Ms. Edwards Final Reflection Dear Dr.

Hartman, Re-visiting this assignment was great for me because I was able to take some time away, and then look back over the e !erience from a new !ers!ective. "his was definitely a moment for me that made me feel like an #actual teacher.$ "his was the first assignment that I designed that I went this intensely into and created an actual rubric and grading system. %ecause the actual hands on element and the !racticability of it, I was able to break out of the theory and intent behind the assignment and try to !ut this into the !ers!ective of an actual student-teacher interaction. &ooking back on everything, I would say this was a definite good first try at trying to combine what I have learned with what I know I will have to do as a teacher. It is somewhat intimidating to see how easily assignments can be misinter!reted' however, I am glad I got to e !erience this because it really hits home to me the effort that I will have to !ut into creating a classroom assignment that is not only clear to the student but beneficial as well. (s well, I was able to look more within myself and try to com!rehend the line that I am going to have to balance between being a rigorous teacher and a teacher that has unnecessarily high e !ectations. Reading over your comments, I was really interested in the observation that you made regarding the !ur!ose that I would like to set for my classroom. "hroughout my career as a student, I was consistently driven to get an #('$ from this mindset, I feel like I have learned a lot and gained valuable information. %ut, there is a downside to this, as well. )or one, not everyone is like this. (nd then secondly, chasing the #($ can almost take out !ers!ective what true knowledge can be. "he other day I was driving and thinking about what I wanted my students to feel in my classroom. (nd, I thought back to those moments in class where I am so e cited to be learning about a certain to!ic and have so much I want to add about the to!ic- that I am sitting in class with what feels like words working their way u! to my mouth. I want every student to e !erience this while in the classroom because that means they are having a !ersonal interaction and involvement within the learning. *hen I think about situations like this, it hel!s me reali+e that an #($ doesn,t really matter when it comes to e !eriences like this. -o, I definitely want to !ut this into !ers!ective when it comes to my teaching style. I,m not sure if I will ever be able to get away from my desire to get an #(,$ and this is definitely going to im!act my teaching but I think this is okay. "here is a balance that needs to be struck in regards to grading and e !eriencing. I think there is room for both within a classroom, and within an assignment. (nother thing that I felt was im!ortant that I didn,t detail enough within the !revious draft was the conte t that surrounded the assignment. I had !lanned this assignment to occur at the end of reading Hamlet, and .as well/ at the end of the year. 0ossibly a month before school was out, due to the fact that this assignment encom!assed a lot of #big !icture$ ideas that the students could be able to showcase they obtained. I think that this unit could !ossibly last three weeks, and then this would be assigned a week before the unit was over with. *hile reading Hamlet, I would have liked to facilitate a lot of in-class discussion regarding characters, -hakes!eare,s intentional #vague-ness$ of elements, and the social roles at the time. "his way, students would have been able to !ull from in class discussion and mini-assignments in order to hel! them with this bigger !a!er. (s well, I would have liked for students to have continual su!!ort from myself and !eers in order to worksho! their ideas. I think this would be beneficial because this !a!er does hold such a big !lace as almost #summing u!$ what I have taught them throughout the entire year. In order for this to be most effective, I had thought about writing two of the 1ournals s!ecifically in class and then students !assing them into me so I could look over them and #green light$ their character focus and what ambiguous issue they are discussing. I think a good way to !ush me to be a more student-focused teacher .versus grade-focused/ could be to give students the o!!ortunity to write a critical reflection after I have graded their !a!er' within this reflection, they could discuss the choices they make in regards to the !lay and their inter!retation of this. If they chose to utili+e this o!!ortunity, I would offer a higher mark in grading. However, since this assignment would near the end of the year students would be !ushed to have their critical reflection back to me within a week of my grading the assignment and giving it back to them.

