During peer review this week, I think I learned a lot about myself and my writing. I think that my personal problem with peer review stems from my lack of confidence in my writing. Our peer review leader hit the nail on the head when she said that people often shy away from commenting on other people's writing because they feel their writing is not of equal skills as the rest. I often feel that my righting is average and I fear the comments people will make towards the way I right. Along with that fear comes my excuse making. I always make a bunch of excuses before the peer review even begins in an attempt to make it appear that I didn't really try that hard in my writing. I need to work on my reception to constructive criticism.
I also realized that I need to keep this in mind as I become a teacher. There are going to be students that feel the same way as I do about peer review. It will be fairly easy to come up with ways to improve and proof read their papers because I have been in that situation myself. But I also need to make sure that I include peer reviews on some level because they do help many students. It's important that everyone has the same opportunities to learn. Some will develop their writing better through one on one reviews of their writing; others will benefit more from peer reviews.
So I guess I will continue to struggle with peer review until I am comfortable with it. Because let's face it, it is important to include peer review in teaching.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Class 2/27
Tonight in class we started off by doing peer review sessions with tutors from the writing center. We split into groups, working three people to a tutor. We went through each of our group members’ essays, talking about and commenting on each one. I thought that the session was very helpful. It was a good model of how a successful peer review session should go.
After about an hour, we reconvened with the rest of the class for a journal write about the peer review session. We wrote about our participation in the review and whether it was effective. Then we went over the new assignment, which is the peer review with the Robinson high school students. Each student in the class will comment on eight student papers through the medium of an online discussion board. The student essays will be posted Friday, and we will be expected to comment by the next Friday, before Spring break starts.
Then the class split into two groups to discuss the five student essays we were assigned to grade last week. The group was determined by which rubric you used to grade the essays. The two rubrics were different, one using a scale of four possible points in five categories, and one using guidelines to determine letter grades. The groups then compared the individual grades we had assigned to them. There was some disagreement in my group, with grades on one essay ranging from F to A. Group consensus mostly placed the grades in the B-C category. Oddly, both groups agreed on every grade except the parent essay, where the grades differed between C and D. We went through the essays one at a time and discussed them. All of them had some grammatical errors, but this is what we decided were the major issues with the essays.
1. The George W. Bush essay was generally considered the best of the six, although it did go off on a few tangents and gave vague supporting details; it ultimately had the best organization.
2. The parent essay was generally the worst, having very little organization or relevance to topic.
3. The Omar essay was somewhere in the middle. It had some good content in areas, but the middle read like a discography. It needed more focus on the topic of heroes, instead of just random information.
4. The Mr. Arnold essay, we decided, needed more support about why Mr. Arnold is a hero. It does not stay on topic.
5. The Lance Armstrong essay had a strong topic and stays with it, but it lacks details and organization.
--Katrina K.
After about an hour, we reconvened with the rest of the class for a journal write about the peer review session. We wrote about our participation in the review and whether it was effective. Then we went over the new assignment, which is the peer review with the Robinson high school students. Each student in the class will comment on eight student papers through the medium of an online discussion board. The student essays will be posted Friday, and we will be expected to comment by the next Friday, before Spring break starts.
Then the class split into two groups to discuss the five student essays we were assigned to grade last week. The group was determined by which rubric you used to grade the essays. The two rubrics were different, one using a scale of four possible points in five categories, and one using guidelines to determine letter grades. The groups then compared the individual grades we had assigned to them. There was some disagreement in my group, with grades on one essay ranging from F to A. Group consensus mostly placed the grades in the B-C category. Oddly, both groups agreed on every grade except the parent essay, where the grades differed between C and D. We went through the essays one at a time and discussed them. All of them had some grammatical errors, but this is what we decided were the major issues with the essays.
1. The George W. Bush essay was generally considered the best of the six, although it did go off on a few tangents and gave vague supporting details; it ultimately had the best organization.
2. The parent essay was generally the worst, having very little organization or relevance to topic.
3. The Omar essay was somewhere in the middle. It had some good content in areas, but the middle read like a discography. It needed more focus on the topic of heroes, instead of just random information.
4. The Mr. Arnold essay, we decided, needed more support about why Mr. Arnold is a hero. It does not stay on topic.
5. The Lance Armstrong essay had a strong topic and stays with it, but it lacks details and organization.
--Katrina K.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Peer Review
Tonight we are going to experience the dreaded peer review process. Although the students in our class are all capable of intellectual insight, this is not always the case. I have never been an "anti-peer review" type, but I definitely have my issues.
As we have discussed before, there are problems with the peer review process. My biggest issue is the different levels of motivation in the students of a group. I, personally, have always been an overachiever (sometimes this is NOT a good thing though, lol). I have found that when an underachiever realized they were in my group, they were more than ecstatic. As frustrated I would get with the leeches, I still did all the work if I had to, because it HAD to get done. Moreover, I usually felt that I could do it better, so I did it myself. This may sound cocky, but I am sure almost all of you (if not all) can relate to what I am saying.
We have also previously discussed the idea of "hurting people's feelings" when commenting on a fellow student's paper. I never got offended, and if I did, I just dismissed the diss. :) However, I can see where students could take criticism to heart. HOWEVER, I feel like this is part of the writing process: having others read your work. Personal composition is usually the most entertaining or insightful, and having an audience should never be neglected. Writing for yourself is an amazing form of therapy, but I do not feel that we should be afraid to share our work. If the appropriate amount of time was put into a piece, it should be ready to be presented to others. We just have to remember to inform our students that if they create a composition that is extremely private, they will still have to share it. Therefore, if they are uncomfortable with this, tone it down.
