Email Conference
Mr. Mangini,
I am thinking you have arrived at this page of my website for one of two reasons: 1) you were unable to open my attachment in your email (if so, sorry!) 2) you are just checking out all the tabs on my site. Either way, thank you for taking the time to have this "conference" with me!
Writing, Research and Technology 1
Dawn Roy
End of the Semester Self-Evaluation
Instead of meeting up in person, I chose to have our meeting regarding my grade through email (thank you for letting us choose, by the way!) I thought the best way to evaluate myself would be to answer some of the same questions from the evaluation we did for mid-semester. To illustrate the progress I feel I have made over the semester, I will highlight some of my responses from mid-semester and you can compare them to my responses now, at the end of the semester.
1. Did you meet contract terms for a B? (Check out the contract again.)
Mid-semester: “Currently my effort in this class does not merit a B for a final grade.”
Now: I have met most of the requirements such as attendance and participation in the first half of the semester but I was not producing enough writing to have earned a B in your class. Also, my blog posts were not as detailed or thought-provoking as they could have been. The self evaluation allowed me to understand the steps I had to take to improve my grade and increase my effort for this class. I have put much more time and effort into the assignments the second half of the marking period. When I realized I was not producing enough material for my old Twitterive topic (my grandpop’s house), I decided a more broad place (our kitchen at home), would allow me to create more. I took your advice and allowed myself to just sit down and write and not allow myself to critique my work until I had produced a significant amount of writing.
2. Did you have many drafts that could open the door to a higher grade?—that is,
drafts I told you I considered "excellent" or better than needed for the contract?
Mid-semester: In the middle of the semester, I had not produced any exceptional pieces. The major assignment we were working on at the time was the Twitterive and I had not made much progress with that project.
Now: I hope you will agree that the major assignments I have produced are worthy of a better grade than I originally deserved. I have spent a lot of time editing and revising my Twitterive and I am very happy with the result. I believe I have pushed myself to try new things in regard to the technology involved with designing the website for my Weebly and the Google Site my group designed. I am proud of the work I have done for your class!
3. Please give yourself a “plus,” a “minus,” or an “okay” for each item. Let your answer reflect yourself sense of yourself now—at the end of the semester.
Are you able to enjoy and use writing? PLUS
Overall, I have always enjoyed writing, however, I do enjoy using technology to produce writing more now than I did before. I may continue to update my Weebly because I enjoy using that site as a way of organizing my writing.
• To enjoy the process, to throw yourself into it, to take risks? OKAY
I am still not able to completely throw myself into taking risks
with my writing yet but I have made progress in allowing myself to first create, then to edit my work.
• To use writing in your life, figure things out, make decisions, deal with
feelings? OKAY
I am still not able to use writing as a way of making decisions or dealing with feelings but I am open to the idea. Perhaps I will write next time I have a big decision to make because I understand the process can be therapeutic.
• To use writing to help you learn material in other courses? PLUS
I have become a firm believer in using writing to learn unfamiliar course material for any class. I find it to be the best way to study because physically writing out information helps me to remember the information and access it much easier.
• To enjoy sharing writing with others—and give and get responses? PLUS
I really enjoy sharing my writing with others now. I have learned how valuable other people’s opinion is when starting a new project. Sometimes when you have no idea where you are going with a project, someone on the outside can step in and show you what you are missing.
4. "Invention": are you able to find lots of ideas and words?
Mid-semester: Developing ideas through writing is difficult because I try to be creative and edit myself at the same time
Now: This is a problem I have addressed several times already but I do believe I have made progress of being aware of when I am doing this and forcing myself to step back and allow myself to create first. By doing so, I have accepted more of my creative ideas and I have produced writing that I did not think I was capable of.
5. Thinking, perplexity: are you able to dig to real questions in your essays? To get to what really matters?—to push toward figuring something out--creating a movement of thinking?
Mid-semester: I have difficulty finding purpose in my writing.
Now: I am more comfortable to getting to the root of my writing. I have done this by allowing myself to produce a substantial amount of writing and then edit myself so my writing makes sense to other people. Writing should be for me first, then my audience!
10. Feedback: can you give good feedback to others--and perhaps more important--can you get them to give you the feedback you need?
Mid-semester and Now: I believe I have been able to give good feedback to my classmates throughout the semester. I try to understand the overall concept of my peer’s writing and then ask questions so I can offer the most valuable advice.
I truly enjoy receiving feedback and constructive criticism from my peers. My peers are often the most valuable resource I have in producing my writing. I loved working collaboratively with my group mates and they have made my writing stronger!
11. How well did you come to understand your writing process and learning process?
I am still working through the development of my own writing process. Since it is constantly changing, I feel I am able to change it and alter my process accordingly. After having a better understanding of reflective and reflexive processes, I am beginning to understand how outsiders affect my writing.
12. How was your level of effort over the semester?
I had a difficult time meeting the expectations for this course in the beginning of the semester. I believe I have increased the amount of effort in the latter part of the semester and I hope my assignments show this effort!
13. How much do you feel you improved over the semester?
I feel I have improved greatly over the semester! I feel so much more comfortable with the writing I have produced and I am much more comfortable with my writing and learning processes. I am excited about implementing some technology into my writing in the future.
14. What grade do you think you earned this semester?
After taking a critical look at the work I have produced this summer and acknowledging the lack of effort in the beginning of the semester, I feel I have improved enough to earn a B for this course. I am proud of the work I have done and I hope you agree!
