TOW Reflexion

To reflect on my TOWs from throughout the year I read my first TOW from the summer, TOW #8, TOW #17, and TOW #24.  Although it is obvious when looking through my blog that change came gradually, there are distinct differences in my writing from the beginning to the end of the year.

A struggle I faced throughout this school year was with writing introduction and conclusion paragraphs.  In my past years of schooling basic ideas, in my opinion, were able to get me an A, and therefor formulaic paragraphs could describe my thoughts. However, as I began reading more in depth work and understand the author’s purpose in a greater light I had to learn to break that unoriginal mold. From my first post, which had no conclusion, to my #24, post where I use it to develop an idea about the author’s duel purpose, there is a clear distinction in the improvement of my writing.

In this class I feel I have been able to master the skill in tying my ideas together. My posts that started as purely an attempt to answer every question but became a fluid piece of writing. With the use of HECTOR, I focused my prewriting on connecting my ideas to help create less choppy transitions. Now without completely restating my previous sentences I can smoothly transition into my next relating topic.

Despite my dramatic improvements this year I still have a lot I need to work on. The sophistication of my writing should at a higher level and I need to increase my vocabulary. With these changes I would be able to write a more formal, argumentative, or interesting essay. My introductions and conclusions, although now existing and stronger than in the past, still could use work. I have learned how to extend my ideas and answer “So What?” however, I need to be able to create these thoughts on my own and more quickly. With these TOWs I have been working on these skills but I need to remember in the future that these are the weaknesses I need to improve.

Reflecting on my TOW posts this year has made me realize that this is the most positive of my metacognitive responses this year. At the closing of each marking period I have felt frustrated about the minimal changes I had felt I had made and the B on my report card. I continued working hard on the year but I never felt that I could pinpoint where my new strengthnesses weighed to write about them. As the AP exam neared I cleared my head and looked positively in order to score the best I could on the test. I feel that I have reached my goals for this class and that the repetition of writing weekly TOWS has helped me reach this point.