Maybe my mindset seems a bit harsh, but one of my biggest pet peeves is people unwilling to speak in class. As a teacher, I want all of my students to feel comfortable enough to speak their voice, and peer review is a healthy process. Even if your peer cannot help you with the mechanics or focus, they still can read it for you and tell you what parts make sense and so on. Peer Review has its downfalls, but if manipulated correctly (i.e. the teacher making the groups), it can be very beneficial to the student writer.
~*~Tara Biggs~*~
As we have discussed before, there are problems with the peer review process. My biggest issue is the different levels of motivation in the students of a group. I, personally, have always been an overachiever (sometimes this is NOT a good thing though, lol). I have found that when an underachiever realized they were in my group, they were more than ecstatic. As frustrated I would get with the leeches, I still did all the work if I had to, because it HAD to get done. Moreover, I usually felt that I could do it better, so I did it myself. This may sound cocky, but I am sure almost all of you (if not all) can relate to what I am saying.
We have also previously discussed the idea of "hurting people's feelings" when commenting on a fellow student's paper. I never got offended, and if I did, I just dismissed the diss. :) However, I can see where students could take criticism to heart. HOWEVER, I feel like this is part of the writing process: having others read your work. Personal composition is usually the most entertaining or insightful, and having an audience should never be neglected. Writing for yourself is an amazing form of therapy, but I do not feel that we should be afraid to share our work. If the appropriate amount of time was put into a piece, it should be ready to be presented to others. We just have to remember to inform our students that if they create a composition that is extremely private, they will still have to share it. Therefore, if they are uncomfortable with this, tone it down.
Maybe my mindset seems a bit harsh, but one of my biggest pet peeves is people unwilling to speak in class. As a teacher, I want all of my students to feel comfortable enough to speak their voice, and peer review is a healthy process. Even if your peer cannot help you with the mechanics or focus, they still can read it for you and tell you what parts make sense and so on. Peer Review has its downfalls, but if manipulated correctly (i.e. the teacher making the groups), it can be very beneficial to the student writer.
~*~Tara Biggs~*~
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Class 2/20
We began class by going over the assigned dates of our individual grammar lessons and group lessons. We were also reminded to be keeping up with our 10 neccessary blog posts. We decided that next week (2/27) would be the best class period to begin working together with our groups and designing our lessons. During our next meeting 30 minutes of class will be dedicated to working with our groups.
We then were divided into 3 groups. The assignment was for each group to look at all 7 student essays together and decide on 3 areas from each that needed to be addressed. Here is what we all came up with:
1. The Bill Clinton Essay:
*subject/verb agreement
*more examples/details
*redundant
*too conversational
2. The Football Essay:
*capitalization
*transitions
*vary sentence structure
*mechanical errors
*expand images/ideas
3. My Idea of a Hero:
*need specific examples
*don't generalize
*rework conclusion
4. My Hero (Baby Alex):
*more focus on hero
*connect back to intro
*paragraphing
*too informal (tone)
*transitions
5. A Hero of Mine:
* thesis? why?
*too much extra filler
*weak conclusion
*sentence structure
*stronger intro
6. My Hero (Dad):
*excess modifiers
*weak intro
*repitition
*connect to "heroic" more
7. My Hero (bad dad):
*connect examples to thesis
*paragraphs
*conclusion
*minor mechanics
*cliches
One essay in particular that sparked a great deal of discussion was the "Baby Alex" essay. This essay began a discussion on how to evaluate writing when it covers an emotional/sensitive subject. Some classmates asked questions and discussed the fear they have of upsetting a student by evaluating a paper that is quite personal. We desided that the best way to go about this would be to tell your students to use caution when deciding upon a topic and to make the students aware that they will be critiqued no matter which subject they choose to write about.
Once our discusion of the first seven essays was complete we were then directed to grade the next set of essays using a certain rubric. 2 handouts were given, each outlining a different type of rubric. We were allowed to choose which rubric we wanted to use and we are going to compare our grading and rubrics during our next class. We also received our first essay and in-class writing assignment with feedback.
We then were divided into 3 groups. The assignment was for each group to look at all 7 student essays together and decide on 3 areas from each that needed to be addressed. Here is what we all came up with:
1. The Bill Clinton Essay:
*subject/verb agreement
*more examples/details
*redundant
*too conversational
2. The Football Essay:
*capitalization
*transitions
*vary sentence structure
*mechanical errors
*expand images/ideas
3. My Idea of a Hero:
*need specific examples
*don't generalize
*rework conclusion
4. My Hero (Baby Alex):
*more focus on hero
*connect back to intro
*paragraphing
*too informal (tone)
*transitions
5. A Hero of Mine:
* thesis? why?
*too much extra filler
*weak conclusion
*sentence structure
*stronger intro
6. My Hero (Dad):
*excess modifiers
*weak intro
*repitition
*connect to "heroic" more
7. My Hero (bad dad):
*connect examples to thesis
*paragraphs
*conclusion
*minor mechanics
*cliches
One essay in particular that sparked a great deal of discussion was the "Baby Alex" essay. This essay began a discussion on how to evaluate writing when it covers an emotional/sensitive subject. Some classmates asked questions and discussed the fear they have of upsetting a student by evaluating a paper that is quite personal. We desided that the best way to go about this would be to tell your students to use caution when deciding upon a topic and to make the students aware that they will be critiqued no matter which subject they choose to write about.
