Reflection paper 1-1.5 page

Self-Assessment

You are responsible for grading your writing in this class. After each assignment, you will write a 1-1.5 page, single-spaced Self-Assessment Letter explaining (1) how well you followed the demands of the assignment, (2) the time and effort you put into researching and revising your work, and (3) the extent to which you applied the concepts or suggestions I offered in class, during conferences, or on previous assignments. These letters are due within four days of the assignment’s due date. Late letters may result in lost points.

To be an effective judge of your own writing, you must familiarize yourself with your habits—both good and bad—and with strategies for strengthening or improving them. I therefore want you to write narrative of your writing/composing process. When drafting your letters, make sure to do the following:

(1) Tell a descriptive story about your writing process. Include details like the time(s) of day you set aside for writing, the environment in which you wrote, your process for devising your topic, the problems you encountered and how you went about resolving them.

(2) Evaluate your process, generally looking at how helpful or unhelpful your decisions were and how you might change your process in the future.

(3) Describe some aspect of your text that you struggled with. If that struggle is a recurring problem for you, explain how it has come up in the past and how you have responded to it. If it is an unexpected problem, explain how you confronted and tried to correct it. Either way, this is an opportunity to ask your instructor for guidance on developing a specific trait of your work.

(4) Based on all the above, give yourself a fair grade. You should be able to summarize the content of your letter in a way that connects the quality of work you put into the assignment to the assignment and class’s expectations. Remember, ‘A’-range grades should be reserved for papers that reflect your best work, the result of committed writing habits and a dedication to revising and editing. If you consistently give yourself top grades, be aware that each ‘A’ paper should be better than the paper that preceded it. Your “best” paper does not mean a “perfect paper,” as no writer or text is perfect. But because no writing is ever perfect, your writing will always have room to get better.

Meeting basic terms of the assignment is a prerequisite to your self-assessment letter. In other words, do not factor meeting the basic expectations into your grade. When you discuss assignment expectations in your letter, focus on how you met those expectations (how you interpreted them), which expectations you found challenging, the amount of time and effort dedicated to meeting them, and/or the quality of the results.

I reserve the right to challenge or question any grade. I will not change your grade without an explaination available.. Challenges to or rejections of your proposed grade will typically follow for one of two reasons.

(1) Your paper does not follow the terms of the assignment or the basic expectations of the class.

(2) You are clearly not making any effort to engage the comments and suggestions provided by your instructor during conferences or in response to previous assignments.

(3) You are otherwise not being fair to your writing or to the amount of effort you put into the assignment.

Treat your writing with the same fairness you would expect from me.

I will read each assignment according to your reflections. My feedback will occasionally point toward problems or flaws in your writing that you may not see, but otherwise my feedback will be my own reflections on your piece. What I believe works and does not work is based on my opinions, and my critiques will generally be advice. My feedback will not, however, be determinate of your grade.