On April 9, as a “comment,” post your collaboration cover letter. Make your response a thoughtful two, to four, paragraphs. Make in-depth comments (of at least three sentences) on at least three other entries from this class before April 11.
In the cover note section, in your “collaboration” page, note whose responses you replied to for Cover Letters blogging. If you have not done so, also note whose responses you replied to for your film replies.
anne f walker 
As I think about collaboration, it is an group of diverse people giving their ideas on a situation or an idea they may hear of. This semester, I had to go through a series of collaboration moments with my peers. Through high school, I had to go through an entire semester in a group and my grade was determined how the group did during a competition at the end of the semester. I had experience with group work, but every new place is different because there are always going to be different types of people with many different ideas. As most public speaking goes, the most difficult part about being in a collaboration group is being able to speak up in the first place. My initial fears are my ideas being rejected or being chastised for stating my opinion. Through the work, however, I felt comfortable to speak my opinion and not be afraid of what I may have to say.
Through the semester there were a wide array of collaboration projects and activities. A main activity would be the discussions the class took at the start of lecture every morning. We, as a class, would discuss the readings we had for the day, giving our insight, analysis, and personal opinions on the readings. I felt this helped myself, and, as I hope that I helped other, in understand different perspectives and new ways to view literature as well as historical events. Also, through online blogging, it provided me to type about films and presentations that we had to watch in comparison to a novel. I felt like that really brought the class together because it allowed us to post our ideas and comment, or disagree, with each other, allowing me to constantly keep thinking on how to phrase and argue correctly. Finally, with group led discussions, it bring me into a concentrated group of my peers and explain my ideas and listen to others to create a presentation to show the class. All these works of collaboration really help me develop my communication skills as well as public speaking and argumentative abilities. Collaboration has developed my abilities to be open-minded and out spoken with my peers which is one of the most difficult tasks to overcome.
I agree with you, every group project/work always yield a different experience. Those are also my fears when it comes to talking in front of a class. The GLDs also showed the diversity and opinions of my peers.
I agree with your comments, because collaboration has also helped me dvelop my comunication skills. In order to be open-minded to other’s opinions you have to be willing to listen and accept change and by collaborating with others it helps you to listen to others opinions without being judgemental. Also I like how you mentioned high school, because in my high school we also did group work, but college group work is a lot more different then high school.
I agree on how you were saying about how collaboration improves your communication skills. Communication skills is a key point to survive the real world. How you mention about how in high school you did alot of group work. That was totally like my high school.
I agree, every situation is different and offers something new. Public speaking used to be really hard for me but since college it has gotten a lot easier. This definitely did help my communication skills.
i can agree with you that each time one performs one has to deal with different audience; however, it has given us the opportunity to grow as speaker and has given us communication skills. Another thing i can completely agree with you that the group discussion has brought the class together. Overall, I similar to you, i was able to become a more open-minded person and learned how to lisen to other people’s opinions.
I also agree with your comment. The GLD help me with my presentation skills and understand the concept of the novel better than before. I think the GLD shows that every have their different point of view when it comes to novels and stories.
The quantity of collaboration incorporated into the class has made it enjoyable for me. The most obvious form of collaboration in class has been the group led discussions, which allow a variety of perspectives and thoughts on the topic to be expressed. When There are a bunch of ideas and view points on what we are learning in class it helps be decide what I think is the right interpretation and it also helps me voice my opinion in hopes to help others solidify or make an opinion on the material. During the group led discussions I try to participate as much as possible and to come from a bunch of different angles and perspectives so that the class might take in my perspective as viable. I like that we basically lead half the class as students because it helps us show respect for each other while we present and teaches us all the skills of presenting and leading a class in discussion. Working with people that you don’t know very well also makes collaborating to lead a discussion as a group difficult and pushed me to find what worked best so that we all contributed and made the best discussion possible.
