Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Final Diagnosis......

Introduction
In the bog below I hope to shed light on what this wonderful class has given me. I want to be able to properly and completely explain how this class has helped me better myself in my writing areas that I struggle in, while also allowing me to grow further through certain assignments and activities. These activities ranged from a documentary project to a weekly blog to book work and then to mock trials. These all had their strengths and weaknesses, but were helpful all in their own way and that is what matters. In the blog below I will elaborate further on my semester in Writing in the Disciplines.
Image Source
How has this class been helpful to me? This class has been helpful for a number of reasons and has greatly impacted my overall learning. The ways I think this class was useful was that it helped me identify my issue with procrastination, it helped me re-learn how to approach writing assignments that require me to write more concisely, and then how papers can change entirely when verb tense is changed. These changes were especially helpful and I am happy to identify them as what the class did to improve my writing process because they are necessary to create good writing and, specifically to the class, a good report. I have written numerous papers at different levels for my entire life and each time I advanced a grade level I found new ways to make myself a better writer, but have always struggled in three particular areas, which included procrastination, writing concisely, and knowing when to change verb tense and how to properly use it. I normally tend to hold of on doing the assignments I need to do and then when I sit down to do it I have little time to finish it and tend to rush sometimes. I usually still create great work, but the stress and time crunch that accompanies procrastination is not worth it. As I was doing the documentary project procrastination was a common issue and affected my first couple drafts, especially my first one, due to the fact that I was stressed and rushing to finish it efficiently and completely. Now, another issue I have always had is writing concisely and this is a part of the procrastination issue that I have. I am rushed when I procrastinate and so do not focus on my writing and end up repeating myself and writing with details that are not necessary. This was apparent in my documentary project as well in my first draft. My first draft was very very long and had many details that were not important to telling the main story line and I could not fix this until I recognized the issue. So, once the issue was brought to my attention I was able to condense my documentary project to its proper mandated length in later drafts. Finally, verb tense was not something I normally acknowledged in my writing, but after learning the importance of it in my documentary project and in police reports I was writing through book activities I was able to see how important it actually is. For instance we have found that in a report you must write in past-tense because you are describing events that already happened, so present tense would not be appropriate and would not create a product that was desired. The above are things this class has allowed me to learn about myself and improve for the future.
What would I like to see done in class this semester still and in future classes? Now, in regard to what I think we should still do in the class, I think we should discuss how to be sure to properly organize and write correct grammar in my police reports. I feel like this will allow me to display myself as both more professional and respectable in my future law enforcement profession. Then, I would also like to do some reaction reports. To better explain what I mean by reaction reports. I would like to watch a traffic stop or D.U.I. incident in law enforcement by myself or in a group and then react to what I saw in the video with the notes I have and write a report. So, a class dedicated to this would have to be dedicated to watching the video for half of the time and then to writing the report for the other half. I think this would appropriately finish our class strong and allow us more experiences. The semester is ending quickly though so I think if anything these suggestions for what should be done still in this semester should be taken and possibly used in future classes. I think it would only enhance the overall experience of this class.
Image Source
Now, what did I think we should have done more and less? Further, as far as what I think of the many things we did in class, I think that certain things we should have done more of and other things we should have done less. In regard to what we should do less, I feel that we should do less blogs related to the text, which we cover with the quizzes and the exercises in the book, and more related to current events in law enforcement or documents in law enforcement. Also, I feel that more class time would be very helpful. I feel that with the Friday blogs, where there is no class, and all of the canceled class that we had we had a lot less class time then I would have liked to have. This extra time could have allowed for us to do a reaction report, which I explained earlier, or even did more with mock interviews. Then, as far as what I want to do more of, I feel that the summary documentary project and the mock interviews were great. I think we spent a lot of time on our summary project and I think it was a good thing because it allowed us to be reintroduced to how to write concisely and how to get to the point like one should in a report. Then, I was disappointed we didn't do more with the mock interviews because they were so fun. I think more time should be spent on them and possibly a class project or competition should be created in the future to do more with it. Then, I think we should have a blog or a written assignment related to this , so that we can really get into it. Now, on top of having more future classes revolving around the documentary project and the mock interviews, I also think that more guest speakers would be very beneficial to the class as well. We have not had any in the class this semester and that was really disappointing. I think a police officer, a lawyer, or even an investigator would give us very helpful information in regard to what a future profession in law enforcement is all about and then specifically what reports need to look like and have within them.
Thoughts on rhetorical knowledge and critical thinking skills gained in class: I think during this semester I have done very well in allowing myself to grasp the information necessary to properly gain theses two critical skills as the class had intended. The documentary project forced me to think critically in order to defeat my writing problem associated with an inability to write concisely enough at the beginning of a draft. I was able to learn how to write concisely and to the point, which I need to do when I write reports in the future. The mock interviews, the blogs, and the book exercises also allowed me to think critically because they forced me to apply what I was learning on paper and in practice with the interviews. I was able to gain practice here from writing reports to blogging about current events and reactions to my evolution as a writer and then from reaction based activities in the mock interviews where I can learn on my feet how something like this goes. Now, in regard to rhetorical skills that I have gained, these assignments and exercises have built up my rhetorical skills as a whole by building my logos, pathos, and ethos on the subject of writing reports and other documents in law enforcement. The logic I have gained through my experience allows me to feel more comfortable in completing reports and other things associated with them. Then, my ethos, or credibility, has also been heightened due to my experience in the class as well. I know how to write reports to a better degree through more concise writing, gained through the documentary project, and by obtaining the knowledge to complete the necessary steps to complete a report through exercises and practice inside and outside of class. Finally, my ethos, or my emotion, was tested by learning that I must keep my emotion and opinion out of my reports because they do not belong there. Only fact belongs in my reports. So, all in all, I think through my experiences in the class this year I have advanced further with these two critical skills that our professor wanted us to learn.
Image Source
Conclusion With the above being said, I think this class was great. I was able to learn about my writing weaknesses and then had experiences that helped me correct them. Then, I was able to enjoy many projects and exercises that made the class both beneficial and enjoyable to me. Finally, I encountered things in class I also did not like as well and grew from them regardless. This speaks to what this class brings to the table.

No comments:

Post a Comment