A retrospective: Final Blog

  

 Entering the semester, I did not feel that Writ 150 was a necessary course for me to take. However, as the semester comes to an end, my perspective has changed. The class has strengthened my writing process and made me a better writer overall. For each writing project, I learned more about the topics I chose through my research. I learned a lot about Seneca Village, The Black Panthers, and the inequity in American healthcare. My topics also enlightened me about myself. They made me realize how passionate and proud I was about my Black culture and identity. 

However, I learned a lot outside of my research. The most effective element in the class was collaborative learning. Peer editing taught me how important it is to have drafting stages, to read your paper, and to have editing support. The blogs were my favorite part. It was a fun and engaging way to outline my topics, prepare my thesis, and structure my essays. Also, peer editing and blogs taught me about myself. It taught me about the common mistakes I make in my writing. Additionally, I learned that I have an easier time writing papers when I do a detailed outline of my essay and research first. 

I really encourage future classes to take advantage of peer editing, but most importantly, the blog assignments. If students answer every part of the prompt, when they've completed their blogs, they've also completed their outlines. This eliminates a very time-consuming but necessary step in forming a strong essay. Additionally, the blogs encourage the research portion of projects to begin sooner than later. In the end, blog assignments help students a lot in the drafting stage. 

While I don't think I will continue blogging for personal or academic purposes, I will continue peer editing. For every writing project, I found peer editing to be extremely helpful. So in future essays, I will have a friend read over to make sure my grammar, argument, and structure are sound. In the end, Writing 150 has made me a better writer and has been a helpful course.