Reflecting is a critical element of learning because it leads to deep learning and personal growth. As you reflect upon what you have learned during the last few months, what insights do you have to share? What advice would you give to others about writing? How have your feelings about writing changed?
Simplifying writing for businesses and colleges since 1990
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Meet Dona,
Dona J. Young is a teacher, facilitator, and writing coach who believes that writing is a powerful learning tool that shapes our lives and careers. In addition to teaching professional writing online, she designs and facilitates corporate training programs on effective writing and communication.
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Hello class,
This semester has been fun. It also has been very interesting and a learning process. I would like to share that the blog is a very good idea. It’s different and unique. The formus are kind of the like the blogs, but are different too. I like the blogs a lot more. There are also easier to get to and to be able to read the other students’ posts.
Advice that I would give is tough. I have changed a lot aboout my writing since this semester and this class. Mainly I was forced to change how I wrote to become more professional. It als makes me sound a whole lot better. If I had to give someone advice, the best advice I could give is, to read the assignments and listen to the teacher. I have learned a lot from other student’s insights too and that has helped. It has helped more because they are more on my level and have the same questions or problems too. My feelings about writing has changed greatfully and makes me a better writting person in general. I feel more confident to write whenever I have to and don’t seem to come across too many problems. I would always be leary about writing before, but now that it has improved I feel confident and enjoy writing.
Thank you everyone for a great semester! I have had a blast getting to know everyone and enjoying the time. Thank you and have a great summer.
Have a good day,
Paige
Hello class,
English is not my strong subject and never have been open to learning it; although, this semester having Prossor Young made me realize that English can be fun! Being open to new ways of learning English can be easy. I learned that Enlgish is very much related to nursing and I think it can be related to any career.
The advice I would give is: don’t procrastinate! English is a subject that needs time. Within that time you spend writing it is important to edit your work. Editing your work does not mean to change right after you first write it. Take time away from your writing and come back to it. You will see the mistakes and you fix them easily. Don’t be afriad to earse sentences that do not flow with your writing and write senteces that flow. Sometimes sentences that are great have to be earsed too because they just don’t work out, but remember you can also write more great sentences.
My feeling about writing have changed. I do not dread writing, I actually enjoy it! Although I need more time to formulate my response.
Have a great evening,
Weronika
Hello class,
First off, I would like to say that I absolutely loved this class. It was a rich experience for me. I learned many things that will be very useful for me in the future. Most importantly, we learned how to get a job by writing an effective resume and how to act professionally during the interview process.
There is many people that hate writing because they think that it’s useless. Well, I agreed with those people until I took this class. My advice would be: take writing seriously because it will be very important for you in the future. Almost every career involves writing in some way, and it is very important that you know how to write business documents correctly and effectively.
Now that I have taken this class, I don’t mind writing. I now know how to write business documents correctly and effectively. I also learned about many important grammatical principles that I wasn’t aware of before I took this class. I hope everyone learned a lot from this class and enjoyed it as much as I did.
Have a great summer everybody,
Naumce Prentoski
Hello Class,
This class has taught me so much over the course of the semester. For one, I now find myself more conscious when I am writing. I have also grown to enjoy writing a whole lot more than I used to. The textbooks for this class will always stay with me because they have so much useful knowledge in them. I know that if I ever have a writing question, I can go to those books and the answer will most likely lie inside.
If I were to give someone advice about writing, I would say to always pay attention to punctuation. A wrongly placed punctuation mark can completely change the meaning of a sentence. This is why I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning of them semester when we worked on punctuation. When it comes to giving advice for this class, I would say to always listen to what the professor has to say. I do not think someone’s writing can ever be completely perfect; because of this, they need to keep an open mind when receiving critiques.
All in all, this class was one of my favorites this semester. I am glad that I will always have this website and my textbooks to use as resources when writing.
Have A Wonderful Summer,
Jennifer Aloia
Hello everyone,
This semester has been a great one. Simply because I was able to learn something new, refresh on some past learned things, and have a fun time doing it. Having the opportunity to write and read comments from my teammates in the class was a great experience. I found myself spending more time focusing on the quality of my writing as opposed to the quantity when responding. I wanted to make sure I was trying to give them the feedback on their assignments that they deserved.
My advice to anyone taking a writing course, writing a paper, or simply just writing an email, is to take your time. It’s the littlest mistakes the make the most impact. I learned quickly that spelling things wrong, forgetting punctuation, among other little things can ruin the whole writing for the reader. We just have to slow down and take our time.