Once our discusion of the first seven essays was complete we were then directed to grade the next set of essays using a certain rubric. 2 handouts were given, each outlining a different type of rubric. We were allowed to choose which rubric we wanted to use and we are going to compare our grading and rubrics during our next class. We also received our first essay and in-class writing assignment with feedback.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Overcoming Personal Biases in Grading Student Essays
I do not know if anyone had this problem, but I will throw it out anyway to see what everyone thinks. I had a personal problem with the student essay in which the writer went on a short tirade about the "crimes" of the armed forces in Iraq. I really had to shut up and swallow my criticism of this essay because I wanted to be fair and respect the student's write of free speech. The paragraph just hit me the wrong way because I am a veteran myself. The paragraph reminded me of all the negative press that is being given to the few members of the military who are committing heinous crimes against civilians around the world. I am personally irritated by all of the negative press that it given to these disgraces in uniform. There should be more attention given to the many members of the armed forces who are just and decent people.
I am wondering if anyone in the class has ever had a similar experience where they had to really quell their personal feelings in order to remain objective in grading a student's essay.
Sincerely,
Joseph H. Ficor
USMC
I am wondering if anyone in the class has ever had a similar experience where they had to really quell their personal feelings in order to remain objective in grading a student's essay.
Sincerely,
Joseph H. Ficor
USMC
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Grading Essays
As I read the essays for class on Wednesday (although I was too sick to attend), the idea of fair grading kept creeping into my mind. This issue has me completely torn, and I will explain why.
As a student in high school, I always put 110% into everything I did. I was naturally a good student, but I always aspired to be great. I only got one B throughout high school, and that B was devestating! :) So, when I was a student, I felt like not everyone deserved an A, because not everyone worked as hard as I did. Now, getting deeper and deeper into my teacher's education program, I don't know how I feel anymore.
What if everyone in your class actually does deserve an A? I mean, I know the chances are slim, but the thought of not being able to give a grade to a deserving student makes me sick to my stomach. Aren't teachers supposed to give a certain number of A's, B's, C's, D's, and maybe even F's? That is exactly what my high school teachers used to tell me. If this is true, this is completely absurd. If you as a teacher work your "behind" off to get the students where they should be and they reciprocate by applying themselves, shouldn't they get an A or a B? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Unfortunately, as usual, I do not have an answer to my ramblings. I constantly think about subjects such as this, and maybe one of you guys has more insight than I do. I just get frustrated by almost every question concerning education being "unable to answer."
*~*Tara Biggs *~*
As a student in high school, I always put 110% into everything I did. I was naturally a good student, but I always aspired to be great. I only got one B throughout high school, and that B was devestating! :) So, when I was a student, I felt like not everyone deserved an A, because not everyone worked as hard as I did. Now, getting deeper and deeper into my teacher's education program, I don't know how I feel anymore.
What if everyone in your class actually does deserve an A? I mean, I know the chances are slim, but the thought of not being able to give a grade to a deserving student makes me sick to my stomach. Aren't teachers supposed to give a certain number of A's, B's, C's, D's, and maybe even F's? That is exactly what my high school teachers used to tell me. If this is true, this is completely absurd. If you as a teacher work your "behind" off to get the students where they should be and they reciprocate by applying themselves, shouldn't they get an A or a B? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Unfortunately, as usual, I do not have an answer to my ramblings. I constantly think about subjects such as this, and maybe one of you guys has more insight than I do. I just get frustrated by almost every question concerning education being "unable to answer."
*~*Tara Biggs *~*
Random Ramblings by Kevin
Sup ya'll? Anyone cringing from my intro yet? Kevin here. It seems the ice is going to be a blessing for me. No school today, I'm off work, and Harrisburg High is closed as well, so I have the day to get caught up on some work. So far, I have completed essay two, and have gradedthe student essays. Did anyone find that this set was even harder to read than the last set? Not only was the student's handwriting worse, put the photocopies were more difficult to read as well. I particularly found it interesting that the last set had a paper with Clinton as a hero, and this set has Bush for a hero. Where did these kids come from? Even as a high school student, I had particular disdain for politicians, enough so that I surely would never choose a politician as a hero. But hey, to each his own, and like Dr. Phegley said, it is rather amazing that these students are even considering politics. Is anyone else grossly behind on the reading? I know I am. With the snow days, and being sick, and blah, blah, blah, I've gotten so behind. I really hate school in the winter. Actually, I really hate winter period. I can't ride my bike in the snow, and when I do I ride I freeze my ___ off. Did you know that in Alaska, riders add trike kits to their bikes with chains on the tires and keep riding even in the snow and ice? That's hard core. But, alas I digress. I found essay two a bit easier to get through than essay one. Its easier to talk about your philisophy about whatever, than to talk about the inherent process by which you achieve something. Talking about my writing process was kinda like trying to explain how you know something...generally speaking, you just know it. Anyway, in essay two, I spoke about the importance of writing in communication and self expression. Hope I'm on task, what do you think? That's it for now, I know this entry is somewhat flighty, and yes, I'm probably just trying to get something down, but I do hope to get caught up on reading and have something of substance to say. Be safe everyone, peace and grease, Kevin.
Class Events 2/20
* Went over who was supposed to present on each day for the upcoming grammar lesson and group-teach lesson. We are considering having a half-hour in class 2/27 to get into our group-teach groups and prepare. The rubric for the grammar lesson is coming by email.
* We devided into groups and went through each of the essays we responded to for class to pick 3 things we thought a teacher must respond to for each essay. Here is what we came up with:
Essay 1 - Bill Clinton - Subject/Verb agreement, refute opposition (stronger argument), more examples/details, it was too conversational, and more research to support claims (in a re-write).
Essay 2 - Football - capitalization (handwriting looked as if words were capitalized at random, decided problem might not occur if the student had been typing), transitions (needed sophistication), sentence structure, and mechanics.
Essay 3 - Idea of Hero - specifics (needs to emphasize that not everyone preforms atrociousities, also back-up his claims), his conclusion needed to conclude, opposition correctly, watch topic, define heroic qualities, and make last sentence his thesis statement for a new paper.
