If learning is understanding, then I am certain that I have learned a great deal this semester in English 110. At the beginning of the semester I downloaded all of the assignment descriptions and I was completely flustered. I had always considered myself a fairly competent writer. This is my last semester as an undergraduate and my writing has always earned me high marks in classes. I have had many semesters to perfect my writing strategies. I can usually tell after the first few classes what the professor is expecting quality wise and have learned to adapt myself to their expectations. I honestly can say that prior to this semester I cannot remember that last time I wrote for pleasure or even myself. I find this distressing, and the fact is that I did not even notice that this was true until it was pointed out to me in Uncommon Sense. Mayher notes that “the long-term goal of literature is to promote lifelong reading” (29). I believe that by extension this means that the goal of teaching writing should be to encourage lifelong writing. This class has helped me to realize that I could find writing enjoyable and that it was possible to use writing for genuine communication rather than a regurgitation of a professor’s expectations. I believe that this basic understanding of and appreciation for the learning and teaching of writing will carry me far as a future teacher.

I have met each of the goals for this class as set forth in the class policies we received at the beginning of this semester. I will outline them in the following section.

• Goal 1: You will read about current theories and practices in writing instruction.

Assignments two and three gave me a great deal of experience in not only reading about current theories and practices in education, but also experience in the way to uncover this information. I had a small amount of experience using the library databases, but not nearly the experience that I received by researching these assignments. I also found out how easy it was to contact any of these journals to get copies of their articles, even if you do not have a library membership. For assignment two I found an interesting article in ERIC but they had to get it in from another library and I was having a hard time getting in touch with the librarian. I was able to easily find the California Kindergarten Association (CKA) online and I simply contacted the archivist through them. I received the articles I requested in about three days and best wishes from the CKA in my academic endeavors. I also dug around and found wonderful online journals such as KAIROS, which is an amazing resource for someone like myself who is interested in technology and its educational applications. I think that this ability to navigate the available journals is the best and possibly only way to keep current in the theories and practices in education today.

            The texts that were required for this class also provided reading experiences in current theory and practice. I enjoyed reading the various texts and found them to be very much in line with my own theories. It was great to know that I was on the right track. I have passed Literacy at the Crossroads on to another teacher; she began reading it and has already called to tell me how wonderful it was. I noted above that I was sending a paper from this class on to Nancy Patterson, the hypertext researcher, I came across something else looking through her site that I found very interesting. Apparently she also uses Literacy at the Crossroads for the courses that she teaches at the local college. Small world, good book.

• Goal 2: You will practice various composing processes.

In the course of this semester I have used peer review more than ever in my college career. I think that the composing processes that we used in this class were also a great experience, and I participated in them fully. Peer review only works if people know what to look for in a high quality paper and actually participate on time. My first writing group had a huge problem with this, but after the first paper we were reshuffled and things were much better. Having a peer review guide was also a good experience and I found myself being much more honest in my reviews when I knew what points to reflect on.

I have never had a class in which we revised papers as thoroughly as we have in this class. More than just proofreading, I experienced true revisions by having to go back and re-look at whole sections of my piece. I took the suggestions to heart each step along the way and made real changes that affected the outcome of my paper. To be honest, I do not think that my original composing processes changed at all, only my reactions to the subsequent revisions. I plan a paper by typing an outline and have a habit of adding text sporadically (thus my preference for the hypertext format). I break a paper into sections and have a hard time tackling a whole section at once. This process did not change, it begins and ends on the keyboard, and I don’t use a pencil and paper. I compose with sticky notes, a highlighter, and the computer. This has not changed. However I feel that I still met this goal for the class because I learned to make real revisions and how to give good peer reviews. Good lessons to learn for a future teacher and graduate student.

• Goal 3: You will learn to recognize rhetorical choices in the texts you read and write.

            To be honest, I am not quite sure how to respond to this goal. I personally know when I use rhetorical choices for effect, but I do not know if this was strongly emphasized during this course. Perhaps it would have been if I did not already recognize rhetorical choices. Mahyer’s text was full of rhetorical statements. He was arguing a major point in his book and used rhetoric with great effect. I feel that he even went overboard in some sections, but he did it to press a point and the point was made. Mayher uses catchy phrases such as “bled red” (31) and “confusing their and there or to with too, or leaving out commas, or mangling syntax” (35). These are examples of rhetoric. I use rhetoric in my writing as well. In assignment 3 I make note that “the voice I had was carefree and charming, so where did it go and how did I let it slip?” This is an example of rhetoric as well, one which I found myself using often in my writing for this course.

