Feb
2016
Mid-term Reflection
When I began signing up for spring classes at Georgia State University, I had no clue who would be the best teacher for me. Some of my professors were selected based off the experience of my peers, but Mrs. Arrington’s English 1102 class was randomly selected. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but I just assumed we’d just write papers majority of time. I realized how wrong I was from the very first day I entered Mrs. Arrington’s classroom. The requirements of the course were the least of what I expected.
Before entering this course, I never knew how to construct writing assignments based off hands-on research. I was always told to go straight to the library or Google to find a reliable resource. This way of conducting research offers a more open-minded structure of things. It makes you think deeper than what is actually on the surface. You run into so many facts and there are so many different ways of approaching these facts. This works much better for me because I am a hands on learner. Now I longer worry about what to write, but how much to write about. Citing before now was suggested, but not encouraged. This course has put great emphasis on how important it is to cite and use quotations around things that come directly from the source. I was once warned of unintentional plagiarism and afterwards I no longer took citing so lightly.
From being in this class I’ve learned that one of my strengths is details. When it comes to the reading summaries I could give great details on what the article is about. After listening to Mrs. Arrington lecture, I learned that in reading summaries details should be included but only the details that are important. I have many weaknesses in this course and I’m trying to work through them. One weakness is the the lack of understanding of the reading, which can be seen through my reading summaries. I’ve made comments to Mrs. Arrington explaining my concerns and she has offered a lot of help. My plans are to attend group meetings to see my peers intake of the reading to help me better understand the text. I feel this will offer me a great deal of help and help me keep an open mind with any other assignment. Weakness number two is the lack of structure in my sentences and with details. I have a problem with subject-verb agreement and Mrs. Arrington offered me help as always. This time I declined, because I was afraid of the truth. The truth being whether or not I was smart or if I could speak properly. In the beginning I wasn’t familiar with constructive criticism, but over time I realized that feedback was a good thing for. Feedback is a great technique for this class because there is always room for improvement.
At first, I was totally against taking this type of class. I felt like there was no way I could make it through the course, but it was. I had to realize that this course is suppose to make me a better writer and researcher. I feel this class will continue to teach to more aware. I’ve already become aware of the details of my surroundings, sentence structure, and organization. For the rest of the time in this class I will no longer be afraid to ask for help and I will accept the fact that I too make mistakes. I am so glad that I am taking this course with Mrs. Arrington, because she has taught me way more than I need to know. Thank you, Mrs.A!!