Hi.
I am a writer, musician, dog-mom, hiker, MFA recipient, and current faculty member of Vermont State University
I am a writer, musician, dog-mom, hiker, MFA recipient, and current faculty member of Vermont State University
Evidence of student understanding will be evident, in a formative manner, from in-class activities. In-class lessons, such as the MLA Game, are assessed in order to give feedback for formally assessed evidence such as the bibliography and in-text citations within the first and final drafts of the essay. I use formative assessment of lessons as a way to not only instruct students, but also to check-in on how well they are grasping the content. If it is evident that students need more instruction or time with a learning objective, I will fill-in an extra lesson and/or alter deadlines for the unit to reflect time needed.
The project is graded in a portfolio-style structure based on a CBE rubric (available in lesson 4) where students encounter competencies more than once and have a chance to improve their performance. The day-to=day lessons and assignments leading to the final version will collectively include all competencies assessed for the final essay and presentation.
The bibliography is due before the first draft of the essay, so that students get a formal feedback and assessment on MLA formatting both before and at the time of first draft submission. The first draft essay is assessed, and this allows for revision before a final version. The presentation is the only aspect of the unit that students do not receive feedback in order to optimize for the final version; I hope to prepare students for effective presentations by providing examples of multimodal content (video essay, photo essay, zine, etc. Listed in calendar schedule).
The Example Assessment Gameshow (lesson 4) lesson is integral to preparing students by providing clear expectations and elaboration on those expectations (competencies, in this case). Students will have the chance to ask questions about the rubric, and provide suggested revisions to the rubric and assessment expectations. The placement of this lesson directly in the middle of the unit is purposeful: students will simultaneously have a context for the assessment expectations, as well as advance notice before they begin writing their first draft and preparing their presentations.