Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Review Your Body of Work in the Class and Begin the Selection Process for your Final Portfolio

In the portfolio conferences this past week, everyone was asked to begin reflecting on their body of work for the class. This body of work includes, in order of importance: drafts of Essays 1 and 2; feedback given and received on these drafts, both in class and on Blackboard; journal pages, including reading responses and free writing; in-class participation; listening to instructor and other students in class discussions and demonstrations; individual conference discussions; reflections on your writing; and any informal communications that took place among students and among students and me.
As you review your body of work, where do you see growth or improvement? What kind of improvement or growth do you see?

116 comments:

  1. I have improved im my journal writings and i have better myself in writing essays

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  2. I feel that my writing has been introduced into a new world. It seems tht im always getting deeper and deeper into my topics all the time.

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  3. Essay 2 Draft #1. I feel that I'm starting to get a little better

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  4. my attitude about writing has changed. i didn't really like all that much and i never knew what to write about and now with brainstorming and some of the other things we have gone over i feel better about it. my essays are starting to improve a lot.

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  5. organizing thoughts in a coherent logical order

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  6. Writing intimidated me coming into this class. After receiving positive feedback from the professor and students, gave me increased confidence as a writer. I feel this is producing better pieces of writing.

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  7. The journals have helped me express my feelings and also helped me relieve myself when I am feeling upset.

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  8. I feel like I have improved in writing by how I develop my paragraphs. I have begun to make my writings easier to understand by being much more clear in the points I am trying to make.I have always been good at writing but this class has helped me to give my readers a better understandings of my writings.

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  9. my attitude change toward writing becasue in high school i hated but now since i took some many english class i paid attention and i like it now it's ok.

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  10. i have noticed growth and improvemtns in my writins as i have began to rewrite my draft 2 of essay 2. since i have been giving feeback to students on there essays, it has been easier to relize what it is that my papers may need.

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  11. Reviewing my work, I notice that I have changed the way that I approach writing. Instead of forcing myself to make my writing perfect before I actually write it on down paper, I am now able to write down all of my thoughts and then organize it later. Wild Mind and freewriting has helped me with this change.

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  12. I have improved significantly with all the journal practice. I believe I have become a stronger writer because of my new understanding of how to approach writing.

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  13. There is a big difference from my first essay to my sencond, my sencond essay has more details and information then my first.

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  14. I think that my essay 1 draft 2 was alot better then my usual writing. I brought in aspects and ideas that I didn't even think were important, but which are necessary for the reader to understand my feelings and the reasons that I wrote about that memory. My attitude changed also. I never had so much fun writing a paper and I never finished one that fast. It usually takes me forever since I never liked it and it was like a burden to me.

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  15. I believe my writing has improved thru reorganization of my thoughts and in turn helping with the claity of my point

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  16. I think my journal writings were terrible but the essays are really starting to improve

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  17. I believe my writing has improved thru reorganization of my thoughts and in turn helping with the claity of my point

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  18. Muhammad said that his writing improved tremendously.

    I would like to know which writing he enjoyed doing in this class?

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  19. I think the the desriptive outline exercises helped me alot with the way I should develope essay 2

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  20. My writing improved with the re-writing method. Taking comments from class mates and instructor helped me to understand that writing is not just about me, but the reader as well.

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  21. I think i have improved the organization of my paper.

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  22. My writeing has always been a personal outlet for me. But my style has gotten better as far as my punctuation goes along with my vocabulary. Even though I love to write the six page journal were literally killing me. But my overal writeing approved.

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  23. I totally agree with Cassandra. I had the same positive experience. I used to never write my thoughts down first, because I thought it was a waste of time. So instead I just started writing and it took me forever to finish a paper. I got stuck all the time and I got frustrated. That is the reason I never enjoyed writing very much. I always had trouble with it.

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  24. I learned that you can target certain readers by the tone of your paper and by the words that you use

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  25. Thats interesting the wild mind reading helped me also in the same way

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  26. When you first started writing in your journal was it hard for you to think about topics to write on?

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  27. I have improved in my journal writing. My vocabulary level has definitly gone up.

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  28. Arlene, I beleive you are doing a fine job of writing. I was interested in your essay about teaching young children about god

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  29. I have never liked writing, and I still don't but now at least I can write a paper with some kind of structure and that follows the main idea of what it is trying to say.

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  30. ashlie said she improved through testing.
    how did testing help you

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  31. jboxell-what has improved? journals or essay writing?

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  32. no i didn't improve through testing, i was told to write testing to see if the post was working

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  33. Muhammad:I do agree, I find myself looking past the title and really try to connect my reader to the text. Allowing the reader to really get inside my head and walk around. Even when i feel the my writeing may be a little cloudy.

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  34. I agree with ArLene. I've always took the reader into consideration but now I think about the reader more.

