Category Archives: 1121 Portfolio

Claiming Dropbox Account

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Colleagues,

During the Winter Institute, I mentioned to everyone that we’re going to be claiming out CUNY Dropbox accounts in order to have faculty submit their portfolios.

Claiming the dropbox account is easy. All it requires is using your CunyFirst username and password. Go to the following link and claim your account. Once you have, please leave a comment below letting me/us know that you have. This way, we’ll be able to share important folders with you.

Claiming Your Dropbox Account Is Now Easier! (On the bottom left, click the button that says, “Log into Dropbox.” Then type in your CunyFirst credentials to log in on the next page.)

DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE THE COMMENT !  !

 

For Wednesday, Oct 27!

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Hi everyone. We will meet on Weds, Oct 27 at 5 pm on Zoom. For this meeting, please do the following:

  1. Read and annotate “Thinking about Multimodality” on Perusall
  2. Comment on your teaching of multimodal assignments on THIS PADLET. (instructions once you click the link!)

When we meet, we will take a bit of time to discuss multimodality and Unit 3 of 1101, but we will also discuss final portfolios and grading.

Multimodal Projects

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I have found the arguments put forward here in favor of incorporating more multimodal projects in composition classes to be compelling. I can also say from experience this semester that the students are far more excited about piecing together a project like this than a normal term paper. I have students producing podcasts, writing blog posts and creating brochures about a series of social justice issues. I agree with the sentiment that if composition is to stay relevant, it must adapt. Of course, there are lessons from traditional composition courses that should remain in place, it’s just a matter of applying these lessons to broader forms of rhetoric. I think that this works well with the genre awareness approach to composition as it makes the writing process less daunting and foreign. When I was going over multimodal texts with my class, we looked at various Instagram posts and discussed why they were multimodal, what forms of communication they were using, and how the meaning would change if any of the elements were altered. Students then started to see that whenever they post an Instagram post with a caption, they are already participating in multimodal production. It also helps to make concepts like the modes of persuasion more tangible. To demonstrate how music and sound could be a form of sonic rhetoric, I played my class two versions of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” speech.  The first version did not have music layered over it, and the second did. Then we discussed how the audio altered the way in which the speech was received.  Most students commented that it sounded more compelling and emotional, or in other words, more persuasive and engaging, which are two qualities we want students to be constructing in their own texts. In regards to transfer of knowledge and applicability, I think this is one of the best ways of “selling” composition to students. For years, I’ve tried to explain to my classes why composition matters, that it helps them become better communicators and writers, BUT it is incredibly difficult to sell the purpose of, say, a compare and contrast paper. The resistance makes sense – it feels artificial, as if these assignments can only exist in the bubble of the classroom. So, multimodal projects have a more direct transfer into everyday life. As mentioned above, everyone that uses social media is engaging with these types of texts. But beyond that, most professional paths now require some form of digital literacy, whether it is writing emails, editing web pages or keeping up with a company’s social media accounts.  Lastly, it creates a space for all types of learners. Rather than success in a composition class being completed predicated upon whether one is good with words or not, now visual and auditory learners can learn and create within the objectives and goals of a composition class while appealing to their natural talents.  Overall, I am sold on this path forward for composition (PS: it’s also more fun for instructors to grade / read!).

Kieran Reichert FINAL 1121 Portfolio

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Final Portfolio – due XX/XX @ 11:59 PM on Blackboard

The final portfolio assignment asks you all to accomplish three tasks. 1) It asks students to revise their selected work over the course of the semester. In so doing, it asks students to offer reflective remarks concerning each piece that describe the process and the evolution of the project over the course of the semester. 2) In addition to the revision and reflections of the individual essay projects, you will also write a narrative that explains your evolution as a reader and writer over the course of the semester. This narrative asks students to return to the first assignment they wrote for the class (the discourse community project) and compare how their thoughts about writing and their practices about writing have evolved over the course of the semester. It is important to note that you should not simply state that your writing has changed over the course of the semester, but you should be able to specifically describe with sufficient detail particular moments in your assignments and in the semester where you could substantiate how their own growth was taking place. 3) Lastly, the assignment should also ask students to consider how this course has prepared them for transfer—that is, for writing in other contexts.

The contents of your portfolios should be as follows:

  • *Revised* Discourse Community Essay + Reflection
  • *Revised* Research Proposal/Annotated Bibliography + Reflection
  • Reflection of Multimodal Translation Project
  • Reflection on who you are as a writer now, after a semester of writing in ENG1121 (1000 words)

These portfolios should include each of these essays/reflections in a single document that you will turn in via Blackboard by 11:59 PM on Friday 5/15.

Prompts for Final Course Reflection:

Think back to yourself in January, before COVID, before we did anything together in class. What would you have thought of as your strengths as a writer? Weaknesses? How did those aspects change over the course of the semester? You should refer to specific challenges you faced while writing, specific things you learned in and out of class with me, and the effects of those challenges and learning moments. How do you feel as a writer now? How might what you’ve learned in this class TRANSFER into other areas of your life? (Again, this should be at least 1000 words)

RGarcia Final 1121 Portfolio and Reflection Assignment

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Prof. Ruth Garcia

English 1121, semester ????

