Reflection On Open Letter Draft

I peer edited Breanna and Sam's open letter rough drafts. Both did a great job being specific about what they reflected on in the semester and then followed the conventions of the genre well. Below are my reflections on the peer editing I received from Charles and Tyler.

Zebest, Orin "Pen to Paper" 10/01/2007 via flickr.com Attribution 2.0 Generic

1. Did you demonstrate an ability to think about your writing and yourself as a writer?

I think the third paragraph of my rough draft demonstrated my ability to critically look at my writing and my style of writing. I took a look at how my time management influences my writing style and how by correcting both concurrently I can write better and relieve stress caused by waiting to last minute to complete an assignment.

2. Did you provide analysis of your experiences, writing assignments, or concepts you have learned?

I provided analysis of writing assignments and my experiences while writing those assignments. As well, I mention the concepts I learned in paragraph 4 where I look to the future and things I am doing now to improve my writing and time management skills. Although there is no singular place in the letter that lists my experiences, writing assignments and concepts that I have learned throughout the letter you can find mentions of all three things as I reflect upon the past semester.

3. Did you provide concrete examples from your own writing (either quotes from your writing or rich descriptions of your writing process)?

I provided hyperlinks to my rough drafts from previous projects to illustrate how rushed my writing was throughout the semester. I then explained what it was like to rush through a paper and how so many opportunities for revision and analysis were lost due to the time frame I was writing in. I will, however, convey in a clearer way my writing process in the final draft as it is unclear at the present moment.

4. Did you explain why you made certain choices and whether those choices were effective?

I explained why I did certain things and why that effected me. Overall, I wrote the letter in a way that showed my time management choices were not effective but some writings strategies like creating an outline and doing preliminary research were. I were also clarify my choices and how effective they were in the final draft of my reflection.

Draft of Open Letter

Here is the link to my draft of the open letter. Please keep in mind that this is a rushed first draft and that I will be revising throughout the week. I encourage my editors to be harsh in their criticism but please explain why because that is the most helpful and will improve my writing. Thank you for taking a look!

Federal Highway Administration - MUTCD "MUTCD G20-5aP" 08/22/2012 via wikimedia.org Public Domain

Edit:

I peer reviewed on Sam and Breanna rough drafts.

Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

I have answered some questions below regarding my time in English 109H and the struggles, growth and regression I have experienced throughout this course in my writing skills. I have grown a lot and learned how to write in different styles but I have failed in my efforts to rid myself of my procrastination habits. Find more detailed answers below.

Nllson, Susanne, "Reflection" 03/12/2014 via flickr.com Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

• What were the biggest challenges you faced this semester, overall?

The biggest challenge I faced was motivating myself to complete a little bit of my homework every night so that I didn't have the entire project due the next day when I started to do my work. Multiple times this semester I waited until Friday to even glance at the homework and begin to think about my paper before I started writing it on Saturday when it was due.

• What did you learn this semester about your own time management, writing and editorial skills?

I learned that I have no time management skills, my writing skills have improved from all the writing I have had to do and that my editorial skills are improving as I have peer reviewed my peers and my own papers. I would like my time management skills to improve and I have purchased a planner that I will use next semester to plan out all my assignments and when I am going to start and finish major assignments.

• What do you know about the concept of 'genre'? Explain how understanding this concept is central to being a more effective writer.

A genre is a style of writing that is defined by the conventions of that style of writing. Understanding what genre I am writing makes me an effective writer because it will follow the style that has been put forth by other writers so it will have a familiar feel when read. Also, it will not be illogical or jump around because it will have organization within the genre's parameters.

• What skills from this course might you use and/or develop further in the next few years of college coursework?

This course has forced me to take a look at my time management skills and made me realize that I need to develop them if I want to be successful in my remaining semesters of college. Obviously, my writing skills will be necessary in any class or professional setting I am in for the rest of my life so developing skills through this class is useful for me because I will use them.

• What was your most effective moment from this semester in 109H? 

My most effective moment from this semester in 109H was when I completed my homework for Deadline 7 ahead of the Saturday deadline. I completed all of the deadlines by Thursday that week but not only had I completed it by Thursday but I had done a few blogs each day to finish it by Thursday. This was my first success in actually complete ling homework before its due.

• What was your least effective moment from this semester in 109H? 

My least effective moment was when I started my Project 2 paper final draft on the Friday when it was due. I had a lot of homework that week and I had not set aside any time to start the revisions on my rough draft. I ended up spending all night Friday and all day Saturday rewriting my paper in order to conform to the conventions of a rhetorical analysis paper and to reflect the necessary information that rubric required my paper to have. This extreme lack of time management skills was my least effective moment from this semester.

Revisiting My Writing Process

Below I reflect on blog 1.10 and 1.12 from the first project. As apparent from my answers I have made little progress in changing my procrastination habits but I have tried this semester. Please take a look at my reflection below.

Tacke, Oliver "Kanban (individuell)" 10/01/2013 via flickr.com Attribution 2.0 Generic

I recently took a look at blog 1.10 and 1.12 from the first week of the semester. Blog 1.10 is about my perceived writing strategy which at the time was a heavy reviser. However, my habits have changed over the course of the semester and I have become a procrastinator. I constantly found myself this semester writing my final draft on the Friday night or Saturday morning before my paper was due. I feel this ties in with blog 1.12 which was about finding time in my calendar to do my English homework. I set aside time during my lunch break to finish blog posts that were due that week that way my Saturdays would not be filled with English homework. However, over the course of the semester my lunch breaks have been full of eating and hanging out with friends.

Now my writing habits and time management skills have regressed. I am constantly rushing or being rushed by a due date to do not only my English homework but homework I have in other classes. What this past semester has told me is that I am going to be an extremely stressed out, college drop out with a lot of potential but lacks the motivation to work hard for a goal. So I plan in the following semesters of my college career to actively use my calendar to plan ahead the studying, homework assignments and major course projects so that I can start these assignments ahead of time. Completely assignments with my full ability will lend better grades and better work.