Blog Post #4: Final Exam/Essay--Reflection on Content Learning and the ELOs

 English 1010 Reflection

Throughout this class, I learned about different aspects that I haven’t thought about before.  With assignments that go so deep in the depth of writing, I was able to understand the full process of how to fully craft my writing to make a clear, cohesive piece.  This is a process with which I have not been so engaged so deeply and goes deeper than just the surface.  With the deep process of writing, I clearly understand the writing process and can more effectively communicate ideas through writing when following it.  I have met the Essential Learning Objectives by being able to write more about topics that I’m not very familiar with without getting stuck, and by understanding the credibility of a source before using it as evidence 

There were many different forms of engaging writing assignments that got my creative writing juices flowing in different ways.  In class, we would often take notes by following an outline while our professor went through lectures.  This got me to stay focused on the topics that I was being taught by using the skills of listening comprehension and writing. These note-taking tasks helped me to gather the main ideas of topics quickly and apply them to my writing.  Another activity was the engagement activity.  These activities were foreign to me at the beginning of the year.  The idea of replying to the assignment and then replying to other students’ ideas got me to view things in a way I hadn’t thought about them before.  This also ties into Eli's review feedback assignments.  This website helped me to understand the strengths and weaknesses in my writing from others.  I have never been more aware of what my writing looks like to others.  

Since not having done assignments like this before in past writing classes, I am able to write a lot better than I had been able to at the beginning of the course.  Knowing how to write without getting stuck and being able to get feedback in such a way is very beneficial.  These aspects are helpful when applied to my life.  Just as writing is a form of communication, talking is another form.  I feel as if I have advanced my writing skills, therefore, I am better at communicating through a conversation.  Overall, just a better communicator, and this is extremely beneficial when applied to my real life outside of this course.  One specific thing that will stick with me is the blog posts.  Because these assignments allowed me to express myself in my own form of media writing.  One good way for me to strengthen my writing skills is through writing about topics I am interested in, or passionate about.  This is mostly because I have lots to say, and it’s fun to organize my ideas.

I believe I have met the Essential Learning Objectives and have advanced through the written communication, critical thinking, and information literacy topics because of how much more skills I have now after finishing this course.  As mentioned earlier, by exercising my abilities to write through assignments like engagement activities, blog posts, and Eli reviews, I am able to communicate ideas more effectively through my writing.  For future writing classes, I hope to expand my writing experience even more through different exercises.  I know now how to get myself more acclimated to a topic, in order to feel more comfortable writing about it.  This is a skill that I will be taking with me in my next writing course.