English Methods

Dr. Meehan

Autobiographical Essay:

Your experience and philosophy of language arts learning

Assignment:

We are exploring and reflecting on who we are and what kinds of experiences we have had as students in the language arts, with the understanding that this kind of autobiographical inquiry can help develop who we are becoming as teachers. Your assignment is to write a 3-5 page (typed, double-spaced) personal essay that focuses on a particular experience you have had as a student in an English language arts class or, more generally, an experience you have had with some aspect of the language arts (can be outside of a class). Explore this experience, thoughtfully present its significance to your reader, and develop your understanding of that significance by making at least one connection to something we have read thus far in our texts. How you make that connection is your decision. Think about these questions: why do you remember this experience? What was significant about it from your point of view today (that is, as a beginning teacher of English)? What can you learn from it and apply to your own teaching practice? How does this experience inform your own philosophy of learning and teaching? 

The genre for this piece is autobiography, personal writing; your audience are fellow English educators (imagine this being published in English Journal), interested in learning about insight you can share about your learning experiences. This is also the kind of text that will go into your teaching portfolio.

Objectives:

To develop your understanding of the experiences that have shaped (for better and for worse) your images of English and teaching. To begin the process of evaluating those images and re-shaping them. To engage in the kind of reflective inquiry and writing that are foundations for strong teaching. To compose an essay that will become part of your portfolio and could be, with additional revision, suitable for submission to a professional journal.

Supporting steps:

Journal writing and class discussion [the focus for the initial weeks]; first focal point; class workshop of the essay.

Assessment:

The essay will be assessed using a contract/negotiation method of evaluation in which students will select from a descriptive rubric the level of achievement they feel applies, then conference with the teacher to help determine a final grade. Assessment will also take into account both the final product and the process leading to it.

Autobiographical Essay

Rubric for evaluation

Product: what the final essay achieves

D [60-69]/insufficient: The essay addresses the assignment generally, without providing the kind of focus that is necessary for coherence and development; the essay makes no use of a connection to reading; the essay shows little thought and creativity in exploring the experience; the mechanics of the essay suggest that little to no editing was done. In general, this essay reflects a weak and insufficient achievement, suggesting the need for improvement in multiple areas.

C [70-79]/sufficient: The essay addresses the assignment sufficiently and provides a necessary focus, though with a need for further development; the essay makes a sufficient connection to reading but not in a way that is effective for the essay; the essay demonstrates sufficient thought and creativity, with a need to do more during the revision process; the mechanics of the essay indicate the need to address some issues during editing. In general, this essay reflects sufficient achievement with the assignment, suggesting room to improve in one or more of the areas mentioned.

B [80-89]/strong: The essay addresses the assignment fully and develops its focus coherently and effectively; the essay makes effective and thoughtful use of connections to reading, demonstrating the writer’s understanding of the reading; the essay demonstrates the kind of thought and creativity that is necessary for an effective and compelling piece of autobiographical writing; the mechanics of the essay indicate no significant problems. In general, this essay reflects strong work and achievement; there is room to refine and push a bit further in one of the areas mentioned, something the writer can do if selecting this for further work and possible publication.

A [90-100]/exceptional: The essay responds to the assignment in an exceptional manner, developing its focus with impressive coherence and thoroughness; the essay’s use of connections to reading are highly effective, perceptive, and thoughtful, demonstrating great insight; the essay’s thoughtfulness and creativity are demonstrated throughout the piece, making it highly engaging and compelling; the essay is clean, well edited. In general, this essay reflects excellence in all aspects; the writer should consider working on this and refining/expanding the piece for publication.

Process: the work put into the process of writing the essay

insufficient: Though the essay was turned in, little effort was demonstrated throughout the process, leading to significant problems with the essay or with deadlines along the way.

sufficient: All deadlines were met and the effort along the way was fine, with room to improve effort at a key stage of the process: for example, brainstorming or revision.

strong: Effort was strong throughout the process, resulting in solid work at each stage. Though no major problems are indicated, the writer should reflect on which stage of the process they feel they could further improve (for example, revision or editing) and work towards that during the next project.

exceptional: The writer’s effort was excellent throughout, consistently doing more than expected and pushing themselves to learn and improve their writing and the essay itself.