CODE121 Class Portfolio
Your Goal Grade
Highlight the header for the column below to indicate which grade you plan to work toward in the course. Meeting the basic requirements for your chosen letter grade, according to the table below, is mandatory.
| A Work | B Work | C Work |
| – Misses two classes or fewer, or makes up excused absences – Completes all readings on time and annotates them thoroughly – Contributes deeply to discussions – Meets all assignment and draft deadlines or has approved extension – Work shows engagement, care, effort, and growth – Abides by the CODE of Conduct and classroom norms | – Misses three classes or fewer, or makes up excused absences – Completed and annotates most readings – Often participates in discussion – Meets all assignment and draft deadlines or has approved extension – Work shows care, effort, and growth – Abides by the CODE of Conduct and classroom norms | – Misses four classes or fewer, or makes up excused absences – Completes most readings – Sometimes adds to discussion – Completes all major assignments, meets most draft deadlines, and turns in x – Meets minimal expectations on assignments; shows some growth – Abides by the CODE of Conduct and classroom norms |
First-Week Introduction
I chose my five goals based on things that I feel that I can already do to a certain extent. I found the list of goals to choose from slight intimidating at first, because there were certain ones that I truly had a difficulty with understanding. After reading through more of them and rereading a few of them, I began to create a better understanding, which allowed me to choose goals that stood out to me the most. The first goal that I felt stood out to me was goal 4c, which was applying my knowledge in order to address issues within a community to create solutions. I feel that I am a very socially aware person, which gave me confidence that this is one that I could fulfill. I then chose goal 5c, which is creating research questions that are relevant to solving an issue, and explaining why those research questions are relevant to address. A trait I would use to describe myself would be articulate, which makes me feel that I can fulfill this goal with my strong ability to explain what I think. Next, I chose goal 7a, which is showing extreme interest of a research topic by indicating my in-depth knowledge on something that is likely unknown to most people. Being able to truly dive into the history and story of another individual is something that I want to be good at for the rest of my life. I believe that I can improve the quality of my own life if I can understand others on a deep level. Having the skills it takes to show that is something that would be truly meaningful to me. The fourth goal I chose was goal 8c, which is being able to generate a main topic view and using strong communicative skills in order to explain where the idea came from. I feel that this goal goes hand and hand with being able to strongly articulate myself. If this is something I can prove to be strong at, then it would make it easier to obtain my other goals, as well as communicate my views with others. Lastly, the goal that chose was 9b, finding several different ways to tackle an issue and solve it. I believe that in most cases, there is not only one way to solve a problem. Being able to identify several ways to go about handling an issue is a skill that not everyone has and could go a long way. Creating options allows for discussion on which route would be best to take, that way when I’m working with a group, I can help show several different approaches and take the most effective route. The project that I am most excited about this year is the Final Project in November. In the overview, it mentioned how I will use storytelling as my medium, create a poster, design a system, and explain it. These are all things I love doing individually, but this project allows for all of those aspects to be combined into one assignment. That is something I find amazing! The assignment that I feel may be the hardest is the reading annotation one. I have a feeling that some of the readings that we will do will not always come easy to understand. Some of them may take more effort and time to truly grasp and annotate. In order to create success for myself this semester, I need to focus on time management, working when I am tired, and being able to engage in class even when I’ m having a hard time understanding something. There are times when I take a little longer to learn than others, and I have to learn to be patient with myself in order to stick with the assignments and persevere through the hard times.
Midterm Introduction
During this semester, I have learned several different skill sets. I have learned to do in-depth rhetorical analysis, produce multi-media writings, and learn how to document my progress day by day. Out of everything I have experienced over the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed doing digital project #1 the most. I was given the opportunity to practice my photography skills for the group project, which I found immense value in. I learned how to create my own images that have rhetoric imbedded within them. Although I developed these new skills, not everything in this semester came easy. I struggled with revising my flawed assignments and time management. I have excelled at showing my understanding of new material, adapting to new ways of thinking.
Final Introduction
[Now that the semester is over, use your introduction to reflect in-depth on your process. How well did you meet the goals you set out to meet? What did you learn that surprised you? Focusing on your goals for this class, what do you want to remember to take with you into your future courses? What strategies can you use to continue developing toward these goals?]
Course Goals
Choose five goals from the CODES Student Learning Outcomes that you’d like to work toward. Choose goals that are relevant to the scope of this course, select artifacts/examples based on activities assigned for this course, and explain characteristics in a way that illustrates how your artifacts/examples demonstrate your progress toward the goal.
Goal 1-2b (20%)
I will take new approaches that are outside of my comfortable learning style to learn new things.
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| I will be open to new approaches and take opportunities to learn outside of my comfort zone. | I will add my DP3 assignment, reflections of new content, activities outside of the classroom, and DP1 content. | My DP3 assignment should be about a topic I have no prior interest in. My reflections of new content will show how I tried a new learning approach. The activities I do outside of school will be brand new experiences, and my DP1 assignment will have a unique approach. |
Goal 2-5a (20%)
I will create research questions that are relevant to solving an issue and explain why those research questions are relevant to address.
