Class #28: Tuesday May 15, 2018

Reflective Essay Prompt

I was both very happy and very sad about the completion of the course. In many ways I was disappointed about having our last class be a silent assessment, but I really enjoyed the meaningful thoughts and insights from their reflective essays.

Below are some of my favorite quotes from the students. My comments are in blue.


"Conclusions are an important part of an essay some have difficulties while others find writing a conclusion simple. I was one of those who thought writing a conclusion was an easy task. That is until Laura opened my eyes. A conclusion may not be intended to summarize the whole essay in one paragraph (I need to tell my TA this). It connect like the intro like a bridge, as well as many other things. Knowing this, I will work on my conclusions." -Isaac I'm so excited that this complicated idea got across! I also like that I was able to elevate Isaac's writing because he was already such a proficient writer. 

"Having the packet that Laura made and the definitions for each movie term helped me with this assignment a lot." -Engy I liked knowing all that work was worth it. 

"Through the help of Laura my analysis of quotes and my ability to write better introductions and conclusions improved. [I used to only write] a sentence or two after a quote and leave it at that. Now I know that you must spell out everything you want to extract from the quote." -Aidan I will definitely try and find my notes on my writing conference with Aidan. I should explain analyzing quotes like this in a future lesson. I think I told him to "verbally annotate" highlighting and directing his reader to certain phrases. 

"I also learned about writing stronger introductions and conclusions. For one, writing introductions was the hardest part for me. Upon reading my essay after writing it, I would put it down and never finish. Now I realize it's because the introductions were always so boring. After the lessons on writing better introductions, I found that using a question as an opening sentence works best for me as it makes writing the essay more fun. Another aspect of writing essays that I found difficult was coming up with a thesis statement. This issue was resolved by one-on-one conferences and made my essays more enjoyable to write as I actually had something I wanted to write about during the process of doing the assignment." -Hussan More than anything, I love when students get a better attitude on writing

"Most importantlyI learned how to become a better person and more responsible with my work and own life, some lessons I will carry with me through my life. Also learning how to take fault for what is mine. Overall the class has taught me a lot, Professor Gleason has taught me a lot. For that I want to say thank you." -Juan Wow! I just thought this was a remarkable thing for a student say. I want someone to say this about me some day. 

"Two useful tips Laura gave me during her workshop were give your reader something to think about and discuss the implications of your argument." -Ahtziry Sometimes the best compliments from students is simply that they remembered what you said.