Week 9: Reflecting on Connect

The assignments at Connect have been very helpful. When I first started doing the assignments, I thought that they were all topics that I knew well and could answer very easily. However, there were a few topics in particular in which I was not very strong at. According to the self-assessment report, 72% of the time, I was aware that I had the right answer and 28% of the time, I was unaware that I didn't know the answer. This shows that I was always confident that I knew the topic. However, I was a little overconfident because as the report shows, I thought I was correct when I actually was not. Luckily, with the practice on Connect, which adjusts the learning plan based on how much you know, I was able to acheive a firm grasp of the concepts I was weak in.

The areas that I made the most progress in and need the most work in are all related to strengthening my essays. As I have a strong grammar background because of the extensive studying I did for the SAT, there was little to no improvement for grammar related items. However, the assignments were a good refresher that made sure the grammar concepts I knew stuck with me. The most challenging learning objective for me was "Reasoning and Argument," which includes learning about effective claims and theses. These were not grammar topics and focused on ways to improve my essays. Before, I did not know the criteria for effective claims and theses. I believe that I now have a clearer idea to make an effective claim, which will ultimately help improve my writing. To keep improving, I can continue to do the practice assignments on Connect, which I will continue to have access for the next few years, and read more online about ways to improve my writing.

In additon, another type of assignment we did in Connecct is called, "Power of Procss." These assignments would narrow down categories for us as readers to look at. We would look read an essay and identify the parts of the essay that showed things such as analysis or using sources. Today, we used Power of Process to closely read our own essay. The tool was very effective because it allowed me to look closely at what I needed to add or improve on my essay. Without this tool, it is much harder to review essays because essays have a lot of information. However, by breaking everything down into categories, I can easily pinpoint what area of my essay I am lacking in. From now on, whenever I read, I will always try to break the essay down into multiple parts.