Second Reflection

Looking back

My vision of myself and my writing has definitely changed from the beginning of this course to now, and we’re not even halfway through! Previously, I felt that even though I was lacking in certain foundational areas of English that I was still a decent writer, and now I do not feel that way in the slightest. I definitely have been forced to question a lot of my skills and abilities in this class. Quite honestly, my view of writing and the subject of English in school has evolved in a negative way since beginning this course. My first project went just okay. I wish that I felt more proud of it. In the beginning I was very excited to start writing! I knew exactly what my topic was going to be right away, as it is an issue that is very important to me. After it is all said and done, however, I look at it and feel mildly disappointed. Whenever I reflect on it, I am generally filled with self-doubt. Is it good enough? Did I revise enough? Is this even college level writing? Usually I’m able to brush thoughts like these off, but the pressure of the assignment makes it feel nearly impossible to ignore these types of feelings.

My favorite tool to use while revising is the highlight tool. I set up my first draft submitted, and my final draft post revision. Then, I go through my final draft and highlight all of the changes and revisions made to the writing I have done. I like to do this to ensure that I have made a significant amount of progress through my revisions. It also allows me to read through my text one final time, to ensure that there are no typos, or other immediate errors that can be fixed. I have found this to be an extremely helpful part of my writing process. Additionally, I also like to read my final draft out loud at least once before I submit it. This also helps me check for errors in my writing, and has pointed out parts of my text that don’t flow correctly. I think that this is especially helpful because I am an auditory learner.

Pictured: Highlighted changes on the final draft of my first project.

Pictured: First draft excerpt pre-revision.

Moving Forward

To be frank, it's hard to say that I have any specific goals in this class besides just getting better at writing. I don’t really have a clear idea of the areas I need to be working on to form any goals to work on other than generally bettering my writing all around as things come up. I guess if I did have any goals, it would be to get my view of writing back to the way it was before. I don’t mean to sound cynical, however, my once positive mindset has soured and I feel like I just need to press reset and look at things with a fresh viewpoint. It's a tough situation because if you look at my grades in the course, it is clear that I’m doing fine. Looking beyond the surface, though, I’m stuck feeling like I am pouring so much of myself into my writing and still not satisfied with the results of it. I would love to create some goals to get out of this rut, but it is extremely hard when I’m struggling to identify what it is about my writing that's wrong. It all seems just okay. My writing is just okay, the feedback I receive on it is just okay.

In terms of things that I need to continue bettering myself in my writing, discussion posts are crucial. Getting to interact with peers is both fun and very beneficial to my writing, and my successes that I have had in this course! This also applies to the peer review work we have done through discussion posts. I have grown a lot from reviewing peer drafts and receiving feedback from others. I think that even just getting to see others’ work to reassure myself that I am on the right path in my own writing has been extremely beneficial. It is also a nice way to connect with the other students that are in the course! Being an online student, it is hard to find ways to interact with my peers, but I enjoy every chance that I get. I am excited that moving forward we will continue to utilize discussion posts and peer reviews in the course. There are many factors that contribute heavily to my success in writing, but these are the main contributors. I hope that any further English classes I take will utilize these tools as well.