English Essay Reflection

When I first got accepted into Stuyvesant High School, I heard countless of rumors stating: “Oh the workload is terrible”, “The competition is so fierce” or “Out of schoolwork, extracurriculars, or sleep: you can only pick two.” I found it hard to let it faze me, since I graduated from one of the most prestigious middle schools. However, the rumors transformed into reality when I stepped into Mr. Nieves’ Freshman Composition Class. The workload at the beginning of the year was brutal, coupled with assignments from other core classes that seem unaware of the workload of other teachers. Reading assignments were a regular, and there were journal entries and occasional quizzes to keep us in line. What made it bearable was the friends I made in that class; everyone had their own opinion about the topic we were talking about, and listening to other perspectives really broadened my horizon and enriched my learning experience in Stuy. Another thing that this class has taught me is the importance of time management, a skill that I will carry on for the rest of my high school career and life. When I choose to sign up for Mr. Nieves’ AP American Literature class in my Junior Year, I was hoping to relive the discussion-based lesson plans and meet more outstanding peers. I was not disappointed, to say the least, reflecting through all the experiences at the end of the course. The lesson plans he laid out for us were an interesting mix between small lectures and class output, and what I

Many people experience exclusion in their lives; yet, when they feel included, they experience the process of healing. In the memoir Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Power of Adversity, Dw Brees’ journey to healing is explored. This experience of exclusion to inclusion is also discussed in Becoming Human by Jean Vanier. The New Orleans Saints accepted Drew, a severely injured quarterback at the time, just as Jean Vanier accepted people with intellectual disabilities into L’Arche. Withal, Drew is given the opportunity to motivate and inspire his team, and those people included in the L’Arche community are given the opportunity to develop new, meaningful relationships. For Drew, having this opportunity results in a milestone for the whole team that represents hope for New Orleans, while the people with intellectual disabilities being able to be in an inclusive community result in the maturity of the heart. Both works suggest that being inclusive towards other people, especially those excluded in society, by welcoming them into a particular community result in a person’s internal and external healing.

My overall experience in English 101 has definitely changed the style in which I read and write. This online English 101 course has introduced me to many different types of writing that I did not know even existed. From weekly discussion boards, to the interview college, to the rhetorical analysis and research essay, I have learned how to properly and effectively write with many different tones and attitudes. Not only have I learned how to write with many tones and attitudes but I have also strongly caught onto the concept of how to address multiple audience groups in the most appropriate way possible. After reflecting on all of the concepts I have discovered in English 101 this semester, I have realized that I have not only grown tremendously

Once they’re done, I often think that they’re not that great, but then I get surprisingly positive feedback on what I’ve written. However, because of that, I tend to not put much time into revisions, other than to check for various grammar issues, which, when you freewrite, occur rather frequently. That’s been known to make papers suffer at times if there’s a certain structure issue that affects a large chunk of the paper. If there’s anything that I need to work on in the writing process, it’s

The Fall Quarter here at Bellevue College has helped me increase and further enhance my writing capabilities. Having to forget all my past knowledge in high school level writing was challenging but necessary. In the past, my writing never had the opportunity to progress. My high school essays were all carbon copies of each other. I would do the bare minimum and not put any effort into my writing, but still I would somehow receive a passing grade. The majority of the time I would wait until the night before the essay was due to start it. It would usually take me less than three hours to complete a paper. I became more focused on doing exactly what the teacher wanted than working on developing my style and enhancing my writing skills. After taking English 101, I have learned that writing is a process and I can’t write an essay the night before it’s due and expect a satisfactory grade. Taking English 101 has led me to think more critically towards my writing and others, develop style and tone, and learn how to use collaboration to my benefit.

English IV is the last English you have to have before you graduate. It focuses on reading and writing. It also implements listening and multitasking a little. You have to read several thrilling books and write an essay every other week or so. It also teaches public speaking. There are several projects that include presenting at the front of the class. This class will help tremendously with future endeavors as well. Whether you come to school everyday or not, this class teaches you alot.

