portfolio // principle 3 | reflection 2

“Candidates possess the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct and interpret appropriate assessments.”

// interpret
To me, the crux of this principle is the word “appropriate.”  Assessments of student work should be appropriate in two ways:

·         to the assignment.  The nature of the assessment should match the nature of the assignment.  Low-stakes assignments such as journal entries or vocabulary sentences should generally be graded with fewer rigors than high-stakes assignments such as essays or major projects.
·         to the student.  Regardless of the assignment, assessments should offer students constructive, informative feedback that focuses on helping students improve their work.  This feedback may be more or less extensive depending on the stakes of the given assignment, but should always be present in some form.

My focus for this reflection is on low- to mid-stakes assessments and the kinds of feedback given on those assignments.

// select
As evidence of my ability to conduct appropriate assessments, I have included three scripts that students wrote after reading David Ives’ short play “Sure Thing.”[1]  Specifically, the artifacts are as follows:

·         “Tesha and O,” in which a wrong number leads to a strange romance.  [P3.R2.A1]
·         “Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy,” in which the titular Fitzgerald character gets another shot with his one true love.  [P3.R2.A2]
·         “Job Interview,” in which an aspiring camp counselor learns to carefully choose his words.  [P3.R2.A3]

// describe
After reading and discussing David Ives’ one-act play “Sure Thing,”[2]students spent two class periods writing their own scripts in a similar style.  They then presented these scripts to their peers in the form of staged readings in front of the class.  Elementary props and blocking were used to give some degree of life to the presentation of their dramatic work.  This style of presentation also prepared students for the similar but far more extensive project they would later complete as part of their study of The Crucible.

The in-class readings of each “Sure Thing” project were not graded; instead, they simply offered each author a chance to publicly display and take part in his or her creation.  The scripts themselves, however, were turned in and graded on a mid-stakes ten-point scale.  I commented on each script where I found passages to be notably clever or well-written, as well as where improvements (usually grammatical or mechanical) could be made.

// analyze
My assessments on these scripts can be considered appropriate in both senses of the word (as outlined above).  First, the scale of the assessment and depth of my feedback are fitting for the nature of the assignment.  Because this project was not introduced as formal writing and students had no explicit instruction in playwriting before they began, I did not grade it as stringently as I would an analytical essay.  The spirit of the assignment was for students to increase their understanding of the work we read by imitating it; if this understanding was apparent, students generally received high grades. 

My comments also reflected the assignment’s purpose in that they related not to technical issues of playwriting, but to how well the student captured the essence of the original “Sure Thing.”  On most scripts, for example, I noted where the author made effective use of repetition in the style of the original play.  I also made note of my own reactions to the scripts—where I found lines to be surprising (“What?!”), ominous (“Uh oh…”), or simply humorous (“Ha!”).

Secondly, I offered each student feedback on how to improve his or her specific piece.  For the students re-imagining The Great Gatsby, I suggested they “spend more time with Tom and the actual argument.”  In the case of “Tesha and O,” whose author showed a clear understanding of how “Sure Thing” works, I noted a few spelling errors to correct (though not all, since grammar was not a specific focus of this assignment).

In general, I tried to provide students with feedback that would help them understand the effect their writing had on its audience (namely me).  I strove to write comments that were not punitive or snide, but helpful and encouraging.  I also reigned in my desire to offer up every improvement I could imagine, so that the extensiveness of my comments matches the stakes of the assignment.

// appraise
I feel the mini-unit on “Sure Thing,” which culminated in these scripts, represented effective and useful design.  First, it achieved its purpose of reacquainting students with how to read and understand drama.  Reading and acting out the various plays reactivated students’ prior knowledge of drama (gained while reading Death of a Salesman earlier in the year) and mentally prepared them for reading the task of reading TheCrucible.

The short unit was also a welcome break after studying The Great Gatsby.  As a class, we analyzed Fitzgerald’s novel in great depth, working together to understand its symbolism, themes, and characters.  Students then formalized this understanding by writing analytical essays on the novel.  After this kind of serious literary work, a brief look at an unusual, entertaining comedy was an appropriate change of pace.

Finally, this project in particular was valuable because it offered students a rare chance to practice creative writing.  Too often, writing in English classes deals with literature in an analytical or reflective sense and discourages students from emulation.  In this case, however, students gained a better understanding of the work not by writing about it, but writing like it.  They were allowed and encouraged to be creative, and many students flourished who might not have otherwise done so.

// transform
The one transformation my assessment of this project needs is some kind of guideline or rubric.  Because this assignment is non-traditional, and because some students find the creative writing it requires somewhat daunting, I need to provide students with as much clarity as possible.  By creating a short rubric or checklist and providing it to students when they begin writing, I can ensure they understand my expectations when grading. 

[1] For the handout that explains this assignment, see artifact P1.R2.A1.
[2] For additional description surrounding this assignment, see reflection P1.R2.