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| I will learn how to logically analyze and break down a communities issues, and list out the problems in order to create research questions | I will add images of issues within a community, screenshots of pieces of writings that reflect problems that need to be addressed, lists of the issues that should be handled, and my own well-crafted thought processes in order to form research questions. | Images, screenshots, and citations found from research must correlate with the questions I raise. My research questions writings must reflect understanding of the evidence of issues found. |
Goal 3-7a (20%)
I will deeply explore topics that are new to educate myself.
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| I will annotate very thoroughly when doing readings on assignments. | I will add annotations, screenshots of research I find interesting, and write my own in depth analysis’, and look for facts or statistics that may be overlooked. | The indication of research that is genuinely relevant, interesting, and shows awareness/understanding of a research topic. |
Goal 4-8c (20%)
I will generate main topic views and using strong communicative skills in order to explain where the idea came from.
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| I will practice finding a central idea, and then being able to communicate it orally and back up my reasoning. | I will create presentation slides, notes on my presentation, transcriptions of my speakings, and writings that show why my presentation was effective at addressing a central idea. | All examples’ reasonings must show that the central idea I created is relevant. They must be well made, showing a strong effort was applied. |
Goal 5-9b (20%)
I will find several different ways to tackle an issue and solve it.
| What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill? | What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning? | What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal? |
| I will speak and collaborate with others that hold different perspectives on the issue at hand. | I will write about my conversations with people who hold varying views on an issue, add citations of studies that show different views or facts, add images of me talking to stakeholders about an issue, and list out all the different ways I learned that an issue could be effectively solved. | Clear images of myself interacting with stakeholders, multiple citings of research that are relevant and different, and my own analysis writings that mention different approaches to a problem. |
1) Digital Project 1 – Goal 1
My classwork in CODES has truly helped me to step outside of my comfort zone and think differently. The first Digital Project from CODES 121 was a brand new and unique experience, which truly had en effect on my learning career as a college student, but also as an individual. I’m not one to usually choose group work as my first option of learning, especially when trying to tackle complicated work. I have always been independent, and I typically don’t enjoy relying on others. Digital Project 1 truly pushed me to collaborate on work with a team in order to complete an in-depth project. We planned our assignment, met up to take photos, and coordinated over IMessage to put it all together. I found it difficult at times because we weren’t always on the same page, and coordinating outside of class can be a hassle. I found it even more difficult that all of my group members were very new to me. This project gave me an opportunity to persevere through a dependent learning standpoint, rather than relying on myself. Our final product came together very nicely, showing me that I can learn effectively from a collaboration standpoint.
2) Digital Project 2 – Goal 4
Digital Project 2 and CODE 121 allowed for lots of flexibility on how the assignment could be done. I chose to write my DP2 on how my past as an entrepreneur has played a significant role in who I am today. In this assignment, I went in depth in chronological order on my main topic view of the Silver Creek Area CEO entrepreneurial class I took my senior year. I made sure that my writing was easy to follow to anyone who does not know about my life, or the CEO class. By the end of that multimedia essay, you will have been able to understand exactly how I was changed greatly from my past business and class experiences.
3) Research Questions Prepared for a Site Visit – Goal 2
A photo of a list of research questions I prepared for a Windshield Survey
When analyzing a new community, it’s important that you know what you are looking for, or at least have an idea. If you go in without curiosity, then it will be quite challenging to collect significant data and information. Knowing this, a classmate and I designed well-thought research questions to ask for a windshield survey in Florissant. Lots of these questions have answers now because I knew to keep them in the back of my mind when I was on the visit. This paperwork proves how I am strengthening my ability to form research questions and seek answers.
4) Exploring New Math Concepts – Goal 3
A photo of my math notes from week 7 of first semester Math 120.
I wouldn’t say that math is necessarily a strong-suit of mine. This is a class that I struggle in often, and it takes a lot for me to get a good grade. However, I decided that taking in-depth notes and working out my own problems would be a smart way to apply myself and do better within the class. As a result, I took these notes, which I now look back on proudly because they represent my understanding and willingness to learn a new concept. After writing these notes, I realized that I have enough discipline to educate myself on things that I don’t directly enjoy, which is an amazing trait to have in life.
5) Finding a Source of Income During College
A photo of Kris Sadler and Dream, taken by me.
I’ve always known that I wanted to establish a meaningful social media presence. That’s exactly what I began in my first few weeks of being a student at SIUE. As a side effect, opportunities began to fall into my lap. I grew a decent following of people who would be willing to pay for my photography services, and very quickly I became a photographer and social media influencer. These two things have truly played a large part in my first semester, being my main source of income and keeping me from working 40 hour weeks. While these make up my main income stream, there are also many other ways I intend on making a living while in college, such as a business model called User Generated Content. Having plans like these truly helps me feel more financially secure as a student in college.
6) Vision Board and Self-Reflection Learning – Goal 1
A photo of me and my vision board I created during a CODE lab.
I would argue that visual future planning and self reflection is a learning style. Creating a piece of art to visualize when trying to learn about myself caused my realization that sometimes visuals are just as important as words. I likely wouldn’t have enjoyed this assignment if I didn’t get to add my own personality and color into it. I feel that reflecting on your own life is done better when I sense of visuals is added into it. Creating visuals also allows for my imagination to flow differently than if I were just jotting words down.