Alex Doane

Mrs. Knudson
UWRT 1103
10 December 2014
Final Reflective Letter

Coming to UNC-Charlotte I had not enjoyed writing or an English class in over

eight years. The grammar activities and forced writing prompts and lengths sucked the
life out of any activity and left me feeling as though I had to just make stuff up to get a
good grade. Coming into UWRT 1103 I expected nothing more than the same treatment.
I would do my work BS some activities and get out with an A or B. But I had never had a
teacher like you, Mrs. Knudson. Your passion for your students growth in writing and
literacy was astonishing and unlike any other teacher I had before. This is not to say that
there werent any activities that I disliked. I did not particularly like the in class writings,
though I know how important they are when reflecting. I understand that even though I
don't like some things, they may be constructive towards my overall writing success.
When I finished my portfolio and began to take a good, long look through it I
realized that my writing had increased by leaps and bounds. I no longer look and my
reading and think, does this make any sense to others? I am extremely proud of
everything in the tab labeled Extended Inquiry Project. I am most proud of the
annotated bibliography, which included all of the research on my topic. I worked very
hard on that portion of the project and because of that I feel like my brochure and poster
suffered. I honestly did not give those my best shot, but they did come out pretty good.

Reflecting on the entire project now I would have spent more time on them to make them
exactly what I wanted. A major issue with the extended inquiry was the amount of time
allotted to do it; I procrastinated as I always do. If you click on the two screenshots at the
bottom of the page, or on the title Bitcoin! it will take you to my website. The website
was a great practice for this final portfolio and I am very glad that I did it.
When I look at my in class writings and responses from the beginning of the
semester I could not tell you what the prompt was or why I wrote what I did. Then as my
writing progressed and I became a more competent writer my writing developed and
became more comprehensible. The constant practice and readings about literacy and the
best ways to develop it helped me along the way. I feel like my writing became
incredibly more sophisticated over the semester and that is something that Im proud of.
All of those discussion topics and in class writings can be found in the tab labeled
Blog.
Twitter and its use in class was a very interesting twist in the class. I know that
many of the students in the class rejected using it in the classroom, but I embraced it.
Your desire to bring English class into the 21st century did not go unnoticed by me. I feel
that it is really important now and moving forward to have classes based on where the
world is and not where it was. My twitter section I used to be pretty funny and you
should take a look, you might think so too! There is a like to my twitter page for the class
in the top right of the page; its the little twitter bird. Look at the screen shots or go to my
profile. I wrote a more in depth reflection on the use of twitter as well at the bottom of the
page. I did this on all of the pages in my portfolio so that when someone finishes reading

the page and looking at the pictures they can reflect with me on what is there and the
reason it is there.
One section of the portfolio that I really enjoyed reading again and looking
through was my literacy memoir. We wrote that so early in the semester that it seems like
I was a different writer. Reading the first submitted draft and trying to make changes was
easy. I had so many errors in grammar and vocabulary that it seemed like a child wrote it.
I read through your comments and saw that you said I should make the religious
metaphor more present throughout the memoir. I did my best to try and make that the
central theme because I too think that it was not only my best point, but also one of the
better to be made. Originally I did not have it as an important piece of the writing and I
did not even introduce it. When I went to make changes, not only did I introduce it earlier
in the writing I made an additional paragraph committed to expanding the idea. I feel like
that was the best thing I could have done to further my ideas and thoughts. I know you
will but I suggest reading the polished product with my changes in mind. I hope that it
makes the essay more accessible and more comprehensible. I think the best way to reflect
on something is to really go back and examine what emotions I was feeling at the time
and how my feelings about the subject has changed. As complicated as that sounds I feel
it is something that every person can do and it is necessary for good writing.
Getting back into my emotions from when I originally wrote the things I did was
a very big part of everything I did in my portfolio. I see examples of that when I look
through the tabs and think about where I was when I originally wrote them. The extended
inquiry I did in the library, stressed out of my mind because my friends were coming to
Charlotte and I had to finish it before the due date. I remember the moment at the peak of

the stress when I said to myself, Whats more important, entertaining my friends? Or
getting a good grade? I know how I answered that and so did my upset friends. But Ive
come to point in my life where school is everything for me and getting an A in UWRT
1103 is my top priority. Navigating through my site Im sure youll find things that are
similar to what other students have done and thats just a product of the creativity that
public school has sucked out of me. But over the course of this semester and the class in
particular, I think I have had some very unique and creative moments that shine through
my portfolio.
To cut out any other confusion this paragraph will deal directly with navigating the site
and what I want you to pay close attention to. The home page is just a couple pictures of me, my
family and friends, a brief bio and introduction. Then youll hypothetically move to the blog
section where 7 of my in class writings and reflections are. Some of the reflections have more
depth than others and I did my best to show a nice mix of all qualities. The tweets section has
screenshots of several of the tweets I thought were funny and related to the class. The midterm
reflection section is exactly what it sounds like. We wrote that at the midpoint and I think it is
great to parallel with this final reflection letter to see how I felt then and how it has changed. I
did not change anything in that section because I felt it better to leave my thoughts, emotions and
writing skills, as they were to compare and contrast to now. I spoke in depth earlier about both
the literacy memoir and extended inquiry. Those sections I was most pleased with and would
love you to spend the most time on. This class and your guidance have really helped me in my
journey to find a better writer in me and see my skills develop. I am very proud of the hard work
that went into everything included in the portfolio and the portfolio as a whole, and knowing

myself I would not lie and tell you I was proud of it if I was not. I hope you enjoy navigating my
page and I look forward to your feedback!