Reflection makes us wonder why we are writing and for what audience, and help us to stay focused on our main subject. For example: I think we can start writing an essay by making free writing, but once we finished, we have to revise our piece by reflecting about our goals and purpose. Does not matter what technique we use to write, we have to stick to the goal we want to achieve. Reflection makes us develop our critical thinking and helps us to understand what we want to tell our audience. We have to express ourselves and feel free to write. I like the process Sandra L. Giles explain in "Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?" to use a letter to the reader to tell them out purpose, our process through write the essay, and how the comments of our peers help us. I think these steps can help us to reflect on what we are willing to achieve with our essay and we can come back again as needed to see if our essay match up with our letter. I think we need reflection not only in writing but in everything in our life because we want to know where we go and why we are doing the things in that way instead of another.
0 Comments
I found most surprised that I could complete more than 1700 words in my writing project #1, meanwhile it was hard to me to reach 1200 words in Writing Project #1. I think the words flow more rapidly this time, and I start to think in English my thoughts instead of thinking them in Spanish and then tried to translate them.
I found most challenging this time to observe and describe every single space about what I was talking about in my writing. I tried to be more descriptive and I made a big effort to observe everything. I think that what helped me the most was the previous exercises before the project #2. The most important part of the writing process to me is to let the ideas flow as they come to my head, then I can revise and edit, but the important thing is to get inspired and to write everything as it comes. Because otherwise, I think it is going to be difficult to start a writing. Once I write down all my ideas, I can start to place them in order. If I were invited to teach someone else something about writing, definitely I would say the same thing as in Writing Project #1 because is the same thing I wrote in the paragraph above: the important thing about writing is to start and let the ideas flow, even though you think is not properly written, because you can revise it later. I think reflection is everywhere but when we are writing it is a crucial thing to do, because you are going to have an audience and you have to reflect what you are going to say, so it can be understandable for them, and to get a position about what you are talking of. For example, with this Writing Project #1 I had to reflect first of all, about what community do I . And when I ge it If different readers and writers think of proofing, formatting, and producing final pieces of writing differently, I think it still works, because there is not only one way to make things right. If someone does it in a different way but at the end is the same result or goal: to have a nice and understandable piece of writing, I think it could be done in anyway. For example, if I read a piece of writing and I notice a lot of grammar errors (being English the native language), I think that person loose credibility of what is trying to tell me. And also I am going to focus more on the mistakes than what is the writing about. That is why it is important to me this step of the writing process.
Maybe I will disagree with the process of writing of others but for me, is necessary to proof, format and produce in the way everyone can, because it is very important that the audience understands what you are trying to tell. And also do it the best you can. Before, I think revision refers only to improve something, but the meaning of the word given in the course and based on my peers comments, this idea has changed. A peer says that revision is different from editing, and now I agree we that idea because revision is to see your writing with another perspective and editing implies changing words, sentences or paragraphs. Maybe the two go together but are not the same thing.
Revision can be positive if we reread our work from another perspective, and analyzing what we want to tell. Maybe we can make some changes but having in mind our first insight and the audience we want to reach. Because sometimes we can change things and totally make another writing that does not tell what we at first, wanted to say. In a revision, maybe everything seems well for us, and maybe we can use the help of a third person to notice things that we do not. It does not mean that we have to make changes if we do not want to, but they can help us to see other things we did not notice. For example: when I receive the feedback of my course peers about my writing project, they help me with their comments to see things I did not notice or make me questions that help me reflect and use to improve my essay. How old are you?
