Blog & Class Participation Criteria & Progress Reports

Attention: Progress reports will be coming out October 1st, so be sure to revisit any blogs you need to refine or compose. I will be posting your grades to Aspen.

Please see me if you need any assistance or have any questions. Below is the rubric I gave you the first day of class for your convenience.

Mr. P.

Blog and Class Participation Criteria 

Directions: This is your space to read and discuss ideas about the material we read in class. You will notice that these blog responses are intensive, but it will allow you to speak your mind and obtain immediate feedback. These homework assignments will count substantially, and the rubric below will help guide you. I will show some examples in class, and you are always free to discuss your work with me in class or after school.


Grading: On Aspen, you will find an assessment labeled “Blog and Class Participation.” Every two weeks, I will update your grade according to the rubric below. It may change as the term progresses. The key is to complete your work on a regular basis and participate in class. At the end of each term, you will receive a formal response to your work with written feedback.


A range has the following qualities:

• All work is complete and on-time 
• Contributes to class discussion daily; a leader 
• Well-written work 
• Personal voice is present 
• Thoughtful, meaningful, and there is always evidence that the student read the text closely 
• Responses do not merely agree but challenge fellow students to think critically 
• At least 3-4 well chosen, nice framed, direct quotations from a text 
• Responds to fellow classmates so that a dialogue ensues 
• Takes risks 
• Returns to add comments to have a conversation 

B range may exhibit some of the above qualities, BUT:

• Work is completed, but late on occasion 
• Contributes to class discussion regularly, but not every class 
• Too formal, little personal engagement 
• 1-2 direct quotations; may not be well chosen or framed 
• A thinner response than the A range 
• A super long technical response that could be more concise 

C range may exhibit some of the above qualities, BUT:

• Some blogs are missing, or incomplete 
• Contributes to class discussion on occasion 
• Not aware of audience; single post and does not return to discussion 
• Responds to the prompt in a general manner 
• Repeats what someone else wrote, as the student obviously did not read through the other responses 
• There is a voice, but little evidence that the student read closely 
• There are no direct quotations; there are some concrete examples 

D and F range may exhibit some of the above qualities, BUT:

• Many blogs missing on a regular basis 
• Late blogs completed, but only after many are missing; completed in bunches after the fact 
• Rarely contributes to class discussion and/or often late or absent 
• Late responses that could be high quality but only completed to avoid a zero 
• A few sentences and comments, but little to no analysis 
• Does not return to discussion 
• Little engagement 
• Is openly cruel to a classmate 
• Knowingly inappropriate