April 16

For writing into the day, we responded to the question: In relation to an English class, what do you think of when you hear the word "reflection"?

The class responded with the following:

• Tracking your progress - how you got from points A to point B
• Drawing on personal experiences and analyzing them
• Looking at your writing process and figuring out how you can improving and what you're confident about
• Looking at what worked and what went wrong

Megan then gave the following a working definition for this class:

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines reflection as: “(1) the action of bending or folding back [and] (2) consideration of some subject matter, idea, or purpose¹.” Reflecting in a writing classroom combines these two definitions.

“Reflection is thinking for an extended period by linking recent experiences to earlier ones…The thinking involves looking for commonalities, differences, and interrelations beyond their superficial elements.²” “The act of reflection, therefore, becomes crucial to [students’] education. It serves as the bridge between experiences and learning.^3”

“Meaningful reflection considers three questions:

1. What—what happened?
2. So what—what does it mean? 
3. Now what—what is the next step?⁴” 

We talked about the Final Presentation and Final Reflection assignments.  On the last day of class, you will need to put the on your blog:

• In one post, you will embed the final drafts of the major assignments (see the document "Using Scribd to Post to Your Blog" for how you should do this)
• In another post, you will write the final reflection letter

Finally, we used Megan's SI Reflection (http://megansreflection.blogspot.com) as a model for the final reflection and discussed it.

What types of things might you link to or use as examples in your final reflection?

• Comments from blog group
• Pictures -  visual analysis pictures, quotes on papers, pictures of writing process, print source
• Drafts
• Daybook entires
• Textbook
• Vidoes - TedTalks
• Handouts
• PowerPoint slides
• Reading Responses
• Reflections
• Blog group posts

Homework:

• Decide whether you want to use the Rogerian or the Toulmin structure for your argumentative essay.

Note: All drafts for extra feedback must be email to Megan by midnight on April 18.