Marking the Biographies: A Teacher's Commentary

Marking your biographies was an interesting and humbling experience. The lives of the varied (diverse is the Ministry of Education term) students made me feel that I'd led a rather boring, provincial life here in Canada.

I appreciated all your work getting the facts and details straight and was struck by the empathy (yes Bray's word) shown to others in the writing. Some of you have a clear "voice" in writing already; others are working on it.

One problem was the number of "corrections" I needed to do. If you are one of the few students who wrote virtually error-free prose I thank you! I know that some errors are unavoidable due to your being unable to see them in the writing but do wish to see fewer in future assignments. I'd much rather spend my time framing a useful comment. The way I look at it is the more correcting I'm doing for you, the less time and energy I have to comment on the more interesting stylistic and organizational aspects of your writing.

A number of you did not present your work as requested (in 12 point font and double spaced) and made my life difficult trying to make corrections and fit in my comments. Next time I've decided to not mark anything that is not presented correctly. You've used your one free pass guys!

Please be aware of the meaning of the marking system I am using so that you can better judge your result. I used the rubric to guide me and often used it to provide a comment. Remember also that the letter grade, "A," should mean that a student exceeds expectations in all areas. Since English is a skill-based course rather than one that tests a certain content, it is more difficult to demonstrate excellence. 

Build on this experience and use it to get better. My final judgements on your overall performance are not made until January of next year. You have plenty of time to improve!

Rewritten Answers for "Caught in a teacher's web"

Please post your rewritten answers for any of the four questions provided to you in your October 3 in-class writing. Give your word count and stay under the maximum count allowed in the original topic. Post answers by 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14.

Plagiary Comments File Linked Here

My comments for everyone's writing in one file: Plagiary Comments

Remember to print your biography and bring to class next Wednesday. Thanks!

Resource Links on Quotation

Here are a number of good resources to help you better understand the use of quotation in your writing.

Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources

Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Using Quotations in Essays

Quote Week: Incorporating Quotes into Your Research Papers

Link to Sir Ted Robinson's Talk on Education

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

From this link, you get a streaming video. If you have Quicktime, you can download a higher resolution talk from the same page.

Enjoy!

Writing the Biography: Your Comments Invited

This was my first attempt at teaching the writing of a biography. My intent was to provide students with a clear motivation for doing their best, in interview, in getting the details right, and in completing a final draft that each student is proud to submit.

What did you like? And, more importantly, what would you change and why? Your comments are invited and, especially, your concrete suggestions for things like pacing (how long to allocate to a lesson), order (what to do first, second, third) and any other suggestion you may have.

Please Complete Profiles

Hi Everyone: A few profiles are either missing or incomplete. Please make an effort to finish them this week. Include some interests and answer a random question, too. I've updated my photo if you're interested and changed my question.

Opinions on Plagiary (Using Quotes and Paraphrase)

Using the original article from the New York Times and one other source on this issue, give your opinions about Internet plagiarism.

You might like to address the question of whether students who plagiarize should be punished, whether students who plagiarize are aware of what they are doing or any other important idea. Reference the articles using quotation and paraphrase to respect your sources!

Write about 200 to 300 words in paragraphs. It is not necessary to write in full essay form. Complete your writing by 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday so that others may read your opinions before next week's class.

Recent News: Liberals Accuse Harper of Plagiarizing 2003 Speech on Iraq (Sept. 30, CBC.ca)