I am 30 years old. What activity do you like to do when you come to the park? I like to do some exercise: sometimes I walked and sometimes I preferred to run. Do you come alone? Yes. I come alone because is too early and the rest of my family is sleeping at this time. Do you come every day of the week? No. I only come three or four days a week. Why do you prefer to exercise in the morning? Because exercise makes me more active during the day. And also because I like to breathe fresh morning air and I enjoy to watch birds flying in a flock. Do you use the fitting equipment of the park? Sometimes, but I prefer to walk or run. Do you hear music while you exercise? Yes. Do you greet people in the park? Yes, but only when they first say "hi" to me. How do you greet them? Waving my hand and saying "good morning" out loud. What do you think about dogs in the park? It is fine for me when their owners are walking them, but I do not like when they are walking alone, because sometimes I get scared. What smell do you like here at the park? Fresh morning air. Do you make the sign of the holy cross or touch the statue of the Virgin Mary when you pass infront of the church? Yes, both of them. Why do you come to this park and not to another one? Because it is near to my house. What do you think you have in common with the people that come to this park? That we love to exercise and care about our health, and also that we all live in the surrounding area. Do you touch something in this park, for example: trees, the fitness equipment or a bench? Sometimes the fitness equipment. How does it feel? For example: cold, warm, dirty, wrinkled or smooth. It feels cold and smooth. Are you used to eat something at the park? When I am exercising not. Only Step 1
There are trees with birds in them. Some of the trees are full of leaves and others do not. The color of the leaves of the trees are green. There is a small church in the center of the park with a white Virgin Mary statue in front of it. On one side of the church is a bell gold colored. There are kids playgrounds with swings, slides and seesaws. The are made of metal and they are painted in red. People are wearing sportswear. Some of them are walking in one way and some other on the contrary direction. Some use the stairs to exercise themselves going up and down. Others prefer to use the fitness equipment of the park and others take out their dogs for a walk. I hear the sound of the leaves that are moved by the wind and the birds are singing. The bell’s church sounds some minutes before 8a.m. I hear the noise of the people entering the church. There is some car noises because they are parking in front the church. There are no sounds neither noises made by the kids’ playground because at this hour, there are no kids. The people that is exercising or walking their dogs, greet when they pass next to each other. The dogs bark to other dogs or to the people. There are some metal and rock noises, because there are two houses in construction near the park. It smells very freshly because of the trees and the morning hour. Also smells of freshly watered garden and wet soil. Some people smell fresh recently showered and others have a perfumed smell. Others smell like just awaken. At some points it smells of dog poop because at the park, there are dogs that are walking alone. The leaves of the trees feel wet because of the early morning watering. The wind is very fresh and I can feel it in my face. The statue of the Virgin Mary feels very slippery because it has varnish paint. The kids playground feels very cold because is early in the morning and is winter, and the playground is made of steel. One person greet me with his hand and it feels warm and a little bit sweaty. Step 2 People walk or run circling the perimeter of the park. Some goes in one way and others on the contrary way. Some of them get upstairs and then downstairs because there are rock steps. Some of them pass through short bridges. And other people park their cars and walk into the church. Some of them are walking, others running, others take their dog for a walk, others are entering church to hear the mass, or parking their cars. Some others are exercising themselves with the fitness equipment. Some of them are walking in groups of two, three or even four and they are chatting. Others are just crossing the park to get to the main street to take the bus. Some of them are hearing music meanwhile they exercise. They greet when they pass next to each other. People make the sign of the holy cross when they pass in front of the church and some of them give a kiss or touch the feet of the statue of the Virgin Mary. People salute everyone once or maybe twice if they do not remember the person when they are in another lap. The room has:
