portfolios ENGL301 Writing & The Teaching of Writing
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LEE TORDA, Phd
310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] Need to make an during a time that is not an open student hour? appointment? Let me know you want to meet by adding yourself to my google.doc appointment calendar here: https://goo.gl/3CqLf and I will send you a zoom link for the time you sign up for. Appointment times open up weekly. |
Summer 2021 Open Hours for students (office hours):
5:00-6:00 T/R and by appointment. NOTE: All classes, student meetings, and open student hours (office hours) this semester will be held virtually via Zoom. Click here to attend ANY of the Open Hour for Students Zoom sessions listed above CLICK HERE TO ATTEND ENGL 301 ZOOM CLASS |
OVERVIEW: Portfolio grading is an opportunity for an instructor to evaluate students as a whole—not based on a particular assignment or even on an average of those particular assignments. Rather, the portfolio allows for an instructor to value as well as evaluate effort, quality of work, future potential, willingness to risk, and the ability of a student to recover from earlier mistakes. Additionally, for me, the portfolio, and in particular the midterm portfolio, is an opportunity to assign a formal letter grade to your work so far this semester, a measurement understood and recognized by you, certainly, after years of receiving them, and by the institution. But, most of all, the portfolio is an opportunity to take stock of where you are as an individual student and of the class as a whole and, as a result, adjust course (quite literally) accordingly.
It is also a chance for me to do the same. As a student, I'm sure you see assessment and evaluation as something that is one-way, but in the best classrooms, evaluation and assessment work both ways. From what you turn in to me, I have the opportunity to learn something about how class is going--about what people are actually learning (as opposed to what I think they are learning or what I think I am teaching), to see where there are gaps in coverage of material, to see where certain assignments have gone awry--or gone well (if the majority of students do badly on an assignment, it's not them: it's you), to see what is resonating with students and what is not. Take for instance part one of the midterm check in. This is a way for me to see what readings mean the most to students. Each year I re-evaluated the materials I include in the class and much of that re-evaluation comes of seeing what texts mattered most to you as students. Assessment should never be one-sided--we should always be actively seeking out feedback from our students in various ways to know if something is working or not.
It is also a chance for me to do the same. As a student, I'm sure you see assessment and evaluation as something that is one-way, but in the best classrooms, evaluation and assessment work both ways. From what you turn in to me, I have the opportunity to learn something about how class is going--about what people are actually learning (as opposed to what I think they are learning or what I think I am teaching), to see where there are gaps in coverage of material, to see where certain assignments have gone awry--or gone well (if the majority of students do badly on an assignment, it's not them: it's you), to see what is resonating with students and what is not. Take for instance part one of the midterm check in. This is a way for me to see what readings mean the most to students. Each year I re-evaluated the materials I include in the class and much of that re-evaluation comes of seeing what texts mattered most to you as students. Assessment should never be one-sided--we should always be actively seeking out feedback from our students in various ways to know if something is working or not.
THE FINAL PORTFOLIO
For the final portfolio you will turn in to me the following material:
“The charm of baseball is that, dull as it may be on the field, it is endlessly fascinating as a rehash.” - Jim Murray
“You can’t be afraid to make errors! You can’t be afraid to be naked before the crowd, because no one can ever master the game of baseball, or conquer it. You can only challenge it.” - Lou Brock
“People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball.” -Sandy Koufax
“Don’t forget to swing hard, in case you hit the ball.” -Woodie Held
For the final portfolio you will turn in to me the following material:
- Up to three reading journals/discussion board posts from the entire summer semester that really marks a moment of discovery for you, include a half page, typed, single-spaced reflection that tells me what your discoveries were. Pick the journals--and, thus, the readings--that most affected how you think about being a teacher of writing and reading. Explain to me the reason for that selection. Cut and paste the relevant journals from the class discussion board below your brief reflection.
- Your completed Annotated Bibliography and Reflection/Bibliography cover letter. If possible, include your drafts from the workshop.
- A copy of the presentation handout from your Group Research Project on underserved populations.