Ms. Edwards 2verall, I was really e cited to embark u!on this assignment. I think that a lot of great thinking about myself as teacher has stemmed from this' es!ecially in regards to my teaching style. I was able to not only !ractice a !ractical as!ect of teaching- assigning and grading, but as well look into the theoretical im!ortance of my teaching style and attitude. "aylor Edwards First Reflection Dear Dr. Hartman, *hen going through this assignment, I was really e cited. "his is the first time that I,ve actually gotten to !lace myself in the role of teacher, construct an assignment, and then assign it to an actual !erson for a grade. 3ow that we are at the end of this writing assignment design, I reali+e that there are some things I could have been more !recise about regarding the assignment and this relates to why I believe I graded 4arol on a low scale. I also think it is im!ortant to !oint out that I graded her from the !ers!ective of a student in my class- not as a !eer that discussed with me in which ways the assignment would not be com!leted. "his led me to worry somewhat about my grading style, and showed me that I !ersonally will be invested in the assignments I construct. "o begin with, when reading over 4arol,s assignment I reali+ed that there were two ma1or things that I didn,t make clear enough in regards to my e !ectations. "he first thing was that I e !ected the 1ournals to be written in narrative form. In the !revious assignment !a!er, there was no !lace that I e !licitly stated that students were to write in the form of 1ournal entries from the character,s !oint of view. I think that, to me, by stating that students should #get inside the character,s head$ 5ualified this !oint. However, it definitely didn,t. 2n the rubric, there is definite mention that 1ournals needed to written from a character,s !oint of view but I didn,t transition this over to the assignment !a!er. "his is why I definitely made sure to include this on the revision of the assignment. (nother thing that 4arol mentioned in regards to this assignment, was that I wasn,t clear about whether or not to include te tual evidence from Hamlet in the essay' to me, this was something that didn,t really need to be written down. In my head, I thought #it,s an argumentative essay about Hamletdefinitely include te tual evidence6$ %ut, this is definitely a lesson that I needed to learn- students aren,t going to make the same assum!tions that I will about how to com!lete an assignment. Everything needs to be s!elled out to the #"$ in order for students to effectively com!lete an assignment. -omething, however, I that I do feel would have combatted these two factors if I were actually assigning this in my own classroom is the fact that I would have made a mock assignment, regarding the same conce!ts .1ournals and essay/ e ce!t regarding another !lay of -hakes!eare,s so no one feels as if I #took their idea.$ I think then students would have had a clearer focus of what they need to do and what I am e !ecting. (nother thing that I thought about when going over this assignment was the fact that 4arol, along with a lot of other !eo!le in the classroom, didn,t turn the first !art of the assignment in- two 1ournals and two !ages of her essay. I think that if she would have done this, then the assignment would have been better e !lained to her because I would have been able to look at what she had and guide her in a different direction. )or e am!le, something that I found between both the 1ournals and the essay was that one singular to!ic wasn,t ever e !ressed. 4arol seemed to 1um! around and almost say what her focus was- but never e !licitly. I think if we could have met when drafts were initially su!!osed to be done, then we could have fi ed this and I would have had an o!!ortunity to better e !lain myself. I think, for me, this e ercise definitely hel!ed to shar!en my a!!reciation for !rocess work and having #mini-deadlines.$ "his isn,t always for the student, but the teacher as well6 "his leeway,s into my ne t !oint about the !ersonal investment I had regarding this assignment. (s I was going through 4arol,s work and marking u! her !a!er, I felt a slight disa!!ointment in myself. I was mentally going through and saying7 #"hat,s not a clear thought- wait, I told her to do that8 didn,t I9 It,s on the sheet9 *hat did I do wrong in the !rocess that made her think this was what I was wanting9$ I think this is

Ms. Edwards somewhat of a good thing- if I,m invested in making my assignments the best that they can be, then they are going to be good assignments. (nd my students are going to reali+e that I care about their success. However, there are going to be some instances where I,ve done all that I can do and a student still chooses not to com!ly. In this situation, this !ersonal accountability could be a bad thing. I think it is u! to me to be able to differentiate between the two. &astly, another thing that I reali+ed about myself is that I have an e tremely strict grading style. &ike the !revious to!ic, this both can be a good thing and a bad thing. Having a strict grading style makes me res!onsible for making sure students know e actly what I am e !ecting, and I have to be consistently teach them well. If I,m not allowing them wiggle-room in grading, then I should not be allowed any wiggle-room in teaching 5uality. I think this is a good com!onent of this because it holds me accountable to what I am doing. (nother thing, students res!ect harsh graders8 if they do it right. My favorite teachers are the ones that I have to work to get an #($ in their class because I feel as if they are actually teaching me something instead of 1ust baby-sitting me. I think this is how a vast ma1ority of students feel as well. If they start the semester making a #:;;$ on everything, then they don,t feel as if they ever earned their grade, and that chea!ens their e !erience. 2f course, everyone wants to make a good grade but if you have a teacher that does it correctly then you are working for your #($ in a scenario in which you are actually en1oying what you are doing. 2ne thing that 4arol did mention to me that I liked, was the fact that she liked doing the 1ournals. I definitely want assignments to be something that students don,t dread doing, and this is the reason I created the 1ournals to begin with. I thought they could be a great hel! to the essay and they could be student,s #fun$ time. In conclusion, I do think that I learned a lot about not only how to make an assignment but as well about myself as a teacher through this e !erience. %elow is the revised assignment, revised conte t and standards, and rubrics assessing and e !laining my decisions regarding 4arol,s assignment. (fter that, there is a co!y of 4arol,s com!leted assignment with my commentary- first is 1ournals, and then the essay. "aylor Edwards

