Trying New Strategies That Can "Connect" to Your Future

While the Winter quarter is coming to an end, flowers begin to blossom in the breezy weather. Springtime is here. Which means spring break is around the corner, time to relax in the sun. But before that happens, I am going to talk about the benefits of an online study tool called connect.

McGraw-Hill's "Connect" is an online assessment platform that aids students to improve in specific areas, such as grammar. The resource also helps students in developing a well-structured thesis and annotating excerpts for better understanding. In Writing 39B, participating in the connect weekly assignments was a requirement. "Skim Reading Practice: To Give is Better than to Receive" was our final Connect task that involved analysis. After we finish analyzing a text through each annotating assignment, Connect gathers all of our responses and converts them into a report for us to review and revise before final submission.

The Connect assignments in which I found the most troubling involved thesis structure and subject-verb agreement. I assumed that I would struggle with punctuation as well since I never understood when to use semicolons. I would also always overthink whether I am overusing commas when writing a passage. Although punctuation was not one of my most significant weaknesses in writing, I still made a couple of mistakes when working on the commas and semicolons assignment. To strengthen my writing skills, I will need to exercise my writing skills daily. Whether it's in text messaging or writing in my journal. It turns out I can continue to use Connect in the future, even after I finish the Writing 39B course. These practices will help shape my ability to write and aid my growth. Paying a fifty dollar Connect fee allows students to have access to their account for an entire four years, which meant I could use this tool in the future whenever I want to help me grow as a writer. To me, it sounded like a great deal.

When working on the Connect assignments, I realized that I often second guess myself before submitting my final answer and find myself always clicking the "think so" button. In the commas and semicolons assignment, I was only aware that I knew the answer 68% of the time, which meant I was conscious that I knew the right answer. Still, I sometimes was unaware of the correct response and got a few incorrect, which ruined my confidence in my ability to write as it seemed like I had poor grammar skills. Although participating in these Connect assignments has helped improve my grammar overall, which helped raise my confidence when writing my RA and RP essays.

My personal favorite Connect assignment is the "Power of Process: Close Reading" assignments, which benefited me in understanding the content through the use of annotations.

When reading Unremarried Widow, I would not bother "wasting" my time on analyzing the appeals or the historical and cultural context of the text. But the Connect assignments required me to focus on these concepts, which helped me broaden my understanding of the importance of these tools. I was able to see beyond the obvious and deepen my knowledge of the meaning behind the text. Understanding these strategies allowed me to implant them in my RA and RP essay. For instance, when writing my RP essay I was able to use my understanding of the importance of appeals which permitted me to employ a myriad of emotions that will help convey my intended message. The connect assignments did not only help me with my understanding of specific rhetorical strategies, but it also helped me maintain my ideas organized. This process has helped me develop a focused mindset in the assignments, essays, and my journal for both Writing and English class. I am not going to lie, I first considered these assignments as "busy work," but It is now the end of Winter quarter, and I stand corrected. I realized that participating in these Connect assignments will improve my ability to write clearly. If you were to compare my writings from the beginning of the quarter to now, the difference is undeniable. As a student who is part of an academic discourse community, the Connect assessment tool has shaped my writing skills like no other. Therefore, I would highly recommend anyone who would want to improve their writing, whether you consider yourself an experienced or inexperienced writer.