Portfolio Reflection

Connie Miles Cole
December 4, 2008
EDL 7065
Portfolio Reflection

From the beginning of the writing class to now, I think I have come a long way. I started the semester with some anxieties about writing. Where would I find the space or time to sit down to compose? Writing has always been a slow laborious process for me; nevertheless, towards the end of the semester it became less stressful for me to write. My assignments finally had flow, understanding and meaning.
Participating in the writing group and reading other’s works definitely was beneficial. It gave me new insight and the ability to see my own writing with fresh eyes. My grammar is not the best, so the immediate feedback was a key in correcting careless mistakes. The careless mistakes I made in earlier writings have decreased in my later writing assignments.
If I could work on any of my pieces to strengthen my writing, I would work on my wordy sentences. I have a habit of writing long wordy sentences which may cause confusion with the sentence’s meaning. For example, in my literature review I wrote the following: “Disproportionate representation, or disproportionality, refers to the over-or under representation of a given population group, often defined by racial and ethnic backgrounds, but also defined by socioeconomic status, national origin, English proficiency, gender, and sexual orientation, in a specific population category.” This sentence was definitely too long. It actually should have been presented in more than one sentence. In my final draft, I addressed the issue by writing: “Disproportionate representation, or disproportionality, refers to the over-or under representation of a given population group. It is often defined by racial and ethnic backgrounds. Disproportionality can also be defined by socioeconomic status, national origin, English proficiency, gender, and social orientation, in a specific population category.” I also wrote the following sentences in one of my drafts: “Even though making sure schools have a multicultural curriculum was an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, little progress has been done to implement a more diverse, multicultural curriculum in our schools today.” In my final draft it was written as the following: “In the half century, little progress has been made in the implementation of a more diverse, multicultural curriculum in our schools.” My revisions of these sentences are not as wordy as the sentences in their draft stages. These are just a few passages from my writing that contained wordy, lengthy sentences. Taking out the fluff was difficult at first.
Length has been a critical issue for all of my writing assignments since grammar school. If I came up short on my required pages, I always added fluff to stretch the paragraphs to reach the necessary goal. Fluff or being too wordy does not always make your writing reader friendly. In many of my current writing assignments, I found it difficult to defer from the fluff. I had to really think about only writing to get to the point. After writing what I called a complex sentence, I would go back to try to decrease the verbiage. This made my message clear. I learned it does not take a lot of words to get to the point. I also learned that a well-written paper does not have to be an extremely long paper. I definitely had to change my frame of mind when completing my assignments because I worried about the length of the assignment.
When some of the anxiety wore off, I came to enjoy some of my writing assignments. Some of my favorite passages were: “If teachers had the tool and knowledge to apply research-based interventions in the general education classroom, would these strategies decrease the number of minority students referred to the special education process?” “….. I wonder what would have happened if I did not have teachers who were willing to take the extra time to implement strategies and interventions to help in my education?” “Has there been research that proves research-based interventions do decrease the number of minority students being referred for special education?” As I reflect on these passages, I find there is passion in what I believe. I just want to share my passion with others making them aware of issues that are faced in education. Coming to the end of this semester, I have learned writing should not be feared. Through my writings there is a voice with something to share with others. I never realized until now how much my past plays in the role of how I write. As previously stated, “I have come a long way.”