The collage activity has to be one of my most favorite activities that we’ve done in class. It allowed me to express myself in a way that isn’t just “Josiah Balbi”, I was able to show my interests. It also let me show off some of my humor, although I didn’t know what was funny but also ok for me to include in my collages. For example, I made a thought bubble with a GIF (which unfortunately did not play) of a guy holding up stacks of money. The GIF is used often in the sneaker resell community, which connects to me and this english class because alot of the time during english class I am on my phone, not scrolling through social media, instead making money moves, whether thats securing a purchase of something to resell or confirming a sale, or middle manning something. I also included some gaming related things such as mario and a skeleton on a gaming setup because as a kid I was obsessed with mario games, and at one point my gaming setup looked like the one the skeleton is using. Finally, I included some music notes. Its always been difficult for me to tell people what type of music I listen to, and I don’t understand why thats the case. Alot of the time, the artists I listen to are big and trending so I can admit those, but sometimes I don’t like to claim that I listen to an underground artists music, such as Ken Carson and Destroy Lonely before they were well known, thanks to tiktok.

New York City is known to be one of the “fastest” cities ever. Everyone has somewhere to be, things to do, and people to meet and they dont have time to waste for smaller things. Being a full-time student and a part-time employee, time is something I wish I had more of. Because of this, I need to already have a plan on where im trying to go and what I need to get done as soon as I get there. When it comes to writing, I need to have access to the internet and sometimes a power outlet if I need to charge my laptop. The best place for me, and im pretty sure for any other Baruch student, is the Baruch library. The library offers internet for students, outlets, even though half of them don’t seem to work. and its quiet most of the time. However, we aren’t allowed to bring outside food or drinks so if I’m on an empty stomach, I would reconsider going here. My secound go-to would be the McDonalds on 23rd street. It does get packed pretty often and can sometimes be noisy, but when its not, it is one of the best places for me to get my writing assignments, or anything else for school. They have a decently stable and fast internet connection, and they offer food and drinks, mainly coffee. They also have outlets in the back of the second floor that anyone can use. If im low on time and its getting late, obviously I would go to my home and work there. I don’t have a desk in my room thats big enough to support having multiple books on it, so I would do most of my work in the dinning room instead. Time isn’t a thing that any of us have to spare, so we have to use it to the best of our abilities.

Writing is something I like to do. I like to go into the past, think about stuff that I’d like to write about and write it down on a paper. The environment in which I write in can also depict how well I write. For example, while writing this one of my friends called me to catch up with me and I stopped at “write it down on a paper” for like 30 minutes and completely lost my train of thought. Sometimes, I need to be in my room with some sound like music or someone to talk to, in order to write properly. Other times I need to be in a school environment because at home I feel too lazy, too attracted to my bed to really write. At times, I feel uncomfortable doing work in my house because of how easily distracted I am so I’d just get to school a little early to do my work.

Nicholas Carr explains in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” some negative effects of technology. He says that he feels as if somebody is tinkering with his brain. I understand the feeling described in the reading, but I personally do not feel the same.

I’ve never been a reader. I would have books, but I just wasn’t interested in them. My mom would tell me not to play games too much, to read a book instead but I felt like “why waste my time reading a book when I can be having fun doing something else?” I just cannot focus on a book. Sometimes, reading a book for class can be engaging, I feel like I’m starting to like a book. I believe that the idea of a book that I like ending eventually is what makes me not want to finish. I would love to read books, but they must have multiple parts to it, like Percy Jackson. I loved Percy Jackson because when I finished the first one, I found out there were like 4 more after, along with 2 movies, so its like the story never had an end. After that series, its like if reading just became boring to me.

A writing technology Dennis Baron discussed in From Pencils to Pixels is the computer. The computer allows people of all ages to write easier. I believe that using a computer, I am able to write alot better than I can when I am writing on a paper. On a computer, I am simply typing my thoughts, whereas on paper, I have to constantly click my pen/pencil to make sure I am actually writing, along with erasing or crossing out mistakes. Also, when I write a lot, my hands tend to hurt and sweat alot and I don’t like that.