Aside from the group led discussions, peer editing and general help from my classmates has been an invaluable recourse. During the peer editing sessions in class I am getting better at helping create more direct and specific introduction sentences and peer editing overall. More than me helping others with their work I think that I get the most from peer editing because my essays are always made more concise and clear after someone has edited it. Blogging on the wordpress sight has been new to me and I have found it interesting to see what other people have to say and then have to chance to comment on what they think. Overall class collaboration has been beneficial because we all come from different backgrounds and all of our perspectives and opinions are different but valid so the class gets multiple angles to look at any one topic, enhancing the class education.
Well it did not leave two paragraphs as intended. The second paragraph starts at “Aside”, forgive me for the inconvenience.
I do agree that the GLDs helped us understand that there are different opinions and interpretations of a book. It’s a different experience to get used to the WordPress site. But I definitely like this other kind of interaction with our peers.
I agree that the Group Led Discussion does allow you to voice your opinion while giving others the opportunity to comment as well. I also value peer editing because it has made my essays a lot more clearer for any audience that reads it. I also liked how you mentioned the Group Led Discussion as an idea that lets us respect one another, because I never seen respect as one of its benefits until now.
I agree with your view of the GLDs when you said “it helps us show respect for each other while we present and teaches us all the skills of presenting and leading a class in discussion.” I find that this course has introduced a new, enjoyable way of giving a presentation in front of peers. Blogging on the wordepress sight was new to me as well, and even though I had trouble at first, I would agree that it is interesting. I find the collaboration beneficial because of the diverse backgrounds we collectively have, as well.
I agree on how the GLD does allow you to voice you own opinion. I think that is the one thing that helps the GLD become better. Getting into groups for peer editing does help. Like I feel that I get alot of good feedback.
I like what you put on this cover note because the group work really did push me too. It was difficult to get going, but I feel that once we started moving, as a class, we were pretty unstoppable. We always seemed to look into depth of a novel and help each other out when someone could not figure something out. It definitely made class that much more fun.
yes i agree with you that not knowing eachother made it difficult to lead the discussions. HOwever, i think overall we did a really good job and even though it was hard to get our peers to talk we were able to get different opinions out there and get different perspectives of the readings that we had to do. I also agree with you with the fact that peer editting has made us a better writing as we are able to get other peoples’ opinion about our own writing.
I agree that the GLDs, peer review, and general help from our classmate, help out everyone in our class room gain a better understanding about the stories that we had read in the past couple of weeks. I feel that everyone got help one way or another base on their weaknesses in writing.
My experience with participation was not the greatest. I did not effectively participate to the best of my ability. It was because I did not thoroughly read the section that the GLD group focused their presentation on, thus I had to flip through the book and quickly reread the section to understand what they were talking about. There were also instances where I had a thought and I had to think it through to make sure I had addressed the question properly, but then someone else had a similar idea and shared before, thus it seemed redundant to repeat it. As for my own GLDs, it was nerve wracking as always to stand up in front of a class and present. But I was able to do my part and help my group come up with great analysis questions.
I was able to effectively help my peers by peer editing their essays and seeing what they are missing. I progressively adjusted what things to focus on while peer reviewing an essay, for example, making sure that evidence was cited correctly, proofreading, and helping with analysis. I was able to use the grading rubric to the best of my abilities while peer editing since some essays had tried to make the grading rubric and others had their own interpretations of how to meet the rubric standards. Thus I had to adjust myself and reread to see how to efficiently help them meet the standards and try to understand how that could be considered meeting the standards. I assisted my peers not just with peer reviewing their essays, but by also helping understand our sections for the GLD presentations. My peer review support as well as my interpretation of the section for the GLD presentation was effective that they appreciated my viewpoints which lead a better phrased topic sentence to a nice analysis question for the GLD.
I definetly agree with you that group work is not always easy. However, it may have helped you become a better student overall in ways you haven’t realized yet. Coming together to work with other people and gain different perspectives makes us well-rounded students. I agree also that sometimes people would say almost exactly what I was thinking while I contemplated how to put it. However, that only means you were on the right track in what you beleived. I’m glad that you were effective in helping edit the work of your peers and I appreciated the editing you did with my paper last week in class.