● One bed ● A dark blue blanket with sport figures. It has color lines forming squares on it. These lines are of 3 different colors: green, red, yellow, black and blue. It has printed on it 4 kind of balls: football, basketball, soccer and baseball. Also a hockey disc, a basketball board which has green color and yellow, a baseball bat which is yellow, a football helmet which is yellow with red, and a hockey stick which is yellow. ● On the bed are laying a set of 5 throw pillows: 2 basketball, 2 football and the other is a baseball glove which in the center has a baseball ball. ● Walls that are a color combination between yellow and orange. In the middle of its height it has a wallpaper border which has exactly the same print as the bed blanket. Higher than the wallpaper border it has stamped in the wall 3 kind of balls: basketball, soccer and baseball. Also it has stamped a blue flag with white letters in the middle of it which say “Defense”. ● Dark blue carpet. ● A dark blue football helmet on the floor. ● A grey baseball bat with a baseball glove on the top of the bat resting on the wall. ● An inflatable football team player which is right next to the baseball bat. It is half the height of the wall. This inflatable is dress up like a football player with black shoes and white laces, white short, blue shirt which has the number 00 on the front and at the top says: Seattle Seahawks in white. The shirt has black and green stripes on its short sleeves. It has 2 white wristbands and a football on its left hand. The other hand has the number one gesture. ● Light switch on the wall, next to the inflatable football team player. ● A headboard with 2 big square spaces on the sides which contains 2 sport ball figures with legs and arms: 1 of basketball and 1 of football. It also has 2 rectangle spaces in the middle: the bottom one contains a pig figure which its body has the figure of a soccer ball, inside the upper rectangle it has an orange/red bowl. The headboard has 4 trophies on it: the color of the biggest one is gold with a black base, the rest of them are smaller than the gold one. Two of them have a purple column meanwhile the other has a silver column. One purple trophy has a white base, meanwhile the other has a black base. The headboard also has a ball of football on it. At the park near my house, there are a lot of trees, a church, a playground for kids, and fitness equipment. At the hour I am visiting, there are a lot of people exercising: mostly of them are elderly people. They are all dress sportswear. All of them greet one another when they meet. All of them speak Spanish. Some people take their dogs for a walk. There are missing kids in the playground. There are a lot of birds in the trees. The church has a big bell, and a Virgin Mary statue on the outside. The playground for the kids has swings, slides and seesaws. The majority of the fitness equipment is for leg exercise. There are also wood sculptures all around the park, benches, waste cans, two little bridges, and an obelisk. All people is allowed in this park because it is public, although they have to respect the rules if they want to be there. The people’s clothing say that their are exercising themselves and they care about their health. They use the space for run, walk or exercise their muscles because they want to be healthy. At this morning hour, I think a teenager would feel uncomfortable because there are too much elderly paeople.
My position in my community as a worker is to be only in the same floor on the building, in my workspace where I spend most of the time surrounded by my coworkers. We all have the same furniture: desk, chairs, and cabinets. The only thing that is diffrent is the way we organize our stuff in our desk or decorate our workspace.
There are places/spaces that I am not allowed to enter like the file room, because the information it contains is classified. Only the Human Resources department can enter there. Other place prohibited for me is the server's room, where are all the servers, routers, and networking sytems are. Only the Systems and Network deparment can access there, because that equipment has private data and/or if someone disconnects a cable it can leave the building without Internet connection. The places that are private are the ones with classified information, the ones with risk of lost information or communication or places that can be harmful to people. Public places are the rest of the building: the office, the restrooms, the reception, the kitchen, and the meeting rooms. I found surprising that I received a lot of collaboration of my peers. I appreciate their comments and I feel very happy because now I have an audience. With this project I realized that I can write in English (not very well) but I can improve with practice and with the feedback of my peers. Also, I enjoy the writing process because what we saw this past weeks in the course, we had the opportunity to experience it.
I think the most challenging for me was to start writing. When I began, the ideas started to flow. But it was hard to get to start on first place. Also I feel frustrated because 1200 words were a lot for me and I think I never going to reach them. First, I finish my essay and my ideas when it has like 600 words. It was the half of what the instructions said. Now on, It will become less frustrating because I know for sure that I can write more words than I imagine. The most critical part of the writing process, for me, was before I wrote my project, because I did not know how to start. The questions of the discussions and some writing journals helped me a lot, because I get my theme from there. If I were invited to teach someone else something about writing, I would tell him to start writing whatever it is in his mind. Does not matter if the writing, or the sentences, or the paragraphs are in order. The important thing is to write down all the ideas and then you can revise it alone or with a collaboration team. The important thing is to not be afraid of do it wrong, because we are learners. I think this course seem to value reflection and reflective writing, because we have to read again and again our texts and reflect about them to know if our audience is getting the idea of what we want to say. Also, because we read our peers writings and we have to reflect about them, so we can help them improve. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |