Portfolio and End of Semester Reminders

Portfolios are to be completed by noon on Tuesday May 8.

Please send me an email, gotprofkiefer@gmail.com, when you are ready to have your portfolio assessed, in the event that you choose to submit it prior to the May 8 deadline.

Barring an unforeseen disaster or late portfolio submissions, I will probably have grades completed and submitted by Saturday, May 12.  All grades MUST be submitted to Keanwise at one time, so one student's failure to complete his/her portfolio on time could stall the process.

I will email the class a final time  as soon as grades have been submitted. Keep in mind that it often takes 24 hours for Keanwise to update grades.

Thank you for all your hard work!  Keep writing!

The Reflective Letter and Portfolio Procedures

           

English Composition

Portfolio Procedures

A portfolio is a collection of written work with a reflective introduction. We will use this as our assessment model for English Composition because it emphasizes process, revision, and reflection, fundamental concepts in writing. The portfolio counts as 50% of your total grade for this course. Remember, in order to receive credit for your portfolio you must share it with me at gotprofkiefer@gmail.com and collcomp@kean.edu. The portfolio DUE DATE is NOON on Tuesday, May 8.

Required Contents

The portfolio must contain the following pieces:

§  Project III An analytical essay (ex. determining the strategies used in an ad or editorial to affect the audience). For this essay, students must include:

·         Planning work (ex. brainstorming, freewriting, listing)

·         At least one rough draft

·         A final, unmarked draft

§  Project II A persuasive/argumentative essay (ex. advocating a position, proposing a solution to a problem, or evaluating an action). For this essay, students must include:

·         Planning work (ex. brainstorming, freewriting, listing)

·         At least one rough draft, preferably with instructor comments

·         A final, unmarked draft

•    Project I  One assignment that shows ability to summarize and respond to a text
•    The endpoint essay—to be completed in class next Tuesday, May 1, 2012.
•    An introduction, Reflective Letter, set up as the portfolio’s home page, in which you reflect on what you learned in the course and explain how the portfolio demonstrates that learning.

Professor Kiefer’s hints for writing the Reflective Letter

The purpose of the Reflective Letter is to offer you an opportunity to reflect on and assess your growth as a writer. Specifically this letter will give you an opportunity to show where you most struggled, explain how you overcame those difficulties, what you have learned, and explain how the essays in your portfolio illustrate your growth as a writer over the semester by analyzing each essay in the portfolio.

Introduction

Open your reflection with a short introduction that sets the context and tone for reporting the development of your work.

Body

Then divide the body into paragraphs that discuss the essays in your portfolio: Summary/Response or Project I, Argument (Project II) and Analysis (Project III.) You may choose to explain how the essays in your portfolio demonstrate the qualities on which they will be evaluated/graded.

Conclusion

Close your reflective/self-assessment letter by explaining how, overall, your portfolio shows your skills and growth this semester (i.e. Consider the parts of your portfolio and your self-analysis of these, what conclusions a reader might draw about you as a writer and reader, from examining your portfolio.)

Analyzing Analysis Papers

Tonight we assessed and discussed two Analysis papers, one on each end of the effectiveness spectrum.

As announced in class, A-Team hours for this week will be changed.

Please look for an email regarding the confirmation of the times into Tutortrac.

Project III Rubric--Paper due 4/24/12 at Noon!

Project III Rubric --Analyzing Opinion Pieces
______ out of 55 points--
criteria for the Analysis Paper:
____out of 5 for a brief summary of each article.
____ out of 10 for a clear statement of the two positions, usually defined in a thesis statement.
_____out of 10 Analysis: clear illustration of the strategies the writer uses to support their position in each text—ethos, logos, or pathos (only those present need be mentioned.)
_____out of 10 for use of specific evidence taken from the text which supports the writer’s position on the analysis.
___ out of 10 a) for the effective use of excerpts, quotations.
___ out of 10 for correct citations and a Works Cited page

_____ out of 5 points Argument Essay: 1000 word minimum. Due Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

_____Extra credit for Early Birds!

_____out of 40 points Kean University English Composition Grading Policies
Writing assignments are evaluated according to
____out of 10 points clarity of focus;
____out of 10 points quality of development;
____out of 10 points effectiveness of organization;
____out of 10 points correctness of mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation).

_____ out of 100 Total Points

April 12, 2012

In addition to an introduction workshop, tonight we reviewed some important dates:

1) Tuesday, April 24--Project III/Analysis paper due at noon to Gotprofkiefer@gmail.com.

2) Thursday, April 26--Reflective Letter workshop. The Reflective Letter is a required piece for your portfolio. A detailed explanation of strategies and requirements will be presented.

2) Tuesday, May 1--Final --Endpoint Exam (timed exam that MUST be taken on this night and submitted in the time allowed to your portfolio. This timed exam is a requirements for your portfolio.)

3) Tuesday, May 8--Portfolios due by noon. You may send me an email prior to this date if your portfolio is completed early, and I will assess it ASAP in an effort to inform you of your overall grade for the course before I submit it to Keanwise.

Happy Weekend....and Revisions!

Human Rights Gallery Walk

Tonight we visited the current show at Kean's Human Rights Gallery on Modern Slavery. The photographs by Kay Chernush capture the daily struggle of the millions of victims of human trafficking and slavery throughout the world.

Upon returning to CAS, we responded to what we saw and experienced using Google Docs to record our thoughts, impressions and perspectives.

Thursday we will discuss our Reflective Response papers on the NY Times articles and then consider some new, or existing strategies for crafting strong introductions and conclusions.

Class and homework 4/3/12

Tonight

• We read three New York Times editorials posted in the blog below.



• Students chose on article to analyzed the author's use of logos, ethos or pathos.



• One of these articles will be the subject of your Reflective Response #2 that is due next Tuesday, April 3. Your papers do not have to be a strict analysis of the persuasive appeals (ethos, logos, pathos) rather, they may include your response to any aspect of the topic presented, or the strategies the author uses to achieve his/her purpose. Please bring TWO HARD COPIES to class.



• Please continue to work on the following papers: Analytical paper (Project III)--due April 24, revision of Summary/Response paper (Project I), revision of Argument paper (Project II).