Essay 4 - Baby Alex - needs to narrow focus onto Amy, connect ideas back to thesis, organization, transitions, clean up informal tone, and paragraph structure.
Essay 5 - A Hero of Mine - Thesis (why is it Van Halen?), detail strays from focus, weak conclusion, needs to see messages through, provide more support, and organization.
Essay 6 - My Hero (2 job dad) - unecessary words (excess modifiers), no introduction, connect to heroic qualities, repetitious, and paragraph structure.
Essay 7 - My Hero (3rd wife dad) - connect examples back to thesis, paragraph structuring, finish, clean up cliches.
* We also discussed treating emotion and discussion of issues/opinions in student essays. We decided the best thing is to let students know what we could and could not deal with. For example, telling students not to write on a topic if they are too close to it to accept criticism on it, and letting them know not to write on abortion because you have a strong opinion on it and would not be able to give them a fair grade.
* We received 2 rubrics for the essays from set 2 which we must respond to for 2/27 (with summative comments explaining the grade we assign each paper). We decided to individually pick which rubric to use and we will see in class who gets the best results. If you pick the rubric with numbers in graph format, you need to find a way to assign points so that your students won't all fail the paper (if you do it by percentages, students who get 2s and 1s will fail by getting 50 and 25%).
* We were reminded to post on the blog - 10 posts, only 2 count a week.
* We were returned our first papers and the in-class writing we did.
* Our Essay 2 is due by email Monday, 2/25, by noon. We will be assigned peer review groups and the papers from our group members will be sent to us by email. We are to read these before we come to class 2/27 so that we are prepared.
* We are not to read the Evaluating Student Writing about History reading for 2/27, and we will not be responding to the real student papers.
* We devided into groups and went through each of the essays we responded to for class to pick 3 things we thought a teacher must respond to for each essay. Here is what we came up with:
Essay 1 - Bill Clinton - Subject/Verb agreement, refute opposition (stronger argument), more examples/details, it was too conversational, and more research to support claims (in a re-write).
Essay 2 - Football - capitalization (handwriting looked as if words were capitalized at random, decided problem might not occur if the student had been typing), transitions (needed sophistication), sentence structure, and mechanics.
Essay 3 - Idea of Hero - specifics (needs to emphasize that not everyone preforms atrociousities, also back-up his claims), his conclusion needed to conclude, opposition correctly, watch topic, define heroic qualities, and make last sentence his thesis statement for a new paper.
Essay 4 - Baby Alex - needs to narrow focus onto Amy, connect ideas back to thesis, organization, transitions, clean up informal tone, and paragraph structure.
Essay 5 - A Hero of Mine - Thesis (why is it Van Halen?), detail strays from focus, weak conclusion, needs to see messages through, provide more support, and organization.
Essay 6 - My Hero (2 job dad) - unecessary words (excess modifiers), no introduction, connect to heroic qualities, repetitious, and paragraph structure.
Essay 7 - My Hero (3rd wife dad) - connect examples back to thesis, paragraph structuring, finish, clean up cliches.
* We also discussed treating emotion and discussion of issues/opinions in student essays. We decided the best thing is to let students know what we could and could not deal with. For example, telling students not to write on a topic if they are too close to it to accept criticism on it, and letting them know not to write on abortion because you have a strong opinion on it and would not be able to give them a fair grade.
* We received 2 rubrics for the essays from set 2 which we must respond to for 2/27 (with summative comments explaining the grade we assign each paper). We decided to individually pick which rubric to use and we will see in class who gets the best results. If you pick the rubric with numbers in graph format, you need to find a way to assign points so that your students won't all fail the paper (if you do it by percentages, students who get 2s and 1s will fail by getting 50 and 25%).
* We were reminded to post on the blog - 10 posts, only 2 count a week.
* We were returned our first papers and the in-class writing we did.
* Our Essay 2 is due by email Monday, 2/25, by noon. We will be assigned peer review groups and the papers from our group members will be sent to us by email. We are to read these before we come to class 2/27 so that we are prepared.
* We are not to read the Evaluating Student Writing about History reading for 2/27, and we will not be responding to the real student papers.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Grading papers from kids we don't like
I was talking in our class last week about putting numbers on papers instead of names for peer grading so that the students have a chance to remain anonymous...I had a teacher in high school who was accused of giving a student a poor grade because he didn't particularly like that student (he also accused the student of plagiarizing because the student used words that the teacher thought he shouldn't know, but that's beside the point) so his solution to the problem was to have us turn in papers with numbers on them (he didn't know who was what number) so that his grading could be unbiased. By that time (spring semester our second year with him) I'm pretty sure he knew all of our writing voices pretty well, so I don't know how unbiased the grading actually was. My point with this is how do we avoid letting our opinions of a kid affect the grade we give him or her? It doesn't always have to negatively affect our grading, either - I know I got a lot of grades in high school/ jr. high that I definitely shouldn't have just because teachers liked me and I was a good student. The reason I'm asking is because I found myself already forming opinions of the kids in the papers we responded to for today that may have affected how I treated their papers. For instance, I think I really lowered my expectations for the football player because he had terrible handwriting and several spelling and grammar errors. So how do I keep myself from doing that short of trying to consciously keep myself from doing it? (which might not work out too well)
Monday, February 18, 2008
Just a thought...
This is sort of random, but it is definitely food for thought.
Do kids that perform 110% get the appropriate praise for their effort? As the weather got nasty over the past week, I made an observation. Although scraping ice off my car and chiseling my way out of my parking spot was not EASY, I had to get it done. If I didn't have a way to class, I would be stranded. However, despite how difficult the process was, I did it anyway because class was more important than a little hard work. As I went to class in the afternoon, I discovered that my class was missing about 15 people. Did my teacher notice how hard I worked to get here? And the people didn't show up aren't going to penalized? So what do I get from this whole situation?
