Guidelines

Over the semester, you will be asked to write reflections in which you describe carefully chosen items from your content inventory. Your reflections will be read by other students in the class and reviewers outside the class at the end of the semester. Only write material you are comfortable with them reading. Remember:

  • Shoot for 400 words for your first draft
  • Shoot for 300 words for your final draft (which is due after the Editing Workshop).
  • Write each reflection in Google Docs.
  • Do not move your reflections out of Google Docs and into WordPress until after the Editing Workshop.

As you write and edit your reflections, remember that your reflections should:

  • Provide details. Your reader does not know what you did. You have to tell them.
  • Be reflective. Why did you do what you did? What have you learned about yourself?
  • Use plain language. Avoid long sentences and technical jargon unless that jargon is explained.
  • Chunk your paragraphs. If you wouldn’t read a long paragraph, neither will your reader.
  • Make connections. Hyperlink when you can, both to other reflections and external sites.

Prompts

It can be hard to get started on a reflection. Review the results of your Content Inventory, but also use the prompts below to begin your first draft.

  • Describe a skill you have developed in the last few years and how you developed it. What project or experience helped you develop it?
  • Describe an assignment you received in a class that required you to draw on your strengths.
  • Describe a skill that you learned by completing one project that you were able to apply to another project later on.
  • Describe a strength of yours that you believe few other people have. Why do you think this is the case? Where did this strength come from?
  • Talk about your ability to bounce back from setbacks. Provide some examples. Consider where this strength came from.
  • Share a strength in your networking or relationship-building capability. How has this capability helped you?
  • Reflect on a strength in your ability to stay organized and manage complex tasks. Provide details about how you get work done.
  • Describe a strength in your cultural awareness and sensitivity. When have you been able to employ this awareness/sensitivity to achieve a goal?
  • Share a strength in your ability to mediate conflicts or find common ground in difficult situations. Describe one or two conflicts in detail and how you helped resolve them.
  • Describe a strength in your technical skills (e.g., programming, data analysis, design). How did you develop these skills?