I am thinking you have arrived at this page of my website for one of two reasons: 1) you were unable to open my attachment in your email (if so, sorry!) 2) you are just checking out all the tabs on my site. Either way, thank you for taking the time to have this "conference" with me!
Writing, Research and Technology 1
Dawn Roy
End of the Semester Self-Evaluation
Instead of meeting up in person, I chose to have our meeting regarding my grade through email (thank you for letting us choose, by the way!) I thought the best way to evaluate myself would be to answer some of the same questions from the evaluation we did for mid-semester. To illustrate the progress I feel I have made over the semester, I will highlight some of my responses from mid-semester and you can compare them to my responses now, at the end of the semester.
1. Did you meet contract terms for a B? (Check out the contract again.)
Mid-semester: “Currently my effort in this class does not merit a B for a final grade.”
Now: I have met most of the requirements such as attendance and participation in the first half of the semester but I was not producing enough writing to have earned a B in your class. Also, my blog posts were not as detailed or thought-provoking as they could have been. The self evaluation allowed me to understand the steps I had to take to improve my grade and increase my effort for this class. I have put much more time and effort into the assignments the second half of the marking period. When I realized I was not producing enough material for my old Twitterive topic (my grandpop’s house), I decided a more broad place (our kitchen at home), would allow me to create more. I took your advice and allowed myself to just sit down and write and not allow myself to critique my work until I had produced a significant amount of writing.
2. Did you have many drafts that could open the door to a higher grade?—that is,
drafts I told you I considered "excellent" or better than needed for the contract?
Mid-semester: In the middle of the semester, I had not produced any exceptional pieces. The major assignment we were working on at the time was the Twitterive and I had not made much progress with that project.
Now: I hope you will agree that the major assignments I have produced are worthy of a better grade than I originally deserved. I have spent a lot of time editing and revising my Twitterive and I am very happy with the result. I believe I have pushed myself to try new things in regard to the technology involved with designing the website for my Weebly and the Google Site my group designed. I am proud of the work I have done for your class!
3. Please give yourself a “plus,” a “minus,” or an “okay” for each item. Let your answer reflect yourself sense of yourself now—at the end of the semester.
Are you able to enjoy and use writing? PLUS
Overall, I have always enjoyed writing, however, I do enjoy using technology to produce writing more now than I did before. I may continue to update my Weebly because I enjoy using that site as a way of organizing my writing.
• To enjoy the process, to throw yourself into it, to take risks? OKAY
I am still not able to completely throw myself into taking risks
with my writing yet but I have made progress in allowing myself to first create, then to edit my work.
• To use writing in your life, figure things out, make decisions, deal with
feelings? OKAY
I am still not able to use writing as a way of making decisions or dealing with feelings but I am open to the idea. Perhaps I will write next time I have a big decision to make because I understand the process can be therapeutic.
• To use writing to help you learn material in other courses? PLUS
I have become a firm believer in using writing to learn unfamiliar course material for any class. I find it to be the best way to study because physically writing out information helps me to remember the information and access it much easier.
• To enjoy sharing writing with others—and give and get responses? PLUS
I really enjoy sharing my writing with others now. I have learned how valuable other people’s opinion is when starting a new project. Sometimes when you have no idea where you are going with a project, someone on the outside can step in and show you what you are missing.
4. "Invention": are you able to find lots of ideas and words?
Mid-semester: Developing ideas through writing is difficult because I try to be creative and edit myself at the same time
Now: This is a problem I have addressed several times already but I do believe I have made progress of being aware of when I am doing this and forcing myself to step back and allow myself to create first. By doing so, I have accepted more of my creative ideas and I have produced writing that I did not think I was capable of.
5. Thinking, perplexity: are you able to dig to real questions in your essays? To get to what really matters?—to push toward figuring something out--creating a movement of thinking?
Mid-semester: I have difficulty finding purpose in my writing.
Now: I am more comfortable to getting to the root of my writing. I have done this by allowing myself to produce a substantial amount of writing and then edit myself so my writing makes sense to other people. Writing should be for me first, then my audience!
10. Feedback: can you give good feedback to others--and perhaps more important--can you get them to give you the feedback you need?
Mid-semester and Now: I believe I have been able to give good feedback to my classmates throughout the semester. I try to understand the overall concept of my peer’s writing and then ask questions so I can offer the most valuable advice.
I truly enjoy receiving feedback and constructive criticism from my peers. My peers are often the most valuable resource I have in producing my writing. I loved working collaboratively with my group mates and they have made my writing stronger!
11. How well did you come to understand your writing process and learning process?
I am still working through the development of my own writing process. Since it is constantly changing, I feel I am able to change it and alter my process accordingly. After having a better understanding of reflective and reflexive processes, I am beginning to understand how outsiders affect my writing.
12. How was your level of effort over the semester?
I had a difficult time meeting the expectations for this course in the beginning of the semester. I believe I have increased the amount of effort in the latter part of the semester and I hope my assignments show this effort!
13. How much do you feel you improved over the semester?
I feel I have improved greatly over the semester! I feel so much more comfortable with the writing I have produced and I am much more comfortable with my writing and learning processes. I am excited about implementing some technology into my writing in the future.
14. What grade do you think you earned this semester?
After taking a critical look at the work I have produced this summer and acknowledging the lack of effort in the beginning of the semester, I feel I have improved enough to earn a B for this course. I am proud of the work I have done and I hope you agree!