My ePortfolio
My name is Deborah Rocheleau, and I'm a student of English Composition II. I'm a PSEO student and future student at Wright State, where I will study TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). My goal is to be an English teacher in China while following my true passion, writing. I've written visual analysis essays, research proposals, and research papers, and have enjoyed them all. I've learned a lot in the past year, going from aspiring writer to published, award-winning author.
Through my research paper about endangered sea turtles, I have learned how to research effectively and find the information I need to make an argument, even if it is hard at first to find. I've learned to vary my sources, benefiting from the rich material of the internet, books, and other printed material such as newspapers and magazines. Most importantly, I have learned how to write under a deadline, problem-solving and prioritizing my work to balance a busy schedule.
On this site, you'll find my paper proposal, research paper, as well as a visual analysis I wrote for this class. My research paper was about the conservation and role of endangered sea turtles, a topic I had read about widely but, until this class, had not had the opportunity to compile into a paper. The course material helped me take these papers from rough ideas to polished products I feel comfortable sharing with others. I have learned how to organize my thoughts, refine a thesis based on research, and enhance a paper with both written descriptions and images to enforce arguments. Another great aspect of this course is that it allows me to discover and work with me weaknesses. As a writer, I tend to over-edit things, focusing too much energy on small issues like grammatical correctness while ignoring larger ones. The peer reviews have especially helped with this, providing an outside view that can often spot issues that I, as the writer, can't.
As a teacher, I've also learned how to use the strategies I've learned from my own classes to teach my students. I'm a believer in brainstorming, but also in learning how to best use your time. If you're familiar with a topic, you can dive right in and get it done, but if a particular project is giving you trouble, prewriting can be an invaluable tool.
Beyond that, however, I encourage my students to take their work to the next level and always follow through with better drafts. I've never written a first draft that I've turned in without changing anything, even if it is a single word or comma. A second opinion can be invaluable, and my English course specifically is set up to allow students to give feedback on each other's work. Feedback is valuable to both the receiver and the giver, as they are both refining their tastes and becoming more familiar with the medium. I hope that my feedback to others is always helpful and encouraging, and I always take pains to express criticism as tactfully as possible.
Throughout this course I have learned how to work with a busy schedule. I fell in love with writing at a young age, but only recently learned that I have to prioritize the time I spend writing based on the situation. I do my best with homework assignments, but sometimes I have to stop editing and let it be. I am now confident in my essay-writing abilities, and believed that I deserve an A for my hard work and results.
Through my research paper about endangered sea turtles, I have learned how to research effectively and find the information I need to make an argument, even if it is hard at first to find. I've learned to vary my sources, benefiting from the rich material of the internet, books, and other printed material such as newspapers and magazines. Most importantly, I have learned how to write under a deadline, problem-solving and prioritizing my work to balance a busy schedule.
On this site, you'll find my paper proposal, research paper, as well as a visual analysis I wrote for this class. My research paper was about the conservation and role of endangered sea turtles, a topic I had read about widely but, until this class, had not had the opportunity to compile into a paper. The course material helped me take these papers from rough ideas to polished products I feel comfortable sharing with others. I have learned how to organize my thoughts, refine a thesis based on research, and enhance a paper with both written descriptions and images to enforce arguments. Another great aspect of this course is that it allows me to discover and work with me weaknesses. As a writer, I tend to over-edit things, focusing too much energy on small issues like grammatical correctness while ignoring larger ones. The peer reviews have especially helped with this, providing an outside view that can often spot issues that I, as the writer, can't.
As a teacher, I've also learned how to use the strategies I've learned from my own classes to teach my students. I'm a believer in brainstorming, but also in learning how to best use your time. If you're familiar with a topic, you can dive right in and get it done, but if a particular project is giving you trouble, prewriting can be an invaluable tool.
Beyond that, however, I encourage my students to take their work to the next level and always follow through with better drafts. I've never written a first draft that I've turned in without changing anything, even if it is a single word or comma. A second opinion can be invaluable, and my English course specifically is set up to allow students to give feedback on each other's work. Feedback is valuable to both the receiver and the giver, as they are both refining their tastes and becoming more familiar with the medium. I hope that my feedback to others is always helpful and encouraging, and I always take pains to express criticism as tactfully as possible.
Throughout this course I have learned how to work with a busy schedule. I fell in love with writing at a young age, but only recently learned that I have to prioritize the time I spend writing based on the situation. I do my best with homework assignments, but sometimes I have to stop editing and let it be. I am now confident in my essay-writing abilities, and believed that I deserve an A for my hard work and results.