I can agree with you that sometimes I felt left out because I didn’t complete the reading some times and I felt left behind and unsure of what some GLD were saying. And yes at first having to stand in front of the class to present our GLD was nerve wracking. And I also feel the same way that my peers appreciated my viewpoints and accepted them.
I understand, a lot of the time I want to add more to the discussion but just don’t really know if what I am going to say is relevant or answers the question. Indeed you were very helpful when it came to presenting the GLD’s. I think that getting your opinion out and being more comfortable speaking will just come with time and practice.
I found your feedback to my paper very helpful. As you stated, you helped me stay on track in regard to meeting what was expected by the prompt. I also agree that it was nerve wracking to present in GLD’s but I think it was good practice at public speaking.
I feel that we both have similar experiences. When i would do presentation, it would be on subject that i love to talk about or know the topic very well on. When it comes to reading the novel, i feel that i did not completely understand what the author was trying to reach to it audiences. I feel when it comes to presenting the class about a novel. One must understand what the author is going for and make a very deep analysis question to the class to make a presentation a good one.
My experience with collaborative work in this class has been refreshingly positive. In the past, I was not too fond of group projects, but the design of this course is very unique to any classes I have taken before. Much of the work revolves around teamwork and class discussions, which I find effective for learning about course material, as well as peer perspectives. For both of my Group Led Discussions, I was paired with reliable, hard-working students that made the presentation laidback and enjoyable. The Group Led Discussions I have participated in have been fairly thought-provoking, allowing me to witness various viewpoints surrounding a subject. In addition, even peer-editing papers—a once-dreadful activity—has been helpful throughout this course. I have discovered that having a stranger read and grade my work has actually enhanced my performance to write to the best of my ability.
The only concern or critique I would have for the collaborative efforts of this course would be what many of us have been guilty of at some point or another: not being caught up on the reading due for that day. When this occurs, it is not only difficult to contribute ideas, but it also makes it hard for the presenters to bring about discussion. Whether we are preoccupied with other assignments, sick with an illness, or just plain forgetful; staying on track with readings is not the easiest task for everybody.
I agree with your last comment because when people are not caught up with the readings it is very difficult to contribute your ideas to the class. I was not fond of group work either, but now that I have collaborated with others I feel better about the idea of group work. Peer editing is a great source for the essays done in this class, because it lets you see a different perspective of your own essay, by someone who could be writing about the same topic as you are.
I also do not like the idea of group projects because of past catastrophic results, but now these projects have been getting better with time. I agree with you as well, I hated people reading my essay and telling me all the terrible things about it, but this as well has improved throughout the years/classes. Then there’s also the dread of people who peer review but have no positive or negative comments which makes you wonder if the essay is any good.
I can also agree with you views such as the inlvovement of others. Being that it makes it hard for people to contribute to the ideas being brought up. Especially when the people invloved with presenting the GLD dont get any help from the audience. I enjoy having the class the way it is with the discussions I see it as very effective and efficent for everyone.
I agree I also find the teamwork and class discussions very effective for learning the course material as well as your peers opinions. And I felt the same way you did about the peer-editing papers I actually enjoyed it. I totally agree with you sometimes I wasn’t caught up with my reading as well making it harder to have a GLD.
I agree with your last comment. It is true and many, such as I, feels gulity for not being able to participate fully due to the fact that I didn’t read, forgot to read, or was sick. If I, similar to many others, could pick-up on the readings and had it done on the expected date, then GLDs wouldn’t have to be this painful to the presenters.
I could definitely feel when others did not read that day, there was always an odd sensation in the air. I felt like if everyone was on top of the readings all the time, discussions could have been that much more efficient. Fortunately, I also feel as it we got much done as a class even though some people did not read.
I think that your last comment or paragraph is accurate and funny, because I am sure that it happens, I can say I have been guilty of that. I agree that though I thoroughly despise peer editing that it really has helped me improve my writing. The collaboration definitely makes the class more active and enjoyable.
