Midterm Metacognitive Exercise

These are some questions I want you to write about as we head into the second half
of our semester. You will have time during class to answer these questions, but it
will likely take a little more time than that. This will be one of the assignments to
include in your e-portfolio, but please do not consider it a Midterm, as it is not so
high-stakes.

As you answer these questions, you must include the questions themselves as
labels/headings and write in complete sentences. I will be looking for deep
reflection and developed answers.

1. What is one assignment or activity that has helped you the most? (If none,
please explain your reactions to at least one assignment.)
The assignment that has helped me the most thus far has been the
annotated bibliography. This assignment helped me find reliable
sources that were related to my research topic. Once I found these
sources that I had to read, I was able to practice putting them in MLA
format, writing a summary, and really putting into practice analysis. I
did some analysis last semester but I feel that this assignment really
helped me understand the idea behind analysis and what a good one
looks like.
The assignment that has helped me the most is the inquiry paper.
Before UWRT 1102 I was apprehensive about writing a paper that was
eight to ten pages long. Now that I have completed my research paper
and was able to use the library database to find reliable sources. This
assignment has also helped me because it has strengthened my ability
to analyze sources.
2. You participated in one informal peer review so far. What was the experience
like, and can you apply anything you learned to future writing and/or classes?
My experience with peer review was a good one, I was able to look at
my peers work and give them positive and negative feedback. I
enjoyed giving my peers good feedback because not only did it help
them as the writer but it also helped me as the reader so I could
possible apply the things that they did well to my writing. This peer
review will definitely help me in the future because I now know some
common mistakes that I make in my writing such as starting
paragraphs with the same thing such as this article discusses this
will help me refrain from saying this and repetition in future
assignments. After working with my peer review group I learned that I
had other mistakes that I needed to fix. I was informed that I needed to
add more in text citations in my research paper and I need to work on
my works cited page
3. Explain one way you might change your reading or writing practices as you
continue.
One way that I may change my writing practices in the future is
improve my better grammar. I tend to forget about where to place
commas, redundant vocabulary, and run-on sentences. I plan to fix
these errors by editing my writing more closely and having a peer or
the writing center read over my writing so that the common mistakes I
make may improve. I know that we discussed in class how run-on
sentences are not bad as long as they are focused and have the proper
comma use, so I plan to ensure that my sentences have commas in the
proper place.
4. Explain one way you have contributed to the class.
One way that I have contributed to the class is volunteering my
analysis for the class to read and critique. I was a little nervous about
volunteering because I was unsure if my writing was good enough for
the class to read as an actual example of analysis. This not only helped
the class but it also helped me because this activity pointed out the
mistakes that I made. and I was hopefully able to improve on this for
on my annotated bibliography from volunteering my work.
5. What is something from your research that surprised you?
Something that surprised me from my research was childrens
perspective on toy use. I was kind of aware that most parents buy toys
for their children based off their sex but I was not thinking about that
maybe these children are making toy these chhoices for themselves,
which is what I discovered in my research. Some researched focused
on children and their toy choice and they were picking toys based off
their gender and assuming that children of the same gender would like
that particular toy and want to play with it.
6. List ten questions or concerns you still have about writing.
What does a perfect research paper look like?
Will my writing skills grow substantially from this course?
Will I know what a reliable and unreliable source looks like from the
research that we are conducting?
Will the initial requirements for the E-portfolio allow me to get an A, or
will I have to go above and beyond?
The things that I learn from this course will they be able to be applied
to other courses?
One concern that I have about writing is if I have not written a research
paper this big, what should I do to be successful?
Will my thesis statement set up my paper for success?
Will you look at the outline when grading the research paper?
Will we have to use the sources that are in the outline?
Will you give us as much advice as you can to help us succeed with the
research paper?
7. Create one goal related to class for the second half of your semester.
One goal that I have for this class for the second semester is being
able to apply the research that I am finding into my paper in a way that
will flow properly. In the past I have struggled with writing papers that
flow properly when inserting research. This will help me succeed in this
class as it is research base and it will hopefully help me with any other
assignments, as the flow of papers is important.