Reflections
Studies in education have shown that what matters most in learning something may be your ability to recognize and reflect on your own learning. You haven't truly learned it till you recognize and own your learning. This fact is a major reason why I want to get you to explain important concept from the course in your own words both in class and in your writing. It is also why I will ask you to complete a short major refection every four weeks or so. These reflections are an opportunity for you to tell me what you think you have learned about what writing is, how it works, and what it can do for you. It is also a chance for you to tell me what concepts you still don't understand and/or still aren't sure you can agree with. You should also feel free in these reflections to let me know what is or isn't working to help you learn and what you would like to see happen in class to better help you learn. These reflections can be difficult sometimes because I don't have fixed ideas of what they should look like or include other than the general guidelines I have just laid out. You need to talk about what you feel you have learned in the course regarding what writing is, how it works, and what it can do. In later reflections, you could also discuss how that has changed from one reflection to the next.
Like informal writing, these reflections will not be assessed for formal elements and they will be graded credit/no credit, but unlike informal writing they are major commitments on the contract. They are very important.
Your Theory of Writing
The real goal of reflection is for you to go beyond just consuming the information in this course and to take ownership of your own understanding of writing. This "theory of writing" will provide you with the knowledge that you will take with you into new writing ecologies and rhetorical situations. It will allow you to more effectively analyze writing situations to determine what prior knowledge will be effective, how you will need to adapt to new circumstances, and what you will need to discover so that you can write successfully in those new situations. Because this is so important for developing your writing, you should take it very seriously and work to convince me that you have taken it seriously.