The portfolio is a presentation of all your work in class, of your active class participation, and especially of your progress as a writer. The purpose of the portfolio is three-fold: 

1. 

Revision 
Learning how to revise your work is one of the most important elements in this class because the best writing usually happens during the revision process. Throughout the semester, therefore, you receive feedback on your work. The portfolio gives you the opportunity to take all this feedback to produce and showcase your best work possible. 

2. 

Reflection and Self-Evaluation
The portfolio gives you a holistic picture of your development as a writer during this course, which allows you to better reflect on and assess your skills. You get a better overview of your progress as a writer. 

3.  

Communication 
Rather than just dropping your papers off, the portfolio-and especially the memo that accompanies it—gives you the opportunity to communicate with me about your writing and to demonstrate your understanding of the specific class requirements and the writing process in general. 

The Content of the Portfolio 

The portfolio should be professionally organized and contain the following four things: 

1. A title page -- including 

   1. your name

   2. my name

   3. the course name and number (e.g. ENGL 1050 Fundamentals of Writing)

   4. a title (Final Portfolio or Web Project Portfolio) and 

   5. the due date. 
      

2. A table of contents  --  reflecting an organization that considers the needs of your audience (me).  All of the items which are components of this project should be clearly indicated, especially those which you want to have graded by me.       

WARNING: ANY MISSING, AMBIGUOUS OR UNIDENTIFIED ITEMS WILL NOT BE GRADED.  THIS MAY RESULT IN SEVERE GRADE PENALTIES.

3. A letter to me about your portfolio. This should be in the form of a 5-7 paragraph well developed essay.  This is worth points on your portfolio.  Shoddy letters are worth 0 points.  This letter should discuss the following points (see evaluation form as needed): 

   1. Review your attendance and completion of in-class and out of class assignments.  How many classes did you attend?  Were your assignments completed in a timely manner in order to display mastery of the specific subject or task? 

   2. Review your original goals and objectives statements.  Have you met them?  Explain.

   3. What skills do you feel you have been able to develop so far? 

   4. How does your portfolio reflect these skills? 

   5. Which projects have you revised? 

      1. What revisions have you made from previous drafts?

      2. What feedback from me have you used to revise your drafts? 

      3. How has revision helped you improve your writing? 

   6. What are your specific goals for your further development as a writer? 

   7. What else should I know to better understand your work and development as a writer?
      

4. The items which you are submitting for grades with the following attachments 

   WARNING: ANY MISSING, AMBIGUOUS OR UNIDENTIFIED ITEMS WILL NOT BE GRADED.  THIS MAY RESULT IN SEVERE GRADE PENALTIES.

   YOU ARE GRADED FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF YOUR PORTFOLIO.  MAKE SURE YOUR PORTFOLIO IS IN THE CORRECT ORDER.

   IN THIS SECTION PLACE FIRST THE CLEARLY MARKED ITEMS YOU ARE SUBMITTING FOR GRADES ACCORDING TO THE CLASS REQUIREMENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH, COMPARE/CONTRAST ESSAY.
   

   1. THE FIRST ITEM TO BE GRADED

      1. The final clean version should ALWAYS BE THE FIRST THING I SEE. 

      2. Directly in back of it place all ORIGINALLY marked drafts, with the most recent one first.

      3. All drafts or pre-writing exercises directly related to this draft.

   2. THE SECOND ITEM TO BE GRADED

      1. The final clean version should ALWAYS BE THE FIRST THING I SEE. 

      2. Directly in back of it place all ORIGINALLY marked drafts, with the most recent one first.

      3. All drafts or pre-writing exercises directly related to this draft.

   3. THE THIRD ITEM TO BE GRADED

      1. The final clean version should ALWAYS BE THE FIRST THING I SEE. 

      2. Directly in back of it place all ORIGINALLY marked drafts, with the most recent one first.

      3. All drafts or pre-writing exercises directly related to this draft.

   KEEP REPEATING THIS STEP UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE REQUIREMENTS..
   

   4. Remaining drafts of all your papers (with my marked comments).

      1. All prewriting and in-class writing for your papers.

   5. All in-class writing and labs.