HOMEWORK: Leave comments about how you feel about the final (worries, concerns, likes, dislikes....), Modern Pilgrimage Projects are due on Wednesday.
Hello English Lit Class! Today, Ms. Smith told us about how much she loved her $90 t-shirt, and that she signed up for a new marathon scheduled to take place in January. We turned in our college scholarships, and then moved on to more serious stuff... our final.
Here's what the outline looked like:
Final Project: What is a hero?
- Multi-media
- -- Photo story, movie maker…
- Group project
-- 4-5 maximum
-- Everyone participates significantly-veto power - Individual reflection of contributions
-- Self reflection
-- Peer evaluation - Modern examples
- OED Definition as a part
-- Portfolio
-- Document comprising all work
-- Include OED written definition
-- Overview summing up all ideas into one
-- Organized
-- Creative - 10 minute presentation
-- Clear and smooth transitions
-- Organized
-- Answers essential question
-- Goes beyond the expectations - Synthesize all text covered in semester
- Personal commentary
-- React to what you have learned about a hero
-- Give feedback through modern day heroes
-- React to the evolution of the hero
Point Value:
No grade-intrinsic motivation
Group One: Sam T.
Group Two: Courtney W
Group Three: Brooks, Joe, Bob, and Michael
Group Four: Leigh, Ryan B, Ryan F
Group Five: Jackie, Emily L. Rebecca, Soo
Group Six: Charlie, Emily H, Allie, Emilie D.
Group Seven: Matt, Ian, Steven, Dan, Jacob
Group Eight: Samantha, Melinda, Ashley, KC
After we discussed and got into groups, we had the rest of the hour to work on our modern pilgrimage projects. They are bound to be funny.
Also, a freshman opened the door, walked into our classroom, looked around, said, "This is not my class," and walked out. It was entertaining.
HOMEWORK: Leave comments about how you feel about the final (worries, concerns, likes, dislikes....), Modern Pilgrimage Projects are due on Wednesday.
School on Wednesday starts at 11:00 for everyone except for the juniors. Poor kids.
Hasta luego
Emily
14 comments:
Guys, it is our duty as responsible students to take a leading initiative and care enough about our scholastic achievement that we excel beyond standards despite receiving a grade or not. I have found that when grades are less applied to study habits and to my work ethic, I succeed. When I go into class not for a grade but to actually learn and take away something valuable, my mentality is always in the right place and I know I have structured myself with full potential to learn.
I'm hoping this new method for a final works out. I think I will still produce just as well as if it was for a grade. It doesn't matter if it is graded you should still go beyond to complete the project with a great understanding of the topic. The point is to gain an understanding of heroes in literature by the end of the semester and you don't need a grade to show that you know the topic. It should be very interesting though.
This final is going to be very interesting because it will show how much students in class really care more about learning than grades. It will show by the quality, creativity and the effort put in this. I hope that we really can pull this off and do a fantastic job. So that we can prove to Ms.Smith and ourselves that we attend school because we care about our learning not only because of our grades but for our future.
I think that all the fuss that this style of evaluation has created is based upon the fact that, ever since middle school, we have strived for personal gratification through good grades. This is all we have known and, by not receiving a grade on an assignment that would normally comprise a sizable portion of our grades has upset the pattern that we have known and accepted for the past 7 years of our education. We are all members of an exceptional class and none of us would wish to abuse this opportunity that Mrs. Smith has given us, an opportunity to succeed and exceed expectations solely for the knowledge of success.
I think that this idea for the final could either be good or bad. I do agree that it is important to achieve even if you dont have the reward of points, however it is so much more satisfying when you are rewarded for a job well done. We will see how it turns out it should be interesting to see what we come up with.
I think that the final project should be graded based on our performance. If everyone puts in the effort (like we say we are going to) we should all be awarded with 100 percents. However, if some people don't put in the effort than they should be punished by not getting full credit. We should not put all of the pressure on Smith to give us 100 percents if some of us are not putting in the effort. So if there is even one group who doesn't do the work then everyone should be graded on a point system. That is what I think about the final project.
I think the turn out of this final will be mixed. It sounds like a good idea now(no points final), but at the end of the semester when grades are being put in I bet people will be wishing they had that extra 250 pts. I mean if we are all so driven and motivated to do an awesome project, why not earn points for it? I don't see the downside?
I think that this final idea is a good one, however it only works if the whole "grade thing" stays consistent throughout the entire year. Even though not having a grade on the final sounds great, because we have a grade in the class, it doesn't give people who want to raise their grade the opportunity to do so. If there were no grades period, it would be a great idea, but because they are already there, it would be unfair not to grade the final.
Alright people, this final "experiment" is only going to work if we really commit to it, and show the world what we really know. All I ever hear from my peers on the topic of grades is that it doesn't really represent what we know as students and what we learned in class, and I definately agree. We need to prove that we don't need a grade to make us want to learn, because although the reward for your work is nice, it's not all that you want to be working for. Like Ms. Smith said, I'm not going to look back on high school and remember my 3.25 GPA, I'm going to look back and remember what I learned about a hero, about ancient civilizations, and how I can apply the quadratic equation to my life. Ok, so nix the equation line, but you catch my drift. So I think we can do this, but it's going to take motivation and team work.
Personally, I don't care if we get points on the final or not. I understand both sides; some people might need the points, but we shouldn't have to be motivated by points. Would it work if each individual group decided if they wanted to be graded, or would that be too complicated? I doubt the class will come to a unanimous agreement on points or no points. The one thing I am worried about is how much time we will have to work on the project. I usually have a tough time getting any project done before about a week before it’s due, especially when it is supposed to be outside of school. Would it be possible to have half or whole class days? I know we talked about maybe five minutes here and there, because we are going to be very busy, but I worry about getting the entire group together to work on the project.
So I am excited to do this final because it is different from other finals and I enjoy using creativity. Personally, I know I will be motivated to do this project internally and not rely on grades if that is the concept. I would like to be graded because I know I will do well on this assignment and grades do matter for credit and colleges, but I understand that I have time to bring my grades where I want them and can't rely on just the final. Grades or no grades I know I will have fun doing this final.
I love the idea of having a final that is self motivated and not grade motivated. However I don't think it can succeed. People keep saying that they would do their best on this project because they value education but let’s face it, some people don't care. Some students could care less about their education. They do the work because they have to, not because they want to do it. I wish this idea could work but it can't because we don't live in a perfect world.
No point final, eh? It all started out as a joke and now it has turned into an experiment and that scares some poeple. As Allie said, it does sound good now but some people are wondering what happens at the end of the semester when they really want that 250 points to boost their grade. I'll tell you what happens. We now have the rest of the semester to work and keep our grades up. It's pressure on us to work hard because the grade we get at the end of the semester should reflect the work we did throughout-not solely the work we did for a final project. I love the idea and I hope that other people's fear of not raising their grade last minute will ruin this opportunity.
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