I can completely agree with you with the fact that most of us including myself did not do the readings on time. This caused harm the led discussions and made it difficult to stay awake through the class. Overall, I can agree with the fact that this class was unique and the way it is run allowed for me to develop as a writer and as a speaker.
In this class I have learned and experienced a lot through collaboration. I have learned to collaborate with others when doing the Group Led Discussion and when blogging. Group Led Discussion has taught me the importance of working others to effectively get a job or task done. I know teamwork and group work will always happen in any job you have, so the group work I experienced in this class will help me for the future. Blogging has taught me another form of communication with my peers. By being able to read about other opinions and comment on their work, made me realize the importance of communication and it also showed me how many people have similar opinions to me about certain ideas.
By exploring the idea of Group Led Discussions and blogging, I will now further explain my participation involving these two ideas. I have effectively participated in the GLD discussions by answering questions and discussing the answer to questions when they ask us to break into smaller groups. I have made a large progress in my ability to provide peer feedback using the guidelines by stating whether or not a paper has thesis sentences in both the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. I also follow the guidelines by underlining the topic sentences and making sure they are clear. I also looked to see if my peers have quotes and asks them about their sources for their paper. I assist my fellow peers in learning by editing their papers, giving them suggestions about their topics, and referring them back to our school’s library research website. I was able to collaborate effectively with my fellow peers despite cultural and linguistic differences during the GLD presentations because we were able to refer back to previous GLD presentations as a guideline and analyze topics that would excite the class. I also explained how the professor gave suggestions at the beginning of the semester on good ways to get the audience involved in your presentation. So with these suggestions and previous examples it was easier to collaborate with my peers without any rejection to anyone’s ideas because we were able to follow a “guideline” set by previous peers. Collaborating with others in this class has affected me positively and I am glad that I was able to communicate with my classmates and also work with them whether it was through blogging or by participating in their GLD discussions.
I agree with you that having the ability to work with peers will always be an important skill to have. I’m glad that you were able to get past any differences and solve problems with your group. It’s hard to get everyone in a group on the same page but GLD’s allowed us to come together and gain different perspective into everything we worked on. Collaboration in class and online have also helped me gain writing skills.
I would like to say that this is the first class that I had alot of collaboration to do. In my writing 1 and writing 10 (took in the fall but dropped out before getting a “W” on transcript) classes we didn’t have alot of collaborations. Like yeah we worked in small groups in the classrooms to talk about what we were working on but that was about it. In this class of course there was the in class collaboration where we break off in small groups but we also had Group Lead Discussions and blogging on others film blogs. This was very different to grasp at.
For the Group Lead Discussion, I felt this is wear the majority of the collaboration happens. First of all when you are the one who is doing the presentation, you have to collaborate with the other people in your groups in order to compose a presentation for the class so they can participate in. I would have to say this is the hard part about the group lead discussion because to find a perfect time that everyone in your group is available to work on the presentation. The other hard part about the group lead discussion is being able to have the whole class to participate in the discussion because when no one wants to talk then this is ruining your grade on your presentation. Not to mention it is hard when no one has read the book and they are trying to guess on what to say for the discussion. Personally I don’t like the discussion because on how no one is participating and it makes it awkward for the group who is presenting. It is sad to see a group struggle on trying to present when the majority of the class not paying attention. I think the blogging collaboration are pretty unique because you are giving your own opinion on the film. This is how good collaboration happens because you can see who agrees on what you say or disagree on what you say. You really get to know the person personality by just reading their blogs. Overall, collaboration has its pros and cons but in this writing class we were able to see a different spin on collaboration.
I agree that GLD’s make up the majority of collaboration in the class and it is a useful tool to learn the material. When we were in the group for Oscar Zeta Acosta’s book I learned a lot talking with you and Antonio in the Lantern. I like how we were able to coordinate the work and not waste anytime individually because we all knew what was expected from us. Also, you guys taught me how to use googledocuments which will be useful all the time I am a student.
