reflections

Reflection #1 9/14

Three weeks ago I walked into the unimaginable maze like high school for my first day  as a ninth grader. We’d been there before for sporting events, orientation, etc., but trying to find classes was a whole other challenge. Finally after hours of introductions and ice breakers and fun facts I reached period 10 honors english with Mr.Heidt. I’d only ever written essays and prompts and book reports in previous english classes, however we started of class with a free write. Finally some wiggle room for expression. It was easier to just right what came to mind for a couple minutes than to answer a question or respond to a prompt. The words just came to me. I looked back on my writing when the three minutes was up and I was shocked. It was just a jumble of my thoughts, feelings, whatever was cluttered in my head at the moment. It was a dump of thoughts, but I liked it better than any paper I’d written in the past. Everyone, all 26 or so of us, sitting in that circle of desks just scribbling away, some passionately, something on their mind, and others methodically. My mindset and way of thinking has already altered and I can’t wait to see what else we’ll come up with as a community. The very few free writes we’ve done already have allowed me to write whatever I want without hesitation.

Reflection #2 9/28

Our theme for this month was relationships. Now as I look back on it, I understand why. We all just started a new school, which entails a new environment, new people, and a new dynamic. So for us to build a community within even just our class was essential. Even just starting with our toast for change poems, we literally had to write about change and its effect. We then gave positive feedback towards one another and built each other up from it. Whenever we would peer share or peer review, we were building relationships because we had to open ourselves up to criticism and other opinions to then use it to benefit ourselves and better our writing. Personally, I could work on being even more open and allow myself to admit, discuss, and improve my errors and weaknesses.

Reflection #3 10/12

Based on peer feedback, I was able to improve my blog and it’s content for the better. structurally, there was only a few areas of concern. There were no grammatical errors, however it was noted that it might be easier and more efficient for the reader to comprehend the posts if they are in order from first at the top to most recent at the bottom. Previously, mine was set up the opposite, with the most recent at the top, and now I can see how that might be confusing. Also, I received comments on how a few posts were more just summarizations, rather than actually analyzing what I read and commenting on it and,or making inferences. Granted summarizations are fitting in some circumstances, but others, like some blogs, need more excitement and indulging qualities within the writing. So in other words, to also have more of a “voice” while writing/blogging instead of just relaying information from the book.

Some qualities of other’s blogs that I found interesting was their use of pictures. It wasn’t just to fill space or put in a random picture, it was useful and beneficial to the understanding of that passage. It related to the story and what they were saying about it, not just about the story in general. I also admired how involved some people were. Much more so than others and it really helped for the comprehension and understanding of the story. I will definitely try out some of these techniques in future posts.

Reflection #4 10/26

This first marking period has gone by so fast and I feel like I have gotten so much done already and really grown in terms of ability to write and communicate. We’ve technically only had a few assignments, but we have really spent a lot of time on each and analyzing, reviewing, and revising each one in great detail. Whether that was directly with Mr. Heidt, each other, or just with ourselves it didn’t much matter because we all also learned to read and revise in a beneficial way to give proper feedback that the writer can then use to better their pieces of writing and use the same principals in the future.

We’ve also learned to write more freely, obviously from the free writes, and also more expressively and creatively. We continue to free write because it is important to learn and keep learning how you write and to build on it and make it better.

With all that we have learned and learned to apply already, I will not be surprised if in the second marking period we learn a vast amount more and realize how it all relates to each other or at least something already familiar to us.

Overall this marking period was very beneficial to me and, I’m assuming, my peers because of how much we have learned and have yet to learn.

reflection #5 11/2

These writing training camps have been extremely beneficial, even if they seem tedious and/or useless. We learned to use rhythm and descriptive tools to keep a reader interested and engaged. We were also able to apply various sentence lengths and styles to different types of writing. Moving forward I’d like to use these techniques in any writing, whether formal or informal to advance the sound, rhythm, style, and effect of any of my writing. I could very easily use any of these tools in my writing because they benefit it so easily and make it so much better. They also all work in different environments of writing and in different situations. For example the painterly paragraph style adds avery descriptive element to any paragraph that possibly needs it and makes it much more interesting to read and enjoy. This could be with any of the new techniques and tools I used and learned so they make anything sound better and make you an overall better writer.

reflection #6 11/9

Within the last week our lessons revolved around the writing training camps. What they’ve taught me I discussed in the last reflection, but how I would build on them in the future is pretty much anytime I write from here on out. The types and styles of writing relate to any form of writing I could possibly dream of putting on paper so using these techniques from the wtc will only improve the excerpts.

On the marking period grading conference, I definitely realized my strengths and weaknesses overall in a general way. I now realize how to also build on those weaknesses and benefit my work in the future. I learned where I could continue to build even farther than I did previously and how I can do even better in not only this course, but any other opportunity I have to evaluate my own work and improve.