Thursday, January 17, 2008

FINAL THINGAMAJIG

College Writing Final Type your first and last name: Ryan Lawrence

A. General Questions: Type in (or copy and paste) your answers when appropriate. You can write as much as you want. When you are completely finished with your final, you will need to make sure that the entire document is in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, with one-inch margins. Please make sure you used conventional English and used spell check before you email it as an attachment to my preferred email address. Save your work frequently in case your Internet is slow, etc. When you finish, make sure you have named it your (last, first) name and successfully send it to me. Once you have completed these steps, you must also post it to your blog. Call your blog post “Final Reflection.” If your blog has working links, you will do better on this final. If you post a picture of something interesting that links to pertinent course material, you will get extra credit. Good luck and thank you!

1.What Miss Boeser’s preferred email address?
eboeser@bloomington.k12.mn.us

2.What is another email address Miss Boeser uses?
eboeser@gmail.com

3.Fill in the blanks with the missing information from your course standards/parent letter:
A student’s grade will be divided into the following components:
50% ACADEMIC WRITING: essays must be handed in on paper with a Turnitin originality report.
20% PARTICIPATION:
BLOG/WIKI/ONLINE JOURNAL: Each student is required to post journal entries online
CLASS DISUSSION: Students will respond in class to literature, nonfiction and journal posts
PEER REVIEW: Students will read and respond to the work of their peers in writing groups
10% HOMEWORK including vocabulary assignments and daily assignments
10% TESTS AND QUIZZES on novels and nonfiction from class, including vocabulary
10% FINAL EXAM on novels, stories or terms we have covered in class.

4.Over the last two terms, we have read five books as a class. Rank them in order from the book you liked the best (#1) to the book you like the least (#5). First, fill in the title of the book under the rank (number) you are assigning. Below the title, write in the author. Last, assign the books a percent out of 100, so that the sum of your scores equals 100.

1
2
3
4
5
The Perks Of Being a Wallflower
The Kite Runner
Speak
Montana 1948
Beloved
Stephen Chbosky
Khaled Houssini
Laurie Anderson
Larry Watson
Toni Morrison
45%
20%
15%
15%
5%

5.Write a brief reflection about why you liked your favorite book of the five.
I really liked the whole story about Charlie. Out of all the books, this is the only one I went back and re-read over parts. Also the novel was really addictive; I read the book over one weekend. It was short and deep without being boring or moving too quickly. I really could connect with Charlie in that he was a male student in high school who hangs out with the “wrong crowd.” Similar to my freshman year. His story was more extreme than my life, but it was really cool to see characters that are similar to characters in my own life.

6.Write a brief reflection on your least favorite book.

Beloved was a bad book for me in many many ways. There was no character in the book I could look at and say, “ I like him/her, I can connect with them.” The story was about motherhood, something that I have not and will never experience personally. The story took place in a time that I have no connection with. The whole concept of a ghost could have been intersting if the characters would have reacted differently to her. The only two people that were suspicious of Beloved, were Paul D. who left in the middle of the book. And Denver who had an on to off relationship with her. The book was to weird for me, and I couldn't relate to it.

7.Write the name and author of the book you chose to read on your own or with your book group. Explain what made you choose this book and how you feel about your choice now that the term is over.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey. I think that this was a good choice for the last book to read this term. The book had a solid story and was quick to read. I think the reason I wanted to pick the book was because I had seen the movie about 3 years ago and though the story in the movie was cool. This is one of the few times that I would say that the movie is better than the book. In the movie, Bromden is not the narrator and the story progresses a lot quicker. In the book, Kesey overemphesizes some of the symbols he uses. In the movie they are more subtle, and Bromden over explains somethings while underexplaining other things.

8.Explain what you would do or where you would go if you need help with MLA format. Post links below if you need to.

I think that if i were to need help with any MLA issues I would either go to the Jefferson Media Center website (http://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/indschool/tj/mediacenter/cite.html) or consult the MLA handbook.

9.What website do you use to turn in your papers?

Turnitin.com

10.What “website” or webpage did the Media Center set up to help you with your Problem-Solution Paper?

11.If you wanted to look up something in the Academic Search Premier, which database would you use?

Ebsco Databases

12.If you wanted to get an article from the StarTribune, but you can’t find it at www.startribune.com, what database would you use?

