Final Reflection

This final reflection took a long time to do but now that I finished it makes me feel good. This reflection will talk about everything that I did in the class and will and also the things I learned and used in my projects. 

Memo

To: Jennifer Atkins-Gordeeva

From: Martin Ortiz Guardado

Projects and Their Processes

This semester we had three major projects. My first project was a This I Believe Essay meaning I had to write an essay on something I believe in. For example "always be nice to the pizza guy" or " the golden rule". I wrote mine over a Mexican saying "Ponte Las Pilas" Meaning to put on your batteries. This means to try your best and to get your life together or to simply put on your batteries. I started the essay off by talking about how I would always get in trouble in school and how it affected my grades. Then I wrote about the time my mom and dad first told me to "ponerme las pilas". I liked this project because it brought back old memories and allowed me to share it with my class. we also had to look over our classmate's essays and seeing how they put theirs together helped me format mine. This essay also helped me organize my past, present, and future and just better my understanding of how to go back and revise myself.

In project two we had to create a rhetorical analysis of an ad from the 20th century and break it down into an essay. My ad was the famous Obama Hope Poster, and I talked about the creator and what the poster stands for. This project helped me better understand how to write to an audience. This project also helped me think outside the box by making me write 1000 words over a simple poster. This also helped me see how a simple poster can have a lot to say. We also had to Peer review each other's work and doing so helped me work on my collaborative writing processes by getting my friend's feedback on my essay and also by me giving them feedback. Whenever I would look over their work I would get some good ideas of what to put in my essay.

For project three we started by reading the Banks Sample Exploratory Essay as a guide for the organization of our essay. I focused on sources that dealt with the topic, "benefits of failure and having a growth mindset." My teacher had given us a list of sources to chose from. We had to use the sources that the teacher gave us to try to answer and explain our topic question. One of the many things this project helped me learn was how to properly create a work cited page. Another thing that helped me understand how to combine different paragraphs and create a smooth transaction between them. when I did my peer review, I started to see my peer's mistakes, and looking over their essays made me want to look over my own and I imagined it was someone else's and by doing so  I found some of my own mistakes.

Learning Outcomes for Comp I

I have demonstrated the ability to respond appropriately to various rhetorical situations, purposes, and audiences. In project one I had this I believe essay meaning I had to write an essay on something I believe in. I had to learn how to write my essay in such a friendly and entertaining way that my class would enjoy reading. But in project two we had to create a rhetorical analysis of an ad from the 20th century and break it down into an essay. with this project, I had to make my essay more informative. If you take a look at my project one (https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/ET-JfmaP7h9OkeeS7FmyAK4BPOcgD2sirU0mKVDyhTiLdA?e=6apGVw) you will see a difference from my second project (https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/EVyZCNKPOzFJn5T7kGVQyIEB9EF0NMaAoohgXWd3T4RviQ?e=agVh1v).

 

I learned some critical thinking/reading and composing skills in my project three. I started off by reading the Banks Sample Exploratory Essay as a guide for organizing my essay. My teacher then gave us a bunch of sources to read and choose which ones to include in my essay.  I had to read every source to find out what best works in my essay and by doing so helped me improve my critical thinking and reading skill. This is my project three-link https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/EZ-g9tH-FIFJqQC_nl5SCJsBFdZLkfi2OD0wcn6sKSeljQ?e=zrpFSk and as you can see all my sources are related to my topic question.

I also learned to integrate my original ideas with those of my peers. our teacher assigned us an exercise/race to see who can create the most citations and they also had to be formatted correctly. Our class was divided into two different teams. we had to work together to create the citations. I started by waiting and seeing how my team created their citation because I wasn't sure how to start. Seeing how my team created theirs helped me learn how to create my own. After I learned how to create a citation I started to see a pattern in creating them, and by copying and pasting one of my citations and using it as a template I manage to create a lot of them. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dvl_LcHOTUDCaaAYTs_NrTZaeW18F9hlOPYw1WyMjVs/edit)

I was able to develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading. The way I accomplished this was by going through activities my teacher assigned us. For example we had to do 5 reading responses and other activities. They helped me learn how to break down and summarize sources. After I had enough practice doing the reading responses, my project three turned out to be a breeze. While reading a source, I learned how to skip over information that I didn't need and focus on the relevant information. This is a reading response I did over Advertisements R Us  by Melissa Rubin and as you can see my work was in a good path.  https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/ERmtoX8hxmhLtPtXk4ianR0B2S1Yfahk4qSG-OPxcZ47iQ?e=JX9eSS

I am capable of using my collaborative writing process skill that I manage to improve by working together with my class. I was able to practice this skill by looking over my classmate's essays and giving them tips on how to improve their writing. https://docs.google.com/document/d/12-qAy5ZcPtWxr9F45O2mR479CKeIGJmOH83YUszJjfA/edit In this practice I had to revise 3 different essays and at the same time, 3 of my peers were reviving mine. As I was looking at my peer's essay I noticed they had written a lot more and I needed to step up my game and add more to my work. My peers were able to see how I made two-three paragraphs per source and I was able to help give them ideas on how to extend their paragraphs. From looking over their essay I was able to learn how to create a transaction sentence between my paragraphs.

