Your End of the Semester Assessment of Your Work
Some said that seeing their classmates present orally, has helped to ease their own discomfort in oral presentations (this is useful for me, because now I think all presentations will be in-class). A few said that they feel they can better organize their paragraphs (I’m happy, because I know I harp on this!) Some said they are beginning to see a real difference between analysis and summary, and that your critical thinking skills had improved, and this is really important to know, not just for the university courses, but later, when you’re asked to do reports at work. Radia says that she became more creative with her thinking, and that, of course, makes me very happy! I don’t want you to be an army of robots! (and none of you are). She also mentions that the online writing has helped, and I truly hope that is the case. It is something I’m constantly working on, myself, to create meaningful online work that will help your overall communication skills. Some said they were able to start to see connections between works, and this is important, to see connections not just in this class, but between classes, between school and life, life and work. A few said that you felt you are better able to move away from literal thinking, and this, too, I think, will help you in your careers.
For myself, I want to work on a few things: I want to work to give students more time with free-writing in class; I want to dedicate even more class time to close reading of a text; I want to spend more time preparing you for the oral presentation (although your oral work was awesome!)
Thank-you all for a wonderful semester. You are a fantastic group of people, and I wish you only the best in the future!
(Don’t forget Final Exams due by May 22, 12pm, noon)
Jeanne