A Helping Hand

When writing and working on projects, we tend to write what's on our minds and only about what we know. We like to write it our way. However, a bit of help doesn't hurt.

As writers, we write about things that interest us and things that we already know. This doesn't mean that we don't need help to discover and learn more. In this class, when we write, we like to include peer feedback and conferences in order to get help and enrich our writing.

Peer Feedback

When submitting reflection assignments or drafts to our projects, it is submitted through Canvas as a discussion post. There, your classmates can see your work and give feedback, which is why it is called peer feedback. Your classmates could go in, check your work, and discuss things that they saw in your work. They can tell you that it is looking good and maybe that there are things that you could change. They may say that it needs improvement and that there are things that don't belong. They can even help you add things that you may need to make your work look its best. This helps a lot because since we all have different opinions and perspectives on things, their feedback can help show something that you didn't even think about. It can show you a different way of thinking and writing. That is the great thing about peer feedback, that we learn from each other and help each other grow and improve. That is something that I learned, that even if there are weaknesses and icks in a team, you could always work through them and grow with one another.

Conferences

Throughout the semester, one of the most important things that you will need is to attend the conferences. These conferences are just meetings with the professor about your work and your progress. You meet as a group, at your chosen time and day, and you go through your work together with the professor. There, your group brainstorms and the professor mainly looks over the work and gives feedback on what the group needs to work on. It is like peer feedback but in this case we have the professor, who has a better understanding and can easily help better your writing. As we throw out ideas between the professor and the group, the work starts building up to perfection.

You will see that these conferences will help you a lot and I could speak from experience. They helped me because the professor knows a lot of things that we don't or that we didn't notice at the moment that we were working on the assignment. Most of the time, there are a few mistakes that can easily be pointed out that we didn't notice. Other times, we didn't go too deep into the work and she explains how to do it. This is what helps make the writing its best, while also making a better writer out of you on the way.

Writing Lab (CEW)

What is the CEW? You may be asking. Well, the CEW stands for the "Center for Excellence in Writing." They are a center where writers of all kinds can come in and get help with their work and writing. Not only do they help you with essays and papers, but they also help with building your resume, working on group projects, powerpoint presentations, etc. They have workshops, tutoring, and community engagements. If you are maybe stuck on what to write or you don't know if it's worthy of a good grade, then make your way to the writing lab. Here, they will help you no matter if you are "brainstorming, drafting, revising or polishing." The good thing is that they are located right at your college and you can come in whenever you want to, you just have to make an appointment. You can't miss out on this opportunity!