Portfolio and Final Reflection Assignment

Due: ?/?/2020

Assignment

Final Reflection and Portfolio

We have arrived at the end of the semester and are nearly done! I am so proud of you all for making it to this point. Now it is time for you to pull all your work together and, look at it as a whole, and reflect on what you have done over the course of the semester.

This is a two-part assignment but the final product is one large document (more details about this below).

Part I (Reflection):

Reflect upon the questions in the box below. You will then create a reflection of a minimum of 1000 words to accompany your portfolio. Make sure to quote from yourself to support your thinking. You must have at least three quotes from different pieces.

What have you learned about yourself as a reader, writer and scholar this semester?

How will you be able to use what you have learned this semester and transfer that knowledge to other writing situations—either in college or in your community?

As a way to begin gathering ideas and information for your Reflection, look back through all your work: in-class writing exercises, homework assignments, blog posts, earlier reflections, essays/projects, and so on. As you browse through your work, ask yourself about and take notes on the following questions:

  • How would you compare/contrast work done early on in the semester to now? How have your developed as a writer?
  • What was your favorite/least favorite assignment and why?
  • What are some notable lessons that have stuck with you after completing certain assignments?
  • What changed in your writing (and reading and thinking) as the genres changed?
  • How did you make decisions in your assignments about content and design?
  • What were your early assumptions/beliefs about yourself and writing? Have they since changed? Explain.
  • What was your experience revising assignments?
  • Was there any peer feedback that stands out to you and why?
  • What was particularly challenging for you in our course this semester and how did you overcome it (or attempt to)?
  • What did you expect to learn in this class? What did you actually learn? Is it the same? Different? Less? More? How do you feel about the class and what you have learned now that the semester is over?
  • What advice would you give to students taking this course next semester?

Things to keep in mind:

  • Don’t simply answer the above questions in your final reflection. In fact, you do not need to answer them all. Instead, use them as a guide to help you brainstorm ideas.
  • Think about all of the essays we’ve read about writing this semester—some of them certainly hooked your interest while others… probably did not. The ones that did were well-written, they had a point, the writer had a voice that you felt was worth listening to. Try to do that in your own writing here.
  • Remember that this isn’t just you writing off-the-top of your head; this is a finished piece of writing. Treat yourself as a respected author who has learned: you are someone with something to say.
  • Make sure to include an MLA heading with your name, my name, our class information, and a heading. Also, make sure to give your reflection a creative title that reflects the content

Here’s what I will be looking for (and grading you on):

  • Attention to audience. You need to have a “so what?” Don’t just list off a bunch of random opinions about your writing—write an article about what you’ve learned. Think about who you are writing for (hint: it’s not just me).
  • Attention to organization. This does not have to be a traditional organization, but you should have paragraphs (not just a 1000-word paragraph, please) and some reason for why they’re in the order they’re in!
  • Evidence and analysis. If you tell me you learned something about yourself as a writer, show me proof! By proof, I specifically mean quotes from your own writing. All reflections should have at least three quotes from your own writing this semester. And, it is really important that you don’t just drop those quotes in there and expect your readers to figure out why you’ve chosen them. Explain why that passage is important to your readers and to your “so what?”
  • Care. Proofread. Make sure it’s long enough. As usual, you can use whatever language you see fit to use, but make decisions about your language—that is, the words that are there should be there for a reason.
  • Timelines. I am as flexible as possible with deadlines, but it is the end of the semester and the final portfolio (including this reflection) are due ________ and I don’t have any leeway because I need to turn grades in. The rough draft is due________. Make sure to get this done on time! You’ve probably never written anything like this before, so I’m sure you’ll want to get some feedback!

Part II (Portfolio):

Put together a portfolio that includes final versions of all your major assignments (Units 1, 2, 3). In your portfolio you should also include two other written pieces from our semester that show your growth as a writer. These can be from your homework, blog posts, reflections, or other class work.

Note: You can choose to revise up to two of your major assignments. If you do revise, please make note of that in your reflection so I can read and regrade the revision(s). With any revisions, you should also include a short paragraph explaining the changes you made and why. This can be included at the end of the revised essay and put under a heading that says “Reflections on Revisions”.

Putting the portfolio together:

Please submit your portfolio as one document in the order below:

  1. Final Reflection
  2. Unit 1 project
  3. Unit 2 project
  4. Unit 3 project
  5. Low stakes assignments of your choosing

Portfolio grading:

Your portfolio counts as 50% of your final grade. You have already received grades for each of the major assignments included in the portfolio and I will regrade any major assignments you revise using the criteria for those assignments. But your overall portfolio will be grades on the following:

  • Care and attention to organization. Is the material presented in the assigned order and in a clear way so that I can easily find each piece? Are the pieces neatly and consistently formatted in terms of font, paragraphing, breaks between assignments?
  • Timelines. Is the assignment on time?

Project 1: 10%

Project 2: 10%

Project 3: 15%

Final Reflection: 15%