• Goal 4: You will practice producing readable and interesting texts that reflect academic conventions.

I definitely met this goal. I practiced producing texts to the tune of hundreds of pages. I believe that my pieces were all readable. Ease of navigation can be difficult in an online class because you cannot neatly print out your paper and hand it in with a notebook. It is easy for a professor to get lost when scrolling down the pages, especially when the pieces reach up to 20 and 30 pages. I focused a lot of energy on ease of navigation and readability. I used proper MLA format (after a few tries) and formatted the pages according to your terms as set out in the course policies. I also utilized some more unconventional means to accomplish my goal of producing easily navigatable and readable texts. I pushed Microsoft Word to its limits creating charts, tables and other organizers so that my documents would be easier to read. In the end of this course I wound up building a web page to display my final portfolio because there is a limit to what Microsoft Word can successfully do. I feel that using a web page was a good choice for me because it also reflected the content of much of the work I did this semester. I focused much of my research on Internet technologies and their applications for writing. I feel that my opinions are made clearer when they utilize the same technology that I endorse.

I also feel that my work has been interesting over the course of this semester. Some people would disagree because I have run into several people who ask what I am working on, hear the titles and just shake their heads. It is not very common subject matter. I feel that it is cutting edge though and has the potential to be very provocative. ERIC is full of articles on teacher feedback and student’s feelings in the classroom. These are very important topics, but inarguably common. I wanted to find something to focus on that was interesting not only to me, but to the field of teaching as a whole. I feel that my repeated use of this topic helped my understanding of it as a whole, creating a follow through for my research in assignment two all the way to its application in assignment five.

• Goal 5: You will learn ways to discuss writing and reading.

Weekly discussion boards ensured that I discussed reading and writing on a weekly basis. The guided discussion really helped as a launching point for good discussion. I found it hard to get into discussing some of the topics because many people did not respond to posts I made or make posts of their own in the first place. I engaged in conversations about the writing and reading for this class on a weekly basis, and often more. It may have only been a few of us who were actively discussing the readings, but I feel that these conversations did encourage deep thinking. I also discussed my writing and the writing of others in the class during peer reviews. I got much better at this throughout the semester. My initial peer reviews were somewhat glassed over with my concern for offending others, but as I got to know those I was working with, the reviews became much more honest and therefore of a higher quality. I have spent the last week looking over final drafts for others and doing peer reviews. This was not a requirement for the class, because I did not need any reviews personally and I had already done as many as I needed to. I just wanted to help out, because I felt that I had a good understanding of the assignment requirements.

• Goal 6: You will practice critical thinking and critical writing.

Assignment two began the semester immediately with a call to think critically about articles that we had read. I discuss the idea of critical literacy in my assignment three, and I feel that my work in this class shows a good understanding of critical literacy. One of the most helpful strategies for me was synthesis. Harvey discusses “synthesizing information” (72) in Nonfiction Matters, I feel that I did a good job synthesizing information from my own experiences and the texts for this class in my writings for the semester. Also during assignment three I display critical thinking because I was able to develop quality questions dealing with hypertext and its applications. I read a wide variety of texts and asked questions about the information I processed.

• Goal 7: You will practice varied approaches to academic research and writing.

I did try several approaches to research, relying initially on my tried and true means and then finding that these methods were not going to cut it. I had to become a more active researcher, digging around and contacting those who had the information and resources that I needed. These skills will carry me far into the future and keep me up to date on educational theory and practice. I have one main approach to writing, but I alter this depending on the format that I will be using. My approach towards creating the WebQuest for assignment five was far different than my approach to assignment two. The formats for the various assignments were very different, but I believe that my personal voice carried through all of them.

            In conclusion, I feel that I have earned an A in English 110 during the spring semester of 2005. I met and in some cases exceeded the requirements of the assignments given, including developing complete examples for assignment 5. I developed a companion website for my assignment sequence that went beyond the requirements of the assignment, yet contributed in a major way to the understanding of the sequence as a whole. I was an active participant in all areas of the class, discussion groups and peer reviews alike. I completed all assignment drafts on time and they met all of the requirements. As I have outlined above I did meet all of the goals as set forth in the course policies. I believe that I do have further to go in all of the areas above, but this class pushed me forward. I enjoyed this class and I am proud of my achievement in it. I feel that I gained the knowledge and experience that I need to move forward in my education.

Thank You Very Much For Your Consideration,

Cassandra Shott