I used to think I gained character and pride. Over the past couple years of college, I felt like I was unlucky. Many professors just want to give out grades, but I felt like I deserved some sort of bonus for all the effort I have put into my education.
Again, I used to think I was still gaining something for my unmentioned effort. Now, I disagree. I truly feel that our exceptional students are brushed off to the side in order to help the lower level individuals. (This is because of No Child Left Behind, but still, it is happening either way.) I believe this is completely opposite of how it should be. Although my story was a little silly about the weather and class, it was just another example of what I do to get a grade. There are students out there that practice discipline, so why is it ignored if other students are just immature?
Like I said, this a just a random thought, but I found it interesting enough to share.
~*~TARA BIGGS~*~
Do kids that perform 110% get the appropriate praise for their effort? As the weather got nasty over the past week, I made an observation. Although scraping ice off my car and chiseling my way out of my parking spot was not EASY, I had to get it done. If I didn't have a way to class, I would be stranded. However, despite how difficult the process was, I did it anyway because class was more important than a little hard work. As I went to class in the afternoon, I discovered that my class was missing about 15 people. Did my teacher notice how hard I worked to get here? And the people didn't show up aren't going to penalized? So what do I get from this whole situation?
I used to think I gained character and pride. Over the past couple years of college, I felt like I was unlucky. Many professors just want to give out grades, but I felt like I deserved some sort of bonus for all the effort I have put into my education.
Again, I used to think I was still gaining something for my unmentioned effort. Now, I disagree. I truly feel that our exceptional students are brushed off to the side in order to help the lower level individuals. (This is because of No Child Left Behind, but still, it is happening either way.) I believe this is completely opposite of how it should be. Although my story was a little silly about the weather and class, it was just another example of what I do to get a grade. There are students out there that practice discipline, so why is it ignored if other students are just immature?
Like I said, this a just a random thought, but I found it interesting enough to share.
~*~TARA BIGGS~*~
Teaching Scenario #1
You've just collected 60 2-3 page essays from two sections of your college prep juniors, and you now have the task of providing them with feedback so they can revise. You are also the junior class sponsor, Homecoming is in five days, and you are responsible for supervising the juniors for the next four evenings as they build their class float for the parade. To top it all off, your kids have been sick and they're wanting your attention when you get home from work. What do you do? How do you respond and then return these essays in a reasonable amount of time (what even is considered "reasonable"?).
Friday, February 15, 2008
Class Highlights for 2/13/08
Here are the class highlights from the 2/13 class. I am sorry that they are late.
The one day of our unit plans were turned in.
We then broke down into small groups to look critique each other's writing prompts. We were asked to identify any strengths and weaknesses in the prompts. We were also asked to discuss the usability of the grading criteria, and how will it inform teacher comments and the rubric.
After the small group discussion on the writing prompts, we were given a practice student essay for us to look over. A good question was brought up about how do we grade a horribly written essay on a very personal subject to the student. It was suggested that we refrain from focusing on the errors so much and take the time to counsel the student on how they can revise the paper.
Missy brought up the point that many us started making corrections and adding comments while we were reading through the essay. She recommended that we read through a student's essay first before we write any comments.
We were given the following definitions:
Formative Response: teacher comments made on the paper on how the students can revise their papers.
Summative Response: remarks by the teacher on why a certain grade was given.
Marginal Comments: remarks given within the text.
Terminal Comments: formative or summative responses given at the end of a paper.
A handout was given on higher order and lower order concerns.
We were given the assignment for 2/20. We are to go to LiveText and download some student essays and make comments on them. They are under "Student Essays." We are NOT to give them a grade. We will only give them formative and/or summative responses. The main purpose of the assignment is to give students feedback that we help them to revise their papers. (The original prompts are also available on LiveText.) We can make marginal and terminal comments on them. The essays were handwritten by students several years ago. This exercise is to give us practice on responding to student essays.
We discussed how we can respond to student responses. One option was to have a writing conference with the students. Some of the possible drawbacks to this are that writing conferences are very time-consuming, students who need to be there will not show up, and that students who are shy will forgot the comments that you make. One suggestion to help out the shy students would be to give the student a written list of the comments for future reference. The benefits of student conferences are that you can go more in depth about how the students can improve their writing, struggling students will have their confidence boosted by the comments, and you can get better connected with your students.
Another option is to have peer reviews. The drawbacks to this method are that some students may totally rely upon their peers to make all of the corrections for them and some students who write personal essays make take the comments too personally. Some methods that can be employed to counter these potential problems are to warn students who are intent on making cruel statements that there will be consequences for rude comments.
We need to make sure that students give us specific reasons why they do not like a particular essay.
Students need to be given a purpose, task, and credit for finishing their work during a peer review. We may have to form the groups ourselves and model how a peer review should operate for classes that have never done one before. We need to collect drafts with student comments to make sure that work was actually done. we also need to explain to students why peer reviews are done in the first place.
The readings were not discussed in class. Missy asked everyone to comment on them using the blog.
Future class cancellations will be posted on the blog.
The one day of our unit plans were turned in.
We then broke down into small groups to look critique each other's writing prompts. We were asked to identify any strengths and weaknesses in the prompts. We were also asked to discuss the usability of the grading criteria, and how will it inform teacher comments and the rubric.
After the small group discussion on the writing prompts, we were given a practice student essay for us to look over. A good question was brought up about how do we grade a horribly written essay on a very personal subject to the student. It was suggested that we refrain from focusing on the errors so much and take the time to counsel the student on how they can revise the paper.
Missy brought up the point that many us started making corrections and adding comments while we were reading through the essay. She recommended that we read through a student's essay first before we write any comments.
