Epilogue

Writing 101 made Writing 102 very easy despite the changeling work I felt prepared for some of it. The lesson I most learned in 102 was that you should always start on your work weeks ahead of time because it was a lot of researched type assignment which mean a lot more reading and finding material. All the research was the main difference in Writing 102 in Writing 101 we mustly learned material and then applied in it writing 102. I enjoyed that we were able to work on our own a lot in Writing 102 Mrs. B gave us a lot more freedom we doing our work. This school year has taught me that although life seems to get you down you should never give up and only good things can come as the semester and this class comes to a close, looking back at my Common Place Book I notice that the daily writes were my favorite, because they were short and to the point. I should have kept up with them better than I did so I wouldn’t be looking crazy when Mrs. B tells us we’re supposed to have 12!!!!!! Beginning my first semester off I assumed Writing would be my easiest grade, being that all- through my academic career I love expressing my feelings through writing and story telling, minus some of my horrible grammar skills. The Common Place Book was where I felt most safe; because express my feelings and opinions is something I loved doing. But I quickly began to notice that Mrs. B was a “hard” grader and my first assignment the video essay (def. not a techy gal) was difficult, but I kept positive and put my best foot forward in trying my best on the first assignment. Well my grade said other wise I had gotten a “C” I wasn’t happy about the grade, but I remained positive I mean it was the first assignment and I knew I would do better. As the weeks pasted by the assignments continued to roll in one by one, but of course I had high hopes for myself, because even though I was struggling in my other subjects I would come out on top in this class. I thought wrong I would put effort and time into my assignment, but my grade would reflect something different every time well it was the same grade on most of my assignment “C”. I begin to ask myself am I #justaverage? Did my high school English teachers boost my ego up about my writing skills? Did Mrs. B think my work was just not as good as I thought? Well that’s exactly what I thought I thought that I was getting the same grade on all of my assignments because my teacher was excepting just average work. But I now realize that I could have gone the extra mile in my assignments like maybe having someone read over them, or maybe read them out loud I thought of the various ways my work could’ve been better and instead of telling myself oh she’s giving you the same grade because she thinks she knows your work isn’t all that great, but telling myself well maybe I should have done something different, maybe I should I changed the way I did my assignments well of course I figured this out a little too late common #freshmanFAIL. This class and the Common Place Book has opened my eyes on what goals I’ll be setting for myself in the failure to come with not all the Writing 102 class, but with all of my spring classes. I want Mrs. B to know that I’m not just some average writer I know I’m not some Charles M. Blow, but I have the means to be successful in this class and the Common Place Book has been better for me this semester because we were more focused on assignments other than keeping up with assignments, but the assignments were a lot more changeling and arquire a lot more work. After being placed on academic probation for the spring semester it made me not what to come back to Ole Miss, but I found hope to come back stronger and better. This semester was very stressful well basically this entire year. I was so excited to come to college and I’m still very hopefully, because I don’t have another option but to be successful so I’m praying that I finish summer school strong and come back positive and ready to grind.

Final Reflection 2 – Writing 101 & 102

My hope is that students feel that Writing 101 was a foundation for the kind of research-intense work we’ve done in Writing 102.  From my own observations, students were more engaged in working with the NYT last semester than my first year Writing 101 students were in the Norton textbook.  It led easily to 102 in that students were already aware of the topics that built the most kairos in a sense.  I felt that many of the topics covered in especially the opinion part of the NYT led well into the cultural myths explored in 102.  It prepared students for the kind of engagement in social issues that came with the Writing 102 theme.  Student writing improved in some ways, but I feel like the most growth happened in students who were already driven in Writing 101 and really pushed themselves to be better researchers and stronger academics in 102.  I’m hoping the semester has given students a confidence in their writing that they may not have had without the first year writing sequence.

Final Reflection 1 – High School Vs. College

As an instructor in both settings, one of the main differences I see in the writing expectations of high school vs. college is inquiry.  As an AP teacher, I used to have students write to specific prompts.  I even trained them in how to write an effective essay quickly.  I remember students’ frustration when they received a prompt they didn’t like; it really impressed on me the importance of letting students choose their own writing topics.  Not only do students enjoy inquiry-based writing more, I enjoy grading it more!

Website brainstorming Emily Breslin and Ashlynn Landry

when you finally get into college and its the only thing you can think about

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The first month of college

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when you realize the freshmen 15 is real

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when you can’t think about anything or do anything cause you just want it to be weekend

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When you can’t runway from your college duties anymore

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when you prepare for your first set of finals

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when you have a paper but all you want to do is watch netflix

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because i always watch netflix

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realizing taking an 8 am was a really bad idea

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thinking you’re college material and then actually getting to college and you’re not

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