Final Reflection Letter
Dear Ms. Rebecca,
I was excited when you mentioned to my English 1100 class that you would be teaching English 1102 and the focus of that class would be identity. I had conflicted thoughts about it. I knew that if I was going to get something more meaningful and worthwhile out of this class I was going to have to dig deep to understand what events had shaped my identity as a person, writer, and student. My goal for this course was to find out some things about myself that I was not aware of and I can say that I truly did learn a lot about myself. By conducting research on the topic of interracial couples I realized that one of the reasons why I could be attracted to white males is because of me being abandoned by my biological father. I have created these distrust and negative feelings toward African-American males. I do not want my children to be raised by left or abandoned by their father. I did not understand how much my biological dad not being a part of my life not only affected me emotionally but also socially and mentally.
The readings in this class have affected me more than I had anticipated. The perspectives and thoughts presented in Gee as an Analytic Lens allowed me to see a whole new world. Identity is a word that many have heard before but few truly understand. Gee stated that identity is an important took for understanding society. When any human being acts in a given centext, others recognize that person as acting and interacting as a certain "kind of person." I learned that we each posses many different identities at a given time depending on where we are, the context we are in, and from moment to moment.
I loved how the final assignments that we turned in did not have to be an essay! Actually, none of the final assignments I turned in were papers. The amount of technology I used in this class this semester was amazing. Stylistically, I could focus more on the visual aspects of an assignment that would tell my story. For the critical narrative, I chose to make a Prezi with the background of a tree. This was a design element I chose to visually explain to the viewer that by not having my Biological dad around I felt like I was missing my roots. By creating projects that were more visually appealing, I felt like I was better able to express myself. Because of the amount of technology I used, I believe I know have the tools to create my own YouTube channel. On my channel, I want to talk about controversial topics and have people weigh-in their thoughts and opinions.
I feel like this semester, I did a much better job of polishing my pieces an commenting on the pieces of my peers. My mind had switched from just editing a person's paper for grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and structural issues to commenting on the ideals, thoughts, and by questioning them! This semester, I expanded on what I had learned last semester. During workshop, I learned to provide suggestions and feedback that the person could use and apply right then and there. I loved my workshop group and I felt comfortable with them. Because of this, I felt more comfortable giving them advice on how to make their pieces better. I became extremely close with these girls and I know they trusted me with their work. I remember during workshop, we would all just throw out ideas regarding each others work in an informal way because we had gotten so close.
Thank you to my WONDERFUL workshop group and especially to Ms. Rebecca. All of your comments from the blogs, during workshops, and during conferences are greatly appreciated and helpful. You have helped me in more ways than you think, I will NEVER forget you. ♥ I hope you have a great summer vacation!
It was great having you for a year,
Allysea
I was excited when you mentioned to my English 1100 class that you would be teaching English 1102 and the focus of that class would be identity. I had conflicted thoughts about it. I knew that if I was going to get something more meaningful and worthwhile out of this class I was going to have to dig deep to understand what events had shaped my identity as a person, writer, and student. My goal for this course was to find out some things about myself that I was not aware of and I can say that I truly did learn a lot about myself. By conducting research on the topic of interracial couples I realized that one of the reasons why I could be attracted to white males is because of me being abandoned by my biological father. I have created these distrust and negative feelings toward African-American males. I do not want my children to be raised by left or abandoned by their father. I did not understand how much my biological dad not being a part of my life not only affected me emotionally but also socially and mentally.
The readings in this class have affected me more than I had anticipated. The perspectives and thoughts presented in Gee as an Analytic Lens allowed me to see a whole new world. Identity is a word that many have heard before but few truly understand. Gee stated that identity is an important took for understanding society. When any human being acts in a given centext, others recognize that person as acting and interacting as a certain "kind of person." I learned that we each posses many different identities at a given time depending on where we are, the context we are in, and from moment to moment.
I loved how the final assignments that we turned in did not have to be an essay! Actually, none of the final assignments I turned in were papers. The amount of technology I used in this class this semester was amazing. Stylistically, I could focus more on the visual aspects of an assignment that would tell my story. For the critical narrative, I chose to make a Prezi with the background of a tree. This was a design element I chose to visually explain to the viewer that by not having my Biological dad around I felt like I was missing my roots. By creating projects that were more visually appealing, I felt like I was better able to express myself. Because of the amount of technology I used, I believe I know have the tools to create my own YouTube channel. On my channel, I want to talk about controversial topics and have people weigh-in their thoughts and opinions.
I feel like this semester, I did a much better job of polishing my pieces an commenting on the pieces of my peers. My mind had switched from just editing a person's paper for grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and structural issues to commenting on the ideals, thoughts, and by questioning them! This semester, I expanded on what I had learned last semester. During workshop, I learned to provide suggestions and feedback that the person could use and apply right then and there. I loved my workshop group and I felt comfortable with them. Because of this, I felt more comfortable giving them advice on how to make their pieces better. I became extremely close with these girls and I know they trusted me with their work. I remember during workshop, we would all just throw out ideas regarding each others work in an informal way because we had gotten so close.
Thank you to my WONDERFUL workshop group and especially to Ms. Rebecca. All of your comments from the blogs, during workshops, and during conferences are greatly appreciated and helpful. You have helped me in more ways than you think, I will NEVER forget you. ♥ I hope you have a great summer vacation!
It was great having you for a year,
Allysea
