Reflection Paper

With the heterogeneous groups the level of discussion and cooperative work is increased, providing benefits for every student partaking. According to Paul Burden and David Byrd (2012), “Having students work in groups generally has a positive effect on their achievement when compared to their work as individuals.” Small-group work and discussions allows for students to improve their communication skill, cooperation skills, and gain new insight and understanding from their peers in a way that could not be achieved working alone.

Writing on an individual basis feels like an artist with a blank canvas, but when you have a group writing, the process changes to something more like a team trying to win a game of charades. It is completely different. My group and I had to take a website none of us had ever seen before, break it down and analyze it, while using a power point presentation to display our findings. On one side, the process was difficult, and my role and strategies as a writer changed by listening to others perspective and making sure to create a flowing tone. On the other side, the actual presentation included different multimodal elements, which I critically had to think about my role and strategies as a writer to compose the different modalities on screen.

Throughout my first semester at the University of Portland, the quality of my writing progressively increased. My English 112 class contained many different activities that contributed to helping me become a better writer. Informal writing assignments, class discussions, peer review sessions and the writing center were just some of the resources available to me that helped progress not only my writing ability but my overall reading & writing analysis skills as well. Not only did I make new relationships with my peers, these relationships also helped me understand the content more thoroughly, work out any problems that I had with my ideas, and encourage me to be more social among my fellow classmates as well. Nearing the end of this

In both small and larger groups to function effectively in a course context, each student must attend to both the process and climate by which they accomplish their tasks. When working in a small groups I give more efficient ideas than working in a larger groups, this is because I find it easier to work with fewer people. Having a healthy climate and effective communication skills when working in a group situation is critical. I work very will in-group situations, and have gained many skills in social interactions.

For Evelyn I think working one on one really helped, she was able to really discuss with me what she was writing as she was writing. I have noticed that often during whole group she tends to get bored and start to space out and while she is quick to refocus, I really wanted to give her something more engaging and active than what she normally gets on a day to day basis.

Groups are fun and good for essays and projects. Groups can make you more friends. If there are 1 or more people you can work faster. Groups are good for brainstorming. Groups have more than 1 person working at a time.

In the group discussion, I really enjoyed working in smaller groups. Although I didn’t enjoy the topic as much, I felt I connected with my peers and we made the best out of the situation. I learned much about each students opinion and we actually made some great solutions out of the problems we grabbed out of the reading.

I love forming groups because when you are in a group you learn a lot of things method from your classmate. It helps the teacher build groups with the same reading level, thinking level or learning methods. I remember on my freshman year of high school our math teacher had us partner up with 3 classmates. We all helped each other to develop in the different subjects.

Have you ever wanted had to write an essay by yourself and really wanted to work with your friends. Well that's what group projects are for. We should be able to work in groups all the time. There are a lot of benefits such as talking to your friends.

Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats.

I thought I knew pain; I wrong. True pain floods the encompasses a person. The anguish overwhelms every aspect of their lives. I first saw true pain in the eyes of poverty. During my seventh grade year, I had the opportunity to go on my first mission trip. The young, naive version of myself who flew into Haiti never returned, but was replaced with a new, wiser rendition who is determined to change the world.

Since the beginning of the semester, my writing has changed and evolved to accommodate and sustain longer essays. With longer essays, there is more room for in-depth analysis. Further analyzing a topic has led me to findings that I did not know existed. As I continue to write, I uncover addition and superior methods to approach my writing to the benefit of me and therefore, my audience. Throughout the semester, I have incorporated techniques to further my narrative throughout my writing.

What is life, who sets the rules, who tells us what is right from wrong? One important question I always ask myself, which is my place on this planet earth. A lot of time, as a female that comes from a country that values men more than they value a woman, I feel as though, I am constrained to act a certain way for the fear of being singled out as a bad seed. Even though we all feel that as humans we have the free will to do whatever we want, a lot of times culture and religion might get in our way of freedom and free will. Growing up in a Nigerian home, as a female you don’t have much say in your life or the choices that you make in life. Growing up I always felt like I had no say in my house which was true. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I was a female and most of it had to do with my culture and my role as a female

When I first began this English course, I did not know what to expect, all I really knew was I would be writing essays and papers which I don't particularly enjoy. I was not as confident in my writing abilities but after the first class period had ended, I decided that my goal for the semester would be producing writing that was clear and more effective. The Eclipse of 2017 pushed the first class back, but I still had an assignment to write about the Eclipse. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous when turning something in because I wanted to make a good first impression on my professor. I immediately relaxed when she said we did not have to read our essays out loud but instead explained what freewriting is.

Reflecting on the past two terms in school, I would constantly find myself preparing and delivering a lesson which I felt were missing something. I was constantly asking my mentor teachers how I could have better differentiated lessons, especially at senior level. I believe on completing this assignment I have discovered three extremely beneficial frameworks which will improve my lessons and I believe develop a flexible curriculum which allows differentiation for all students to develop their learning capacity and engage them throughout the lesson.