Midterm+Letter

March 19, 2012 Dear Dr. Shea, This semester has been a writing experience incomparable to any other. My undergrad in journalism had structure to our writing and many “rules” that continued my struggle to reach out into the “creative” side of journalism. I was always looking to break out and be more creative, but there never seemed to be a bridge that aided me in doing so. This is the first time I have been encouraged to write without rules. That has been difficult for me. While I enjoy writing, this writing will eventually be for a grade. I have difficulty feeling confident in my writing without knowing how I am being graded. The feedback given by my peers has been great and confidence boosting; however, I am still looking for teacher approval. This is a goal that I am establishing for the second half of the semester – Get past the grade!!! Here is a summary of my goal accomplishments to date: Goal #1: **Write more frequently - 3 times a week for 10 minutes. ** I have been writing more frequently thanks to class and have tried to have some fun with my writing. I try not to always choose subjects that are so serious because I want others to want to read what I write. With so many personal stories, I often feel it becomes depressing and aim to break that up. I try to pick more trivial subjects that will make people laugh. This also makes it easier for me to write. I feel having the freedom to choose topics has been a great experience too. Although I think there are times we should guide students to explore certain themes or genres, we will see them make their best performances when they have control.

Goal#2: **Develop better organization skills in my writing - use several drafts comparing each as I write. ** I have done better organizing my writing. I have developed the habit of writing several drafts. It has also been helpful to write and wait a day to read it again and edit. While my current work schedule provides many obstacles in my school work, this practice has benefited. It allows me to not always feel rushed because I can tackle it a little at a time and return to it again the next day. This has made me feel more confident about my final drafts. I am still working on this goal and would like to do a better job finding more “topics” within my topics. Perhaps I can find even better more focused ideas.

Goal #3: **Gain confidence in sharing my writing with others. Publish or present writing to peers.** Posting our free writes has given me more confidence in my writing. However, I am still hiding behind the computer screen. It is easy to share your writing online because even if it is terrible you do not have to be face to face with your worst critics – your peers. I am also still intimidated by the great writers in class. I don’t always feel like I am in the same category as some of my peers. This makes it difficult for me to share my writing in class. This goal will be a bigger focus for me in the second part of the semester. I want to have this confidence because it is something I need to strengthen when sharing my own writing with my students. My experience in this journey will also benefit in my helping others accomplish this same goal.

Goal #4: **Write in a new genre - write song lyrics, a screen play, blog, or speech. ** I have attempted poetry so far this semester. I am not done with this goal. My writing has been focused on our free writes but I want to branch out into my own personal writing in this goal. I used to be a regular writer and loved writing “in my free time”. This is now limited but I want to make it a bigger priority in my life. Hopefully this is something I will be able to share this semester as well.

At this point in the semester, I would assign myself a “B”. I still have a lot of work this semester, but I am taking steps to accomplish my goals. I have established my goals and now have a clearer picture of what I need to do to accomplish them.

My WPP has been a struggle so far. My first obstacle was communication with my partner. She has had some resistance in our partnership and it took several attempts to contact her after our first meeting. I do not think she is a terrible writer and I think that is why she has been hesitant on working with me. My hope for our future relationship is that she does not see me as failure to her abilities, but a tool to enhance her abilities. We have only met twice and I am hoping as our relationship continues her comfort level with me increases. It has been difficult to get her to communicate even in email. Not only do I want to help her in writing, but in her perception of educators and fear of excepting help as well.

Sincerely, Shannon Carey