I am in the process of having mid terms this week.. I hold 15 minute
individual critiques with each AP student (I have 27). I pre-schedule
these during our seminar period, during the class, before and after
school- any time that we can fit in. Each student is responsible for
showing the Breadth portion of their portfolio, including a list of
works with a self reflecting written statement that they grade 1-5 and
justify. Early in the year, I showed them collections of Breadth areas
by previous students, and had them guess what grades they were given.
It's interesting that many of the students grade them harder than what
they got from the C.B. I personally think this is a very difficult
class. If you choose to conduct critiques, invite one of your
administrators to view the work and have and opportunity to talk to one
of your students. I'm sure they would rethink their stance! The 15
minutes sometimes allows me an extra chance to discuss their ideas for
the Concentration area of their portfolios. I tell them that this is a
college-level class, and this is how they do it at that level. The
students seem to enjoy the personal attention!