I used multiple strategies to demonstrate my knowledge of structure. In class we had to do a pattern of errors exercise where my teacher assigned each student a pattern of error we kept committing. She assigned me to commas since that was what I struggled with the most. I had to provide a video that helped me learn how to use them properly so I chose to share to the class a short and entertaining video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHnl1O3NGJk. Another exorcise I did was a HOC and LOCS worksheet https://elearning.uaptc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3070534-dt-content-rid-18742881_1/courses/ENGL0111.02A.FA20/HOCs%20and%20LOCs%20This%20I%20Believe_Composition%20Mix%20references_20200902.docx. If you take a look at my first essay https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/ET-JfmaP7h9OkeeS7FmyAK4BoEFAwUw3Hk02cZFH_K2yoQ?e=v7cSAE and my last essay https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/EZ-g9tH-FIFJqQC_nl5SCJsBwZQFUqZMxf5l_BKYqhEr7w?e=cZZd9e you will Clearly see how I used my skill to improve my writing.  

 

 

 

Learning Outcomes for Composition Review

 

First Learning Outcome

I learned a lot of different ways that I can  demonstrate good critical thinking skills. This semester we had to do five reading responses over different readings. With all the practice I had, I was able to learn how to break down and summarize sources. My first reading response was a this I believe essay https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/EUfhp2U8VGtLrN0QUqSzru0BV9EF6_TlLNnkIa2oUetMew?e=peDuAj. After the second reading response I started to take mental notes on what to talk about in my response as I was reading it for the first time.

Second Learning Outcome

I also learned  a variety of strategies to create and use sources in my writing. I used to think that it was just about putting a link to a website like www.example.com But turns out it's more than that. We have to include the name of the person who created the source, the title of the source, the link, and the date that we last accessed it. If you go to this link it will take you to my project three and on my last page, you will see my completed work cited page. https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/EZ-g9tH-FIFJqQC_nl5SCJsBFdZLkfi2OD0wcn6sKSeljQ?e=DaKRZG.

Third Learning Outcome

In project two, I showed my ability to generate text by creating a 1000+ word essay from a simple poster. I struggled a lot at the start of this essay because I didn't know what else to talk about once I finished describing what was on the poster. After a day or two, I started to think about the background or purpose behind the poster. I started to talk about the creator of the and about the things that motivated him. I included another picture of an image of J.F.K that helped him design. https://pulaskitech-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/maguardado7927_students_uaptc_edu/EX-C743ngxtPngb5y_2tJN8Br0QYLcNG7dZ30CvJSQZlXg?e=UT5xGe In this link you will find my project two essays and you will see how much I manage to talk about. I felt very good when I finished this project because I never thought I was able to write so much over a simple image. 

Strengths and Challenge

My biggest challenge was that I had to revise 3 different essays that my peers wrote. I always felt that if I am not perfect how can I give my classmates feedback. I didn't want to give them bad information. But once I started looking over their essays, I realized that I am actual pretty good at it. I started off by reading how my classmates gave me feedback and that gave me an idea of what to look for. I also remembered how my teacher looked over mine and told me what I was missing and I saw that they were missing it to. As I was looking at my classmates essay I  also noticed that they had written a lot more and I needed to step up my game and add more to my work. From looking over their essay I was able to learn how create a transaction sentence between my paragraphs.

Overall Benefit

When I registered for my English class and heard I needed to take a support class made me think that I was going to struggle and I was so scared that I wast going to pass. Once class started I met my teacher and after the first class I knew she was going to be nice just based on how she talked to me. After the first day I started to feel better about myself. Comp one and comp review was pretty straightforward and easy to get through. I have to say at times I thought the projects were a bit much but as long as I did my work I was good. I am very happy with this experience and I learned a lot from these classes. I learned how to think outside the box, how to look over my own work. In a way I also learned to be confident in myself. I am sure to say that this class has helped me in the long run and taught me a lot of valuable skills I will need in life and for the rest of my school experience.