ProQuest: Startribune Database
13.What is the address for the group wiki we used this term?
(http://highschoolcharacters.pbwiki.com/)

14.What is the address for the group wiki (for Montana 1948) we used last term?
(http://jhscollegewritingmontana.pbwiki.com/)

15.What is the address for the blog we used for the role-play we did this term?
(http://schooledthewriteway.blogspot.com/)

16.What is the address for the blog we used for the role-play (for Montana 1948) we did last term?
(http://roleplaymascots.blogspot.com/)

17.Compare the role-play we just did on censorship that the role-play on Native American Mascots. Did you find one more valuable than the other?
I think that eh Native American Issue was more valuable only because there seamed like there was more time to work on it. It seamed as though there was not much else going on in the class at that time, as aposed to the one we just completed. There was a wiki, a paper, and the role-play all together at what seamed like the last second. If there had been more time to complete it and really get into the role-play. I think that the censorship one could have been done first and more time could have been put into it. It would have been really fun to speak through Yancey for a longer time. In a project that is centered more on.

B. Tools Evaluation
Please rate the following electronic tools we used this term in the following aspects of interest and usability. Write your comments in the space provided, including what you liked or didn’t like about the technology. Give each tool a score from one to ten.

1. Class website: 10
URL: http://missboeser.googlepages.com/collegewriting
Comments: I think that without this website i would have no idea what to do and when. If I missed a day of work or anything I knew exactly what I missed. If I forgot or misplaced the outline for a paper I go the website and click on a link go to where i need to easy and get the work done. The links were great.

2. Personal Blogs: 8
This is the blog you created for yourself) Example URL: http://tennisisfun.blogspot.com/
Comments:

3. Group Blog: 8
URL: http://schooledthewriteway.blogspot.com/
Comments: It was very unorganized and many pages, only because there was a lot of work done on that page.

4. Large Group Wiki: 9
URL: http://highschoolcharacters.pbwiki.com/
Comments:


5. Small Group Wiki: 10
URL: Copy and paste your wiki address over this:http://cockoosnest.pbwiki.com/
Comments: I think that the freedom and responsibility was nice to have within the groups we got to pick. The work was left up to people you wanted to work with so you didn't want to let them down.

C. Assignments Evaluation
Please rate the assignments from 1 to 10 and write your comments in the space provided, including what you liked or didn’t like about the work you had to do.

1. Book Group Literary Analysis: 9
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
I really thought that this was a good idea and works well with a limited time table. If one were to take on the entire task of writing a problem solution essay by themselves it would be really hard to do in the time-span of a weekend and a few days. Because our group decided to work on a paper together so it would ultimently be less work for each person. The problem with that is that although the physical work is easier, there is stress that one of the people in the group will stop doing their share. Because we got to pick our groups that problem was small, we didn't want to let down people we knew.

2. Problem-Solution Essay: 9
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
This was a very interesting paper to write. I found it similar to the IS paper/speach back in 10th grade. I believe it was because of all the reseach involved with the topics we chose. I like the aproach to the paper, there was plenty of time given to us to write the paper and reseach. It by no means was an easy paper but I worked a little bit here and there and it worked great. Referencing with the problems in the novel was really cool to. I could look up something on depression and go back to the book and see where things characters did wrong or right.

3. P.O.N.D Essay: 10
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
This too, was a really a fun thing to write. Basically what I did was sit at my computer and remember things from my past and write them down. I took a weekend sat down with the truck my grandpa built and remembered. It was easy to do and fun to talk about something that is important to me because of the nature surrounding the object.

4. Group Paper (Compare/Contrast) from the wiki in 1st Term: 3
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
This paper was not a fun experience to have. Partly because of the people that were in my group. I had almost no contact with one person in the group, and the other person did absolutly nothing. This could have been my fault because of how I aproached the issue. I waited for one of the other group memebers to tell me what to do, then when this never happened I told the people in my group what to do at the last minute. This really didn't work because the jobs I assigned were not what the other people wanted and because there was no time to do the work. I think that the lack of obligation that all the group members had really was the flaw in the idea. If I never did my job i would get a bad grade, and so would some people that i have never met. There was no responsibility on anyones part. If we had known each other, then i think that we would have worked together better on the assignment.

5. Argument Essay: 7
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
I really don't remember much about this paper. I wrote about how ethnicity and tribal issues effect modern and past Afghanistan through The Kite Runner. It was an easy paper to write because I already had all the evidence from the presentations we did in class so that part was pretty easy. I really couldn't connect with what I was talking about in the paper, I really didn't know from personal experience about any tribes.

