The one thing I learned from this class was that writing about food is a lot harder than it sounds.

I learned how to properly format the front page of an essay in MLA format.  I can't believe I've been doing it wrong for so long without being told.