Collaboration is what has seperated this year in Writing 10 with any other class I’ve ever had before. The way we use collaboration allows the student to practically run half of each class session with Group Led Disscussions. Although not everyone can contrubute equally important information to the discussion it allows students who are very interested in the material to pass their knowledge on to the rest of the class. Also, we gain a diverse range of information and perspectives by forming groups before having entire-class discussions. The way our class was taught allows students to learn from other students and generated discussion through conversations.
When I was meeting with my group for the group led discussion I felt like “scholar”. By this I mean that I appreciated taking care of business outside of class without having to get our steps “ok’d” by Professor Walker. However, if we did have questions or problems it was easy to get in touch with the proffessor and get them solved. My GLD took some time individually to complete all readings and it took more time as a group to discuss those readings and synthesize our ideas. By working together it was like we were all teaching and learning from each other istead of sitting in a class and copying down slide after slide. GLD’s were extremely important and helpful while I was preparing to write all of my essays.
I was very nervous at first about the wordpress.com page and it seemed a little intimidating because I had never done anything like it before. However, I appreciated getting a tutorial and working a day in class to set up the pages. That day allowed me to get a base for the website and learn more on how to do it throughout the year. Overall, collaboration is what made this course unique and valuable and allowed me to improve and gain new writing skills.
I agree with how the GLD is mostly about this class because it seems like we at lease have one every week. I also agree with how it is hard with getting the whole class to contribute. Our GLD presentation were hard because the first one we couldn’t get anyone to participate in and the other one was just too complicated.
I am also with you when you say that the GLD are what set the class apart from any other class. I have never had a class that has got students involved just like this class. Also it is very easy to collaborate with our instructor just how it might be hard in other classes. I definitly also agree with you about the wordpress page I thought it was going to be difficult, yet it is a very good page of communication with other peers.
I also feel like a ‘scholar’ in this class when we run the discussions and posts ourselves. I also had trouble with the wordpress site at first, mainly because I hadn’t dealt with this kind of technology before. I found the GLDs very helpful and crucial for my writing as well.
In my personal expereince I have always enjoyed a class far more if it consists of collaborating than no collaboration. I feel as though collarboration is key to the unity of a class. Its amazing to get otherrs opinions about your ideas. While at the same time getting to hear others ideas on the material other then yours. For example some of the points made by the members of my GLD group, I would have never thought of myself. Another major helpful opportunity in this class is the blogging aspect. Witht he blogging aspect, we get to voice our opinions I belive that the more experience that you have with team work the more succesful you will be in life.
One can be more successful in life with the use of blogging and Collaborating for several reasons. First of all, you will have experience with working with others in your future careers. Also you have the knowledge of learning how to expressing your ideas and learning how to listen to others at the same time . At the same being able to take others feedback, so that you may grow. My only critque with collaborative work is that everyone must be able to contribute to the discussion at hand. One can not improve if he or she doesn’t have anyone to effectively collaborate with. Overall, Collaboration in my opinion is a huge key to success when everyone equally contributes to the group as a whole.
I agree with you, I also enjoy a class more if it consists on collaborating with others. I also can agree with you when you say that you feel that collaboration is key to the unity of a class and I definitely felt the unity in our class. And yes I also agree that collaboration can be very helpful for your future and for you to become successful.
I couldn’t have agreed more with what you have said. It is true that one is more sucessful in life if they are able to collaborate well with others. Also I agreed with your point that one grows and gains from another’s feedback.
I agree with you in the aspect that that collaboration brings the class together to talk within each other to bring up different perspectives to keep a good discussion going, and to keep the class engaged. This type of collaboration does impact me and I can say many others in the way that, as you said, will play a role in our chosen life careers.
I like how you talked about the unity of the classroom. I think that the GLD’s really served to create a sense of unity while collaborating effectively. My ability to ‘work well with others’ has admittedly always been sub-par and I think you are write in that this class is really practice for the future when we will have to know how to work with others.