Ms. Edwards

Investigating and Interpreting Shakespeares

Hamlet

LAYOUT: "his assignment will be s!lit into two .</ !arts7 1ournal entries and a !ersuasive essay. "he ultimate goal will be to use your 1ournal essays as a tool to hel! you within your essay. =ou will receive two .</ grades' however, kee! in mind that the essay and 1ournals are connected- if you don,t do well on one, there is a good chance you won,t do well on the other. JOURNALS: "his !ortion of the assignment will be done solely in class' this is a vital !art of the !re-!rocess work in order to make your essay stronger, and it is im!ortant to for you to be able talk to me and your !eers about what decisions you are making. My 0ur!ose7 (llow students the ability to focus on the character.s/ they are writing about and understand what their o!inion is on certain sub1ects. =our >oal7 *e have already talked about instances in which -hakes!eare was intentionally unclear?ambiguous within Hamlet. It is now your turn to choose one of these instances and write 1ournal entries regarding moments when the te t is vague in regards to your !oint. "his need to be narrative based. -how the thought !rocesses the characters will be going through, dialogue that they are s!eaking. (s well, be sure to write from your character,s !oint of view. "his means writing in first !erson6 "his must have a te t-based starting !oint. "ake the te t that is ambiguous, and then construct a narrative around this. )rom these instances, you will write eight .@/ 1ournal entries relating to these characters and their surroundings. Make sure you are using the te tual evidence .what is clear?stated/ as a base, and then going on to get in your character,s #head.$ o =ou are not re5uired to write in the s!eech of the !lay- you can use Modern English. o Make sure you are staying true to the characteristics that -hakes!eare has already created for these characters as well as looking at the history surrounding how your character shouldve acted- gender, socioeconomic, rank, etc. PERSUASIVE ESSAY "his !ortion of the assignment will be done solely on your own time- we will take some time to draft work and build connections between your 1ournal and essay in class, but I want to see what you can do within this essay. )rom the 1ournals com!leted !reviously, you have a well-defined o!inion of what you think -hakes!eare intended8 now convince me6 Atili+e the te t to make your argument' consistently give te tual su!!ort for your !oint6 B-C !age !a!er -cholarly tone6 *e have !racticed how to change tone within a !iece of writing' be scholarly and !rofessional. %e sure to use >oogle -cholar and that the articles you utili+e fit the criteria we made in class !reviously for what denotes a #scholarly article.$ Ase D-B outside sources- be sure to use them correctly. Don,t de!end on another scholar to make a !oint for you. =ou are going to be the scholar within this !a!er, make sure you choose sources that add to your !oint- not make it. Include a counter-argument that one of your outside sources has made on how they inter!ret this !ortion of Hamlet. Refute this argument within your own rebuttal. Do not forget the im!ortance of te tual evidence. ***Tomorrow in class e !re!are" to #a$e i"eas on w#at %o& ma% want to tal' a o&t( I will #a$e a sam!le t#at we will )o o$er in class t#at is t#is assi)nment* wit# t#e foc&s on o&r !re$io&s te+t, Midsummer Nights Dream( ***

