Traci Blume Mr. Neuburger Eng. Comp. 102-117 14 May 2013 Final Reflective Essay Mr.

Neuburgers English 102 class was nothing like what I had expected when I signed up for the class. I was expecting to learn new skills of writing but I appreciated Mr. Neuburgers way of teaching the new skills. In general, I have learned that when writing a paper it is best to avoid past tense words such as was along with other present tense words such as is. Words like these are less formal and are used too often in most writing. The class also taught how to get to the point on a paper, to stop rambling on and on. When the semester began, I personally enjoyed using the words is and was they were a safety net. Who needs big fancy words when you can pop in a little two letter magical word like is. I have discovered that in relation to my decrease of those fall back words, my writing seems to flow better and sound more intelligent. While writing the essay responses to stories in the book, I also grew in my writing abilities. When Mr. Neuburger was explaining the first one, I thought how could I possibly only write 180-205 words. A task that seemed impossible allowed me to grow more than I had expected. I am now able to get to the point quicker, I have not perfected the skill yet. Writing the research paper in this class created much tension for me. The research process was a breeze, when it came time to put in words all the interesting things I learned, I hit a brick wall. I knew how I wanted the end product to look yet I had to fight to create the beautifully written essay that I had envisioned. At the end of the paper I discovered there was no

need to have so much anxiety. I managed to deliver a paper that was well written and easy to enjoy. I believe the reason I ended with a good essay was due to the fact that I was able to do an abundance of research. Having the opportunity to utilize technology enhances a students ability to learn and connect with their project. In this class we were not only able to utilize technology for research but to improve our ability to write. This English class is unlike any other I have attended. In the class we were told to create a blog and a twitter, both were used during the class. The aspect of having class discussions on twitter allowed us as students to view anothers thoughts and ideas about a topic. Discussing our own unique viewpoints helped to assist my essay responses because I could see the whole picture not just what my brain saw. Creating a blog at first seemed like a frightening thing, I didnt want to share my thoughts in free write. I learned as we spent time blogging our thoughts, that my ability to type and make the words flow from my mind seemed easier. I would say that if many forms of technology were not utilized in this class, I may not be as evolved in my thought processes as I am now. I found this class over all to be very effective and enjoyable. Every class has high points and low points, this class seemed to have more high points than low points. That does not mean that the class was perfect. Who would I be if I sat here and said everything was roses and gold? Although the class was much better than I had expected there were a few aspects of the semester that I feel could have been a little better. I am aware that in class the opportunity for points is often one that people are desperate for. For myself personally, I dont enjoy feeling overwhelmed. In my personal experience, I did not enjoy doing a summary, twitter response and the response essay to the stories we read. I really enjoyed utilizing twitter to enhance our response essays. For me, since it was the beginning of the

semester and I had a lot of stress and things to work on, the summary seemed overwhelming. I know this may not be the case for everyone, for some the summary may have been helpful. Another aspect I think may have helped me is peer review of our research paper before turning it in. This gives students the opportunity to see what may need to be fixed before turning in the final draft. Many classes utilize this technique and the overall outcome is more evolved papers. Over all I would say I enjoyed this class. My things to improve are nitpicky things because I had a great experience in this class. There were no major parts that I felt needed to be modified. Mr. Neuburgers teaching style creates a unique atmosphere in the class room.