FINAL PORTFOLIO AND REFLECTION

If you get anything from this term, I hope it’s the idea that composing isn’t just for college – it’s a tool you use in community, personal, and professional situations as well. And once you learn how to analyze a rhetorical situation, or what kind of writing task you are being asked to compose, you can start to figure out what someone wants you to write no matter what the situation.

Revisions of Unit 1 and Unit 2

For the Final Portfolio in this class, you will revise your projects for Unit 1 (Educational Biography) and Unit 2 (Annotated Bibliography).  As we just finished Unit 3, you will most likely not have time to revise that project, so this is not required. 

Revision is important because the first draft of a project is often  just the beginning. You are thinking about content and visual form. You are beginning to think of audience and how the work you create is effective both in and outside of the classroom. As this is a college writing class, you are also thinking about future college writing you will have to do: lab reports, technical writing, graphic design proposals or requests for proposals, grant or financial aid applications. You are thinking about different genres so you don’t approach every college assignment as the the same task. You should be recognizing that your  words are important– so you must pay attention and present them accordingly!

For revision, use my comments on Blackboard. You have comments on the rubric and comments on the manuscript. You will upload the new version into the appropriate folder, so that I can compare your two drafts. If I see change in your work, I will revise the grade accordingly for that assignment.

Both Units 1 and 2must be revised! Unit 3, Parts 1 and 2 must be completed.

The folders in the Assignments folder in Blackboard will be reopened for new drafts.

 The Final Reflection 

DUE DATES

Due: for a grade on Blackboard, Tuesday, Dec. 15

______________________________________________

We’re living in unprecedented times, and we’re all being asked to work in new ways. I’m proud of everybody for hanging in and continuing your college careers in the face of unimaginable challenges. So for this Final Reflection piece, I’d like to ask you to consider the following questions:

  1. What have you learned about yourself as a reader, writer and scholar this term?
  2. How will you use what you have learned this term and transfer that knowledge to other writing situations—either in college or within your community?
  3. As evidence to back up your points, you must use at least three quotes from your own writing this semester in your reflection.

As a way to begin your Reflection, look back through your compendium of work: this can include your main writing projects in addition to discussion board threads, your “time capsule,” prep work for the classes, what you did/said/thought in peer review activities, your experiences with your colleagues, and so on. As you browse through your work, ask yourself about and take notes on the following questions. To be clear: you don’t have to answer all of these questions in your final reflection.  These are just to give you some ideas for answering the three above:

  •  How would you compare/contrast work you did early in the semester to work you are doing now?
  • What have you learned about how you approach writing assignments? What do you well? What could you do more effectively?
  • What was your favorite/least favorite assignment this semester and why?
  • What are some notable lessons about writing or college that have stuck with you after completing certain assignments?
  • What changed in your writing (reading, thinking) in response to having to learn about and work in new genres?
  •  How did you make decisions in your assignments about content and design?
  • What were your early assumptions/beliefs about yourself and writing? Have they since changed? Explain.
  • What was your experience revising assignments?
  • Was there any peer feedback that stands out to you and why?
  •  What was particularly challenging for you in our course this semester and how did you work to  overcome it?

Please don’t  answer the above questions and format your final reflection in bullet points or as a numbered list. These questions are meant only to help you brainstorm ideas.

Think about everything done this semester—some activities certainly hooked your interest while others… may not have. The activities that caught your attention likely had a point or something that was meaningful to you.  They weren’t just lists of thoughts and ideas.  So now that you’ve brainstormed, is there a main point in what you’re trying to say? Can you organize your ideas a bit?  As you consider this self reflection of yourself as a writer,  treat yourself as a respected author who has lived through a difficult time. Remember also that you are someone with something to say.

Final Reflection: Grading Process and Criterion

You will upload the Final Reflection in a folder on Blackboard. This writing is worth 10% of your overall course grade. You can review this post if you wish: ENG 1101 Course Grade Reminder. 

Here’s what I will be looking for (and grading you on):

Attention to audience. You need to have a “so what?” or an overall focus.  Please don’t  list random opinions about your writing—write an article or short essay about what you’ve learned about yourself and your writing process. We’ve considered audience throughout the semester. Think about who you are writing for.  This time its for yourself, your peer reviewers, and in the end, your instructor.

Attention to organization.  This does not have to be a traditional 5 paragraph essay organization, but you should have separate paragraphs (not just a 1000 word paragraph, please) and some reason for the order of your paragraphs.

Evidence and analysis. In this personal reflection on yourself as a writer, show evidence of your claims. This specifically means integrating quotes from your own writing. Note: All reflections should have at least three quotes from your own writing this semester although it doesn’t matter from what (finished essays, discussion threads, observations you made about other peers’ work). Don’t drop those quotes in  and expect your readers to figure out why you’ve chosen them. Explain why that passage is important to your readers.

Care and attention to language. Proofread. Make sure the reflection is long enough (1000 words). As usual, you can use whatever language you see fit to use, but the words that are there should be there for a reason.

Video Presentation of the Final Portfolio and Reflection Assignment

A video of this presentation is in this post:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/sears-fall2020-englco9/unit-4-final-portfolio/