Reflective Cover Letter
Within this portfolio, I have two pieces of work, which are paper #4 and my major re-write paper. With paper #4, I wrote about procrastination and how it may be beneficial in some ways. With my major re-write, I decided to re-write my 1st paper about technology and literacy. With this re-write, I changed it around a little bit and added more information on how we can incorporate technology in the classroom so that students can learn and keep up-to-date with all the advances in technology. I honestly think I deserve an A in the class because I believe that my writing is really starting to improve. I have worked really hard to improve my writing and hopefully it is starting to show within my writings. I think it has improved because normally I have a pretty tough time with the introductions in my papers, but in paper #4, you didn't really have to make any corrections and you said you really liked it, which is a pretty good sign. I'm well aware that my writing is not perfect, but I really have put in the time and effort to become a better writer. I personally really enjoyed the class overall. What I really liked about the class is being able to discuss our readings with our own personal thoughts and opinions. I also really enjoyed the fact that we got to choose what we wrote about. Normally when I'm assigned a topic that I'm not interested in, then I won't put that much time or research into it. One last thing I really enjoyed about your class is that we weren't forced to write a million papers. We actually focused on what writing really was so that we could improve our understanding of our own writing styles and ways to improve them. Something I really didn't like about the class is that we didn't really do much to keep the whole class involved. I liked when we did little in-class things with small groups, but we didn't do that very much at all and I think it would've been more enjoyable if it was more interactive rather than lecture. I learned so many things in this course, just like how there really isn't a "perfect" way to write because everyone has their own writing technique and there's nothing wrong with that. Something else I learned is that it really doesn't matter if you're a multi or single draft writer; whatever works for you, works for you. There really isn't anything that I wish I would have learned because we really did touch on a lot of the things that I was told in high school that didn't really make much sense, just like how we were only taught one specific way to write and how we weren't really allowed to be creative with our writing. I think the class overall would've been better if it was more interactive instead of a straight lecture for 2 hours, but as I've said before, I really did enjoy your class and I'm definitely going to miss it!
Paper #4
With this paper, I was trying to show that procrastination isn't as bad as most people make it out to be and it actually may be beneficial in some ways . My main claim was that although procrastination is normally viewed as a bad thing, sometimes it could be beneficial. I tried to support this claim by using quotes and interviews with students and other scholars on their views of procrastination. The counter-argument I used was using other quotes and ideas from other scholars who opposed the idea of procrastination. I believe that my introduction was my strongest part of the paper. I took the comments and corrections that Professor Whicker suggested and tried to make changes by explaining my study a little better and why students procrastinate.
URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85565005
Major Re-Write for Paper #1
For this re-write, I was trying to show the different views that people have over if the use of technology and text messaging and its effects on student’s literacy. I was trying to prove that the use of technology and text messaging does not affect the literacy of students. The support I used for my claim is using different scholar’s quotes as examples and a couple of studies that have shown that the uprising of technology and text messaging is actually a good thing for the new generation of students. The counter-arguments that I used was where a couple other scholars have claimed that it is actually damaging our students. I took the comments that Professor Whicker suggested and incorporated them into the paper, as well as change some things.
URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85799306
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Final Paper #4
With this paper, I was trying to show that procrastination isn't as bad as most people make it out to be. My main claim was that although procrastination is normally viewed as a bad thing, sometimes it could be a good thing. I tried to support this claim by using quotes and interviews with students and other scholars on their views of it. The counter-argument I used was using other quotes and ideas from other scholars who opposed the idea of procrastination. The parts of my paper that I think worked well was my intro and my first paragraph, but then I felt like I could really work on the rest of the paper to improve it. With Joey's review, I made some minor changes and I tried to extend on my introduction a little bit to express my main point.
Revised URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84999085
Peer Review URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84327320/Paige-Paper-4
Revised URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84999085
Peer Review URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84327320/Paige-Paper-4
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Paper #4
With this paper, I was trying to show that procrastination isn't as bad as most people make it out to be. My main claim was that although procrastination is normally viewed as a bad thing, sometimes it could be a good thing. I tried to support this claim by using quotes and interviews with students and other scholars on their views of it. The counter-argument I used was using other quotes and ideas from other scholars who opposed the idea of procrastination. The parts of my paper that I think worked well was my intro and my first paragraph, but then I felt like I could really work on the rest of the paper to improve it. I want my peer reviewer to look for things that should be added into the paper, or things that I should take out, and also tell me how the flow of the paper is. Also, keep in mind that this is my first draft of this paper and I'm well aware that there is some work that needs to be done, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. If given more time, I probably would've looked up more academic scholars and their views on procrastination.
URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/83879647
URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/83879647
Friday, March 2, 2012
Intro. for Paper #4
Believe it or not, procrastination is not a new phenomenon. It has always been around and it will more than likely be around forever. Procrastination is defined as the act or habit of putting off or delaying something, especially something that needs immediate attention (dictionary.com, 2012). Everyone does it, whether it be for school, work, or chores around the house. I will be the first to tell you that I am probably one of the biggest procrastinators ever. I have a big problem when it comes to starting papers or projects and giving myself enough time to do a excellent job. My main problems is I just get really nervous when it comes to writing papers and that is what makes me want to put it off until a later time. Some people have a different definitions of what is and is not procrastination, but what is the true definition?
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Feb. 27th Homework
Penrose & Geisler Summary:
In their article "Reading and Writing Without Authority", Penrose and Geisler conducted a study on two different people and their writing styles. One of the people was a freshman English student, whose name was Janet, and a philosophy doctorate student, Roger. Janet and Roger were bother asked to write a paper on paternity. Once they were done, their overall context and the authority that was used in each paper. They concluded that the older you get, the more confident you get in your writings. I think the main purpose of this article was to be able to show the difference in authority with a freshman English student and a philosophy doctorate student.
QD: 3-5
3. Janet is basically in the same boat as us. She had just graduated from high school and is now a freshman in college and she probably doesn't have much knowledge on the topic so she probably gets most/all of her information from books and the Internet. I'd say she did this just because of the fact that she doesn't have the prior knowledge that she needs to make a good paper. Roger on the other hand may not need to do all this research because he probably has better knowledge.
4. I'd say she'd choose the published author over herself because the author is obviously published and is more reliable in her eyes than her own self. If she were to come up with something on her own, then she doesn't really know if it's true or not, and because this author is published, then she may just trust that it's true and go with that instead of her own thoughts.
5. My writing is definitely more like Janet's. I believe this just because I'm also a freshman in English and I look up research all the time through the Internet and books because I don't have a lot of knowledge on things that we have to write about. It would be nice to be like Roger, but it would require me to have a lot of knowledge and the good writing skills like him to be able to sit down and write an amazing paper.
MM:
I believe the next time I sit down and write a paper, I'm going to try to be more confident in my writing and focus more on how I actually write. I know that when I'm reading a paper or article and I can tell that the author(s) is pretty confident in what they're saying, then that kind of adds more credibility and it's more enjoyable to read because their own views and opinions get put into it.
Response:
Overall, I think this was a good article for us to read, just because it shows that the more time and effort that you put into a paper, the better it will come out. Writing isn't an easy thing to do and it takes a lot of time and practice to become really good at and we need to be more confident in our writings to become better writers.
In their article "Reading and Writing Without Authority", Penrose and Geisler conducted a study on two different people and their writing styles. One of the people was a freshman English student, whose name was Janet, and a philosophy doctorate student, Roger. Janet and Roger were bother asked to write a paper on paternity. Once they were done, their overall context and the authority that was used in each paper. They concluded that the older you get, the more confident you get in your writings. I think the main purpose of this article was to be able to show the difference in authority with a freshman English student and a philosophy doctorate student.
QD: 3-5
3. Janet is basically in the same boat as us. She had just graduated from high school and is now a freshman in college and she probably doesn't have much knowledge on the topic so she probably gets most/all of her information from books and the Internet. I'd say she did this just because of the fact that she doesn't have the prior knowledge that she needs to make a good paper. Roger on the other hand may not need to do all this research because he probably has better knowledge.
4. I'd say she'd choose the published author over herself because the author is obviously published and is more reliable in her eyes than her own self. If she were to come up with something on her own, then she doesn't really know if it's true or not, and because this author is published, then she may just trust that it's true and go with that instead of her own thoughts.
5. My writing is definitely more like Janet's. I believe this just because I'm also a freshman in English and I look up research all the time through the Internet and books because I don't have a lot of knowledge on things that we have to write about. It would be nice to be like Roger, but it would require me to have a lot of knowledge and the good writing skills like him to be able to sit down and write an amazing paper.
MM:
I believe the next time I sit down and write a paper, I'm going to try to be more confident in my writing and focus more on how I actually write. I know that when I'm reading a paper or article and I can tell that the author(s) is pretty confident in what they're saying, then that kind of adds more credibility and it's more enjoyable to read because their own views and opinions get put into it.
