Course Reflection

This class has been really beneficial for both reading writing skill development.  Learning to analyze writing has added a depth to my reading as I now think in terms of the writer’s motivation and the meaning behind the work.  At first this was excessively irritating when reading for pleasure (which I have very little time for anyway), because I couldn’t turn it off, but now it has assimilated and is just another one of the things running through my mind as I read.  I find that my dreams are addressing things that I read and helping me develop deeper insight, especially when I read without attempting to analyze.  My writing skill has improved as I’ve learned to write PIE paragraphs and have worked to develop cohesiveness within each essay.  As a bonus, the volume of my personal writing has increased as I now work in assignment form when I feel stuck.  I have taken an abundance of writing courses and am not certain why the idea to use an assignment has not taken hold prior to this, possibly the connection between the analysis and the writing spurned it.  The skills I’ve learned have helped make me a more thoughtful reader and a more prolific and precise writer.

I am applying the writing skills on a daily basis in several areas, it helps that I feel I’ve incorporated them rather than just learned a lot of rules that I could eventually forget.  In my current job I am required to write numerous letters and emails to owners, tenants and contractors each day.  In addition I am enjoying using the skills, as well as analysis of my own writing, as I work on completing my book.  As I continue pursuing my degree I will certainly utilize much of what I’ve learned in this class.  I expect to continue using the writing skills on a regular basis so this has been extremely valuable to me. 

My challenges in the class have been mainly in creating a user-friendly blog, and time management.  This was the first blog I’ve created and it was difficult to figure out how to make it work.  For example, I created a white background to write on, but in my first assignment didn’t know to change the font color, which was defaulted to white as the original background was the photo.  As a result, I had white font on white background, so basically no writing appeared on the page, and it only took me a week to discover what the problem was.  I have ideas for a much better blog, now that I know how they work, but until classes conclude for the semester I won’t have time to implement the changes.  This brings me to time management; I am simply overscheduled, which is completely my doing so I am unable to point the finger elsewhere.  I recognize it and will make adjustments to my future class schedules.  A recent promotion at work and a medical issue have added to the regular family/work/school stuff, and now I know to plan for other eventualities when doing my schedule. 

In all, I’ve enjoyed the class, have been able to apply what I’ve learned, and it has been really beneficial.