Tag: assignments

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On Grading

I keep wanting to have this talk during class time, and it keeps slipping away. So let’s start the conversation here and continue when we are together.

I’d like to know what your thought are on a fair way to evaluate the work you do in this course. I’d like us to come up with a system that rewards effort and growth without feeling punitive and awful. I think we can do this, at least in small ways.

Take a few minutes to poke around this website about “ungrading,” a new movement in evaluating student work. It’s okay if you don’t agree with any of it! I just think it is useful background to this discussion: https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-an-faq/ Feel free to google “ungrading” for more ideas.

Some parts of the course I have to grade the way the department wants me to grade. The final exam, for instance, is graded using this rubric, usually by me and separately by another professor. Take a look at the rubric:

NEWGradingRubric

Something I like about that rubric is that technical writing skills — spelling, grammar, that kind of thing — is evaluated separately from other writing skills, like argumentation (that’s basically the “thesis” column) and organization. There are some writers who are excellent at that kind of thing but still developing when it comes to things like subject/verb agreement, and I like that this rubric recognizes that.

Something I dislike about this rubric is that a thesis must be “clearly articulated” in order for me to recognize that it is “thought-provoking.” I like to be able to recognize ambition even when it could use greater clarity — which happens a lot.

In past semesters, I have used that rubric for all the major papers, on the grounds that it’s important for students to get used to what it rewards in order to have the best chance to do well on the final, but I don’t really like how much that feels like “teaching to the test.” In addition, it’s definitely not a good rubric for things like blog comments! So here is what I would like you to think about and address in your comments on this post:

  1. What do you notice about that rubric? What do you like or dislike?
  2. Do you think we should use this rubric for all major papers? For any of them?
  3. How DO you think it is fair to evaluate things like blog comments? Full credit for doing them on time? Some kind of extra credit for really good ones? What do you think makes a really good course participant? What should we reward and value?
  4. Are you interested in a system where you (individually or as a group) determine the goals for a particular project and submit your own assessments (which I can follow or tweak)?
  5. If you have had previous experiences with other non-traditional kinds of grading, share them! Or if you have had experiences with courses whose evaluation systems really worked for you, talk about that! Let’s build something good here.
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In Which I Fangirl Out Over Natalie Diaz

Read this and watch the videos before you read the essays, is my advice. I’m not forcing a comment on this one — though commenting makes class more fun for everyone! — but I think you will get more out of the essays if you do this part.

Natalie Diaz. What’s not to love?

She’s a poet. She’s a warrior for language preservation. She’s a basketball star. She has the coolest insta, full of pictures of Mojave land and cool cocktails and thoughts about poetry I don’t see other places. Like this one, for instance:

…which I can’t get to embed properly. Here’s a link:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Natalie Diaz (@ndinn)

This week, we are looking at two short essays of hers about language. But boy howdy, is her poetry also worth your time. I’m a particular fan of:

“Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation”

“As A Consequence of My Brother Stealing All The Lightbulbs”

“I Watch Her Eat The Apple”

“They Don’t Love You Like I Love You”

“These Hands, If Not God’s”

…I could go on. You don’t have to read any of those poems. But you should! She’s spectacular, and she is also still alive and writing! Get your life.

Here are a couple of videos to watch before class.

This video was made by the MacArthur Foundation, after Diaz won the award popularly known as the Genius Grant.

…And here’s me carrying on about her:

Now go read those essays!

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First Day Questionnaire

Copy and paste these questions into your comment on this post. Write your answers below each question. See my answers for an example.

After you have submitted your comment, read your classmates’ and comment on at least TWO of their posts. Make sense? Good.

  1. What is your name? What would you like to be called? What pronoun would you like us to use when we refer to you? (For example, common choices include she/her/hers; he/him/his; they/them/theirs.) 
  1. Where are you from?  Where do you live now?
  1. What are you majoring in OR what academic subject do you like best?  What do you like about it?
  1. What do you like to do outside of schoolwork?  What do you like about that?
  1. What do you like about online classes?  What do you hate?
  1. What do you like about writing/English classes?  What do you hate?
  1. What is your favorite book or the best book you’ve read recently?  What do you like about it?
  1. What are your strengths as a writer?  What are your weaknesses?
  1. What are you hoping to learn or get better at this semester? 
  2. Lagniappe <– this is my favorite word.  It means a little extra thing that you get for free when you buy something else.  The thirteenth donut in a baker’s dozen, for instance.  It comes into English from Louisiana Creole French.  It got there from Spanish Creole, and it got to Spanish from Quechua — I love a well-twisted etymology.  (You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagniappe .) So.  Give us a little something extra about you.  Tell us something I didn’t ask.