Parent Portfolio Confrence

What piece of writing did you like best in my portfolio and why?: It was very hard for me to choose one because each and every one has its own merits.  The "Coming of Age" piece is very powerful because it was so personal.  Being that it was written from first hand experience it's surreal and I know It meant a lot for chad to write it and a lot of courage for him to let it out.  I hope that each time it's read it will bring healing and a resolve for Chad not to fall into that trap. However I also liked Chad's Quarter 1 final exam, his angry letter, and all for that matter because Chad has always had a hard time writing persuasive essay's.  Chad is not a very argumentative essay and in the past Chad has needed to work on supporting his arguments with sufficient and specific details.  So the papers helped him to work on an area of weakness.

What did you like about my portfolio and sharing and what would you like to see me improve on?: Even though it can be tedious and time consuming I enjoyed spending time reflecting on his work and going through the learning process with chad. I like spending time dialoguing areas of growth and areas of need.  I have enjoyed seeing Chad grow as a writer each semester. 

Which of the writing traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency) do you feel was most successful for me?: I think Chad did best on the Voice trait.  I was able to hear his voice in the essay's.  I see were he is becoming more creative with experimenting with different introductions.  For example: starting with a shocking statement, setting the scene,  and with dialogue.

Which of the traits of writing would you like me to improve on in the coming semester?:  I would like to see my son work on word choice and sentence fluency.  Chad tends to always use the same words like "good", and his sentences need to be varied in length and he needs to work on his parallel sentence structuring.

- Rhonda Masuda