As a writer, you should identify areas for improvement in your writing so that you can present your ideas more clearly. You should always understand your teacher's comments even if you do not agree with them. Many teachers seek to educate through their comments and can give you important tips for improving your writing or adding to the information you convey.
Sometimes teachers are unaware of various students' desires to improve their writing over their college careers. When this happens, your teacher may not give you enough feedback to plan for improving. Students who wish to improve over time should request such information from their teachers and keep a journal for developing an improvement plan. For example, your journal may include a checklist for what you have learned about writing.
| Sample Personal Checklist for Improvement | |
|---|---|
Assessing My Writing This Term |
|
| Planning phase | |
| ____ | Have I learned to write a clear and focused thesis statement? |
| ____ | Do I understand how the intent and purpose of my writing reflect my audience? |
| ____ | Do I know how to provide sufficient information? |
| ____ | Am I planning my assignments with enough time to be successful? |
| ____ | Do I use assessment checklists for my writing? |
Researching phase |
|
| ____ | Am I learning how to conduct research for information to support my own research thesis? |
| ____ | Is my research methodical and thorough? |
| ____ | Do I keep accurate notes about quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and bibliographical information? |
Organizing phase |
|
| ____ | Am I learning organization techniques and improving them? |
| ____ | Does my organization reflect my critical thinking strategy? |
| ____ | Does my content flow logically? |
Drafting phase |
|
| ____ | Is my style readable and coherent? |
| ____ | Is my tone expressive and consistent? |
| ____ | Am I able to plan a first draft with time to plan improvement? |
| ____ | Am I developing and using a revision strategy? |
Mechanics |
|
| ____ | Have I improved in the overall mechanics of writing? |
| ____ | Am I learning a variety of formats for my writing? |
Plan to improve |
|
| What will I work on in the next writing project or in the next term? | |
| ____ | Prewriting techniques |
| ____ | Journal keeping |
| ____ | Planning my writing |
| ____ | Managing my writing projects |
| ____ | Researching techniques |
| ____ | Organization |
| ____ | Writing the first draft |
| ____ | Revising |
| ____ | Assessing my writing |
Although checklists are handy, you may want to keep just an informal journal of your writing progress. Ask your teacher for feedback on how your writing and thinking have improved during the class term and what you should work on improving.