We were given the following definitions:
Formative Response: teacher comments made on the paper on how the students can revise their papers.
Summative Response: remarks by the teacher on why a certain grade was given.
Marginal Comments: remarks given within the text.
Terminal Comments: formative or summative responses given at the end of a paper.
A handout was given on higher order and lower order concerns.
We were given the assignment for 2/20. We are to go to LiveText and download some student essays and make comments on them. They are under "Student Essays." We are NOT to give them a grade. We will only give them formative and/or summative responses. The main purpose of the assignment is to give students feedback that we help them to revise their papers. (The original prompts are also available on LiveText.) We can make marginal and terminal comments on them. The essays were handwritten by students several years ago. This exercise is to give us practice on responding to student essays.
We discussed how we can respond to student responses. One option was to have a writing conference with the students. Some of the possible drawbacks to this are that writing conferences are very time-consuming, students who need to be there will not show up, and that students who are shy will forgot the comments that you make. One suggestion to help out the shy students would be to give the student a written list of the comments for future reference. The benefits of student conferences are that you can go more in depth about how the students can improve their writing, struggling students will have their confidence boosted by the comments, and you can get better connected with your students.
Another option is to have peer reviews. The drawbacks to this method are that some students may totally rely upon their peers to make all of the corrections for them and some students who write personal essays make take the comments too personally. Some methods that can be employed to counter these potential problems are to warn students who are intent on making cruel statements that there will be consequences for rude comments.
We need to make sure that students give us specific reasons why they do not like a particular essay.
Students need to be given a purpose, task, and credit for finishing their work during a peer review. We may have to form the groups ourselves and model how a peer review should operate for classes that have never done one before. We need to collect drafts with student comments to make sure that work was actually done. we also need to explain to students why peer reviews are done in the first place.
The readings were not discussed in class. Missy asked everyone to comment on them using the blog.
Future class cancellations will be posted on the blog.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Article "Responding to and Evaluating Student Essay"
I think that "Holistic Grading" would be productive and I agree with the author regarding the amount of time it takes for a teacher to grade all of those papers- but, I have to agree to disagree. I think that is some sense it is important as a teacher of composition to read your students essays and to directly comment on them. If a student were to have a particular issue - how is it going to be discovered or even addressed. I know that bias has the potential to come into play when we grade, yet I think that it is extremely important for the teacher to be familiar with the student's essay/writing and to know the strengths and weaknesses of their student's abilities.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Class Wed Feb 13
Hey everyone,
With the weather being so crazy, there is a possibility we won't have class tomorrow night. Even if SIU has classes, I may not be able to make it over to Carbondale. I have no power, water, or phone service at my house, and I can't get my car out due to SEVERAL large trees that have fallen across our lane. (I'm only able to post this because someone came and rescued us--we just had to walk about a 1/2 mile out to the county road :) If you read this, please look through your email and forward me a message I've sent to the whole class as I don't have your email addresses right now. I will try to be in touch via email tomorrow with more info. Hope you're all staying warm!
With the weather being so crazy, there is a possibility we won't have class tomorrow night. Even if SIU has classes, I may not be able to make it over to Carbondale. I have no power, water, or phone service at my house, and I can't get my car out due to SEVERAL large trees that have fallen across our lane. (I'm only able to post this because someone came and rescued us--we just had to walk about a 1/2 mile out to the county road :) If you read this, please look through your email and forward me a message I've sent to the whole class as I don't have your email addresses right now. I will try to be in touch via email tomorrow with more info. Hope you're all staying warm!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Class Notes 2/6/08
The activity we started off with class seemed to be frustrating to most of the students. Writing a 26-word story with a different letter from the the alphabet each word was harder than it sounded. However, most of the students noticed that Missy was participating too, and because of this, the activity gained a little more relevance.
This brings me to my first point from class. As we brought up certain points from the text that interested us individually, the idea of the teacher participating in journals came up. Everyone seemed to feel that this would be very effective in order to make the students feel less like they were part of a dictatorship. Making the students comfortable can be crucial to their success.
The next activity we did as a class involved group work. Missy handed out different packets of information to each group, each concerning the idea of a writing assignment. Heaven recorded the classes ideas on the board, allowing everyone to see the results as a whole. My particular group focused on the creation of the assignment. The specifics of a prompt, but not too confusing, the writer's role, the focus, the PURPOSE, and a clearly-stated deadline were a few key points pulled out from my group. Also, the importantness of a rubric being provided was emphasized for the teacher's security and the students' clear guidelines.
The other groups continued to add to the list with the idea of the teacher setting managable goals for him or herself, keeping the workload realistic for the students, the effectiveness of the "peer review," and other ideas that make sure the teacher stays connected to the students while keeping their own sanity in mind. This class period was particularly helpful because if its specifics when creating a writing assignment. I feel like that could be one of the biggest challenges, and if some guidelines are already in place, tackling the blank paper for a prompt is not quite as difficult.
I left at 6:45 for Ash Wednesday service, so I missed the last 45 minutes of class, but the hour and 45 minutes I was there was extremely significant to the teacher's base knowledge.
This brings me to my first point from class. As we brought up certain points from the text that interested us individually, the idea of the teacher participating in journals came up. Everyone seemed to feel that this would be very effective in order to make the students feel less like they were part of a dictatorship. Making the students comfortable can be crucial to their success.
The next activity we did as a class involved group work. Missy handed out different packets of information to each group, each concerning the idea of a writing assignment. Heaven recorded the classes ideas on the board, allowing everyone to see the results as a whole. My particular group focused on the creation of the assignment. The specifics of a prompt, but not too confusing, the writer's role, the focus, the PURPOSE, and a clearly-stated deadline were a few key points pulled out from my group. Also, the importantness of a rubric being provided was emphasized for the teacher's security and the students' clear guidelines.