Ms. Edwards -ra"e Le$el: :<th >rade %ritish &iterature .onte+t: "his assignment would be something I would assign near the end of the semester. I would have already worked on a lot of these com!onents with the students that I am asking them to #show off$ to me. "one, correct use of citations, and analy+ing the te t for ambiguity would have already been taught to the students and !racticed within in and out of class assignments. *e would be on a -hakes!eare unit during this time, and would be reading the !lay Hamlet. In-class draft work, !eer worksho!s, and o!!ortunities to conference with me would be stressed throughout the unit. (s well, I would like for students to start drafting their first two 1ournal entries in class and turn them into me before getting too far into their assignment. "his way, I could give them the #green light$ before embarking. &astly, after I grade the assignment I would like for students to have the o!!ortunity to write a critical reflection to me discussing their choices in the 1ournal entries and essay. If they utili+ed this o!!ortunity, there would be an incentive to heighten the grade. Rational: "his assignment would test student,s ability to think critically about the te t. *ithin the 1ournal entries they would be challenged to #get inside$ a character,s head and think about what this character was thinking in the conte t of their time. "his would include knowing the difference between the a!!ro!riate mediums one should choose when writing from a character,s !oint of view, in first !erson and writing an argumentative essay, in a !rofessional tone. *ithin that, they would be working on their ability to analy+e a te t and look dee!er than its su!erficial nature .i.e, being able to !ull evidence to make a case on what ha!!ened when an author leaves a te t ambiguous/. (s well, they would be !olishing their ability to not only use and cite sources correctly, but usefully. I think this would all cumulate together in order to shar!en their abilities as critical thinkers. .ommon .ore: 44--.E&(-&iteracy.*.::-:<.: *rite arguments to su!!ort claims in an analysis of substantive to!ics or te ts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence 44--.E&(-&iteracy.*.::-:<.:a Introduce !recise, knowledgeable claim.s/, establish the significance of the claim.s/, distinguish the claim.s/ from alternate or o!!osing claims, and create an organi+ation that logically se5uences claim.s/, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence 44--.E&(-&iteracy.*.::-:<.:e 0rovide a concluding statement or section that follows from and su!!orts the argument !resented 44--.E&(-&iteracy.R&.::-:<.: 4ite strong and thorough te tual evidence to su!!ort analysis of what the te t says e !licitly as well as inferences drawn from the te t, including determining where the te t leaves matters uncertain.

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Ms. Edwards

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Ms. Edwards

Investigating Shakespeare's Hamlet: An Essay

Student Name: Carol Ashey ________________________________________

Grade: 50%
Above Average Score
Topic is de%eloped and +,-./ an ob%ious instance $here Sha*espeare $as ambiguous Student has &ully analy"ed this te!t in relation to his or her topic to the &ull e!tent

CATEGORY Analyze

Weak
Topic is ambiguous Te!t has not been analy"ed# essentially a summary

Basic
Topic is some$hat de%eloped Some analy"ing o& the te!t# a glori&ied summary

Average
Topic is developed. It is evident the student has analyzed the text to a good extent !ay be a "e# errors in regards to textual evidence. Clear that you understood that this $as an analysis assignment 'o$e%er( ) needed more te!tual support and connections bet$een $hen you ga%e te!tual support and $hat this necessarily meant $ithin the conte!t o& your essay E%idence &rom the te!t is strong( and it is e%ident that the student is trying to ma*e connections bet$een the te!t and their argument

Argu!ent

No e%idence &rom the te!t Student does not ha%e a clear argument

So!e evidence "ro! the text in relation to the argu!ent the student is trying to !ake. ) ne%er sa$ a clear and concise argument The title suggests that $e are tal*ing about the relationship bet$een 'amlet and Ophelia0 ho$e%er( ) &elt li*e this $as more o& the support than the argument The conclusion paragraph summed up $hat needed to

E%idence &rom the te!t is ./-1/ strong( and student has made clear connections bet$een the te!t and their argument

Ms. Edwards
be in the $hole essay

Tone

Student does not embody a scholarly tone0 the tone o& their piece is that o& a con%ersation bet$een themsel%es and a &riend

