evaluations: better ideas...

Chapter 8 in Released into Language, was interesting not only in that the ideas presented were practical, but I now see why all the professors I have taken in this program require the portfolio. Before reading this, I thought the reason behind the portfolios were to take the place of the traditional final tests other classes have at the end of the semester. I now know the portfolio not only serves the professors in evaluating our development as writers, but in teaching the students how to critique their own work and the work of their peers.

As for the evaluation process itself, I have set in class with peers who can tell horror stories about teachers they had growing up, who bled red ink onto their papers. In the Writing Center, we see how these teachers have ultimately affected those students by causing them to self-diagnose themselves as poor or bad writers. I work with students in the Elementary School Writing Center who are on their way to thinking the same.

I like the suggestions in this chapter, which discuss what an evaluation should be. On page 160, there is a list, which shows what the conventional form of evaluation includes, but on page 161, there is also a list, which shows how different a good evaluation should look.

I also liked how the recommendations made to teachers, are giving with the idea that the individual educator should choose what fits their particular classroom’s needs. Something that I found interesting was the idea that teachers should remove themselves from the center of attention, becoming the mentor rather than taking on a more traditional role as teacher. This was a point discussed in last week’s readings, and to have it stressed again, shows how important this decision can be for the writing classroom.