The other groups continued to add to the list with the idea of the teacher setting managable goals for him or herself, keeping the workload realistic for the students, the effectiveness of the "peer review," and other ideas that make sure the teacher stays connected to the students while keeping their own sanity in mind. This class period was particularly helpful because if its specifics when creating a writing assignment. I feel like that could be one of the biggest challenges, and if some guidelines are already in place, tackling the blank paper for a prompt is not quite as difficult.
I left at 6:45 for Ash Wednesday service, so I missed the last 45 minutes of class, but the hour and 45 minutes I was there was extremely significant to the teacher's base knowledge.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Class 2/6/2008
Class 2/6/2008 (I enjoy the festive font, so I hope no one is put off by it.) I really enjoyed our class discussion today, especially the "what is most important in a writing assignment" bit. I feel that our class is a good mix of opinions, and that everyone has the maturity to realize that there usually isn't a right answer in the classroom; what works for one person may not work for another. I just wanted to say that I appreciate all of our differences :)
Moving along, the reading that supplemented today's discussion was had about a 50/50 interesting/boring ratio. I really liked the article about journaling in the classroom, although we discussed in class about how the author did not tell future teachers what to do in case they received personal life-threatening information in a journal. I think that the best possible way to solve this issue, as someone so intelligently said in class, would be to check with the principal about policies on such things and follow them accordingly.
The most interesting thing that happened in class was the compiling of necessary details in a writing assignment. As I was at the board, loathing the chalk, I didn't really appreciate the list that I was given. There are a lot of crucial tidbits that every student writing assignment needs, and indeed there were lots given in class. However, we broke it into 5 categories, and I am putting them in the order that I would put them in (i.e. chronological importance)
1. Planning
2. Purpose/Objective
3. Be clear
4. Motivation
5. Evaluation
Note: These five all interweave in smaller details; thus, if you think a detail goes under another category, this is why!
1. Planning involves wrapping up every detail of the assignment before it is handed out: whether the students will work individually or in groups, how the assignment will tie-in with the unit, how much time the students will take on it, etc. This is all entirely on the teacher's part.
2. The purpose or objective of the assignment essentially is questioning why the teacher is assigning it: what will the students learn? How will they learn it? Is the outcome going to happen as you plan? It is imperative that the students be given assignments that actually make their brains work, and not just be "kept busy". This too is also all on the teacher's part.
3. Be clear in all things when explaining the assignment to the students: tell them exactly what you mean in the prompt, tell them what you expect them to learn, and tell them the logistics of the assignment. This includes all minute details, such as font, margins, and other miscellaneous information that you might not think to include.
4. The motivation also ties into "why are we doing this assignment" mentality. Students don't want to do assignments that generally aren't for a grade or just discarded; students abhor "busy work" because they are putting effort into something that isn't rewarded. A grade is generally motivator enough for students, but others may dig deeper, wanting to know how this will help them academically. As a teacher, you need to have prepared an assignment that will benefit students.
5. Evaluation. This includes a grading rubric, among other things. The rubric needs to be explained to the students before they turn in their assignments, as it will help them to know what you are looking for. Also, it helps to give students a model that they can look off of for examples of the finished product you had in mind. It's also good to keep in mind that as English majors, we tend to look for grammatical errors in everything we read. However, this is not a good method for grading students' papers. We as teachers should read for content, and then go and correct the grammar following our grading rubrics.This is crucial.
~~~~I am already confused about our planning assignment, so if anyone else is we should get together and work on them!
Moving along, the reading that supplemented today's discussion was had about a 50/50 interesting/boring ratio. I really liked the article about journaling in the classroom, although we discussed in class about how the author did not tell future teachers what to do in case they received personal life-threatening information in a journal. I think that the best possible way to solve this issue, as someone so intelligently said in class, would be to check with the principal about policies on such things and follow them accordingly.
The most interesting thing that happened in class was the compiling of necessary details in a writing assignment. As I was at the board, loathing the chalk, I didn't really appreciate the list that I was given. There are a lot of crucial tidbits that every student writing assignment needs, and indeed there were lots given in class. However, we broke it into 5 categories, and I am putting them in the order that I would put them in (i.e. chronological importance)
1. Planning
2. Purpose/Objective
3. Be clear
4. Motivation
5. Evaluation
Note: These five all interweave in smaller details; thus, if you think a detail goes under another category, this is why!
1. Planning involves wrapping up every detail of the assignment before it is handed out: whether the students will work individually or in groups, how the assignment will tie-in with the unit, how much time the students will take on it, etc. This is all entirely on the teacher's part.
2. The purpose or objective of the assignment essentially is questioning why the teacher is assigning it: what will the students learn? How will they learn it? Is the outcome going to happen as you plan? It is imperative that the students be given assignments that actually make their brains work, and not just be "kept busy". This too is also all on the teacher's part.
3. Be clear in all things when explaining the assignment to the students: tell them exactly what you mean in the prompt, tell them what you expect them to learn, and tell them the logistics of the assignment. This includes all minute details, such as font, margins, and other miscellaneous information that you might not think to include.
4. The motivation also ties into "why are we doing this assignment" mentality. Students don't want to do assignments that generally aren't for a grade or just discarded; students abhor "busy work" because they are putting effort into something that isn't rewarded. A grade is generally motivator enough for students, but others may dig deeper, wanting to know how this will help them academically. As a teacher, you need to have prepared an assignment that will benefit students.
