grading

I feel the need to start a new post when I really change topics. So, I am changing topics and here is my new post. The quarter ended last Friday. I graded portfolios on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, I had to leave for a wedding in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Another story.

I read two or three composition portfolios on the way to Tennessee. They wrote an I-Search paper and I stole an assignment from something we read in Roen. The author had them pull their best process paper, favorite essay, write a top ten list, choose several informal writings, etc. Each of these was followed by a memo explaining your choices. I always do a persuasive self-evaluation essay that I love a la Elbow and an author from the NWP book Breakthroughs. They had to do the self-evaluation essay also.

I love reading the portfolios because I can see how much they worked. It is so obvious what they learned. But I hate grading. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Susan wrote a paper and the end product was not that spectacular, but it was a huge learning process for her. This girl worked hard the entire semester. Completed every assignment I gave her, but the I-Search wasn't so hot. She recognized that to and wrote a two-page single-spaced letter analyzing all that went wrong and the problems that she saw. So, does she get an A for the class or a B because the I-search wasn't so hot. I guess you could do some percentage--the I-Search is 20% and the portfolio is 80%--that's what I do with English II. Quantity versus quality. Then I have not so good writers who have improved vast amounts. Is theire writing A quality? Probably not. Was there a vast improvement? Definitely.

I don't have my paper proposal back from Donna yet. The two members of my group like the paper topic on grading. I will probably write my paper on that. I would like to get started on that this week.

I watched a great movie this morning. It's my spring break, and I traveled twelve hours yesterday. I watched a movie this morning. It was called "My Father's Glory." It was a French movie. It was on Encore and it was so good.