Learn, Reflect, Understand

We are our own…

We are our own worst enemies, we are our own worst critics, and the list goes on. There are so many phrases telling us about how we are so terrible to ourselves, but in the belief that reflection allows us to become agents of our own learning, we are exposed to the idea that we are our own best teachers. Reflecting is more than thinking about what we’ve learned. It’s applying what we’ve learned. Throughout the past few weeks we, as a class, have learned how to apply our lessons by using the blog and completing mini and main assignments. Reflection is a critical aspect of composing because without it, we are stripped of the opportunity to learn from our own work—mistakes and triumphs. Reflection’s importance in composing is undeniable, but where does it fit in the process?

Reflecting in Composing and the Reexamination of the Process

In the process of composing, we’ll find that reflecting is a reoccurring step. In my blog post on composing, I argue that in order to compose “good” writing, we, as authors, must first understand ourselves as writers. In order to understand our writing, we must learn from our writing. Understanding and learning come hand-in-hand. The only way we will learn from our writing is by reflecting on it. The time during composing in which we see reflection at its peak is before revision. Before putting our final touches on our written works, we must fully understand he message we are displaying to the audience. To do this, we must reflect. Reflection is the backbone to our understanding.

With Great Understanding Comes Great Knowledge

In understanding our writing, we expand our knowledge. “Expand our knowledge” is one of the most generic arguments I can make in the defense of my opening idea claiming that we are our own best teachers. However, by “expand,” I mean to branch and develop. By writing, we branch out and stretch ourselves to new lengths. We take our current knowledge and experiment with it, testing how far it will go, how far we can take it. By doing this, we develop new ideas and meanings of our prior knowledge. Applying said knowledge to our writing is something inevitable. We gain knowledge in class and wisdom in experience. Said experience is found in composing and reflecting, whether the composed work is written or not. Knowledge is always growing, but it can only take us so far.