In Unit Three, the main portion of work was dedicated to creating the Formal Report. Editing of a peer’s report and developing a progress report regarding a job search were other tasks completed. The writing with “You-Attitude” assignments were beneficial in strengthening my professional writing tone. I believe this unit provided the student with a vast array of writing opportunities to engage in.
This unit began with improving the student’s business writing skills. I learned to apply the principles of the “You-Attitude” format to two letters- complaint and bad news. The “You-Attitude” technique encourages the writer to view the piece from the reader’s point of view. It seeks to express appreciation, respect the reader’s ego, and stay positive. This lesson taught me to write respectfully and with an understanding tone in any situation. I found that the letter development was extremely helpful in preparing me for the Formal Report.
The Formal Report draft was the most time-consuming, and challenging section of this unit. I found this portion difficult because my implementation plan cannot be fully implemented right away. The dental office I am employed at is working towards altering the length of dental hygiene appointments from 40 minutes to 50 minutes. As this schedule change would negatively affect patients already booked, we have started arranging future appointments for 50 minutes. With this being a long-term implementation, it is not feasible for me to draw accurate conclusions before a formal evaluation. This makes my draft feel unfinished, however, I tried to hypothesize on the areas of inquiry through academic research reports.
I feel as though I improved on the peer review portion this unit. When editing my partner’s Formal Report draft, I gave both broad and specific feedback. I discussed what content was informative and what was redundant or confusing. I identified terms that would benefit from a definition, how to improve transition elements, and suggestions for design improvement. I also evaluated the piece for the “You-Attitude” tone. Moreover, I provided specific grammatical edits.
The last portion of this unit was to identify an appropriate advertisement for a job, volunteer, or graduate position. This will allow the student to create an application package including a cover letter and resume to their Web-folio. I researched advertisements for dental hygiene positions with the public health unit. This type of employment would interest me, as I am passionate about working with the community, especially children. I would like to explore the other roles of the dental hygienist aside from clinician. Educator and advocator are exciting new hats I could try in this field. I may also get to engage in epidemiological research studies.
Overall, this unit was progressed into nicely as units one and two provided a strong writing framework to draw upon. I feel as though I was really able to progress with my writing performance, editing skills and research abilities. I look forward to the advancement Unit Four will yield.