Sometimes, writing can be harder than one expects - C'est la vie! Coming into Rockhurst as a graduate of Académie Lafayette isn't the easiest thing for a student, especially in English class. Académie Lafayette (AL) is a French immersion school where classes are taught entirely in French, except for English class (of course). So, after graduating from AL, I had little experience with English and, as a result, I knew it would be one of my weaknesses. As I walked into school for my first day at Rockhurst, I was nervous about what to expect from English class. As my classmates gradually arrived into homeroom, tension was building inside of me. Then, before the bell rang for the start of the day, a short, stout man walked in: Mr. Gustafson, my English I teacher. At the close of …show more content…
As I finished all my other homework, I picked up the laptop, opened a Word document and attempted to start writing. I sat down in my warm, comfortable, private room, free of distractions. But, the creative juices just didn’t flow. What can I write about that would produce two pages of material? I could write about...no. I kept thinking for hours, staring at a blank white page.I started, stopped, reconsidered, deleted everything I’d written, and started again.Finally, I went to my mom for help. She asked me many helpful questions and helped me brainstorm on topics to write about. After hours of frustration and extensive thought, my first high school essay was complete...the rough draft, that is. Michka 3 I came into school the next day hoping that my teacher would be pleased with what I had produced. My classmates and I “peer-reviewed” each others essays and I received some helpful feedback. Then Mr. Gustafson informed us that the final draft of our essays would be due the next day. We were told to look over what our classmates had written and put the finishing touches on our
My writing experience is different from most of the students in American college because I am an international student. I did not take any formal English writing training until I have to take SAT test. Before my preparation for SAT, I was taught the Chinese classic poems and argumentative writing. The Chinese writing and English writing are two different systems. I tried to use Chinese writing style to write a story, an short experiment about my own life in a TOFEL exam before, and I failed. In order to gain a better mastery of the English writing skills, I took two ESL course. They improved me a lot on my formal writing and presentation skills. I learnt how to find source from library and Internet and to cite the source in a formal way. The
Throughout this semester, I have personally developed and improved as a writer, through the weekly writing tasks set for the writers Journal. This procedure of composing Journal entries and assessment tasks involves critical reflection on the information provided and on myself developing those skills. During my school years, books were always as a part of my life, reading gave me joy, swept me towards my memories and took me along Journies never been before. However, I never thought of myself as a writer, composing short stories, writings and texts for others to read. I have realised that my goal is to become an influential educator to children who are yet to discover their potentials, goals and interests. Loan and Muir (2017) say “as teachers,
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been writing, both inside and outside of class. While I haven’t always been drawn to reading classics, I have spent a lot of time reading in general, and it always seemed to encourage me. I was easily inspired by the words on the pages coming to life in my mind, and even more fascinated by the fact that the image almost certainly looked different to every individual who took the words in themselves. I’ve always enjoyed being able to paint images in the minds of others and intrigued to learn just how much different it must look to each person who took in the words that I wrote. Did they look different to other people, or did everyone have the same general idea? How close were their own images to mine?
My personal experience, as a writer, is limited only to the days it was required of me, which led to a lack of understanding of a writer’s style and a bad reputation and relationship with past English educators. I never really enjoyed writing, I but always admired reading the works of famous writers, who had the gift of self-manifestation. However, I always seemed to complete the task without any sort of passion or interest. Writing was simply a required aspect of earning a grade. I felt limited in my ability to be creative or interesting to my readers. My writing seemed to lack imagination and vitality. While I was enthralled in reading a good book, writing was an unsatisfying effort and a chore. Expressing my voice and inspiring others
I don’t know what to write. The thought keeps running through my mind haunting me as I try to figure out my english assignment. All I can think of is negative stories that are sure not going to be appropriate for school. At this point I start to wonder about my writing abilities and thoughts begin pouring in before I have a chance to stop them.
As someone who frequently writes, I have been accustomed with the difficulties of writing. However, I have never been more challenged (in a good way) and have been required to think more critically than I have been now having to write in Chinese. At first, the biggest adjustment was familiarizing myself with the manner in which phrases in English are structured in Chinese. I initially had the impression that this class was going to be “easy” in the sense of not having to do much work but that quickly changed. Quite frankly, I even considered dropping the course because of these reasons but I ending up confronting these challenges because of my genuine interest in the language and the content of this course. After week one, I made it my goal to be more engaged in class. At least initially, I would describe my participation in class as being more passive than active, as I frequently did not engage in class discussion or read the textbook. However, I later become more engaged in the class. Foremost, this begun
Writing is not everyone's cup of tea, but it is a past time that I have learned to love over the recent years. Whether it be writing for school, or just writing for fun, it is an activity that helps me to express many of my feelings.
My first experience in writing an essay was two years ago, I was practicing for the ILETS test. When i started writing, it was difficult and hard in the beginning and I didn't know how to start so I asked my sister to help me, because I faced a lot of difficulties, but I overcame them.
No one said college was going to be easy. Over this past semester I have gained some support with creating better essays, but also lost some as well. Essays can be difficult if you do not know what you are doing, in some parts of this semester that’s how I felt. Being able to change from high school papers to college paper is different. Over the past semester I have learned to write about many different things that I have not done before, from different audiences to different types of essays, also learning to have to take other people’s thought and put that into my essay to help me improve. In this essay, there will be many things happening, like my effects of each different essay, reflect on the relationship between writing and critical thinking, how rough drafts help improve, and also the purpose goals of my writing.
In high school many students dread writing due to the fact that it becomes a repetitive process. Writing papers in high school can become boring because the student is told what to write and how to write. As a teacher, one can change that process and turn writing into a fun project rather than a dull assignment. Emphasizing the idea of brainstorming can help these students take their writing into a more personal journey. Anne Lamott and Susan Sontag share similar ideas about how difficult but satisfying writing can be. Even though writing can seem like a forced matter occasionally it can bring out the best writer in us because we’re able to escape the real world and compile our ideas and imagination into paper, while re-writing until perfection.
I remember walking into my class room and seeing my teacher Mrs. Lutz sitting behind her podium. On the board, written in green marker under our daily objective were the words "students will be able to write a proper essay paper." My heart dropped. I had always dreaded any kind of writing and I knew this was going to have to be the longest paper I had ever written. I took my seat slowly and I waited for my teacher to give her instructions.
With a cursory glance at the clock, I noticed the hand was pointed at midnight and sighed heavily. A throbbing headache returned with a vengeance, and I couldn’t concentrate on writing this paper. All I did was stare at a blank document for half an hour, and it seemed to mock me with its scribbles. This was definitely the best time to have writer’s block, especially since the paper was due tomorrow.
Earlier in this course, I stated that my sentiments towards writing could be summed up by a single image: that of an unfilled page, ever supplanting my stream of consciousness with blankness, nothingness, before I could transcribe it into words. Hyperbolic as that may have been, composing something substantial has always been, and still is, my greatest struggle when attempting to write. I have not done a lot of academic writing in my life. I hardly attended high school, and, save for the writing portion of my GED years ago, I have never had to write under a time constraint before this class. As a college student I
Before coming to Radford University, I was very nervous about having to write papers on a college level because in high school they drilled into our minds that it was going to be so much harder. The first day of this class was when I realized that I was going to be okay because I had a professor that was willing to help me and guide me through the process of constructing a good essay. Over the course of the semester my theses have improved significantly, I’ve learned different ways to approach writing paragraphs, and I’ve realized what essays are easier or harder for me to write.
“You sit down to write for a specific time, but you don’t have to write. The catch: you’re not allowed to do anything else. After a short period of time, the brain begins to search for something to do-and you find yourself writing” (Davidson 31).