Using a computer to write is not only more convenient for me, but it also allows me to do research as I write. Sometimes while writing a paper in high school, I’d forget how to spell a word, or forget the definition of a word. My high school was very strict on the no phone rule, so I’d have to just find something else to write instead. Using a computer to write, however, allows me to search up a definition of a word, or type a word in the way I think its spelt, and Google will give me the definition of the word, along with an example on how the word is used, and also correct my spelling.

The article does a good job explaining how the internet is rewiring our brains. I do find myself being in the same situation where I have little to no attention span anymore then I used to. Finding myself to rely on the internet and making it be a factor in my life, both personally and academically. There hasn’t been a point in my life where I didn’t go “I think I should Google it.” And Carr isn’t wrong about the long term impact, everyone will only have the mental capacity to only rely on the internet because they’re basically programmed to do it. It is scary to think how much of an impact the internet has on everyone and it’s only going to grow. No more having the energy to go to a library to find a word when you can simply do that on your phone, which would always be another factor to the low attention span because why work so hard for something where you can simply do it with a tap on the phone.

I think it’s inevitable at this point in time to incorporate technology into our writing. Personally, I find a lot of usefulness in the technologies I use for my writing. I store most of my writing on Google docs simply because this is where I started my writing. I also find websites like easybib and scribblr to make citations easier for me. I’ve had to manually form citations for tens of sources in highschool, and it’s a tedious task that these sites automate for me. I rarely use ChatGPT but I haves used it to outline long papers to identify the main points of a reading. When I need to read lots of sources, this saves me time but doesn’t cost me any understanding. Additionally, I wouldn’t have access to any “outside” sources that classes sometimes mandate for papers without a laptop or the internet. I think technology assists in the organization and the process of writing, but the rest is up to us. Most resources just save time or allow for storage.

After reading this article I notice different methods of the use of technology and saw that I use it in my everyday life. I take notes whether it’s on my computer or handwrite it on my iPad. Also just checking everything through my writing assessments, notes and even my schedules. Technology really changed everything before things would be hard to write down or just take notes whenever I needed too. Plus this is very helpful if I made any mistakes with my grammar I can use an app just incase of anything. Everything is mostly in my google Docs this also helps me save a lot of time with assignments it just makes everything fast and easier for myself and others. As time goes on I know technology will advance much more and become easier in any way it can be. The more it advance it’s better for everyone and it makes things move faster as well.

James Paul Gee’s Multiple Routes Principle summarizes that different methods are available for learning. If one is not seeing progress with a certain method, try a different method. I found this principle most relatable. For instance, in my first year of college, I was a biology major and I had no idea how I was going to study because all I have heard about this major is how difficult it is. I went to the lectures and took notes as fast as I could so I could get every piece of information from the professor. However, I realized that I was getting more and more lost after a few lectures. I was stuck on the homework assignments as well. Some of my notes were messy and I ended up not being able to understand them. After that, I tried listening to the professor without taking notes and audio recording so I could take notes later from the recording. This worked for me as I was starting to understand the lectures better. I learned that this method is best for me to learn biology since it is such a heavy course. Taking notes from the recording allows me to focus on the initial lecture. My notes were also more organized because I could control the recording. I didn’t do this for my other courses because they weren’t as difficult as biology. As a college student, I think exploring different learning strategies is important for growth and success.

Out of the 36 learning principals “Practice Principle” stood out to me the most because it’s something that I can relate to the most. He highlighted “Learners get lots and lots of practice in a context where the practice is not boring”. Which to me means you get to do something you love by practicing it over and over to get better and you don’t get bored because it’s something you enjoy. This is something I do everyday which are two main things for me swimming and organizing. Swimming is something that I love to do and I just want to get better everyday for myself. By organizing I get to plan everything out and with more practice I get better with organizing things around and if something goes wrong I know I would try and figure things out for myself.