Self-Assessment Essay

I have learned a lot about myself and how I have grown as a writer. This Self-Assessment Essay will look at how well I’ve met the course goals and how my writing skills have changed in the last few months. I will also talk about how the work in my Portfolio has helped me improve my writing. One of the main points of this class was to help me write better and with more thought. I worked hard on improving different parts of my writing over the course of the semester. For example, I worked on understanding different writing styles, editing and revising my work, and working with others, like peer review sessions helped me a lot. Now I’m going to look at how I’ve met some of the specific learning goals for this study. Early in the semester, I didn’t know how to write properly. I worked on writing in a way that was simple for me. So, I learned that writing is different for everyone as the term went on. Some people say things in very different ways, and that’s something I learned to value. Now I know what I need to write, that can be affected by things like our society, background, and personal experiences. This is important to me because it helps me write with more thought. Now I can look at different kinds of writing and understand why someone from a different background might choose certain words, phrases, or patterns. I’m also a better reader now that I understand things better. When I read other people’s writing, I try to understand things from their point of view and enjoy the unique ways they write. As the term went on, one of my main goals was to get better at writing. Before, I would often rush through the writing process, quickly writing was my first draft and then moving on to the next work. But I learned that writing is more than just putting things on paper. It’s also about going back and fixing mistakes and making my work better. One thing I did to help with this was to spend more time writing and editing. I learned to write slowly and not be afraid to change things. I would go back and read my draft again to see if the ideas were clear, the sentences made sense, and the case was strong. I also learned it’s okay if the first writing isn’t perfect. You need to be calm and ready to make changes when you’re writing. This is something that has helped me get better at writing across this term. Setting goals for my writing and meeting the needs of my readers is one of the most important things I’ve learned this term. Before this class, I wrote a lot of things without giving much thought. I would write what I wanted to write, not caring about how other people would feel about it. Now I know that writing is a way to talk to people. I should think about who will read my writing and what they want from it if I want it to work. Like, when I had to write an argumentative essay for this class, I had to think about how to make my points clear and convincing while also making sure I had good evidence to back them up. I had to think about what kind of people would be interested in my subject and what kind of writing they would like. This skill has helped me direct my writing better and meet the wants of my readers. Learning how to work with other people on writing projects was another important part of this class. I used to think of writing as something you did by yourself. I believed it was something I did by myself. But I’ve learned that writing can be done with other people. One of the best things about this class for me has been giving and getting comments from my classmates. When people told me what they thought of my writing, it helped me see it in a new way. Others sometimes pointed out things I hadn’t seen, like lines that weren’t clear or places I could explain something better. What someone said, it helped me because it showed me what I could do better. In the same way, I learned how to think critically about other people’s writing when I gave them comments. I learned how to talk to people about their work in a way that would help them make it better. Working with other people has helped me improve my writing by teaching me how important it is to get comments and work together. It has also taught me that writing isn’t just about what I think, it’s also about how other people feel about my ideas. These are things I will keep doing in the future. I worked on writing different kinds of papers all term, like essays, reading responses and research papers. I learned that writing isn’t the same for everyone. There are different rules, standards, and goals for each type of writing. For instance, when I wrote a paper, I had to make sure that the information I used was organized and easy to understand, and I used sources to back up my claims. It wasn’t like writing an opinion paper, where I had to focus more on my own points of view. I learned that it’s important to know what kind of writing I’m doing because it helps me meet the standards for that type of writing. This term, one of the most important things I learned was how to make my writing sound more like me. I used to think my work was too formal a lot of the time. I wasn’t sure how to say what I wanted to say in a way that felt right. But I learned how to write in a way that shows what I think and feel over the course of the semester. Through different tasks, I gained confidence in my writing. It taught me to stand up for my own views and share them with others. It was easier for me to be myself in my work when I wrote about things I was interested in. Being able to describe myself more freely through my writing is a big step forward for me. I learned how to find good sources for my work, which was another important part of this class. If I needed information for a paper in the past, I would often use general websites or other pieces. But I now understand how important it is to use reliable sources, like journals, articles and library databases. It took me some time to learn how to use online tools and libraries to find sources. I also learned how to tell if a source is reliable or not. This helped me find better tools for my writing and make better use of them. I learned the right way to cite these sources, which is important to give credit to the original writers. Finally, I learned better ways to use sources in my work. Now I’m more sure of myself when I use sources to back up my thoughts. I also learned the right way to properly cite sources by following the right style. This skill is important because it shows that I value the work of other writers and know how to give credit to ideas that aren’t my own. I thought writing was mostly about putting things on paper and following rules before I took this class. There wasn’t much thought behind what I was writing because I just saw it as something I had to do for school. But as the semester went on, writing became more than just a job for me. Writing is a way to share thoughts and feelings and interact with other people. To make my thoughts clear, I’ve learned that writing is a process that takes time and work. Writing is another skill that can be learned. Writing is something that can be learned and practiced. Overall, my thoughts on writing have changed from seeing it as a useful way to talk to people. When I write, I can share my thoughts with others and connect with them in deep ways. Finally, I can say that this term has been a good one for me as a writer. I’ve learned a lot about writing, different types of writing, and how to make my work better. I’ve also met many of the course learning goals. Additionally, Now i have a better grasp on what writing is and how it can be used to successfully share thoughts. I still have to learn a lot, but I’m happy with how far I’ve come and can’t wait to keep getting better as a writer.

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