The document discusses the student's experience in an English class. It describes how the instructor Kylie and the English department were very helpful, patient, and provided the best feedback. The student faced challenges with group projects, including choosing a proposal topic and finding an applicable job ad. However, class activities like usability testing and resume comparisons helped improve critical thinking and job application skills. Technology also played a vital role in the class through digital materials on Blackboard and collaborative Google documents for group work. Overall, the student learned more than expected and had the most fun in the semester, gaining communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.

1. ENGL 2311 – Reflection Slidedoc
Spring 2016
Kylie Jacobsen
Taylor Nuckles

2. Leading Mentors
Not only was the entire English department super
helpful when it came to crunch time on the group
project, but Kylie was a great mentor when it came to
this assignment specifically. We were walked through
step by step and she was very patient with us considering
how though the project was with all of its steps. I have
never had a grad student teach a class and it be
enjoyable but Kylie and the entire department’s help
definitely helped with many assignments. I did not have
much interaction with the English Department directly, in
fact I only met with them once, but when I did it was
hands down the best criticism I ever received. They were
so kind in helping our project by leading us in the correct
direction then complimenting the good things. I knew
coming into this class I have always had a shyness in front
of crowds, let alone random grad students who do this
for a living. However, I believe my communication skills
increased drastically.
• Not only were the icebreakers before
class incredibly helpful but the group
matching and group work was incredible
as well. I found out what kind of worker
and team member I am and I could not
have been happier with the result I found
within myself! All of this is due to our
instructor Kylie. Because of her outgoing
attitude I feel as if I was allowed to be
myself and not get a weird look by
anyone, and this alone helped me gain
confidence in myself thus leading to
higher grades and stronger friendships. I
had no clue what this class was about
coming into it but now I feel like a pro! (I
know I am not). Ultimately, I am trying to
make the point that all my instructors
were extremely helpful on all the in-class
assignments because sometimes I had no
clue what was going on, but I feel much
more educated on the subject now and I
am very happy to say that.

3. Problems Faced
One constraint I personally
had was choosing a good
proposal for the group
presentation. It seemed as if
everyone was doing printers
and parking so it took a lot of
creativity to officially decide
my project. It took several
days of really intense
thinking, but I wanted to
choose something I had
previously experienced an
issue with and try to fix it.
Even though it did not get
chosen by my group it was
still a tough struggle to get
through since we had to turn
in an individual assignment
on it.
Another problem I faced was finding a good job
ad at the beginning of the semester. Not many
were very applicable to my previous
experiences so it was tough to settle for a job. I
realized in this section of the course that most
of the things I did in High School are not really
pertained to anything I want to do in life. I have
a heavy musical background from High School
and now I am going into Sports Management so
it took some time and growth to realize that I
am going to have to be more involved in groups
now to build my real resume down the road.
This assignment was so helpful cause it was so
realistic. When I say that I mean it was one of
the FEW assignments in all of my school career
that will actually pertain to my future and how I
will get a job. It was pleasing to get assigned
something with such impact because it forces
you to take it seriously thus setting you up for a
good semester.

4. Practical Problem Solving
Never have I ever taken a class with so
many activities that actually had a deep
meaning and purpose. We did at least 5
in depth exercises this semester but two
of which really with me are the Usability
Testing and Resume comparisons. To
begin, the Usability Testing was so nice
because it brought to light how difficult it
actually is to build an instruction set for
someone else to use. Even something as
simple as folding a tee shirt made you dig
deep and think critically for several
minutes. It showed us that saying
something in your head will obviously
make sense, but putting onto paper for
others to use is a whole different story.
This definitely helped my critical thinking
skills because it took so many trial and
error sessions on our group document
until we finally solidified something that
was usable.
First problem I ran in to was the Resume
documents we used. Essentially we had
to choose a good and bad resume in less
than 30 seconds and put them in order
from top to bottom of who we would
hire first, second, third, etc. It opened up
my eyes as a student who will eventually
be being interviewed that you can throw
on as much as you want and show off as
best you can, but sometimes most of it
goes unnoticed. I learned that bosses
care about experience and personality as
I looked at many job ads and discussed
this activity with my classmates and
friends. What I did to fix this those is list
a bunch of personal qualities which I find
important in myself and it turned out to
be just fine.

5. Technology
Technology played a vital role in this
class for me. Reasons being are
because everything we receive is a
technology copy not physical, which
allows Kylie to elaborate more on how
she wants things to be done and
secondly it played a huge role in our
group project. The documents we
received through Blackboard were so
much nicer because it allows me to use
my strong organizational skills to
create ordered folders for each and
every unit we had consisting of the
lecture and assignment. The use of
technology sure did help me but it also
showed me how organized I really am!
Also, the group presentation would not
have happened if it were not for the
collaboration of technology. We edited a
Google document we created all separately
and on our own time from our individual
laptops. I don’t think I would have learned
nearly as much as I expected if this class
were full of paper handouts and quizzes.
One example where technology came in
extremely clutch was for our extra credit
presentation to the English Department.
The Wi-Fi shutout during our presentation
and since we decided to make it a Google
Doc meant it was only accessible via the
internet. So we all opened up our phones,
went to the document, and continued our
presentation. Not only did this show our
strong effort in group work, but it also
showed how serious we were about this
presentation. This project showed me that I
take things very seriously even it is for a
little extra credit, but I always like to look
ready and professional no matter what goes
wrong.

6. Conclusion
In terms of mental growth, I never
would have thought an English class
would have been the one that
helped. I came into this class with
low expectations due to previous
English courses I have taken here,
but I learned not to judge an entire
group off of one instructor’s bad
performance. This was hands down
the most fun I have had in a
semester all while learning
extremely essential things from this
class such as how to properly build a
resume and how to critically think
and make things clear for everyone
you teach and not just yourself,
because there is a huge difference.
I think this document properly
discusses everything I experienced
in this class. For example, I have
mentioned the people who have
helped me the most, what
problems I had and how I overcame
them with traits I gained
throughout the semester, and lastly
how technology has helped me
become successful in this course. I
learned a lot through all 6 of our
units and enjoyed every single one
more than I ever thought I would.