Essay Number One
High school did not adequately prepare me for college. Instead of teaching the key fundamentals of college and how to succeed, they spent more time going over things that have been already taught in previous grades. They covered items that would only help prepare for the standards of learning and other tests. Instead of teaching materials that would help us in college and help us succeed in college they [mgh1] kept on with the mediocre things. Things high school did not prepare me for are developing good study habits, good note taking skills, and being able to do things on my [mgh2] own. Things that are needed in the success of all college education.
High school did not prepare me with good study habits. Teachers would always tell me to study but[mgh3] because I knew that there would be a review before a test, quiz, or any form of testing, I never felt the need to do so. I always relied on cramming in notes before an assessment and looking over a review sheet that looked exactly like the test. There was never a situation that I was in during high school that made me wish I studied more because nothing ever had a bad outcome. Now that I am out of high school, this has resulted in having to break bad habits and create new habits. I have to learn to stick to this if I want a better outcome of grades.
It also didn’t help that the note taking skills weren’t all that great. My teachers always had handouts, fill in the blanks, or always put the power points online for us to retrieve. I never had a teacher that asked me to take notes or understand the fundamentals of good note taking. When I started my first week in college, I didn’t know what to put and what not to put. [mgh4] Which items were easy to remember? My first history class I was looking around and I realized that some people had pages of notes while others didn’t even have half a page. I looked around and wondered whether I was doing the right thing. I am now trying to learn the ins and outs of taking notes and hoping that the note I take in class will help me when it’s time to review them outside of class.
Another thing high school should have prepared students for is doing things by oneself. I can say that I know how to do things on my own but [mgh5] there’s a lot of things that high school teachers like to hold your [mgh6] hand and do with you. If they took the time to let you make your own mistakes, there are things I would have been better prepared for. Instead of letting me know that high school is not the same as college, I would have rather liked to see a bit of the college life in high school. Teachers are always saying to me and other students that high school and college are not the same but never take the time out to show or exemplify the differences.
High school should take more steps into insuring that students are ready for post-secondary education by helping us understand the importance of note taking skills, instill a good study habit and allow students to adapt to doing things on our own. It will help a student understand the college life better.
Writing Sample Placement Test- Scoring Rubric
| |
Advanced (4) |
Accomplished (3) |
Needs Improvement (2) |
Unsatisfactory (1) |
| Purpose
Introduction-
Thesis stated or implied
Body –
Unity, Coherence, and Development
Conclusion –
Discussion brought to complete close |
A- Response is direct and advances the thesis skillfully
B- Sense of subject matter expertise is present
C- Logical sequence, smooth transitions, natural flow
D- Arguments clearly connected and highly effective
E- No contradictory or mutually exclusive statements |
A- Clearly responds to question posed; clearly stated or implied thesis
B- Understanding of topic is demonstrated
C- Logical sequence, good transitions, standard organization
D- Arguments consistently advance the author’s intent
E- Few, if any, contradictory or mutually exclusive statements |
A-Attempts to address the question; poorly stated or implied thesis
B-Slight awareness of topic ; reader has a vague idea as to what to expect
C-Loose sequence; standard development patterns not used
D-Discussion drifts to a new topic
E -May contain some contradictory or mutually exclusive statements |
A- Does not address question; thesis not stated or implied
B- Purpose of paper is not readily apparent
C- Lacks logical sequencing
D- Discussion shifts from topic
E -Contains numerous contradictory or mutually exclusive statements |
| Content
Examples
Explanations
Details |
A-Criteria for three (3) are met
B-Fully developed discussion points
C-Reader can easily envision the points presented
D-Writer “paints the picture” for the reader |
A- Support is sequenced logically
B- Direct connections between discussion points and purpose
C-Provides reader with sense for idea(s) presented
D-Sufficient details and explanations |
A-Contains generalized statements
B-May contain thesis and/or topic sentences
C-Reader is not provided with insight concerning points presented
D -Few amplifying details or clarifying explanations
|
A- Fails to provide details and explanations
B-Generalized statements are not developed
C- Basically attempts to use broad statements as support
D-Reader cannot gain a sense of the writer’s intent |
| Clarity/Syntax
Audience Awareness
Style or Point of View shifts
Word Choice
Sentence Structures
Modifier placement
Fragments
Run-on (comma splices)
Garbled/out of control sentences
Simple sentence excess |
Few, if any, errors occur
A-Shifts do not occur
B- No more than two word choice
C-One sentence structure error |
Errors may exist in several areas; no significant difficulty in a particular area
A-Five or fewer shifts in person
B-Any text containing three to five word choice errors
C -Any text containing two sentence structure errors |
- Demonstrates significant difficultly in a single area
A- Six to nine shifts in person
B – Contains six to nine word choice/usage errors
C-Contains three sentence structure errors |
Demonstrates significant difficulty in two or more areas
A-Ten or more shifts in person and/or major concerns with word choice/usage and sentence structures
Demonstrates extreme difficulties in a single area
B-Ten or more word choice/usage errors
C-Four or more sentence structure errors |
| Conventions –
Usage-
Verb forms
Noun forms
Subject/verb agreement
Pronoun usage
Punctuation –
End marks
Commas
Capitalization
Other punctuation
Spelling |
A- No subject/verb agreement errors
B-Three or fewer noun/verb form errors
OR
C -Excluding spelling errors (WSPT only), combination of errors seven or fewer |
A- One or two subject verb agreement errors
B-Four to six noun/ verb form errors
OR
C-Excluding spelling errors(WSPT only), combination of eight to fifteen errors |
A-Three subject/verb agreement errors
B-Seven to ten noun/verb form errors
OR
C -Excluding spelling errors(WSPT only), combination of errors of sixteen to twenty-five errors |
A- Four or more subject/verb agreement errors
B -More than ten noun/verb form errors
OR
C- Excluding spelling errors (WSPT only) , combination of twenty-six or more errors |
[mgh1], they
[mgh2]Parallel structures
[mgh3], but
[mgh4]awkward
[mgh5], but
[mgh6]Shift in person