Writ 101: First
Quarter
During
this first quarter I have learned so much. The class started with writing a
memoir, a paper about Native American mascots, then one of a political cartoon,
and finally a research paper about technology in the classroom. In between
writing the essays I learned about “weasel words”, commas, citing, claims, just
to name a few.
Out of
all the essays, I thought the hardest ones to write were the mascot and cartoon
essays. For the mascot essay it was hard for me to put in words what I thought
and to make it long enough for a whole essay. I didn’t want anything from my
paper to be misunderstood. I still don’t have much of an opinion on it besides,
“it depends”. The political cartoon was hard for me also, because it didn’t
seem like my cartoon had a lot to write about. It was pretty simple and to the
point. I could have done more research and cited it to help, but if I had the
chance to re-do it I would choose a different cartoon.
The
paper I enjoyed writing the most was the research paper. It wasn’t the most
interesting topic, but I love doing research and learning new knowledge. The
process of writing the paper helps me to understand the information better. I
keeps it organized in my head. Plus I’m working at my writing skills and
learning something new at the same time!
I have
found I have a problem with “weasel” words. I constantly use the word “that”
and “you” and I’m sure many other words. So that is defiantly something I need
to work on this next quarter.
This
class is one of my favorite classes this year. I’ve learned a lot so far and I find
like the time in class isn’t wasted. There is always something to learn or get
better at. It’s also easy-going and organized. My pet peeve is having a class
disorganized and having it be stressful when it doesn’t have to be. To clarify,
when I say “easy-going” I don’t mean “easy” or “not any work” it’s just productive,
organized, and not chaotic.
I'm glad you made the point about not wanting to be misunderstood in the mascots paper. I think it was hard for most people to take a stand because they feel unqualified or worried about offending someone. It's a good topic to discuss for that very reason, but maybe next year I'll wait a little longer before asking students to take a stand on something touchy and controversial!
ReplyDeleteHi Alexis,
ReplyDeleteI liked your comment about 'easy-going' classes--that they're not necessarily 'easy', they're just organized and 'not chaotic'. I'm an aspiring teacher, and one thing I worry about is how I'll 'get my students to like me' (in a really basic sense). It's nice to hear that students (like you) appreciate a classroom that is welcoming and hard-working all at once. I'll remember your comment when I begin my teaching career!
Beth