Scholarly tone through certain parts o& the piece

Scholarly tone Scholarly tone +,-+, throughout most throughout the entire o& the piece piece it is evident the student !ade the concise decision to !ake this essay pro"essional and scholarly. Certainly did an ama"ing 2ob o& aligning your tone choice to the direction o& the essay3 Good 2ob3 Counter argument is presented and there is some$hat o& a rebuttal &rom the student Number o& outside sources meets re8uirement and are cited correctly Student ma*es attempt to use the sources as tool Counter argument is /-+, presented and there is a clear and &ocused rebuttal that completely addresses the counter argument

$ounter Argu!ent

There is no counter argu!ent presented. No counter argument throughout the entire piece %o outside sources. Only source cited $as the boo* in $hich this play $as $ithin This does not count as an 4outside source 5

Counter argument is presented( but there is no rebuttal &rom the student

Sources

One or t$o outside sources $ith no citation No transition bet$een source and student67s original thought

Number o& outside /-+/ sources meets re8uirements and are cited correctly Student has established a clear connection bet$een their point and the outside source7s The source is used as a tool to add to the student7s thoughts

Ms. Edwards

Beco!ing &our $haracter' (ournal Entries

Student Name: Carol Ashey ________________________________________

CATEGORY Textual Basis

) The 2ournals do not use the te!t at all# there is no $riting about e%ents that ha%e ta*en place $ithin the story

The 2ournals use the te!t some$hat There is some $riting about e%ents that ha%e ta*en place0 ho$e%er( the student reiterates the e%ent as it is $ritten

5rade' 678
+ The 2ournals use the te!t There is $riting &ocused around the e%ents that ha%e ta*en place0 the student has ta*en some incenti%e to go past $hat the te!t is saying

, The -ournals use the text. The #riting is entirely "ocused around events that have taken place #ith the student .getting inside the !ind o" the character. to creatively #rite about ho# the character !ay be "eeling #hen the text is a!biguous. )t $as e%ident that in the 2ournals you e!plicitly pulled &rom the te!t Good analysis o& the &lo$ers and herbs3 ) didn9t *no$ the symbolism behind this 'o$e%er( ) $ish you could ha%e trans&erred this hea%y use o& te!tual analysis to the essay3 Relates to the topic and it is e%ident that the student is $or*ing through issues that he-she can use to pro%e their o%erall argument in the essay

/irection

This does not relate Some$hat relates to to the student67s topic &or the essay( topic &or their essay but it e%ident the student does not ha%e this in mind $hen $riting

0elates to topic "or the essay. Throughout the 2ournals( ) sa$ that there $as a correlation bet$een your essay topic and $hat you presented 'o$e%er( in neither place $as there one speci&ied topic Students $rites &rom the character7s :O; and sho$s e%idence that they are critically thin*ing about ho$ the character $ould ha%e reacted-thought

1oint o" 2ie#

The student does not loo* at these e%ents &rom the character7s :O;

Student #rites "ro! the character3 but does not exe!pli"y critical thinking about ho# the character #ould have reacted4thought. Needed to $rite &rom the character9s point o& %ie$ This is only done at the end o& the last 2ournal# ama"ing 2ob on this0 ho$e%er( this style needed to be consistent throughout entire 2ournal Some connections bet$een 2ournal and essay( but %ery super&icial

Students $rites &rom the character7s :O; and sho$s e%idence o& critical thin*ing about ho$ the character $ould ha%e reacted-thought The student ta*es into consideration the character traits that Sha*espeare has presented $ithin the character as $ell as thin*s about ho$ the time period and socioeconomic sphere $ould ha%e in&luenced the character

Evidence o" (ournal in Essay

The student ma*es no attempt to use ideas &rom the 2ournal in their essay

Evident that the student has used their -ournals as a #ay to plan "or their essay clear connection bet#een these t#o assign!ents. There is e%idence o& your 2ournal $ithin

<ournals are clearly a tool that the student used as a =2umping o&&= point &or their essay There is a clear( established connection bet$een the t$o assignments )t is e%ident that the student $as able to trans&orm this $or* o& &iction into a non#&iction argumentati%e piece

Ms. Edwards
your essay0 ho$e%er( you should ha%e pulled more An interesting thing you could ha%e done: $ritten &rom Ophelia9s :O; during the scene in $hich she sings to Claudius and Gertrude# $rite $hat she is thin*ing You could relate this in your essay to pro%e that 'amlet ne%er lo%ed Ophelia >use o& deceit symbolism $ithin &lo$ers?

Ms. Edwards