Reflection Essay

Mary Biviens

Dr. Mortimore- Smith

WIFYS

30 April 2015

WIFYS FINAL EXAM

CATEGORY 1: Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

The goals I have made for myself as an active reader and critical thinker this semester was to put in a lot of hard work and time into my papers. I have a hard time catching my errors and typos because I have applied weak effort, from not giving my brain enough time to think critically, seeking help, and procrastination. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete this goal successfully. I could had avoided this problem by giving my time into a paper before the arrival of a due date.

Being an active reader/critical thinker to me requires time and effort into the brain. In the future I plan on taking all courses that are important for the best of my ability. A class such as writing is an important tool that could help me with all my other classes. If I had finished all of my assignments ahead of time I could have done more critical thinking and achieve my goal. That way I would not had been stressing about deadlines. Also, I plan on seeking help from my instructors. Discussing more uncovered information to my professors shows a sign of determination and it helps to understand material much better. I plan on achieving active responsibility and managing my time effectively into trying again.

As a result to me not meeting my goals, I feel I will regret this for my future classes. This class has shown me important skills I wish to learn. I let many problems get to me this semester, such that I was not able to complete my assignments. I regret that now and it makes me think about the even more difficult challenges I will face in the future. If I could have shown my potential through my work this semester, I could have been successful.

CATEGORY 2: Processes

During my writing process throughout this semester, what I learned about myself is I have a difficult time handling procrastination. I would plan out my schedule towards my assignments for the week, but I do not write them down. If I had wrote down when I should be doing my work, I would be more likely plan to complete them. Usually, I would replace my plans and try to fit to much wok into one portion of time. Whenever I do that I never finish on time to do everything all at once. The next opportunity I have, I will keep track on my time management and follow through with it.

The writing process to be hat allowed me to invent, re-think, and revise my work. I was able to add additional information about my past experiences, important facts, and/or opinions related to my situation or topic in which I am discussing. A plan of action I began to imitate while writing would be to express my thoughts through the claims of the speaker, basically advocating about the subject. Another way in which I make reassessments towards my process as a writer is adding as much information as I can related to what I am discussing about. Revising my work allows me to check for sentences I need to change or remove.

CATEGORY 3: Conventions

What I have learned through my ability as a writer was in order to create clear, coherent, and grammatical writing, it starts with me taking extra steps in the process of my papers. Generally, when I write my papers, I would research common terms or synonyms to express what I want to stay better through my grammar. Doing this allows me to sound more precise and learn new efficient words. I notice the improvement I have with my writing skills when I read my work aloud. When I actually speak my written words out loud I am able to catch my mistakes and spelling errors much more clearly. When I actually hear myself talk though my papers it is as if the words do not make sense when they are written down.

I have many grammar weaknesses when writing a paper, one example would be my sentence transitioning throughout my paragraphs. This has always been my biggest challenge. Strategies I use to get through my problem with this is that I use the suggestion examples from a previous assignment given from my WIFYS class to help guide me towards introducing my arguments. Using his source allows me to transition my claims more successfully. Eventually, I have developed stronger transformations by using this tactic, and I learned to evolve this process on my own.

CATEGORY 4: Composing in Electronic Environments

This class allowed me to experiment with drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, and sharing texts through an online environment by letting others view my work. Discovering other peers to view my work while stating their own comments and opinions showed me how viewers see my work. This benefited my essays because others noticed and pointed out my mistakes for me that I was not able to spot.

As I experimented working through writing in electronic and traditional methods the differences I have faced was my ability to pick out important tasks and annotate and highlight what I wish to find my way back to on a sheet of paper. Also, when I write assignments, my thoughts flow more quickly when I have a writing utensil in my hand rather than typing on a keyboard. A way how I overcome my ability to work my assignments online is to continue writing my papers through my notebook and then rewrite it on the computer.