I feel that my Commonplace blog is a good representation of my academic learning in regards to my writing. Many of the daily post reflect what I have learned from my previous mistakes and their ending result. In addition, I feel that it represents the realization that my writing is improving as the semester continues. To be more specific, my commonplace book shows the improvement in many skills to compose my paper. For example, I had several posts that discussed the importance of having a better structure and the use of examples. These two component were the areas in which I had made a goal to improve by the end of the semester. I think that while I was focusing solely on trying to be better in these areas, I gained some additional knowledge. With this being said, I feel that my commonplace book is mainly about these two topics with small assertions of additional learning moments. Every once and a while there will be a post about the significance of peer review and the different modes of writing accompanied with my personal opinions. I have really relied on the idea of peer review more this semester than I ever had in the past. I found myself learning from others work and their comment on my own work. I believe that the more I had my papers reviewed, the better my grade got. Also, I realized that I had been exposed to several writing modes when trying to better structure and use examples. It is not until now reading through my commonplace book that I truly realized how much learning I have been exposed to.
On the other hand, I feel that my commonplace book doesn’t represent my learning outside of my writing. As a student, I have changed in regards to things academically outside of the writing classroom. For example, I have become a much smarter studier for exams. Instead of studying the night before, I space out my study time. This also links to how I’ve become better with my time management. With joining a sorority and being involved in the Teachers of Tomorrow organization on campus, I have learned the necessity of an organized life. In addition, I have learned to take advantage of the things on campus that are free and could benefit me in return. More particularly, going to the writing center with my papers has been something that I’ve really valued this semester. I have seen my papers improving in organization after having it reviewed by someone at the writing center. Also, going to the library to study. At the beginning of the semester, I studied in my dorm where there were tons of distractions. By using the library, I am more focused and tend to get things done more efficiently. None of the learning moments discussed above were reflected in my commonplace book. While I feel like it was a good representation of my learning experiences in my writing, I feel it lacked the other areas, subjects and elements of my learning this semester.
My final five tags within my commonplace book highlight my personal experiences and understanding of being a learner in college. The three tags that represent my writing experience is “struggles”, “composition” and “listening”. The tags “struggles” represents the value of learning from my mistakes and there being no shame in starting over or rewriting. In reaction to this, I feel that one of my struggles this semester is composing. The tag “composition” really highlights the many learning moments that focus on building, organizing, and developing ideas into a cohesive paper. Lastly, I feel my “listening” tag really shows how I have valued the thoughts of others. Through out the peer edit comments and use of the writing center, I understand the importance of listening to what others have to say. A part from my learning moments within writing a paper, I have two tags that demonstrate my further learning this semester. The first tag is “different modes”. This tag really explains my experiences where I was open minded, went out of my “comfort zone”, and not being afraid to try something new. The second tag is “analysis” which defines how I have drawn connections between each subject, used examples from my life to relate to topics I have learned, and being able to better explain myself in a more efficient, less repetitive way. Overall, my tags have reflected my learning not only in my writing, but in my general first semester of college.
