Course 1: Graduate Scholarly Writing

After reading the course outline for Graduate Scholarly Writing I was very intimidated. I have never been a very confident writer, so I was dreading this course. My lack of confidence was compounded by the fact that this was my first course at the graduate level, so I had no idea what to expect in terms of rigor for a graduate level course. After tentatively submitting a draft of my assignment  I was stung by the pain of constructive feedback. In my professional practice we often provide students feedback, but when I received feedback on how to improve my own work, it reminded me how personally students can take feedback. I felt that the work I submitted in these drafts was as thorough as I could produce. I would receive my drafts with very thorough feedback, carving up my work with the color coded method that Dr.Terry used to communicate required changes. I would often have to take some time, and a few deep breaths to remind myself that her feedback was constructive. It is a good reminder to me as a classroom teacher that we must remind students that feedback is not judgmental or personal, it is meant to help them improve. I often show students in my class examples of the feedback I received from Dr.Terry to let them know that I too understand the pain of constructive feedback, but ultimately I know that her feedback helped me to improve.

Dr. Terry had extremely high standards which helped me in my professional practice. She didn't have unreasonable expectations, but had the expectation that graduate students should complete work that was reflective of higher understanding. I realized that if I want to establish high standards in my own classroom, I have to support students achieve those standards by scaffolding the skills in which they need to meet those standards. By providing continuous feedback, she supported the advancement of my writing and allowed me to attain the standard that she expected.  

The course was very practical for my professional development because it gave me my own exemplar bank to understand the formatting and requirements of specific writing samples such as research papers, article critiques, funding proposals etc. that I would not only use in the rest of my graduate courses, but also access in my day to practice. For example the format of the funding proposal served as a template for me when applying for additional professional development money. I used the template as a guide to justify the expense and present a logical explanation for the additional resources required.

This course was a very valuable experience for me. It provided me with a foundation for the writing requirements of the rest of my graduate courses, and it also gave me the confidence to tackle the academic challenges that arise in subsequent courses. Although I still struggle with academic writing, Dr.Terry provided me with an understanding of the basic elements of writing at a scholarly level and made me a more proficient writer, student, and teacher because of her support through the process of feedback throughout the course.