Portfolio Assignment

Situation: We will take the last two weeks of the semester to revise and edit your three essays from the course and publish them online.  You will introduce your essays with a reflection on your work: briefly summarize each essay, comment on any overlap or connections if you would like to, identify what you see as your strengths as a writer, and identify two aspects of writing that you hope to improve upon next semester. 

You are welcome to include in your portfolio your stretch assignment, and any work from any course, but I will primarily be looking at your three essays.  I will adjust your grade for each individual essay accordingly after they have been revised, and I will give you a score out of 100 for your work on the portfolio itself (the reflection and the design).  If you are happy with your work, and don't wish to revise significantly, you can still present your material in an attractive and effective manner, and develop an insightful reflection to accompany the essays.  The grade for the portfolio is not tied to the revisions you make. 

Portfolios are a pretty well tested "technology" in education.  By returning to all three essays, you can get a fresh look at your writing and your ideas.  There is a good chance that your ideas will evolve over the span of the course, so going back to essay number one after having blogged through unit number two might give you additional insight, or a slightly different perspective on the topic.  Reflecting on the course as a whole might give you additional (or alternative) perspectives on "MyNewLiteracy."  Obviously you won’t get a lot of distance from the third essay, but you will have a chance to continue working on it, and revising it, during the final two weeks of the semester. 

Revising and editing also make more sense when you are revising for an external audience.  Publishing to the Web is usually pretty good incentive for editing—most people want to put polished, error-free work on the Web. 

Audience and Purpose:  I will be inviting other teaches in the English department to read your portfolios, and teachers from around the country may look at your work sometime or another. Some readers will take a quick look to see how your Portfolio has been set up; others will want to read entire essays.  Your English 120 instructor might be particularly interested in seeing what you did in 110

I would also encourage you to show family and friends—let them know what you have done during your first semester at NDSU.  I hope that you will want to represent yourself professionally and effectively.

Tasks

Make revisions to your essays based on suggestions from me and fellow students.

Consider any global revisions first, then work on sentence-level issues.

Find examples of student portfolios on the web; borrow good ideas for design and reflection.

Graded Products

Your essays for each unit will be re-graded based on your revisions.

Your essay introducing your materials, reflecting on them, and formulating goals for yourself as a writer will be worth 100 points.