6. Formal Literary Criticism Essay: 8
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
I thought that this was an interesting second paper that we needed to write. The concepts that we had to choose from were really complex. It was an interesting choice for the second paper we had to write in the course. However, I learned a lot about how colleges will look at papers through a critical lens. Although it was a hard thing to do, it worked out because I found out how I need to write.


7. College Application Essay: 7
Write a reflection on this assignment, including what you liked or disliked about it.
I do not remember much about how I wrote this paper. I jumped into this class about 4 days after it started and this project was already assigned. So my opinion may be biased, but i think that it was a weird thing to jump into without much of a clue what was needed or required. But I might have missed that part. I think that if there were about a week to preface what a good aplication was and what the colleges were really looking for and how to portray that message that would be sweet. Other than that, I cant think of anything that was bad with the paper. It makes sense to start the class by writing a college application, in a college writing class.

D. General Questions:

1. What would you say is the most important thing you learned in this course?
I think that the most useful thing that i did learned this semester in this class is how to write in a way that conveys different opnions and concepts. The syntax of how different subjects should be portrayed ei: POND Paper vs. Problem Solution Essay

2. What did you learn to do well? How do you know this?
I think that overall, I write better. I think that if now I were to go back to the first assignment and write it over I would, overall, do much better. This may have a lot to do with the magnitude of the papers we wrote in this class, but that was a good thing. Because of how many things we worked on, I wrote so much, I now write on more of an advanced level than before.

3. What would you say is your weakest skill in College Writing? Explain why you think this.
Usage of time. There were plenty of times where I sat around and did nothing but look at stuff on the computers. I think that if I had utilized time better in class my work would have been more extensive and more concrete.


4. What kinds of digital skills did you learn?
I have never used a wiki before and have never blogged before. So learning to use these kinds of things will more than likely help out later in life.

5. Copy and paste in some examples of your best work (or the work for which you are most proud) from your blog or wiki. Make a working link to that material. Explain why you think it’s particularly good.

6. On which paper do you think you did your best writing? Do you feel this way because of how peers evaluated your work, how much effort you put into it or the grade the teacher assigned? Explain your feelings.
I think that my Problem Solution Essay was my best formal work. By looking at the grade and how I wrote it, the paper was the most extensive and best written. But the POND essay was my favorite to write.

7. What are some things you want to work on in the future in your writing?
I wish I could write more about personal experiences and objects. The research thing is boring to me. The opinions and feelings are much easier and quicker for me to write about.

8. How did you work best: alone, with a partner, and/or with a group? Did it vary depending on the assignment?
Alone, but that is not to say that group papers do not work, in the right settings with the right people group and partner papers can work out well. The paper on One Flew Over The Cuckoo's nest was good, but hard to orginize. It works better for “flow” to write on a subject where I am not limited to a section of a paper.

9. How was peer feedback valuable to your learning?
It was valuable to fixing mistakes and grammer issues. But I didn't get much on a deep subject level from another student, its akward to say anything critical about someone else's work, it can apear demeaning.

10. How did teacher comments influence or change your writing?
It sort of helped in what the teacher was looking for in the paper. But I never turned in a rough draft so the comments never directly effected the paper they were on.

11. Where physically did you work the best (at home, in class, the library, etc.)?
At home, I am more focused on work there. But when I concentrated in class I did get a lot acomplished.

12. Explain which project you worked on that you liked the best or that you found most interesting. Explain where the project was done (it’s context, blog, wiki, paper, PowerPoint, etc.), why the project was done (it’s purpose), and what learning experiences were accomplished.
POND Paper, it was fun to try to explain why something that is tangible with texture has a intangible meaning.

13. How did your digital writing change at all over the last two terms? Do you think you will use any of these tools in the future because of these changes?
I don't think I changed much in that regard, but I learned to write about what I was thinking on an open, online site. This really isn't something that I have ever done before.

D. Anything else you want to say or add?
This was a really cool class and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn to write on a higher level. Also the technologically based curriculum was really cool something that I have never done before. It makes the transition nice between home and school. At school I write with a pen and paper in a desk, at home I either type or on occasion write with pen and paper on a couch. In this class i could walk into class work on something send it to myself, then go home and work on it in the same forum or medium. Overall, this is a solid class.

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