Course /Evaluation Reflection

Course Evaluation/Reflection

1. Meeting course objectives
Course objectives
Learn to recognize and use strategies & conventions commonly found in cnf including: reflection, segmentation, narrative voice, use of scenes, dialog, character development, and detailed description, movement between the subject at hand and a personal, reflective perspective focused on a concept
Develop an invention process based in writing
Develop/extend revising process
Explore different forms for CNF
Questions:
What did you learn in this course?
I learned about what creative non-fiction is, before this course I had no idea. I learned how to make a point by telling a story and not really coming out and shoving my point down the readers throat. I learned how to let the details and the descriptions do that for me subtly which is important in all literature, not just CNF.
About the form of CNF?
I learned that CNF should move back and forth between storytelling and reflection. They are often personal essays and it is good to tell it from multiple views to offer different perspectives.
What did you learn about how to write CNF?
I learned to keep my opinions and blatantly obvious statements out of the story and let the reader draw the conclusions from the story instead of telling them.
About where to publish/find publishing venues for your creative writing?
I just looked at all the ones you had listed on your blog and I found that fourth river would be an appropriate one for my work because of the subject matter.
Did you change anything /try anything different in your writing process? Please describe.
Certainly, I think I grew a lot in my writing skills over the course of this class. The first essay I really just told a story with no point. Then the second essay I told a story with a point but I made it way too obvious and came right out and said it. Then finally for my last essay I finally learned to do it just right by telling a story with vivid description of a place that drove home a point discretely and not too overtly and I think you agree.

Which class assignments/class experiences helped you learn whatever you learned?
I think the two most influential pieces I read in this class were George Orwell’s because his really showed the point and reflection in CNF and then reading Marvin Gardens showed me how to do that using only detail and not being as straight forward as orwell and that greatly impacted my last piece of work and I think, no exaggeration, made me a better writer and I will carry the things I learned in this class room with me for the rest of my life.

What do you wish the course spent more time on?
Honestly I cannot think of any particular thing. I think the course was conducted well and we spent a good amount of time on reading and writing and it was enough of each.


What do you wish we'd spent less time on?
The only thing I can think of is sometimes reading everyone’s journal entries out loud took a great duration of the class and then there was no time left for anything else. And it’s probably not your fault but some people just told really long boring stories that I was not interested in at all.

2. Structure of course/assignments
Assignements
Blogs- Honestly at first I thought that the use of the blogs was annoying because I am not a fan of technology or web enhanced classes. I tend to be old fashion. Though I was overwhelmed by the idea of a blog at first because I did not ever really understand what a blog was but not I do and they sort of grew on me but if I had the choice to have class with a blog or not I would still prefer blogless. Lol
readings
writing journal
writing assignments
exploration of publication venues
Questions:
Right pace/schedule?
Yes. I think the course moved at a good pace. Though, honestly, I’m feeling a little rushed and there seems to be a lot of work at the end such as the final draft, presentations and portfolio but that is typical of a college class for professors to unexpectedly run out of time and then try and jam everything left into the last minute.
Coherence of material?
I found the majority of the material pertinent, though some of it was a bit dry. The only one that I do not think was coherent was Montigaine, I have a hard time seeing that as CNF.

Workload => Too much, too little, just right? What would you change?
I felt like it was a little much at time. Especially keeping up with the blogs was pretty cumbersome, we had something to write for every class. It would be nice to not have any homework for once to be honest.
Cover material appropriate to course goals?
See coherence of materials.

Enough feedback for grades?
Definitely, I especially found the one on one conferences very helpful rather than just writing a few comments on a paper and handing it back the conferences were at more personal and we were able to have intellectual discussions that really helped point me in the right direction for revision.

3. Provisions for feedback/grades
Forms of evaluation + feedback
comments/grades for blogs
comments from classmates
reading aloud from journals + class discussion
conferences with professor on papers
group work with classmates on papers
written feedback/grades on papers
reflective writing about your work (in you journal, on your blog)
Questions:
Which form of feedback was most helpful? Like I said the conferences were incredibly helpful, though I thought it was a bit of a paint to take time out of my schedule to have to meet outside of class it turned out to be very productive and insightful.
Which did you enjoy most? I enjoyed group work. I always do.
Any which you felt was unproductive?> I never really paid much attention to my classmates feed back because when I did they mostly made broad statements that weren’t all that useful such as “I liked your story, it was good.” Guess they were just being nice and didn’t wanna criticize too much.
What would you do more of? I should’ve read more of my classmates work and participated more in class but social anxiety of paralyzes me from doing so.
What would you do less of? I don’t know. I think I did little enough. Lol
Did you feel the grading system was fair? Indeed , I especially like your concept you explained to us one day that you really like to grade on whether you think a student gets it at the end of the course rather than taking a cumulative average.
Did the grades/grading system contribute to learning? I think it really encouraged me to try and understand the material more so that if I got it I could get an A.

4. General response
Is there anything you could tell me that would help me teach a better/more engaging course?
I thought the course was very engaging. From the reading, to journal writing and reading to the group work with classmates and your own personal stories and feedback. It was a very friendly, intimate environment in which I really felt comfortable expressing myself creatively.

Anything you want to say about your experience of the course?
Overall I must say I really enjoyed the experience of taking this class, and I am glad I registered for it despite not knowing what it really was. I think everything happens for a reason and I learned a lot in taking this course and I feel like I learned some really key things about being a writer that I will carry with me forever. Such as using details to describe people places and things instead of just coming out and saying it, and I never realized it before this course but that is what all good authors do. I think I have learned to apply this well and my writing has improved greatly from the beginning of this course to the end and as I said I will carry the things I learned with me about writing in this class for the rest of my life, which I more than I can say about most of the English classes I’ve taken at this university.Thank you.