Self Assessment: Joining the Conversation

1. What were your goals for yourself in writing this paper?  To what extent did you reach your goals?

I wanted to answer the thesis statement in the beginning of my paper as thoroughly as possible. I wanted to meet each of the points, Teachers, Government and funding. I think I met my goal. I think I wrote a good paper with the time given and prior knowledge to the subject I had.

2. How did you use your time in developing this paper?  Did you use class opportunities to improve your writing?  Explain.  How did your use of time fit your goals?

I think each of the various steps leading up to the final paper helped a lot. I definitely took this to my advantage because it helped narrow down information and more importantly for me reduced cramming. I enjoyed the process we took for this paper from in class activities to out of class activities. 

3. How did you see your writing changing?  Did you take advantage of the responses from your peers?  Explain how you worked with your peers?

The responses from my peers were very helpful. They pointed out places for revision and expansion I hadn't noticed before. They were not mean about anything but had constructive criticism. I want to thank all of them for that.

4. Who else contributed to your paper’s success?  Explain their role?

My mother read over my final draft and pointed out some more areas that were unclear or needed to be rearranged. She is good at that.

5. What have you learned about yourself as a writer? What did you learn from others?

I have learned that if I work hard and remain diligent, instead of waiting till the last minute to write papers, they come out a whole lot better. I need to start doing this in other classes.

6. What was the hardest part of writing this paper?  Explain.  What was the easiest part? Explain.  Where did you take risks?  Explain.

The hardest part was the amount of work with the strict deadlines. It did help with time management for me though. The easiest part was revision because I knew exactly what to change after each workshop. I took a risk in the step 1 dialogue because I have never done anything like that before. It was a completely new concept but I think I did well with it.

7. What parts of your paper are you proudest of?  Why?

I am proudest with the information I provided in the paper. Every person that read my paper told me that they definitely learned something, which is what I think the purpose of a research paper is in the first place. 

8. What parts of your paper still need improvement?  Why?  How did you attempt to make these improvements before you turned the paper in?

I still think my transitions need improvement and some of the structure towards the end. I attempted to change a little but I am not sure if it was enough. I will ask about it and my conference session.  

9. Explain your writing process from brainstorming to now.

My paper was basically structured around the sources I found and the main ideas within the sources. After I found these main ideas it was pretty easy to write a paper about them.