Critical reflection is the ability to look at your own work, make connections within that work, understand your strengths and weakness, discover where improvement is necessary, etc. This process includes using inquiry skills to better understand why you think the way you do. The majority of this portfolio assignment is an act of critical reflection. Throughout this portfolio I have reflected on work that I have completed during this course, and I have explained exactly how it has enabled me to learn and progress.
The daybook entry beside this is a workshop reflection where I reflected on the comments I was given and those that I provided to my peers in regards to one of the blog posts. Personally, when I critically reflect on my own work it is always helpful to make connections to prior events. In this daybook entry I stated, “Honestly, giving feedback is a task that I will have to practice because it was never taken seriously in high school.” By thinking back to how pathetic peer feedback was in high school, I allowed myself to visualize a standard for learning and growth in that skill. Within this entry I also recognized some of my weaknesses, such as not being able to look past grammatical errors when providing peer feedback, and through doing this I specify areas where I truly need improvement. As I previously mentioned in my critical reading reflection, earlier in this semester we read an article on peer feedback. This article allowed me to reflect on my ability to give feedback, and it also provided me methods of improving those skills. After reflecting and learning, I was able to understand the importance of not only providing feedback, but also providing specific suggestions of how my peers can improve their writing. I also realized that I rarely provided positive feedback in my reviews, and I began doing so in an attempt to show my peers where their work excels. All of these aspects of critical reflection are important because they provide me the tools necessary to progress in my learning.
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The midterm letter beside this is a great display of my ability to critically reflect on the work that I have completed. Within this letter I assessed the grade that I thought I was making in the course at that time, and I also provided my reasoning as to why I was making that grade. One of the ideas within this letter that I would like to point out is the fact that I created questions at the end of this letter to address areas within my work that I was unsure of. At that point in the class, I felt that I did not necessarily need help from outside sources to improve my writing, but I decided to go ahead and ask questions about that issue. Through doing this, I somewhat forced myself to reconsider my writing, and I decided that someone else’s opinion on my work could be very beneficial. This act of critical reflection and inquiry provided me a new perspective and the initiative to change my writing process. Before that point, I had never been the type of person to reach out for help, I had always believed I could achieve my goals on my own. Following this letter, I made multiple appointments to receive opinions on how to improve my work within the class. I believe that this will follow with me long after the completion of this course, and I will be able to put aside my pride and ask others for help when I am trying to achieve success.
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Through this class I have discovered that peer review is a great way to critically reflect on my work because it allows me to first assess where I am struggling in my writing, and then it allows me to hear the opinions of others. In the peer review beside this I recognized my writing style, I questioned my ability to paraphrase, and I assessed the voice of my writing. After allowing multiple classmates to review my work, I received some valuable feedback. All of the people who read my blog agreed that my paraphrasing was very well done, and this helped me to progress with this skill because I now knew that I was doing it correctly. One of my peers stated that I needed to appear more informal in my writing. After thinking about this comment, I interpreted it to mean that I need to make my writing more conversational. This act of critical reflection provided me with valuable insight that I would later use to bring my research blog post to a more personal level in order to engage my audience.
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