I have learned a lot about collaboration work in this class. Collaboration is the action of working with someone to produce or create something. In this class I learned to collaborate with some of my classmates in order to produce a group led discussion, which was the longest amount of time I’ve ever spoken in front of an audience. Through the group led discussions I learned about my classmates opinions about the subjects discussed about in class, then I was able to compare my opinion with their opinions. I also learned to collaborate on WordPress by sharing my opinions with my classmate’s blogging. The Paramedic Method also helped me a lot working on learning and discussion how to use this method as a whole class. Also exchanging papers with my classmates for peer review was also helpful I’m so glad that this class involved a full on process of collaboration because it has really been helpful for me.
I think I participated effectively in class, but I probably could’ve participated a little more. With my peers we learned by discussing what could be improved on or how to properly create our group led discussions. Cultural and linguistic differences with my peers did not affect how we collaborated, because despite our differences we were able to work together and make it work. We discussed our opinions and compared them in order to know each others perspectives. I have learned many new things in this class and blogging was one experience that has been really helpful to compare opinions amongst classmates effectively.
The amount that I have learned also with collaboration is tremendous. I can also agree with you being that this class helped me to expand my collabratory skills. There is just so much I can agree with. another point being my level of contributions. I feel as though I collaborate effectively on somedays where as not so much others. I prehaps will change that for the last remaining part of the sesmeter.
I agree with your comment on cultural and linguistic differences. Despite the differences, the class got along well and everyone was able to share their thougths and ideas. Cultural and linguistic had no affect on how we each collaborated with one another.
I would have to completely agree with you with the fact that the biggest collaboration done in this class were the GLD’s, even though the time period was long, the collaboration done before hand with group meeting made the presentation run smoothly in a good manner to keep the class interested and active in participating..
The GLD’s were also the longest I have ever spoken in front of an audience. I had not really thought about this. I think these discussions served a purpose in all ways, whether we were listening or presenting. I also agree that the paramedic method was really helpful (although I’m still struggling to get it right) I am glad I was introduced to this method this semester.
Collaboration is meant for sharing our ideas, learning how to work will with others, and being able to put our thoughts out there. I’ve always enjoyed collaborating with others to get work or assignments done, but I have to say, at times it does get complicated when schedules don’t fit or the participation isn’t there. Throughout this spring semester, I was able to participate in different activities and work with others. It is interesting that sometimes I share the same ideas with some of my peers. Being able to work together allows and pushes me to work harder towards my goals.
My participation hasn’t been the greatest this semester. I could have participated more in the GLDs and place my thoughts out there with everyone else, but at the same time I didn’t want to repeat what has already been said. Speaking up has always been one of my greatest fears, and like a weakling, I failed to overcome it. My high school teachers always said I spoke more in paper than I did in class, which is the obvious truth. Though I didn’t participated as much as I wanted to, it was amazing being able to listen to the ideas that my peers had thrown out to the class. Aside from the GLDs, I was able to participate fully on peer reviewing. I appreciated when my peers marked up my essay, comments, and points out where the extra work should be placed in. As much as my peers gave to me, I made sure to give the same amount back in return. By collaborating with my peers I was able to share, learn, and gain something new every time.
I would have to agree with you, in the fact that collaboration is great until schedules do conflict. In being very open-minded I am happy to see that when I do share out my ideas, others are thinking the same thing too. I greatly sympathize with you with not being able to speak up, participation is very much intimidating in a class discussion, and I believe many people feel that way.
I don’t think it’s necessarily an issue or ‘weak’ to not speak up during classtime if you have writing skills (which you do). Although it may hinder your grade at some point for some classes, diversity of personalities is just as important as diversity of opinions! I do agree that ideas can become redundant once someone has shared the common outlook.
Collaboration is the act of working with one another or others. Throughout my school years I have learned that collaboration is a great way for me to understand and comprehend the class better. I have always been the type of student to learn from others insights and perspectives so in that way I can compare and contrast to my own ideas. However, the problem with collaboration is speaking up in a large group. Growing up I have always been the timid student, either to the side, the back, or even at the front of the class who rarely participates in class. My fear is rejection or humiliation from my peers.
