UNM Valencia
English 100
Maggie Griffin

What is a portfolio?
 A portfolio is a collection of writings that have been revised and polished over a semester. Typically, the teacher tells a class to write an essay and then grades it, and then the students go on and write another essay, and the teacher grades it (and then the students throw it away without reading the comments or corrections :-), and so on.

A portfolio approach is different because students have the opportunity to revise the essays that they have written throughout the entire semester. Students can go back to essays that they wrote early in the semester and apply the skills that they learned later in the semester. For example, at the beginning of the semester, students may not know much about sentence structure or topic sentences or transitions and so their early writings may not reflect this knowledge. With a portfolio approach to writing, students can revise their work so that each essay in the portfolio reflects the skills that they have gained throughout the course. The portfolio approach allows students to choose which essays they want to revise and gives them a chance to show their very best work.

Portfolios should include several drafts of each essay. For this class, we will turn in:
Draft #1--typed/double-spaced.
Draft #1 is a "rough draft". Most students think that a rough draft is something that can be thrown together at the last minute, but in this class, a rough draft is typed and polished enough to turn in for a grade if necessary. Draft #1 will be the basis of our peer editing sessions, so it has to be a work that other students can read and react to. Through peer editing sessions, you will get feedback. Peers can help you see ways to improve your essay. Next, you will revise your essays and bring them to class so that the instructor can review them.
Draft #2 is the essay that your instructor will "grade." Actually, your instructor will give you more feedback and suggestions to improve the essay (as well as a rough indication of the essay grade).
Turning in drafts is mandatory.Your drafts will count toward your final grade in the class.
The final draft is the one you will use in your portfolio.
Cover letter A cover letter should be included in the portfolio. The letter/essay should be at least one page, typed. The letter/essay could discuss why you chose the essays that you have included in the portfolio, describe how the essays reflect you as a writer, explain how your writing has progressed through the semester, or you can take a more creative approach to the letter/essay. The letter/essay is part of the portfolio grade.

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