Adam Foster Rand 12/4/13 Final Reflection a) The song that best represents my experience in English 1103 is Lets

Work

Together by Canned Heat. I think this song is a good representation of my experience in class because throughout the year we did activities, assignments, and had discussions that relied on us working together. This class was very group oriented and we had a lot of opportunities to work together. For example, in class there were many times Ms. Rand would ask us to discuss a topic or come up with a response to a question in our table groups. This allowed us to collaborate with other class members on numerous occasions, and led us to say to each other come on, come on, lets work together, as in the song by Canned Heat. Another way we worked together in class was on our chapter presentations from the Bain book. Nearly a quarter of our class meetings included group presentations that lasted about 30 minutes each. These long presentations would not have been possible if we did not work together with our group members. b) If I were to teach this class, I would emphasize the importance of deep learning and

how grades shouldnt be everything. I would use the book by Ken Bain to reinforce that and would also reinforce that idea by my own grading. In order to reinforce learning over grades, I would not have any tests or small homework assignments where shortcuts or cheating could occur, but just classwork and major projects/papers to make sure that my students were actually retaining what I was teaching. In my teaching, I would emphasize how a piece of writing doesnt have to have a specific structure, but to use research and ideas to form your own structure. I would teach them to abandon the 5-paragraph strategy taught in most high schools and make them realize every paper is different, so all their structures should not be the same.

Adam Foster Rand 12/4/13 Final Reflection c) Over the course of this class, the work that I enjoyed reading the most was Shitty

First Drafts by Anne Lamott. The reason this reading is my favorite is because it gave me an entirely new approach to writing. Before reading it, I tried to make my first draft as polished as possible to the point where it barely needed any editing before considering it a final draft. But after reading Shitty First Drafts, I learned that sometimes the best writing is done if you just type out your random thoughts on paper and organize them later. I used to try to come up with organization for my paper first and then let my thoughts fall into that structure. But now, I have found that the best way for me to write is to write out random thoughts on a sheet of paper and then pick my main topic points from those thoughts, instead of the other way around. I would have never thought of doing that if it werent for Anne Lamotts Shitty First Drafts, which is why I really enjoyed reading it. d) I would say that my writing successes were my literacy autobiography and my

inquiry project. In my literacy autobiography, I expanded my horizons and didnt limit literacy to just reading and writing. I learned that literacy can apply to many different subjects, something I never realized before this project. In my inquiry project, I was able to write about a topic I was interested in, so I naturally did better on the paper. I was able to build a strong paper and supported my findings with a lot of research and statistics. But, my biggest writing success came from simply changing the way I write. I consider it a huge success changing my writing style from being so focused on one structure that limited my content, to being flexible with my writing structure based on my content. If I were to change anything about my writing this year, I would have put more time into the multigenre project. I could have done a lot better work on my PowerPoint and rationale

Adam Foster Rand 12/4/13 Final Reflection chart if I had just put more time and effort in. In my literacy autobiography, I used many different rhetorical strategies to enhance my paper. One of these rhetorical choices was quoting my pitching coach when describing a drill that I learned. By using direct quotations, I made the description of the drill more real and more personal by introducing my pitching coach directly instead of indirectly. Another rhetorical strategy I used was asking myself questions and giving answers to them. I did this to show exactly how I felt about taking the pitching lessons in retrospect. My answers to the questions juxtaposed my feelings about the lessons today versus back then when I was taking them. I also gave the dictionary definition of literacy at the beginning of the paper to compare my closedminded view of literacy before this project to my open-minded view of literacy after the project. e) Once upon a time, there was a young, nave boy named Adam who thought he knew

how to write. He was so closed-minded and thought he knew it all. But, little did he know he was in for a rude awakening. Going into the first class, Adam was more eager to meet new people than improve his writing skills, but both would eventually happen. Through frequent class discussions and blog posts, he quickly acquainted himself with his classmates and made many new friends. Now it was time for him to focus on his schoolwork. Going into the first major project, the literacy project, Adam was going to write about how his reading and writing developed, until he read his classmates blog posts on literacy. He realized that literacy did not have to be limited to just reading and writing. Adam quickly found out that in order to succeed in English 1103, he was going to have to think outside the box and stop being so closed-minded. So, for his literacy project, he wrote

Adam Foster Rand 12/4/13 Final Reflection about literacy in pitching, something he never connected to literacy. Adam also learned to be more flexible with his writing style and structure through the literacy autobiography and the inquiry project. English 1103 taught him that writing did not have to be limited to one particular structure, such as only an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The inquiry project also taught Adam the difference between a research paper and an inquiry paper. He could add in his own thoughts and opinions in an inquiry paper, something he didnt know before this class. Through the multigenre project and one-onone meetings with his classmates, Adam learned that there are many different ways to present information other than a paper. The same information can be presented more effectively, for example, in a Prezi than a paper. English 1103 was a great learning experience for Adam, as it made him more creative and open-minded as well as adjusting his writing process. f) In this class, I have learned so much about writing that I can use in other courses. I

learned that sometimes the best way to write is to just let all your ideas flow out onto the paper and to not worry about if it makes sense. You can make sense of it and organize your thoughts later, but if you lose a thought because youre afraid of messing up your structure, you may lose a valuable part of a paper. I have also learned that before you type anything, it is very important to determine your audience. By determining the audience, you may change the entire focus of your paper. Also, your audience can determine your voice and whether or not you should use an informal tone with contractions or a formal tone. Another way to enhance your writing is to use dialogue. It makes your writing more interactive and makes characters seem more real. In other classes, I will definitely use my

Adam Foster Rand 12/4/13 Final Reflection new writing process of using my ideas to form my papers structure instead of letting my structure form my ideas. I will also definitely remember to determine my audience before writing something and using dialogue in future papers will happen. g) Based on my first semester of college, if I were to create an allegory of college, it

would be that college is a slap in the face. I would say college is a slap in the face because it is a harsh reality when you go from 18 years of always being surrounded by family who sometimes spoon-fed you things to all of a sudden living on your own and having to support yourself in all aspects of life. It kind of hits you all of a sudden that your parents will no longer be there all the time to remind you to do your homework, pay for your meals, and hold your hand through hard times. In college, you are on your own. You are responsible for getting your work done on your own time, responsible for waking yourself up to go to class, and responsible for managing your money. It is especially a slap in the face when taking the first college exam. Because tests in high school didnt usually require much studying (for me at least), I used those same habits and barely made a C on my first college exam. Lucky for me, I passed, while a lot of other college students fail their first exam. This is because they are unprepared and assume they can get by with not much effort. But, they are in for a slap in the face when they are hit with their grade. In college, no one is there to remind you to study or give you incentive to get good grades. You must be self-motivated and get your work done on your own time. It is also a slap in the face when you realize that your parents are no longer there to give you money for nonessentials, and sometimes even essentials. You are on your own to pay for everything and therefore you must learn to manage your money, usually on a very tight budget. More

Adam Foster Rand 12/4/13 Final Reflection importantly, you much manage your time to make sure you get work done, get enough sleep, and still have time to enjoy yourself. Overall, college is a great experience, but can be like a slap in the face at first.