I based my teaching ethnography on my work as a WITS intern in a fifth grade writing classroom. I was fairly happy with my product, especially when I received praise and helpful feedback on my rough draft. However, I received a 3.5 as my final grade. This wasn't a bad grade, per se, and I understood my instructor's feedback for improvement, but I still found myself disappointed with the score. This was a healthy reminder for my perfectionist self that I don't always have to be the very best in the class or get the top score in everything, especially in a 400s level course where many of the classmates I'm being compared to are upperclassmen and even graduate students immediately preparing to become teachers themselves. I should be proud of myself for my efforts and for doing the best that I could, and in many ways measuring up to classmates much further along in school than I am. I also have to remind myself that I chose to devote much of my time in the week leading up to this assignment on my Op-Ed rather than hyper-fixating on writing my essay as I usually would, and that sometimes there are things more important than schoolwork. Update: I resubmitted my ethnography addressing the specific concerns my professor had offered, and got my grade boosted to a 4.0. My professor's comment: "Much improved, Zoe. I don't know if it's just because you were responding to my particular feedback (which could mean tailoring it to an audience of one), or what, but the revised version-- particularly that thoughtful analysis at the end, was so nuanced and thoughtful. That Bruffee quote, and your reflection on it, couldn't have been more perfect. Nice work. I hope you are pleased with this draft."
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