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.