Midterm Meeting

At midterm, instructors meet with each student to review their progress so far. Here are some key points and questions for that conversation.

• Begin with a basic check-in. How is college? How is CODES? What is their favorite class? What are they struggling with?
• Look over the ePortfolio, talk about the specificity of their examples and whether they have enough examples. You may have some students who bring in examples from other classes or contexts, so look out for those. You can recommend other examples they might not have considered. If students are including links to entire assignments, explain you want to see key pieces demonstrating specific aspects of your learning. Emphasize that this is a place where they can show work you might not otherwise see (class notes, moments of collaboration, annotations of reading).
• If they are having trouble finding examples for a particular goal, you can either help point out how they might reach this goal in future assignments or choose a new goal.
• I also look back through my feedback and identify any patterns I see across their work. I give suggestions to improve and also find work I can celebrate.
• When you give them their midterm grade emphasize that this is where they currently are. If they are not meeting their goals, not submitting assignments, etc. It is okay to say, “you’ve said you’ve wanted an A, but you are really at a C right now. Here are some things you can do to improve to a slightly higher grade.” 
• You can also ask for ePortfolio revisions before assigning a midterm grade.