SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS FOR WRITING
SELF-EVALUATIONS by Peter Elbow
| It helps to write
evaluations in two stages. The first stage is really for yourself. So
you can get things straight in your own head without worrying yet about
what to write for
the second stage: a transcript document aimed at the outside world. For
the first stage, write quickly, loosely, and as much as possible
without
stopping. Don't even worry about mechanics, organization or whether it
makes sense. Don't even worry about whether it is true: sometimes
blatant
exaggeration or distortion is the only way to get your hands on a half
buried insight. The idea is to get your thoughts and feelings down on
paper
where you can see them and learn from them. |
Check |
| Wait until AFTER you
get that interesting mess written before going back over it to decide
which things are true and which of those true things you want to share
with strangers who will read your transcript. It will be easier to
write appropriately
for a transcript reader when you get the false and private things down
on
paper so they don't make fog and static in your head to confuse and
slow
you down. Save this first stage writing for your portfolio. It will
have
lots of important insights that won't be in your transcript. Think
about
sharing much or all of it with your faculty member so as to help him or
her write a better, fairer evaluation of you. |
|
| USEFUL QUESTIONS FOR
YOUR FIRST STAGE SELF-EVALUATION How do you feel now at the end? How accurate are those feelings? |
|
| What are you proud
of? Compare your accomplishments with what you hoped for and expected at the start. |
|
| Did you work hard or
not? Get a lot done or not? What kinds of things were difficult or frustrating? Which were easy? |
|
| What's the most
important thing you did during this period? What bits of reading or lecture stick in your mind? |
|
| Think of some
important moments from this learning period: your best moments, worst
moments, typical moments, crises or turning points. Tell 5 or 6 of
these in a sentence or
two each. What can you learn or did you learn from each of these
moments? |
|
| Write a letter to an
important person you studied thanking them for what you learned from
them. Or telling them how you disagree with them. Or telling them how
good a job they did. Who is the person you studied you cared most about? BE that person and write that person's letter to you, telling you whatever it is they have to tell you. |
|
| What did you learn
throughout? Skills and ideas. What was the most important thing? What
idea or skill
was hardest to really "get?" What crucial idea or skill just came
naturally? |
|
| When they make the
movie, who will play you? What's the movie really about? |
|
| Describe this period
as a journey: to where? what kind of terrain is it? A complete trip or
part of a longer one? |
|
| You learned something
crucial which you won't discover for a while... Guess it now. |
|
| Tell a few ways you
could have done a better job. |
|
| What knowledge and
skills will you need in five years? Did you learn any? |
|
| What advice would
some friends in the program give you if they spoke with 100% honesty
and caring? What advice do you have for yourself? |