A.

For our first blog, we had to pose a couple of questions about UWRT
1101 that we wanted to ask Ms. Ingram. Well, I ended up being able
to answer the questions myself two weeks later.

1. Will our blogs count as individual grades as well as being

apart of the big final grade, or will you just look at them to
see if they are on our blog page when they are suppose be?
-

Blogs are apart of the seventy percent that comprises the

final e-Portfolio page. As we are assigned blogs, they will be

checked the day it is due to see of they are on our website on
time.

2. Will we have any written tests that we will have to take

online or in the classroom? If so, what might they consist
of?
The closest thing we have to a written test will be the third

blog (this blog), which will be our midterm for this semester.
Our big grade will come from our e-Portfolio that includes
almost all of our work from the semester and that will be
our final grade.

3. Im confused about what peer workshopping is? Could you go

into further detail about that?
-

A peer workshop is a group activity that allows us to

read our papers aloud to one another in our small group. As we

listen to the person reading their draft, we try to make

corrections and tell them how we feel about their writing to help
them improve for the next draft. We are not there to judge,
being harsh, or act like a teacher, we are only there to
encourage.

4. In order to at least make an A on our e-Portfolio, what will

our portfolio have to look like in order to receive
exemplary?
-

Our portfolio has to be neat and easy for someone to

navigate through it. Everything that was assigned
throughout the semester has to be included in our portfolio.
As an author, we have to be able to discuss at least three
different concepts with anyone who may read it.

5. Are we allowed to take notes on our laptop and print them

into our writers notebook or do you always prefer our
writers notebook to be handwritten?
-

Yes, we are allowed to take notes on our laptop when Ms.

Ingram allows us to have them out in class. If we dont need
our laptops out during a particular time, we probably wont
be taking notes electronically that day. If we check the
schedule daily she tells us if we need our laptops in class or
not.

6. Will you be able to look over our e-Portfolio before we

submit them for the final grade and help us correct

anything that could lead us into making an A?
Yes, Ms. Ingram will answer any questions we may have that

could lead us in the right direction to be successful. As

students, we have to take the initiative to ask any questions
we may have.

7. Other than the e-Portfolio, what else will the final exam
consist of?
Our final exam is our entire e-Portfolio; nothing else will go

along with the e-Portfolio.

8. Will the midterm exam be more than an essay? If so, what

else will it be?
-

Our midterm is the third blog (this blog) and nothing

else will go along with it.

9. Will we be reading any other books besides the one you gave
us? I remember you saying it was more of a writing class,
but I just wanted clarification again.
-

No, we will not be reading any other books besides the one
Ms. Ingram gave us. The chapters Ms. Ingram assigns out
of The Subject Is Writing will be the readings we have for
the class.

10.

What else are you expecting out of us students and

what is your goal by the end of the year?

-

To become better writers throughout college and learn how

to write differently for the many papers we may have in our
future.

A letter to the freshman taking UWRT 1101 in the fall:

To the fall semester freshman,

Coming into my first writing college writing class I
had fearful thoughts of it being harder than what I expected.
Its only as hard as you make it, if you dont do the
writings/readings you will be far behind. Stay on top of your
work, get ahead, and enjoy the prompts your teacher may give
you. Remember, the assignments you may have are there to help
you not ruin you. I didnt like writing in high school because
everything we wrote about was controlled and based off a strict
grading scale. We couldnt incorporate our own style no matter
what the prompt was about. Come with an open mind and dont
be afraid of the challenge, it will be beneficial. I have enjoyed
my writing experience so far, so I hope you will too!
Have Fun,
India

B.

Habits of Mind Concepts

Habits Im doing the best:
A few of the Habits of Mind concepts easily connect with
how I am starting to transition into becoming a better writer.
The concepts that I am doing the best with include getting out
of your comfort zone, providing and receiving feedback, and
intellectual growth and maturity. I believe I am getting out of
my comfort zone because I am being able to read aloud to
people without being afraid and have fun writing the prompts
with my own writing style. Since Ive never been able to write
using my own style, Im excited to have this opportunity to do
so. Receiving the feedback I need helps me get different
perspectives of people in order for me to improve my writing so
my audience is able to get engaged at the topic I am discussing.
I am still learning how to provide feedback for other people
because usually I dont know exactly what to say to help
someone else improve their paper, but I am getting better at
telling them how I feel and fixing minor mistakes. Its hard
trying to dig deep into someone elses writing without sounding
like a teacher, but I am in the learning process of getting

better at that. Intellectual growth and maturity is still a

working process, but I can see a difference in my writings. I
find myself learning how to correct grammatical issues or the
way my sentences may be set up so I can have a better flow in
the writings I create.

Habits I find challenging:

The concepts that are the most challenging for me are
critical thinking and making connections. Critical thinking has
been apart of my education for a while now, but I still have
problems with it until this day. I understand that we have to go
through that process to write a paper and brainstorm, I just
feel as if I dont go into enough depth to be able to do that.
Making connections is another concept that gets to me because
I want others to make a connection with me, but when I read
someone elses paper I find it hard trying to connect to them or
be in the writers shoes so I can understand them a little
better. I know I will eventually learn how to fix those concepts
and understand them; it will just take time to learn how to apply
them to writing.

Insight on Literacy

C.

In my narrative I wrote about how I became literate on a
presentation that I researched about the history of gymnastics.
I will define my literacy by being able to learn how to present a
topic clearly and creating multiple parts to help engage the
audience about the presentation. I learned that no matter what
your topic or definition of literacy may be, we all have our own
way of being literate in anything. Being literate doesnt
necessary mean English, it can be sports, hobbies, or anything
someone enjoys doing and how well they are able to do it. The
relationship between language and power is that power means
having control over something. Language is the same as power
because we need language to communicate, without it we
wouldnt be able to speak to one another or talk about anything.
I believe in my paper, my peers held the most power. They had
to the power to tell me if my paper did not sound right or if
they couldnt understand anything I was saying. If I wasnt
clear, they had the power to tell the teacher to drop my grade.

D.

Final Thoughts

Its not easy trying to be a writer and come up with many

ideas to make a successful piece. I realized a lot of thought,
time, and effort goes into your wrings in order to make it sound
good. That leads to what my academic goals are for the second
half of this semester. I want to be able to give my group good
feedback on their papers without hesitating on what I should
say. I know my group members depend on that feedback to help
improve the next draft and I know I do as well; so giving the
best feedback could give them new ideas. Another goal I have is
to build my writing skills up to a college level. Im still learning
what is expected in college, so by reading different samples of
other peoples papers and learning how to engage my readers is
something Im working on now. In order to achieve my goals, I
have to examine papers thoroughly to find any mistake that may
need to be fixed. To write at a college paper it takes a lot of
practice to get to where I want my writing skills to be during my
college career. One goal I have for my entire summer semester
is being able to leave UTOP with a 4.0 to help me get a
jumpstart of my fall semester. I try to dedicate a lot of my
time to my work and aim towards that goal by August. A couple

of resources that I could utilize that I have not done yet would
be take advantage of the writing center, going back to read
some of my group mates comments, making connections with
other people, and asking for help when I need it. I will try to
take advantage in these many opportunities.