Learning outcome #3 is to use the techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking. My approach to active and critical reading included reading the text provided and then taking the time to pause when something seemed like it was important or if it was interesting to me, as if I wanted to know more. When I paused, I would take a pen and underline or put a little bracket next to it, or I would highlight the area. If I had any specific thoughts, questions, or comments about the reading, I would write them down in the margins. After going back to the journal responses, my informal responding approach felt very informal. I really just wrote anything that came into my head about whatever the journal question was. It was like a diary of sorts. If I was responding to something out of a book and I needed to quote things, I would take it a little more seriously and think of it as a mini-essay. However, if it were to explain my thought process, I would do just that. Let it flow out of me and not overthink how my writing is. All of this said, I could definitely take the time to improve my ability to draw relationships, ask questions, and challenge or extend ideas in a text, but I have also grown from what I used to be. In the future, I will strengthen my ability to do these things by taking more time to consider what the text is saying.