In this course, collaboration was a great element added to keep the class productive. What I came to learn from collaborating with my classmates, was to accept the different perspectives and opinions. Honestly, I did not participate as much; but that is because I always have been a quiet person when it comes to big class discussions. However, the biggest collaboration done in this course was the Group Led Discussions in which classmates took on the class and taught the class according to the readings. These GLD’s, I would have to say that they honestly helped me a lot because they allowed me speak up in front of the class confidently. In comparison with the online blogging, the collaboration done through this activity, I was able to grow as a thinker to make connections to my peers ideas and thoughts. This method of collaboration, I think, made the class feel more connected to each other because we are able to talk about our opinions through writing.
This course exposed me to the many ways of collaboration in which I feel motivated me to improve my communication skills inside and outside of class to be more confident in my public speaking and even writing. Writing 10 allowed me to be more accepting of others perspectives which are a good quality for positive collaboration in a good working class environment.
In my opinion, Collaboration is working together as a group for a single purpose or goal. Throughout this semester, my peers and I have worked together as a team to expand our knowledge and our understanding of writing. Together we have become one and have grown together to become better writers. My experience has been unforgettable, as it has given me the skills to work in groups and become a more responsible individual. During this semester, I had to become part of a group led discussion that allowed me to understand the assign novel more in dept. and explaining it to a audience. Being part of a group allowed me to learn how to work in a group and to care and understand others as it showed me that together we were working to get a better grade. Getting together to create a presentation was a nice experience because it allowed me to work with two other peers that I was able to meet and learn from them. Blogging also allowed me to work with other individuals. By giving me feedback and me giving my opinion to others, I know that I was helping others because it was nice to here that there was someone out there that thought the same way one did.
Overall, I belief I did a good job when it came to participating in class because there was not one GED I did not talk. I was able to discuss my opinion and I even had the chance to change my perspective when I heard something that one of my peers said that change my way of seeing something. I loved being able to be part of an intellectual group that helped me with my peer reviews and that had always something to say to the class that brought something new. In addition, I belief as a group we did a great job as we never had a day that was quiet.
As stated in the syllabus for Writing 10 in Spring 2012, “In respecting each other’s opinions, we will cultivate a classroom environment that fosters communal learning.” I believe the entire layout of the class served to encourage ‘communal learning’ this is evidenced in required Group Led Discussions (GLD’s) and in peer review of all essays.
At the beginning of the semester I was hesitant about the GLD’s as I did not know what to expect nor have I had positive experience with group work in the past. But as time passed I realized the value of these discussions as they provide diverse perspectives with time, these discussions also helped me to be more comfortable sharing my opinions. I believe my participation in these discussions was adequate where on some days I had a lot to say and other days none of the questions sparked my thoughts. I believe these discussions really brought a whole new dynamic to my learning. Especially in regard to literature where I am accustomed to a teacher or professor standing at the front of class telling students what the text means, while this class really left the meaning of text subject to interpretation. As we can never be certain what an author means I believe that this was realistic as everyone in the class simply shared their opinions without fear of being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Evidence of my own GLD’s (Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Chicano Poetics) will be provided.
This course also included lots of peer review starting with the very first essay. Peer reviews offer fresh eyes to a paper whose errors seem to ‘self-correct’ in the mind of the author when reading it over. This may seem like the most superficial part of peer review but it is also very helpful due to its practicality. I believe the peer reviews also make you as a writer aware of an audience whose opinions may not mirror your own. It is important as a writer to get your point across while not eliminating the population who find your work enjoyable. Evidence of peer review will be provided.
Throughout this semester, I see how much my reading and writing skills has improved. By working with others help me understand the assignment better and able to engage well with other classmate. the phrase “two brains are better than one” is very true because you get to hear other people opinion and that help you and the presentation or assignment, become powerful or better.
Overall I think this course help me structure my essay very well without me going off topic; like I do with most of my essay. I feel that it has benefit me more with the presentation because i had to understand how to cite very well and able to grasp what the author was trying to say in his novel through his characters. By having other people helping me out, make it easy to understand something I don’t get t all.