Self EvaluationEssay Preview: Self EvaluationReport this essayThrough the first half of the school semester, English 1100-03, taught by Ms. Gail Taylor, has expanded my knowledge substantially through various open class discussions, many journal entries, essay and poem readings, and critical analysis of articles. Because the course deals with reading, writing, and teaching the use of proper grammar, my vocabulary has definitely increased. Also, because of the emphasis on higher learning that the class presents, we as students are expected to maintain a journal broken down into three parts: a “Dear Gail section, a section for journal entries, and a section for rough drafts for upcoming assignments. Along with keeping a journal, we as students also have to have an attitude of flexibility, curiosity, and respect for the diversity of beliefs and opinions we all share.
I have found myself in a situation where the content of the first paragraph of the course can often be contradictory. Rather than reading about the subject, I have to read about my experience of reading and writing in particular books, the writings of professors of the school and people that are close to me (mostly college students), and the topics I have written about. In one case, the teacher asked me if I would write down any problems with the first paragraph of his class’s essay and the book it contained (A Conversation With A Woman of Color: The Stories Of A Woman Who Joined A Radical New Feminism). This teacher had a good point, but for those students who are reading about the subjects I’m trying to reach out to, I highly recommend reading the work of Ms. Taylor, who was once a professor of English, and is widely known as “a feminist and a good teacher who takes criticism pretty seriously.” Though I am writing this to be a non-interactive lesson series, or an essay I can’t finish without, I would like to thank both Ms. Gail and Dr. James G. Brown for providing many of the tools used in the classroom (and my own work) as well as for their help with the journal entries for “The White Women of Color Manifesto,” “Women and Men’s Men vs. Women,” and much more. The book is available at Barnes and Noblesse for just $5 at the Barnes and Noble online store. For the third semester of the course Ms. Taylor and I are continuing her work on a chapter entitled “Women and Man” on our own, where the class discusses the nature of gender, the role of women in society at large, how gender plays a part in personal development, and what gender matters to you in life. We are hoping to see how our class will be able to address this specific problem through our reading (of those books and the essays we’ve already written), while also using the power we’ve learned in our practice to empower one another through the process, which is also inspiring to some as a teacher of children’s literature. Thank you again for your patience and enthusiasm throughout this semester.
The following is not an attempt to make an arbitrary rule or to make the classroom as difficult and unpredictable as I thought it would be, but rather a means to improve the learning environment of our students in such a way that teachers and students become better prepared for the future (and in some cases may be more informed than our students) that the lessons provided in the classes are less confusing, more complete, more productive, and therefore more effective.
It is certainly a great pleasure to speak to teachers and students about the lessons they learn and about their experience teaching at their families/schools. Thank you for listening, and you wish you the best throughout this semester.
One of my strong points as a student in English class is critically evaluating a poem or an article that we had previously read. I feel that I excelled the most in those assignments because expressing my opinion on paper along with critiquing is one of my better strengths. Another point that I feel that I am strong in is participating in open class discussions. I try to firmly explain my opinions to my classmates without disrespecting their own beliefs. One of my favorite assignments that we did in class was when we had the opportunity to pick an article out of a nationally known newspaper of our choice and select an article to read and to evaluate and critically analyze it. This assignment introduced the class to how to begin a critical review of an article, film, or an essay. I received a check plus on the assignment and have enjoyed the lessons ever since.
On the other side, one of my weak points is maintaining the third section of our journal. That is the section where we organize our thoughts for an upcoming essay. I tend not to do well because I dislike writing rough drafts. I like to start my essays off the top of my head without really thinking about what Im about to write. I think this is because I had so much success doing it in high school. I would use this technique and still receive high grades on my work, and because of that I continue to do it. I am trying to correct this bad habit by organizing my thoughts and writing them down on paper before I go into writing my final piece. Another point that I dont do well in is doing the reading assignments that are assigned in the syllabus, not in class. If we have a reading assignment, I tend not to do it at all because I feel that Ms. Taylor really doesnt enforce the students to do it. Dont get me wrong, she shouldnt have to threaten us to do the work, because were the people paying thousands of dollars to be in college. But I do feel that it would help if I had a little more drive instilled