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  35. I think my essay 2 shows a lot of growth in my writing

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  36. I have also broken my bad habit of spelling in short form like when I'm texting from my phone.

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  37. I glad that your writing has helped you Shannon. I'm happy that you are expressing your feeling in your writing.

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  38. arbloom has continued to improve.

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  39. bonehead, when you began writing in your essay did you find it hard to think of something to write about? Did this chanage by the end of your writing.

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  40. I think that i have grown as a writer by slowing down =, and explain more in detail about what i am talking.

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  41. Melissa..I agree with you writing does help you to release a lot of tension and improve a bad mood.

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  42. Ashley, your paper was very organized I thought. Good Job.

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  43. Ro2006 is right on the money.

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  44. Chaunce:After reading his paper or essay 2 i felt like i should go a little more complex with my topic and the subjects i discuss with my reader.

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  45. I agree with Cynthia, my second essay is better than my first essay, I am can expand and explain in more detail about my work.

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  46. fyi: Chaunce wrote about occults and freemason and its a complex subject to discuss and think about.

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  47. I agree with Scipio, second one much better

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  48. Anastasia, I too write in my journal as a personal outlet, it really helps to write things out. This class certainly helped with organizing it in an essay.

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  49. So bigbabydeaner you were intimidated huh

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  50. Adam: I felt my journal writings could use some work also. Do you think they have gotten better along with your essays?

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  51. melissa free writing in journals have increased by writing as well.

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  52. I would like to take my essay 1 (once upon my time) and take it step by step with adding lots of emotion and detail in it.

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  53. Bigdaddydeaner i think they have gotten better i read them there great keep up the positive work

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  54. scipio I BELIEVE THAT THE SECOND ESSAY WAS STRONGER FAR ME AS WELL.

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  55. Adam: Yes I was very intimidated in the beginning. I just don't like the feeling that what I'm writing is coming off as dumb or unintelligent.

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  56. shannon barnes I agree that writing allows you to release whatever is on your mind.

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  57. On my essay 2 (mothers hardships) is not coming along very well. I want the plan of my paper to be starting out talking about when i became a single mother how hard it was to adapt to work, school and being a mom. Then i wanted to explain how it is easier now that i have lived that life for a few months.

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  58. Arlene you like to write in your journal outside of class

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  59. bigdaddy,
    You dont have to be intelegent to write. Sometimes things that happen in your life, are interesting to others.

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  60. I agree with Scipio that the descriptive outlines I wrote of other peoples' papers and my own helped me by showing me where my statements need explaining and specifics.

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  61. an answer to myers.adams, yes I do like to write in my journal outside of class. You would be suprised what you write. I journal, and then go back to some of my earlier writings and I am shocked sometimes at some the things I write. Most of my writings are inspirations.

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  62. hello all , how is everyone, i am growing in my writing everyday, this class has opened my eyes to writng better and with better fluency and coherence

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  63. the responses from classmates have help tremendously and are very appreciated. tx to all that have replied

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  64. This class has allowed me to look deeper into my writings to relate more to the reader and get my correct point across

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  65. The descriptive outlines and the response from classmates and my teacher has helped me better my essays.

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  66. A little worried about this portfolio assignment...anyone else????

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  67. I think i have really improved with my writing skills. The journals have really helped me. I really enjoyed doing the outside readings for our journal

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  68. Its my birthday, and I'm getting stuck on what to reasearch on Essay 3....my topic for essay 2 was addiction,anyone have any ideas??

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  69. I think the responses i get from the other students have really enlightened some of my views and my writing skills.

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  70. This class experience has taught me to break down essays into sections.
    The task I found most helpful was the descriptive outlines.

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  71. I agree with kristina, this class has greatly helped me improve on my writing, and the jornals helped my with brainstorming my ideas and opening up

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  72. While writing my essays I feel a sense of relief getting certain issues out on paper.

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  73. One of the things that helped me grow as a writer was the descriptive outlines. They helped me see that my meanings were not always interpenetrated by people the way that I hoped they would. After that, I could revise my essays so that my point would get across.

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  74. Hello, Since taking this course i have a better understanding on my writings, I also am more interested in reading.

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  75. I think that my writing has improved. I am better with putting all of my paragraphs togeather and giving them more detail. I am pretty worried about this portfolio assignment though>

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  76. Wats good fello class mates. I really think that this class has "potty trained" me and really steered in the right direction in my questionable writting career.

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  77. This class has helped me to get deep into my personal experiences that I write about in my essays

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  78. I fell like this class has helped me to expand my horizon's while writing and getting feedback from peers.

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  79. this class has acctualll help my reading comprehension also, this class has been a good experience for me.

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  80. I think since the writing assignments for essay 1 and 2 are shorter and more personal, I can concentrate on the structure of my work and developing my paper. Before this class I thought revision was just finding errors in grammar and punctuation, but it is about "envisionising" my writing again. I also enjoy writing in my journal because I get to show a side of me that no one else knows. This semester I have learned to slow down and think things through and plan my papers before jumping in to write them.

