Kristie's - Mid Term Reflection

Section I - I read the description of the course goals as they are listed on the course website. Here is my response to the following questions:

Do you feel we are proceeding towards these goals? What is so far proving most useful? What would you change, and why?

It seems like our class is on course, but we have many individuals who are behind in their writing assignments and the ideas of their writing assignments.  I have faith in our class that we can and will accomplish our goals as long as we catch ourselves up individually and proceed together so we can learn together going forward.  I find that each student has a different perception of how our assignments need to be completed and what is expected.  Class conversations help us clarify the expectations which in turn helps us learn how to complete the different deliverables.  These class discussions are good because we can come to a conclusion as a class and confirm what the actual expectations are from the ShareRiff himself by the end of each class session.  In turn we have learned how to write, what to write and we have done this as a true team.

What are you learning in class? What more do you think you could learn in class? How can class be structured to help you learn what matters to you?

I enjoy the fact that I have a group of peers I can share with on a weekly basis to review writing techniques.  I am concerned that I do not have that full group to use each and every week.  I truly believe that life teaches the most valuable lessons and I personally learn from real life experiences.  I feel that class discussions around how to write will continue to help me learn in the long run.  We had a great class discussion on March 5th.  We took the time to have each student give their take on the different assignments we've completed and the lessons learned from each of them.  This not only allows us to share and learn together as a class, but also makes us accountable for completing the work assigned.

How do you define your responsibilities to this class? How are you living up to those responsibilities? What are your greatest contributions to class? What can you improve?

I feel my responsibilities are pretty clearly defined and spelled out in the course calendar/description.  Our class website specifically indicates that, weekly wiki'ing and in-class activity will give me 100 points, 4 polished and formal deliverables will give me another 100 points (25 points each), a final project/research paper will gain me another 100 points, and my overall portfolio will gain me a final 100 points to give a total of 400 possible points earned in this class.  This is pretty self explanatory.  I feel that my class participation is at 100% and I like challenging my peers to improve their work by providing a different view or idea to add to their personal writing assignments, but my weekly wiki'ing could improve.  I am half way to completing the 4 polished formal deliverables.  I am honestly still unclear of what my final project will be, but will have that idea in my head before returning from Spring Break and my overall profile could use some TLC to gain my personal 100% effort. 

How do you define ShareRiff's responsibilities as teacher of this class? Is ShareRiff fulfilling those responsibilities? What more or different can he do to help you fulfill the work of this class?

I feel that it is ShareRiff is responsible for providing the students with the tools needed to successfully complete the expected assignments.  He is updating the Course Calendar regularly so these assignments are clear.  This allows students to reference the calendar when completing our responsibilities if additional clarification is needed.  I feel that I walked away from our March 5th class with a very clear expectation of what I needed to do to be successful in this course.  This was accomplished by having classmates comment on a few of the assignments we have been given so far and what they did as an individual to complete that assignment.   ShareRiff directed the conversation and pulled us back in if we got off course, then closed the session with his expectations and when they were due. 

What more or different can ShareRiff do to help you understand the work he is asking you to do?

I feel ShareRiff has purposely given us assignments with vague descriptions to allow us to genuinely write as an individual.  However, it seems that this specific group needs a bit more structure.  The new format we came up with as a class seems to be working well with clear expectations, yet allows us to choose topics we are personally passionate about.  I like where we are going.   

What suggestions do you have for how we can improve class, to help you learn more, and enjoy the class and the learning more? (you can bullet your list for easier reading)

-Classmates, Please show up to class.  I feel that we learn best from eachother and when we have all points of view and experiences to pull ideas from.

-Classmates, Let's get our work done and posted in a timely manner.  I am guilty of slacking on this, but I know I will fall behind in class discussions if my work does not keep up with what the class is talking about.

-ShareRiff, Keep us on track as we move through the final 2 formal deliverables and discuss as a class on what we need to write about.  Continue to close each class with the expected structure of each assignments (# of words, the meat and potatoes of the actual body of the writing and timeframes).

I am the youngest child in my family and have spent my life learning from the mistakes and life events of my big brothers and sisters, yet I still have to live my life and make some mistakes on my own to learn additional valuable lessons.  If we continue to work together as classmates and learn together as we complete our assignments we can take these lessons with us and be successful in our game of life.  I it's cheesy, but that's who I am. 

Section II

1. I have not figured out how to upload a picture to the new Wiki, but this is the best I have for now:

On a scale from 1-10 with 1 being the furthest away from and 10 being the closest to completing my writing process for this course.

1..........2..........3..........4..........5..........6....(ME).7..........8..........9..........10.

I can always elaborate once I figure out how to upload.