5. Evaluation. This includes a grading rubric, among other things. The rubric needs to be explained to the students before they turn in their assignments, as it will help them to know what you are looking for. Also, it helps to give students a model that they can look off of for examples of the finished product you had in mind. It's also good to keep in mind that as English majors, we tend to look for grammatical errors in everything we read. However, this is not a good method for grading students' papers. We as teachers should read for content, and then go and correct the grammar following our grading rubrics.This is crucial.
~~~~I am already confused about our planning assignment, so if anyone else is we should get together and work on them!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
MJ's January 30 Class Recap
January 30, 2008
We first turned in essays and wrote quick responses to our essay processes.
TO COMPOSE
1) Under. Composing--Visions and Revisions—felt/sense
a. Liked it
b. Seems abstract—how do we explain it to students
c. Can use sports analogy—you know you made the basket as soon as you let it go, it felt right, or yoga pose—as soon as you do it right you know and then you have it
d. You know the word you but you can’t think of the right word but you can almost “feel” what the word is and you know when you have the exact right word.
e. How do you teach this and how do you evaluate it?
i. You will have to come up with your own standards
ii. Still have to be within the guidelines for your school
2) Language Across the Curriculum
a. Communication/Writing Across the Curriculum
b. Show them no matter where you are in life you must be able to write
i. Jobs
ii. Job application
c. But, how do you do this?
i. Show them how writing can help you learn
ii. How is what they are learning be utilized in real life right now
d. The English teacher will be considered the expert in initiating and coordinating WAC or WID
e. It helps the teacher see where the disconnects are
f. How can you make IDUs work with this concept?
g. SIU Website—writing across the curr. Site
h. You have to show ways that WAC can be easy/pain free
3) Implicit Rules
a. This is how you DON’T want to teach
b. This is what many of your students will have experienced
c. These kind of rules make classroom management skills seem good
d. But…do students learn?
e. Collaborative work can make it look like learning is not happening
f. Model the skills of dialogue and collaborative teaching practices
g. Things are so ingrained in us as students
h. We need to find a way to help them feel comfortable in interacting
When talking about this topic I had the idea that maybe I would have students write a letter to someone with whom they were mad. I would have them put the letters in sealed envelopes and read them again in a week and them have them write a short response to how they felt after viewing the letter a week later to demonstrate both the idea that writing helps us to better formulate our thoughts and that going back to read and revise later has immense benefits.We next discussed the No Smoke, No Magic article. This article discussed the issues that implementing WAC engenders to teachers.
- Hard for teachers to admit that they do not always know the answer
- It is a matter of how you control the "learning" process
- look for answers as a whole class
- have part of the students look
- have students go home and look for extra credit
- Fossilization
- not black and white
- lots of interpretation
- learners come a things in different ways
- need to teach the lesson that recognizing what writing is necessary at which times is important
- we do not have to always hold students to formal standards
- But we need to know when we need to do it
- reader engagement can affect grading
- we need to provide rubrics when we want a specific product and so students can know our expectations
Our group
- Post/Current Traditon
- writer and speaker are the same person
- reader and speaker experience the same reality
- world is rational but discovered through experimental methodology
- language and thought cannot be divided
- rhetoric becomes the study of all forms of communication
- ABOUT THE END PRODUCT AND NOT THE PROCESS
- Rhetoric
- communication driven
- we make the truth
- we have to have language to create truth
- Arist/Classicist
- language is truth
- interchangeable
- we create reality through language
- meaning over style
- determine where your audience is
- Neo-classicism
- Expressionists
- truth cannot be communicated
- everything is based on perspective
- audience is the writer themselves
- self-discovery is truth
WAC certainly seems like it would lend itself to IDUs.
Friday, February 1, 2008
An interesting problem...
When I was observing a high school class on Wednesday, one of my CT's students asked her a very interesting question. The CT had just gotten through informing the students that they would be doing some required reading outside of the classroom so that they could finish reading Hamlet by Shakespeare by a specific date. This would allow them, since this class was filled with junior students on the honor's track, to be able to discuss the play at length instead of reading a little in class talking about then reading a little more and stopping and talking about that. The class was set up almost like a lower level English college class on Shakespeare.
Now most of the students did not have a problem with this until one student realized what was happening this weekend. Up goes his hand to ask: "I don't want to sound like I am trying to be lazy or not do my work, but well...." A long pause then "are we going to have any major homework over the weekend? Because well there is the Super Bowl-" And this small question set off a series of discussions and more questions from the other students. Some of the students started to make an argument about why they should be allowed to have the weekend free.
My question then to someone else is this: When such a thing occurs in the classroom (students wanting to know if they will be able to watch or participate in a big event vs. having to do homework instead of doing the event) what is the best way to go about handling something like that? You must keep in mind that you still have to maintain the curriculum schedule that has been set up, but for the older students I think that it is also important to keep in mind that such events will not be avoided by your students just to get their homework done. What do you guys think? My CT's solution at least right at that moment was to say we will have to wait and see, and she was able to draw the class back to the play and its discussion.
Jennifer Gartman
Now most of the students did not have a problem with this until one student realized what was happening this weekend. Up goes his hand to ask: "I don't want to sound like I am trying to be lazy or not do my work, but well...." A long pause then "are we going to have any major homework over the weekend? Because well there is the Super Bowl-" And this small question set off a series of discussions and more questions from the other students. Some of the students started to make an argument about why they should be allowed to have the weekend free.
My question then to someone else is this: When such a thing occurs in the classroom (students wanting to know if they will be able to watch or participate in a big event vs. having to do homework instead of doing the event) what is the best way to go about handling something like that? You must keep in mind that you still have to maintain the curriculum schedule that has been set up, but for the older students I think that it is also important to keep in mind that such events will not be avoided by your students just to get their homework done. What do you guys think? My CT's solution at least right at that moment was to say we will have to wait and see, and she was able to draw the class back to the play and its discussion.
Jennifer Gartman
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