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  81. This course has taught me to include personal expierence and opinions in my writing. In past writing courses this has been strongly discouraged to use any statements with I, You, Me, or we. I learned that depending on the writing style and the message I am trying to convey than personal expierence may be a positive resource.

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  82. This class has taught me how to to use input from other students as well as my own personal notes to better my writing.

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  83. At Rachel - I agree with what you said about personal experiences. I also was discouraged from using personal experiences in writing, but this class has shown me that it depends on the situation.

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  84. I see the bulk of my improvements within my essays. I see the most growth with the essays when I used my classmates inputs, because I found it easier to develop a well rounded essay when I had input from an outside source who was from the outside looking in, instead of always seeing the essay from my own point of view, and assuming everyone else understood exactly what I was trying to portray.

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  85. I definately see more eagerness in my writing. I actually enjoy taking the time to think about what im going to say and then put it on paper. I really didnt think i was going to like this class but i have actually really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it so far...

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  86. who are some famous people whose parents were addicted to drugs?
    Are kids whose parents are on drugs more or less likely to use drugs when they grow up?
    who are some famous people who have met a biological parent at an older age?

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  87. Can "office gossip" be damaging to peoples lives? How damaging can it get? Can it ruin reputations? Cause for lawsuits?

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  88. At the beginning of this class i was quite nervous. Now i have noticed how much more comfortable i am with my writing and i can just flow the words to the paper, i am not sitting there dreading what to write anymore.I am however quite nervous on the portfolio assignment. I was looking through my papers and noticed that i have none of the feedback from students, i don't believe she ever handed those things back. does anybody else not have there feedback paper either?

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  89. Ashlie,

    How about feedback on Blackboard? Also, what is it that was not handed back--the descriptive outlines done last week?

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  90. The comments of other students were very useful. That way I could make sure that I adress everything so that the reader understands the whole story.

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  91. Carrie and Sarah,

    Your questions seem well thought out. Go for it.

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  92. I think I have noticed growth all over the board. It has been so long since I had been in an English class that I had to learn the structure and coherence part the most. I also had fun trying to actually develop something people would even want to read.

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  93. I've seen improvement with writing
    essays and the different ways of
    finding topics to write about.

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  94. For me its been 10 yrs since I've
    been in school and its been nice being able to get back for a refresher.

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  95. I think that my writing has become better in the aspect that I am less scatter brained in my writing and I dont drift off topic quite as much as I did in essay 1.
    My journal writing also has grown I grow more in depth in the topics I write about and that I find that I don't contradict what I want to write about quite as much. I used to stop and think, "Is this going to offend the teacher? Or is this going to offend one of my family members?" I let my hand write and my mind wonder. Its a wonderful feeling.

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  96. Mike K. I know how you feel, I find my writing improved greatly and it was easier to find a topic to talk about that interests me.

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  97. Another thing I enjoy about this class is that we can write our next essays by pulling topics from our previous essays. It is such a pain to sit there and think of something to write, or be restricted to the topic my teacher gives me. To be able to write on something that interests me makes the class fun and less intense.

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  98. Just responding to Arlene's comment about considering the reader, that's something I think I can improve on because I want to be relatable and appropriate for any audience that I write for.

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  99. I believe my improvement in my writing can be found in my orginization of the body of work, and the structure of that work submitted. As for the particular kind of growth, I would say it lies in the area of captivation.

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  100. From Tobias:

    Donald,

    I'm interested in that last word: "captivation."

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  101. I feel that the journal has helped me; it has given me the freedom to write without having to get everything correct the first time. I feel that my understanding of grammer has also improved, from the readings and exersises in the book.

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  102. In this class so far i have seen myself developing my writing skills a lot more, and I feel that my sentance sctructures are becoming stronger, and my writing is begining to make more sense

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  103. Jason I understand exactly what you were talking about, I feel like my writing has grown because now I can write freely with out feeling like I have to get everything right the first time I also feel like I can write free thoughts without having to worry about someone being offended by my writing.

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  104. I think that my essay 3 wil be the best because I have had ENG 101 102, creative writing, etc. So I have a handle on how to do a research paper. I have learned in this class to write in first person versus more on research topics. Essay 1 and essay 2 were basically free writing

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  105. Although I have improved my writing and comunication skills, I still feel very critical of the things I write.

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  106. The thing I find most useful is to read my paper out loud to myself and ask questions as I go. Such as does it makes sense to the title, or the begining of the paragraph. Does it follow the sentence before it.

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  107. I think essay3 will be my best because,of course I have accumalated a little information through in class notes,disscusions,book work and handouts.Also reading others work gave me an idea as tohow I should do mine.I think essay1 was more personal and I could only so far But essay2&3 are more expandable.I guess I'll see.

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