My feelings have definitely changed a lot about writing. I have never been a huge fan of it in the past, but I can certainly appreciate it. I learned about the time professions can spend writing, and how important it is to master the art it really is. It’s something I’ll strive to improve more on in the future to come. One of the quotes I remember so vividly is the one that said you can never be perfect. So don’t try to be. Just try your best and that will always be more than enough.
I hope everyone has a fantastic summer!
Christine E.
Hello class,
over the last few months, I have learned many new skills and tools to use. I have learned that communication builds professional and personal relationships. Composing, editing, and revising are the phases of the writing process that I now feel comfortable applying. I learned how to develop and revise short business messages by introducing old then new information and eliminating emply information. Before taking this class, my writings included empty information to reach the length of the assignment. I now know that I was offering useless information. I should be clear, simple and consise. Revisiting the mechanices of writing was helpful as well.
In addition to written communication, I now feel equipped with verbal and persuasive communication skills. I am also more aware of communication that relates to diversity. The characteristics of effective teams was very helpful and I will be applying them when working in a group. I appreciated the chapter on “Getting a Job”. Building a network, resume writing, and job search letters are tools that are beneficial regardless of the field we enter. Lastly, I learned invaluable tools when commmunicating on the job.
My feeling about writing has changed. I came into this class with a lack of confidence. Today, I do not think about my confidence level at all. I have learned and recommend that when writing, just jot down every thought then revise and edit later. And always get straight to the point, know your pupose, and especially know your audience!
Thank you for the knowledge,
Serina Garica
Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to share with everyone that I think the W231 class, with Dona Young, is a class everyone should take before heading out into the real world! During this class you will learn how to communicate effectively and professionally. This class would be useful to any major.
If you either know what you are doing in the writing department, or are not so confident in your writing skills, this class is definitely for you! Whatever the case, I’m sure you will learn more than you anticipated from this class. I know I did!
Writing is not an easy process to most. With the right guidance and practice, writing can be a not so horrible experience. Take chances in your writing. Sometimes it’s better to just write what is on your mind, and then go back to make changes and edit things.
The common theme throughout this semester was “less is more!” This is a good rule of thumb to go by. Don’t muddy up your messages with complicated explanations or big words to try and sounds “smart.” Get to the point and say what you mean.
My feelings about writing have definitely changed. Coming into this semester I was dreading having to take an “intensive writing class.” After this semester I look at writing a bit different. My confidence has grown, and because of that I think my writing is much better now.
Best of luck to everyone in their futures,
Stephanie
Hi Everyone,
This semester went by so fast, but I guess it always seems like that when it comes to the end.
This semester has taught me many new skills. I enjoyed this class in the end, but was dreading it before I knew what to expect. I think Professor Young has a great English program. Some skills were refreshers for me and many more were new. I like that she has integrated modern writing methods into the course.
Writing is a mind set for me and before I understood the class I thought I would be writing a lot of papers. This class was more helpful than lengthy paper writing. It prepares you for the working world. It helps you to understand what types of communication takes place in work place. I learned a great deal about punctuation and sentence structure. Who knew the comma would be so complicated!
My favorite chapter was Diversity. Not only should you remember that not everyone operates the same as you, but it helps you to appreciate other cultures. The iceburg of values gives a nice visual to follow. Communication outside of writing is also covered throughout the course. It is nice to have the semester cover so many useful topics.
Sometimes the things one person finds obvious are not so obvious. Like not using text messaging type verbage in e-mails or office memos. You don’t always have to write in a lengthy manner to get your point across. Sometimes less is more. Learning good editing skills is also taught. I still need to work on this one, but this course gives you the knowledge you need to edit better.
I hope everyone had a great semester and will take these new skills with them into the future.
Good luck everyone,
Jennifer
Hello Class,
It’s crazy to think that it’s been another who semester! My freshman year flew by! My brain also feels like it was fed through a paper shredder, but I think that means I learned something! This class was extremely beneficial for my writing career. I felt comfortable with due dates and asking questions.
The one piece of advice I would like to share is that you should not stress when you write. I would put it off because I would get anxious. Sometimes I’d write something, and I would just feel dumb because it doesn’t sound like what I want to say. I learned that there’s such a thing as proof-reading and proof-reading again. Write naturally and then correct. Don’t correct while you write. When you write your first time with a care-free attitude, you’re less likely to use outdated language, like we learned about a few weeks ago. Then you can go back and correct parts that you were too care-free on. I now feel comfortable typing away.
It’s been a pleasure. Thank you everyone for your feedback.
Good luck,
Lauren Sergent