- Your Book Club Journals and Reflection/Cover Letter. Cut and paste your book club journals from the class discussion board below your Book Club Reflection/Cover Letter.
- Your completed Assignment Design. NOTE: you can include as much or as little written material as you want to help me understand your assignment in addition to the cover letter explaining it (as outlined on the assignment information for the project) and the handout you will be giving to students. You do not need to turn in anything else, however, besides the cover letter and the handout, you are not required to turn in anything else.
- A final portfolio cover letter. It should be about two-pages, double-spaced. This semester, I have tried to offer you different ways you might engage your students in the work of reading and writing--and part of that engagement needs to be about reflection on what it means to be a highly skilled reader and writer--what does it mean, for a student, to know where they are at in terms of skill, where they need to go next. The cover letter I am asking you to write for the final portfolio is a version of that. It asks you to spend extended time thinking about literacy and process. I give my first year writers the following four quotes about baseball, and I ask them to tell me how they are also about writing. This is an exercise in transfer. If they can answer this, then I know that they've at least learned something about writing during the semester.
Here is the exact prompt I give them:
For each of these quotes, explain to me:
*Why you think I chose it: explain to me what you think I was thinking it says about learning to be a better writer.
*In what ways you have, as a writer and student, learned some of these lessons--talk about specific parts of the writing you are including in the portfolio as examples of how you have learned some of these lessons.
*What you still have to learn and work on this semester.
So, for your final cover letter, I want you to tell me what you would tell these first year students these quotes have to say about writing. And, if possible, tell me what you think they say about what a writing classroom should be centered around, what values and practices.
“The charm of baseball is that, dull as it may be on the field, it is endlessly fascinating as a rehash.” - Jim Murray
“You can’t be afraid to make errors! You can’t be afraid to be naked before the crowd, because no one can ever master the game of baseball, or conquer it. You can only challenge it.” - Lou Brock
“People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball.” -Sandy Koufax
“Don’t forget to swing hard, in case you hit the ball.” -Woodie Held
HOW TO TURN IN YOUR FINAL PORTFOLIO: This is when I find teaching online to suck the most.
Send me an email to [email protected] and [email protected]. In the subject line write "ENGL 301 FINAL PORTFOLIO YOUR NAME." So my file would be "ENGL301FINALPORTFOLIO.TORDA". This will help me not lose anything and easily search through my billions (literally, billions) of emails that I never delete in my inbox.
Please turn your materials in as one document, either a google.doc (preferably) or a MS word document. If you use a google.doc, use the "header two" formatting for the titles to each section of your portfolio:
1. Reading Journals and reading journal reflection (cut and paste your discussion board reading journals below your reading journal reflec.
2. Annotated Bib and Reflection.
3. A copy of your Group Presentation handout.
4. Book Club journals and Book Club reflection (cut and paste your book club journal entries into the google doc below your book club reflection).
5.Assignment Design and Reflection.
6.Final Portfolio Cover Letter.
FINAL PORTFOLIOS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM ON TUESDAY, 29 JUNE 2021.
Send me an email to [email protected] and [email protected]. In the subject line write "ENGL 301 FINAL PORTFOLIO YOUR NAME." So my file would be "ENGL301FINALPORTFOLIO.TORDA". This will help me not lose anything and easily search through my billions (literally, billions) of emails that I never delete in my inbox.
Please turn your materials in as one document, either a google.doc (preferably) or a MS word document. If you use a google.doc, use the "header two" formatting for the titles to each section of your portfolio:
1. Reading Journals and reading journal reflection (cut and paste your discussion board reading journals below your reading journal reflec.
2. Annotated Bib and Reflection.
3. A copy of your Group Presentation handout.
4. Book Club journals and Book Club reflection (cut and paste your book club journal entries into the google doc below your book club reflection).
5.Assignment Design and Reflection.
6.Final Portfolio Cover Letter.
FINAL PORTFOLIOS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM ON TUESDAY, 29 JUNE 2021.