portfolios ENGL301 Writing & The Teaching of Writing
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LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY ZOOM SPACE. |
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MW (in-person or Zoom) 12:00 (noon) to 1:30 T (Zoom only) 4:00-5:00 And by appointment (in-person or on Zoom) Make an appointment, either face to face or on zoom, during office hours or at another time: Let me know you want to meet by adding yourself to my google.doc appointment calendar here: https://goo.gl/3CqLf. If you are meeting me on zoom, Use the zoom link to the left on this page, repeated every page of this site (and in my email signature). |
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.
MIDTERM CHECK IN
Your midterm portfolio will consist of the following documents:
You will receive a grade-so-far in about one to two weeks after you turn it in. What I will look for: sincerity in your reflection and in the philosophy of teaching-so-far (even if neither is perfect) and, if applicable, thoughtful revision from workshop draft to final draft in the Interview with a Teacher project.
I hesitate to include my philosophy of teaching, because it is too long for the purposes of the class--and remember I've been teaching for over 25 years. So keep that in mind if you choose to read it, which you don't have to do.
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.
MIDTERM CHECK IN
Your midterm portfolio will consist of the following documents:
- One or Two Reading Journals that really marks a moment of discovery for you. Include a 250 word reflection that tells me what your discoveries were--250 words total, not one 250 words for each journal selection. You've read a lot so far this semester about a wide range of things, and hopefully it has given you pause to think about classrooms you've been in and will be in. Select one or two reading journals/discussion board posts that identify a moment of insight for you. You don't have to have had the insight in the posts so much as in the act, perhaps, of doing that reading, or in the act of reflecting on the reading before or after class, or even in the act of responding to one of your colleagues. But wherever and whenever you had your insight, it should be about a moment when you really understood teaching and learning in a new way. You do not need to revise or in anyway alter these journals/discussion board posts. You only need to tell me, by date and reading, which of your journal/discussion board posts you are talking about. NOTE: if you have a "U" or are missing Reading Journals/discussion board posts, now is a time to turn the revisions in.
- Your completed Interview with a Teacher. Please include any correspondence with your teacher. If you always CCed me on emails, just tell me that. If you stopped CCing me, make sure you forward or .PDF and send your emails to me. Include also your workshop draft of your interview as well as your workshop worksheet.
- Your completed Mentor Text Memoir. Please include your rough draft with your partners comments on it along with the revised text.
- A midterm Check-In Cover Letter: What is your philosophy of teaching reading and writing so far? This is a first opportunity, in 500 and 700 words to try to express what your philosophy of an exceptional reading/writing classroom is. I know many of you have never taught before, but I'm not asking you to be an expert. I'm asking you to begin to think about this. Some of you might have written some version of this for an Education class. That's great, but those can often be pretty clunky. I'd love to read some philosophies that sound like humans wrote them. At the same time, I'm not asking for perfection. As you write this philosophy, include some of the scholarship that we've read this semester to help you craft your position.
You will receive a grade-so-far in about one to two weeks after you turn it in. What I will look for: sincerity in your reflection and in the philosophy of teaching-so-far (even if neither is perfect) and, if applicable, thoughtful revision from workshop draft to final draft in the Interview with a Teacher project.
I hesitate to include my philosophy of teaching, because it is too long for the purposes of the class--and remember I've been teaching for over 25 years. So keep that in mind if you choose to read it, which you don't have to do.
| torda.philosophy.pdf |
HOW TO TURN IN YOUR MIDTERM CHECK IN:
With the exception of any emails you need to send me for your Interview with a Teacher, you will turn in your portfolio in hard copy the day it is due. I will give you a manilla envelope for your to put your materials in to. Further instructions for how to turn in work will be covered in class.
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED
With the exception of any emails you need to send me for your Interview with a Teacher, you will turn in your portfolio in hard copy the day it is due. I will give you a manilla envelope for your to put your materials in to. Further instructions for how to turn in work will be covered in class.
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED
- The midterm check in is worth 5% of your final grade. In order to earn an "A" for that 5% you must: Turn in your reading journal/discussion board reflection, your philosophy of teaching-so-far, and all of your materials for the Interview with the Teacher. See the detailed instructions above for what to include and how to deliver it to me.
- If you fail to turn in your reading journal/discussion board reflection, your philosophy of teaching-so-far, and all of your materials for the Interview with the Teacher and you fail to turn it in even after I reach out to you telling you to turn it in, you will receive an "F" for the 5% of your final grade that the midterm check in contributes to.
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 from the entire 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. This is the same assignment as from midterm but you can select (but do not need to) one more journal. Perhaps all three of your selections will have changed. Perhaps they will not. Either scenario is OK. You don't have to pick three or even two either. 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.
- Your completed Annotated Bibliography and Reflection/Bibliography cover letter. Include your drafts from the workshop.
- 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).
- 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