Reflecting on my english career on all of my english classes as a whole one of the areas of habits of mind that I have not only felt that I am drastically improved, but also believe that is one of my strengths as not only an english student, but a student in general is my strong ability with analyzing situations and responding with high level critical thinking. I have prided myself and also been told by almost every english teacher that I have had that my ability to articulate what I am thinking in a presentation and be able to analyze text, images and people is on a very high level. I am comfortable when speaking in front of people and I believe that some of my best work in High School have been presentations. As I discussed this year with my teacher where I fall short is the ability to translate what I am thinking and how exactly I say it and translate that into writing. This has something that I have struggles with not only this year but most of my life writing essays. I don;t believe that I write poorly, but can very easily recognize that my writing is not at the

This semester, we have practiced several reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Many of these that have helped me become a better writer this past semester. The readings, writings, and critical thinkings were not the only things that helped me become a better writer. I highly believe that the constructive criticism from yourself Professor Freeman is what helped the most. Every Time you graded a paper and left comments it pushed me to do better and improve on the next. So if I was to take anything to English 101/Composition 2 it would be a combination of determination to be better and all of my skills i’ve learned over this semester, such as outlines, organization, analyzing, and how to write a working thesis.

The way I draft and revise my papers have improved over the course is to first gather all the elements of the outline. On the other hand, for revising, I get comments from other peers and re-evaluate my essay and point out mistakes, I have outlined my papers differently by using transitions before the rough draft and then correct it when combing the paragraph structure. I do think of quotations a new way by considering which pieces in the article provided more context and having a strong opinion on to mention it in my essay. The way I’ve managed my deadlines has also changed because currently, I complete the next task of the writing process at least 3 days before or a week prior to it. An example is if I’m finished working on my outline earlier than expected I start laying out the transitions that can merge into the sentences. Once I’m working on the rough draft I focus on clarity and vocabulary leading up to revising which I make sure that there are no confusing sentences in the paragraphs and consider the peer review comments. Finally, the final draft I focus on using correct tense, passive vs active sentences, and grammar. A particular aspect of my writing that I’ve been working on is the rough draft because there is little changes that differentiate it to the outline. On an earlier paper, I

Ms. Sullivan is a third grade teacher at an elementary school where English language learners (ELLs) make up approximately 85 percent of the student population. The majority of the third graders she teaches are of Asian, African American, and Hispanic ethnicities and seem to be within the intermediate stages of English language proficiency. In the video lesson, Ms. Sullivan presents a whole group math lesson measuring temperature using a thermometer. In this lesson, Ms. Sullivan utilizes a wide variety of sheltered instructional strategies to improve her ELLs’ language development.

Throughout high school, I took my grades seriously as I maintained an overall grade point average of 93. My grades have always meant a great deal to me, however, I never knew how to correctly study. I had remained aware well before I came to college that my hands-off studying techniques would need to be forgotten and left in high school. However, until Allison Peer visited our class I was still unsure of how to get the most from my college experience and was not aware of how to successfully study. From what I have learned in this class and from Allison Peer I have decided to change a few of my study habits. For example, I would like to stop procrastinating my work and set up a schedule for studying and homework between classes, visit my professors during office hours when I miss class or when I do not understand what we discussed during class, and I have already begun connecting different ideas from different courses together to help me learn the material on a deeper level.

When I first started this class I had no idea what to expect, I was nervous since this was my first college English class. After the first couple of classes, I realized I did not have anything to worry about. You were a great teacher that I got along with well. When we had our conference projects mid-semester I was feeling very good about what the second half of the semester.

As a 14 year old reader and writer, I never saw a true significance in the subjects. I would often become flustered and overwhelmed when forced to do a writing assignment. I just couldn’t understand why I was being forced to perform a task that, in my opinion, made no impact on the world around me. However, my Sophomore year, my perception began to change. I had begun taking an Advanced Placement World History class. This class made a big impact on me as a reader and a writer for many reasons. Although, I can’t recall every lesson I was taught during the course of this class, but what I can recall is a much more impactful lesson. The lesson that continues to shape how I view literacy and the modern world.

Upon completing my first semester of college, I would say that the moment I will most likely remember most is the preparation of my Portfolio for my Africana Studies 115 APPR University Writing class. While working on the assignment, reviewing and organizing each iteration along with the revisions to each and every exercise within the selected progression, I noticed the high level of critical thinking that I applied to my work throughout the semester. This level of critical thinking was something I could not see myself doing prior to my college experience. Another highlighted memory will be the fact that I developed a greater degree of camaraderie with my classmates. Usually, interactions with other individuals in a class, with whom I am not well acquainted, produced very poor results.

My first few weeks as a teacher in the United States were marked with struggles in communicating to students and members of faculty and staff of our school as we are in a culturally diverse institution. Most of my students, who are native speakers of the English language, are from Latin America, and my colleagues are from India, Ireland, Mexico, United States and the Philippines. At any time during my instruction, I encountered difficulty in being understood due to cross- cultural differences that show up while speaking the language despite my level of proficiency in the English language.