Before Page One...

Every single topic that I research starts  from a single idea.Whenever I want to know something, like most others in this digital age, I will do a quick search on the internet. Before I get into the whole 'nitty gritty' of research I want to have some idea of what is going on to better determine what sort of information would be helpful. This same concept goes with choosing out literature. I want to know before I dive in and commit to taking a book out of the library, with the added responsibility of lugging it around with care, I always want to see what I am getting myself into. I don't want to go through the hassle of checking out a book that I will never read. I want to know what I have in store and not end up reading something that does not pique my interest. But this post isn't going to be about what I love in a book--maybe I'll save that for another time.

Background knowledge is so important to me when learning about pretty much everything. I feel that most things that we learn in school are just one small part in a much larger scale of things. To better appreciate and understand the importance and relevance of what we are learning, I need to know more. I want to know what was going on in the world during that time period, what the life of the author was like, and what other events influenced and were influenced by this. Maybe it's just the child in me, but I am always curious and on the lookout for more information to satiate my hunger for more.

I can never tell if I am going to like a book or not, just by the cover. That would be biased against all the potentially wonderful books that are hidden behind poor cover art. I try to learn more about the book: the plot line, other works by that author, and if it had positive reviews. There is just so much information that goes into learning more information! The point being, if you want to learn about something, you have to research more than just the topic--there are so many lines of other topics connecting to that one topic you are researching. Like a spider diagram, there are so many parts and angles to a topic, that background research is the only way to fully grasp the meaning and significance of that one topic. After all, knowledge is power.

Shiver-me-timbers!
Emilie

Post #1.5 "Thinking about Thinking"

So this is my first reflection on not really what I've learned but how I've learned it. I haven't really had to do this before--thinking about how I think. I guess I've just never thought about it before. I've just taken in what there was, not thinking or knowing if there was a different or better way of doing things. But I guess there is more than one way to skin a cat, and also more than one way to learn.

This class has given me a lot of freedom in the choices I get to make about what I read and how I assess myself on it. I am not restricted by a certain book that the whole class must read together, just restricted by the time period when the text was written. It scares me to have so much power and influence over what I get to learn and what I learn about. I've warmed up to this way of learning slowly. The freedom that I now have allows me to delve into topics that interest me, and I see that as both a good and a bad thing.

First the good. I don't have to read endless texts analyzing the same topic over and over again, unless I am really interested in that topic. Then I wouldn't agonize over reading a book I hated and not want to understand it, in pure contempt and rebellion. I get to learn about what I learn about. With the independent texts, my favorite concept does not have to be shared by anyone else in the class. It is more of an independent learning experience, than a whole class one.

Next, onto the bad. By only selecting texts that I think may be interesting to me, I think that I might miss out on a really good text that I would really enjoy. Not being a master of literature or having a teacher's expertise on choosing out texts could make me miss important sources. The sheer freedom of being able to choose whatever I want is a little intimidating to me. I feel that I need a bit more structure, otherwise I will be totally and utterly lost. I need some direction for me to do the best work possible. The individualization of this process also has me a bit worried. I enjoy discussing things out loud and getting the ideas of other people to better understand a text, and I don't know how this will be possible if everyone is reading different texts.

I am willing to try this different way of learning, even though I am a bit nervous. I think that too many restrictions can damper my creativity, and this different way of learning might be a solution to this. I hope to learn more about what way I learn the best. I know that I learn better with pictures and diagrams, as well as verbally discussing and dissecting material. But who knows what the next section will teach me about myself. The better I understand myself and how I learn, the more effectively I can learn new things.

Tally-ho!
Emilie

So why pirates?

I will answer that question but let me get some things out of the way first. Hello everyone! This is blog post number one. The first, the original, the ancestor of all posts to come, so forgive it for not being the best thing you've ever read-it's still a baby.

But now back to the pirates. At first, I really had no idea what I was going to call this new blog. So I googled a random word generator and bam! Here we are today. Picaroon is just another, obscure word for a pirate or pirate ship. Pirates, the brave marauders of the open seas, were men (and sometimes women) of the sea. What better way to add some spice and spunk to my blog then with a jolly title? It was just the luck of the draw but not a total disaster of a title.

A little blurp about me before I end: I, Emilie, have always disliked spitballs, bees, and brussel sprouts. I am a secretive band nerd and really want to be able to juggle and climb up the Eiffel Tower one day.