Monday, September 21, 2009

Hickey's "Thinking" Reflection

I use different strategies to organize concepts depending on the assignment or purpose. The way I organize my thoughts when writing a paper is to me, very straightforward. Papers that are researched based follow a certain structure that I have been taught and have matured on my own throughout the years. I make sure that I read, watch, or complete any assignments that are required for the completion of my paper. Then I choose quotes that summorize what I have learned from the readings. From there I am able to generate ideas and important concepts that I want included throughout the paper. I often use bullet points to further emphasis what category each concept fit in. When I sit down to write a paper, I find it useful to complete a focused and concise introduction paragraph before continuing onto the rest of the paper. Although the intro is the first part of what you read of a paper, I think that the intro is the backbone of the paper. You can easily lose a reader in the first thirty seconds. The intro should outline the entire paper and leave very little as a surprise to the reader. When I am ready to move onto the body and the meat of the paper I like to choose a quote that has inspire me. I do not necessarily quote it in the paper but often the ideas are able to stimulate my thinking. Often times, during the drafting period of my writing, I use bullet points to organize my thoughts within the paragraph.

I often lose focus while writing. The best way that I have found to organize my thoughts is using bullet points. My life is a long list of bullet points that keep me sane and organized. When I study for a test my notes will be bulleted, the time I plan on spending on each concept will be bulleted, and the time I take for a snack break is planned out in a bullet point format as well. Organization was always stressed at a very young age. I learn best if I have a reference or note sheet because it allows me to recall information quickly and efficiently. If I can think of a bulleted list mentally, I will have a better chance at recalling the information. I also think the reason I do so well in math classes, is often because I am able to recall how to solve the problem in a set of steps, which is easier to recall than jumbled information. My brain act like a computer where it can recall information and find information in the form of a list; anything else is usually lost.

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