Embedded Reflection
Definitions: Reflection connects
evidence to expectations of intellectual growth. Embedded reflection
prompts students to anticipate or appraise their intellectual growth at
appropriate points before, during, and/or after activities.
Please
take 5 minutes to compose a “writer’s profile” that will give me an idea of
your experience as a writer. You may want to list writing you’ve done outside
an academic context as well as work you’ve done in school. For instance, you
might let me know if you blog, write letters, design web pages, keep a diary,
participate in chat rooms, or compose poetry and short fiction, or write
reports for your job as well as if you have kept records for a club or
organization, written for a school yearbook or newspaper, put together manuals.
Also list the more typical course activities such as note-keeping, speech
writing, book reports, lab reports, history projects, business documents, essay
exams, research assignments, persuasive papers, and the like. Indicate which
tasks you do best or enjoy most.
Turn
the “Writer’s Profile” you did in class into an introduction to a 3-page essay
that will explain to me and to your classmates how you’ve developed so far as a
writer. Select the writing tasks that had the most impact on your growth.
Reflect on the nature of this growth. Your narrative may show how your growth
as a writer enhanced your growth in other literacy skills, e.g., reading,
public speaking, critical listening, uses of interactive technology. How did
each writing task that you select have an impact on your intended readers? What
did you learn from doing the tasks? How did each task contribute to, or detract
from, your understanding of your effectiveness as a writer? Consider how these
experiences help you understand what goals you now want to focus on, in order
to become a competent writer in college. Discuss what you hope to gain by the
time you finish this First-Year Composition course (you may want to single out
or add to the appropriate objectives stated in the syllabus).
Possible
follow-up Reflective Activities—Which one might you choose, and why?
Strong Okay Weak No
credit
___ ___ ___ ___ Your introduction adequately sums up a number of
writing tasks
you’ve done
___ ___ ___ ___ You identify tasks that had a
significant impact on you and explain
___ ___ ___ ___ You indicate what goals you
now have as a college writer
___ ___ ___ ___ You discuss what you hope to
gain from ENGL 103
___ ___ ___ ___ You edit for spelling,
grammar, and mechanics.
Student
response:
“In the essay I wrote on Bill O’Reilly, “Spinning ‘No Spin,’” I used
observation to establish his character. I wrote, “He is in your face. He is
loud. He will ask uncomfortable questions. He gets people off their seats […].
You may not like him, but his opinions move people to action.” Through the use
of this conjectural claim about him, I am able to suggest my observation to the
reader as a credible one. But a component of making a conjectural claim like
this is missing. You must get the reader to trust your perceptions through the
way you present your ethos as you write.
“In the same essay, I try to
make an appeal to the reader on a basis of my ethos. First, I admit that
Bill O’Reilly is confrontational and that my respect for him concerns his
fearlessness instead of respect for all of his ideas. By doing so, I attempt to
portray myself as just any common guy that enjoys political and social
discussion. Then I end the essay by telling the reader that I am much less bold
and much more conscious of others around me and how they feel—that I am not
completely set in my beliefs, suggesting that I am honestly seeking out what’s
right. All of those appeals help establish my character, and in the end, make
my other persuasive techniques stronger.”
Sample
#2: Reflect
on what course activities you found especially useful during this semester and
explain.
Student
Response:
“This semester, I learned the importance of revising my papers according to
other people’s comments. This semester is the first time I have ever considered
comments that were not from the teacher when revising my paper. Through the
Webboard, I learned to ease my anxiety of my peers reading my papers and
commenting on them. I never liked people reading my papers because I take
criticism badly when it is not stated well. However, in our class the comments
were constructive and more like suggestions and not criticism. For example,
when I wrote my mother’s biography, I not only used the teacher’s comments, but
also M__’s and A__’s comments to revise my paper. During this semester, I
gained a better sense of accepting comments and revising according to those
suggestions.
Bibliography: go to
http://comppile.tamucc.edu/search.php
; type “reflection” in “Keywords”