Grading: On Aspen, you will find an assessment labeled “Blog and Class Participation.” Every two weeks, I will update your grade according to the rubric below. It may change as the term progresses. The key is to complete your work on a regular basis and participate in class. At the end of each term, you will receive a formal response to your work with written feedback.
A range has the following qualities:
- All work is complete and on-time
- Meditative journal is written with passion and purpose
- Contributes to class discussion daily; a leader
- Well-written work
- Personal voice is present
- Thoughtful, meaningful, and there is always evidence that the student read the text closely
- Responses do not merely agree but challenge fellow students to think critically
- At least 3-4 well chosen, nice framed, direct quotations from a text
- Responds to fellow classmates so that a dialogue ensues
- Takes risks
- Returns to add comments to have a conversation
B range may exhibit some of the above qualities, BUT:
- Work is completed, but late on occasion
- Meditative journal is complete, but could be more reflective in nature
- Contributes to class discussion regularly, but not every class
- Too formal, little personal engagement
- 1-2 direct quotations; may not be well chosen or framed
- A thinner response than the A range
- A super long technical response that could be more concise
C range may exhibit some of the above qualities, BUT:
- Some blogs are missing, or incomplete
- Meditative journal is complete, but many dates are short or missing. Lacks purpose.
- Contributes to class discussion on occasion
- Not aware of audience; single post and does not return to discussion
- Responds to the prompt in a general manner
- Repeats what someone else wrote, as the student obviously did not read through the other responses
- There is a voice, but little evidence that the student read closely
- There are no direct quotations; there are some concrete examples
D and F range may exhibit some of the above qualities, BUT:
- Many blogs missing on a regular basis
- Meditative journal is incomplete of non-existent
- Late blogs completed, but only after many are missing; completed in bunches after the fact
- Rarely contributes to class discussion and/or often late or absent
- Late responses that could be high quality but only completed to avoid a zero
- A few sentences and comments, but little to no analysis
- Does not return to discussion
- Little engagement
- Is openly cruel to a classmate
- Knowingly inappropriate
ReplyDeleteJacob Mini
9/4/19
Dramatic Lit
The Great Gatsby
Today in class, we talked about how fictional books could relate to real life and almost seem very realistic. That being said to connect to our class discussion from earlier I chose one of my recent favorites, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald does an amazing job to keep us readers locked in and wanting to know what happens next. Not only that his words can produce a clear image in my head of what's going on in east and west egg at all times. Gatsby lives a lifestyle I would “kill” to have in a sense. I would love to work hard in life and meet a connection like Dan Cody and be set for life. I would never take it for granted and work extremely hard and cherish what I have. The movie is great to watch after you've read the book as well cuz it really ties things together you might have missed, but also throw you off a pinch because they add in a few things. Over all the Great Gatsby was a fantastic fictional novel that put real life situations into a fictional setting of east and west egg, Long Island.
Evan Meltsakos
ReplyDelete9/4/19
Death of a Salesman
This summer past summer was not too exciting in terms of reading due to the fact that I didn’t read any of the books from the list. Last year in Survey of American Literature I read multiple books novels in class. Out of all of them I was very interested in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. I was shocked by how Willy Loman’s confused and chaotic emotions and mind were displayed at the very beginning of the novel. As I was reading, I felt like I was listening to Willy fight with himself and his wife at the same time. He would contradict himself a lot like when he was talking to his wife Linda about Biff and said, “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. That’s one thing about Biff-He’s not lazy.” Willy would also switch topics as he is speaking, which shows that there is so much going on in his mind. One example is when he said, “There’s more people!That’s what’s ruining this country!The competition is maddening!Smell the stink from that apartment house!And the one on the other side...How can they whip cheese?
In my opinion, Willy’s rapidly changing behavior and life crisis at his age is very relatable to people today in the workforce. From what I have observed, people with tough jobs that require a lot of hard work tend to age faster mentally and it is seen by friends or family. Because I was able to relate to the novel so easily, I would definitely put Death of a Salesman up there on the list.
In the novel Shoe Dog the memoir by Phil Knight the previous CEO and co founder of Nike, talks about the struggles he had to overcome to create the multi billion dollar business and one of the most recognizable brands today. He speaks on the factors that drove him to keep going with the business that was called at first “Blue Ribbon” with him selling shoes out of the back of his car. It all started with the $50 investment his dad gave him to import shoes from japan. He said he would always go broke, “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” this quote I believe means that even though it will take time when you are done, it will be something amazing and you have to sacrifice in order to succeed in anything. He also talks about how if he had to choose whether to come up with his way of the struggle or come up easily he would choose going his way. Since his way taught him to put it all on the line since he said he went broke many times. I think Shoe god was overall a very good memoir about Phil Knight and it really shows the struggle of young entrepreneurs.
ReplyDelete^ Michael Dutton
ReplyDeleteIn “Shoe Dog” by CEO and board chairman of Nike Phil Mcknight, It gives you an insight on one of the most successful and widely known brands rise from unknown to everywhere. The incredible story of Mcknight provides an inside look on how himself, his track coach, and a group of everyday guys turned what started as a 50$ investment from his father into a 30 billion dollar Worldwide famous brand. One of the lessons Phil teaches you is that you only have a few chances to start something incredible, so it is better to act on it while you are young than wait and daydream. This message oddly reminded me of the novel, “Of Mice and Men” where Lennie and George have this dream of buying a ranch themselves, they speak of this dream all the time but never put action to it and in the end it is too late. It struck me personally after hearing this from a person of so much success and reminded me to always to seize the moment. Another message Phil gives you directly is, “When you see only problems, you’re not seeing clearly” I felt this was powerful and lets one see that you cannot grow without a positive mindset. Mcknight's persistent determination did not solely come from himself he surrounded himself with partners and mentors who would believe in him, one of those being his track coach at Oregon Bill Bowerman, who I believe Mcknight was referencing when saying , “Hard work is critical, a good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable” Phil says a team is essential and determination is invaluable but by surrounding himself with motivational partners he was able to elevate his business to the next level. He also made it a point of emphasis to let people be themselves by saying a quote he took from General Patton, “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” In doing so you open up the doors to much more creativity and allow minds to positively contribute to a goal, his emphasis on this point made me think of Nike itself and its wide ranging variety of sneakers and clothing, by letting others help towards your goal you can create something much more powerful in the process.
ReplyDelete^ Sean Healey
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA book that I read this summer and will always be on my list of favorite books of all time would be The Outsiders, this book shows the hardships of two very different groups growing up in a society. They obviously do not get along, forcing them to brawl and leading to some crazy action throughout the story! You get so many different perspectives on life and it is remarkable to see how different people can act. Definitely a great book, and will remain one of my favorites forever and something I will share with my kids when they are old enough.
ReplyDelete- Adam Tebbe