A very basic question, but I am so torn on the idea of portfolio grading as in, not grading anything until the end of the semester, just letting them know a ballpark grade on their final draft, but not putting an actual grade on it till the end of the semester. I'm leaning towards offering to my students the option to revise their papers at the end of the semester if they aren't satisfied with their grade with a note attached of what they changed and why, but I don't want to wait till the end of the semester to grade everything and surprise them with it. What do y'all plan on doing as far as grading and revising?
Elbow talks about giving an assignment that receives no evaluation and just gets full credit for being finished, which I understand the point of this, to let them flex their writing muscles and get better without our harsh criticism. However, since we are teaching required courses, I'm curious if anyone else worries about this not working with students who don't want to be there? Granted, they'll do the assignment for credit and maybe we'll trick them into learning something, and maybe I'm too caught up in that. They'll learn if they want to and won't if they don't, right? So, to summarize, how well do you think the no evaluation/lax grading will impact students who don't want to be in/don't care about our class?
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI likewise can understand the hesitation about utilizing a portfolio in a class aside from creative writing. One reservation I have is saving so much of the credit to be earned at the end of the semester. I think I’d like breaking the credit up and easing some end-of-semester stress. I think your idea of allowing students to revise sounds appealing, especially because students focus on making the grade. You’ve asked such a difficult but pertinent question! I’m not sure if I’m at the stage that I know how to organize my assignments. I do know that I want students to know how to address a prompt, knowing the difference between persuasive writing and analytical, for instance. I also know I’d prefer my students to improve their own writing rather than try to meet some standard.
To touch on your second question, I think the idea of starting out with an assignment that receives credit for completion could be useful. In order to avoid students just blowing off the assignment, perhaps the first draft could be for credit but I’d offer feedback. They would be required to turn in a later draft for an evaluative grade. They would have to keep in mind for their earlier draft that they would have to do something with this writing later, so they might as well actually work toward that goal. Or maybe that idea’s crazy. I have a little bit of time to make these kinds of choices. Whatever I decide on, I know I want my students keeping journals where they can take more liberty in their writing and direct their prompts. It’s something I always enjoyed in my classes.