Francis Olave Ms.

Hofmann English 1102-037 27 February 2014 Midterm Reflection Before starting class I had no idea what I would be doing in it. I was aware the class's main focus was on culture. I automatically thought it would be something very interesting and easy. In this class I first started off with writing entries. Each entry was done before class and took about five minutes to do. Most of these entries are all free written so I was able to express myself however I wanted to. The entries were responding to questions given to us and articles. I actually did not mind doing this because it was something where I was able not be judged by my writing and simply just write whatever I wanted to say but I did have to write for the amount of time. Another thing done in class was in-class peer groups. My group members are Mitchell, Blake, and Sam Smith. Each member collaborated when it came to in class assignments. Each member had a role. It was either reading the article, asking the questions to the group, writing the answers or questions down, and typing our responses on the forum on moodle. Being in this group I am able to get feedback but also learn from each of the group members. We are able to work as a team together. My part in this group usually is writing the answers down or talking to each of the members of our group when discussing articles or clips. When it comes to the wholeclass discussions I sometimes will say what we discussed in our group. Also as a group we assign who will talk in front of the class so they are aware of what to say. I as a student offer to the whole class There were three in class assignments that stood out to me. They were the response to the Fisherman Story, the object brought to class, and the response to National Parks and Monuments. The Fisherman Story was given to us the first week of class. We were given a readying and then set of questions to free write about the story. After we were done free writing we shared our responses with our partner in which we all gave our opinion on what we each wrote about. Then we were asked to ask questions about this story and get key words or key concepts from the reading. This was an important piece of writing because it was the first thing we did in this English class and gave me an idea of what to expect when it came to free writes and in class discussions. Another thing we did in class was write about an object we brought and shared to the class about something that shows our culture. I brought in a picture of me in Bolivia and explained the significance of this to the class. Many students had many different objects that showed what their culture was, it was very interesting to hear and learn about. After presenting the objects we wrote what the object was in our notebooks or laptops. We were able to share each other's object and discuss further more about it. This is where I noticed that people have

different culture and how I value my culture very much. Another writing I chose in class was the response to the National Parks and Monuments. I thought this writing was important because the free write which was responding to questions about if we have visited any of this national parks or monuments and how the experience was. Along with this we got an article in which we made questions to share to the class. Having the free write and the article together helped relate each piece of writing affects our society today. All of these free writes and questions were done in my notebook. They are all dated on the day they were written and well organized in a notebook. Each free write had a purpose in for which we had been asked to write. There was an article or activity based on that topic that I had free written about. This allowed me to think ahead and prepare myself for an in-class activity. So far I have only missed one class so far and have not been late to class. According to the attendance policy stated in the syllabus we can miss no more than three and after three absences they will be unexcused and will have final grade reduced by certain amount of points. Not only do we have assignments in-class but also out of class. We are responsible for the readings, work outside of class and completing it. There were three outside of class assignments that I thought were important for me to share about. They are the first homework assignment, Pre Library Assignment, and Post Library Assignment. The first homework assignment was on the book Curious Researcher, in which we were to read and do the exercises instructed to do. This was the first time reading the book and getting to know more about the author of this book. Doing these exercises helped me because it showed me how to just respond to questions, not over think about the questions asked and just write. This made me more comfortable and not worry about what to write. The next two assignments I have go with my inquiry assignment. The Pre Library Assignment was an assignment we had to do before going to class discussing what are inquiry question was. I did not get a good grade on this assignment. Before submitting this assignment I was unsure that I did it right. After getting feedback I could say that I could revise it again and make some changes. The Post Library Assignment was done after our visit to the library. In this assignment I had a better understand of what to look up for my inquiry question and the resources I could use for this topic. I ended up getting a good grade on this assignment and I was very satisfied with the outcome of this assignment. Right now I have chose to change my inquiry question but it is the same topic, which is Latin American Culture. I think that the time given to me was good enough to figure out what I wanted to do my inquiry research on. I can say that I am committed to this topic for sure. I have no doubts after meeting with Professor Hofmann that is why I believe I am very committed to this topic. From this research process I have learned that you have to set time for this. You cannot do this at the last minute. Even if you put in time to this research it is still very challenging. I think something that really helped me was the activity in class we did called "Speed Dating" I was able to share my topic and tell my classmates my ideas on my research. It was very helpful on their feedback because there were things that I could add or take off. My inquiry project is different from other research papers I have done in the past by the way this

project is not just listing facts but an inquiry research. Usually all the research papers I have a topic and question I have researching in which I have to research and talk about but it is more of facts listed in the paper. I think that my inquiry topic will make a difference in my life by the way I am a part of the culture but also teach me how cultures are different. I really want to be able to travel to this different cultures in Latin America to learn more about each culture. For the readers I think it will change their perspective on what they thought of Latin America. Also they will be able to learn about the culture of another country besides there's. I have three questions about research, reading, and writing. They are: when do you know when you have found the right amount of research?, how do you know when you can stop revising a paper?, and do all authors make mistakes when it comes to writing? For the second part of this semester the goals I have are to be able to be more detailed in writing and be able to analyze text.