Portfolio Reflection

Final Reflection (Portfolio)

1.   Why did you choose your topic?  Are you still happy with your choice?

2.   What goals did you have for your research?  Did you meet those?

3.   What facts about your topic interested you most?  Did this kind of project help you gain a better understanding of your topic than you might have with a more traditional kind of research paper?  If so, why and in what ways did it help?

4.   How much information did you collect?  How easy or hard was it to find information?

5.   What did you learn about the research process from this project?

6.   What piece was the hardest or most challenging to write?  Why?  The most fun or interesting?  Why?

7.   How did you decide on the organization of the pieces into a cohesive whole?  Consider not only organization but use of transitional devices and packaging.

8.   What did you learn by working with your peers on revising and editing?  Did they give you helpful advice?  What was most helpful to you?  What kinds of things did you learn form reading their pieces?

This portfolio has shown me a lot about my topic selection. I realize that I am very happy with all the choices I made when it came down to my writing projects. I understand that the layout of this portfolio is the exact same as the class meaning I put the work in order from first assignment to final assignment, but I did this with a purpose. I could sit here and say that I was great writer when I walked into class, but then I would be lying and I am no liar! The thing is that I was not a great writer at all when I walked into the first day of class. I was a smart writer meaning I did what was required and what I thought the teacher wanted me to do. I had no mind of my own, but I see now that Doctor Wielgos was giving us the option of thinking outside of the box. He wanted to challenge the way we communicated with people and each project assigned was a different test that we needed to pass.

I wanted to come out of the class and even this portfolio realizing what it takes to be an efficient writer. I see now that I truly have developed, because from the first project to the last project I was always improving or building off ideas. I wanted to tell the story from start to finish what shaped me into who I am today and what better way to start with the past. I used my “What Shaped Me Paper,” to tell who I was and how I got there for that point in time, but this is who I am in this point in time. I don’t know if Doctor Wielgos did this on purpose, but that is how I see it. I see that he used who we were to shape who we are today and that is what I wanted to show. I think that I was able to grow learning how to manage my time well. I find the most interesting thing about this project to be the idea that the world is changing when it comes to communication. Things are not done the same; stories are not told the same. If we want to write a certain way or use pictures instead of words, we can and I can.

I wouldn’t have been able to grow if we used the same old paper and pencil means of communication to create a message. I was able to collect all my work to place it together the way I wanted to. Thanks to the previous projects I am able to tell a story with this portfolio. I have overcome adversity and overcome headaches to make something that I am finally proud of. For the first time gathering information for this was easy, because it was all my work that I created, that I published. I learned that finding things is very simple when you take the time to do so. You can’t just throw something together last minute and expect to get a good grade. You have to take time and numerous drafts to create something of colligate excellence. I am not saying by any means that my project is awesome, but I know it is better than what I would have been at the beginning of class.

Thanks to my peer reviews and my free writes, my mind is able to flow a hell of a lot easier than before. I am able to look at other papers and give intelligent feedback, because I know what is expected of a college writer now. I can build off of other ideas and spread good ideas to others. The hardest piece for me to talk about was the photo essay, because I couldn’t just tell the audience what I was thinking. I had to show them what I thought using a minimum amount of words. It was fun to challenge my mind though to try and find a new way to communicate a message. I wasn’t writing another paper, I was using a PowerPoint as a book to tell a story. The easiest project for me was the visual critic because I love art and know some of the themes they use in creating posters. I understood in some areas why things were placed where they were or why words were where they were. The analysis was very interesting because I got to play a critic and that was something I had never done before. I was able to breakdown every aspect and give my opinion on each point.

In the end I believe that I have become a better writer. I think that my ideas are able to come to me much easier. I believe that from the first major paper to the last you can see improvement and deep down I truly believe that I am a more developed writer. Each skill that I learned is reflected in my papers and can be seen in my writing. In the end I came out of this class a better writer and a better learner!