For this week’s reading, I’m glad I got the chance to read Kathleen Blake Yancey’s take on the first year composition class. She was the scholar I researched prior to the writing conference, and since then, one element of her work has been in the back of my mind – that of portfolio pedagogy.
Unsurprisingly, Yancey goes into some detail in her essay about the use of portfolios in her classroom. Additionally, however, I noticed that other composition instructors, such as Villanueva, also incorporate a form of portfolio in their class (although not to as great an extent as Yancey).
This led me to thinking about the use of portfolios in the composition classroom and whether I would want to utilize one in my own classroom one day. The answer I have come up with is yes—to an extent.
On the one side, I see the inherent value in students keeping a portfolio. Keeping a portfolio can allow students to see their own progress without the use of grades (which is a goal of mine). Furthermore, asking students to write some sort of reflection to include in the portfolio at the end of the term would be equally beneficial. As Yancey states: “…reflection can point in any number of directions…But perhaps the one that’s most important…is reflection as theorizing—about writing” (336). For all the reading, discussion, and writing about writing that students may be assigned, I think one of the most valuable things for students to do is to reflect on their own writing. I have written on here previously about wanting to assign a literacy narrative, and I think that could be bookended nicely with a portfolio reflection assignment.
Having said this, I do think there are some limitations to the portfolio. For one, I think it could become a daunting “end of semester” task that looms over students and causes them to not focus on the actual writing assignments leading up to the portfolio. Logistically, both creating and grading a portfolio would be a lot of work, and I don’t know if the work put in to it is equal to the value it produces. However, I was thinking that instead of having students do one big assignment of putting together some sort of pretty folder of material at the end, that they would instead do a digital portfolio and upload their assignments and drafts to the digital format as the go along, leaving only the reflection to be done at the end.
Ultimately, I would like to read more into traditional and digital portfolios. However, it’s something that I definitely want to consider for the future.
Seminar in Teaching Composition 
Shannon,
Like you, I was also interested in Yancy and Villanueva’s use of the end-of-the-semester portfolio as a method of evaluating students’ writing. In one of my undergrad classes, we turned in portfolios containing all of our written work at the close of the semester and it worked well. While it felt rather daunting to have the portfolio be the largest determiner of my grade in this class, including the smaller assignments that we had done throughout the semester (such as freewriting in class and rough drafts) gave me a sense of accomplishment and helped me to not worry so much about my grade. This type of portfolio is a great way to reward students for active participation during each class as well as their intellectual engagement throughout the semester.
This porfolio counted for the largest percentage of our class grade; however, we were also graded on each final draft of the essays that we turned in at different stages of the course. I like this model of grading, and if I incorporate the portfolio in my future classes I plan to follow it. I am most attracted to the idea of giving students feedback on each large assignment and then evaluating all of their work at the end of the semester so that I can follow students’ writing progress.
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Dear Shannon (and Diana),
Let me first say, in my role as your boss, that I am comfortable with the idea of portfolio grading, and would support you if you decided to do it. (Although I might advising waiting until your 2nd semester of teaching to try it out.)
I also like your idea, Shannon, of an evolving digital portfolio, and yours, Diana, of a hybrid essay-portfolio grading scheme.
Having said that, I do have two hesitations about portfolio grading—in addition to those you’ve already expressed. Or maybe it’s just one: I wonder about how a teacher can really accurately assess something as intangible as growth over time, which seems to be what the portfolio most wants to measure. I have used portfolios in the past, and sometimes felt as though I was grading the student as a person more than their work. Maybe that’s just to say I wasn’t using portfolios very well, but I’d ask you to think about how you might make distinctions between “okay” and “good” and “excellent” levels of growth and reflection.
Joe
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Hi Shannon,
I’m glad you brought up the idea of the end of semester portfolio, because it has been something that I have been contemplating. I had a few undergraduate professors who required final portfolios (one of them being the professor who taught the Literacy and Literature class that I spoke of earlier) and I have very mixed feelings about them. All of my portfolios were collections of graded work, that then received a final grade. This meant that assignments were graded twice—once when the assignment was handed in during the course of the semester, and again as part of the final portfolio (like you describe, Diana). I have to say, I think I got a lot out of this process. Since there was a grade at stake when the initial assignment was due, I did my best work; since another grade was at stake at the end of the semester, I pushed myself even harder to produce better work. And yet, final portfolios seem like a lot of extra work both for the student and for the professor—extra work that I am not so sure is necessary. Couldn’t something similar be achieved throughout the semester with a series of drafts? I like the idea in theory, but I am just not sure how well it would work out in practice.
Best,
Sarah
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