Response:
Overall, I think this was a good article for us to read, just because it shows that the more time and effort that you put into a paper, the better it will come out. Writing isn't an easy thing to do and it takes a lot of time and practice to become really good at and we need to be more confident in our writings to become better writers.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Feb. 24th Homework
Wardle Summary:
In her article "Identity, Authority, and Learning To Write In New Workplaces", Elizabeth Wardle argues that many people do not fully understand how much identity and authority really effect and influence our writings. She gives a few examples of each to show how they both play a big factor in the way that we write. Towards the end of her article, she gives a pretty good example of a man named Alan and how difficult it was for him to learn to write in a new workplace because he wasn't familiar with their ways of writing.
QD: 3-7
3. I think the main reason as to why Allen didn't have any positive results is because he liked the way he wrote and the way he was and he did not want to change for the workplace, therefore making it so there wasn't really any positive results.
4. I agree, because there is a lot of things that people say before they really think about it. Sometimes this really gets some people in trouble because things that they say often come out the wrong way than they actually meant for it to come out, so if they would've thought about it before they said it, then it would've came out much better.
5. I would have to agree with Gee, because Alan was put into a new discourse community and didn't want to change his ways for them, therefore making himself not a part of the discourse community.
6. I do sort of see Alan as a tool, because he was mainly used for facts and data for Wardle when he clearly wasn't a part of this discourse community.
7. A time I can recall is my senior year of high school, my AP social studies teacher was a pretty respected guy in our school and one day he swore and yelled at one of my classmates and it really made our respect for him drop significantly.
AEI: 1
To me, when it comes to having authority in texts, people really depend on the fact that you're a credible source, therefore believe in basically everything your saying in your writing. When it comes to having authority in a discourse community, the people within the community look up to you and believe in basically everything you have to say. Whenever I write, I try my absolute best to make it as credible as I possibly can by showing sources to give myself some credibility. An example of myself being authoritative was my high school volleyball team. I have played volleyball since my 7th grade year all the way through my senior year and I was captain of my team 3 out of the 4 years I played in high school because people really looked up to me because I'm really big on practicing what I preached. I always strived to be the absolute best I could be, along with making the team better, and I believe that was pretty inspirational to my other teammates.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed this article because it was pretty relatable to students and it gave a great example of someone who didn't agree with the discourse community he was out into, therefore refused to change himself for anyone, which shows that he truly believes in what he was taught.
In her article "Identity, Authority, and Learning To Write In New Workplaces", Elizabeth Wardle argues that many people do not fully understand how much identity and authority really effect and influence our writings. She gives a few examples of each to show how they both play a big factor in the way that we write. Towards the end of her article, she gives a pretty good example of a man named Alan and how difficult it was for him to learn to write in a new workplace because he wasn't familiar with their ways of writing.
QD: 3-7
3. I think the main reason as to why Allen didn't have any positive results is because he liked the way he wrote and the way he was and he did not want to change for the workplace, therefore making it so there wasn't really any positive results.
4. I agree, because there is a lot of things that people say before they really think about it. Sometimes this really gets some people in trouble because things that they say often come out the wrong way than they actually meant for it to come out, so if they would've thought about it before they said it, then it would've came out much better.
5. I would have to agree with Gee, because Alan was put into a new discourse community and didn't want to change his ways for them, therefore making himself not a part of the discourse community.
6. I do sort of see Alan as a tool, because he was mainly used for facts and data for Wardle when he clearly wasn't a part of this discourse community.
7. A time I can recall is my senior year of high school, my AP social studies teacher was a pretty respected guy in our school and one day he swore and yelled at one of my classmates and it really made our respect for him drop significantly.
AEI: 1
To me, when it comes to having authority in texts, people really depend on the fact that you're a credible source, therefore believe in basically everything your saying in your writing. When it comes to having authority in a discourse community, the people within the community look up to you and believe in basically everything you have to say. Whenever I write, I try my absolute best to make it as credible as I possibly can by showing sources to give myself some credibility. An example of myself being authoritative was my high school volleyball team. I have played volleyball since my 7th grade year all the way through my senior year and I was captain of my team 3 out of the 4 years I played in high school because people really looked up to me because I'm really big on practicing what I preached. I always strived to be the absolute best I could be, along with making the team better, and I believe that was pretty inspirational to my other teammates.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed this article because it was pretty relatable to students and it gave a great example of someone who didn't agree with the discourse community he was out into, therefore refused to change himself for anyone, which shows that he truly believes in what he was taught.
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