The appeal process for Portfolio 2 and final grades in general is going to be similar to what we did last time. The only significant difference is that you cannot resubmit your portfolio to me along with your letter for me to reconsider because I’ll be leaving on the 15th and handing portfolios back on the 14th. So, you’ll need to email me your appeal letter, and I’ll review it and make a decision based upon my notes from your portfolio and your letter. Also, the turn around for appeal letters is going to be a bit tighter because all appeal letters have to be in by no later than 5 PM on 12/18. After 5 PM on the 18th I will neither accept nor consider any letters of appeal. I do apologize for the tight turn around, but I have an engagement on the 20th that will make me unable to consider appeal letters after that point in time. So, the 18th is the last day that you can turn them in while still allowing me enough time to read and respond to them before the 20th.
So, this time the appeal process will be as follows:
1. Go home and read over both my letter to you and my comments on your individual essays
2. Decide if there’s something specific that you think I overlooked or misinterpreted or just plain missed that would maybe justify you getting a higher grade on either this portfolio or in class participation
3. Write me a letter calmly explaining your objection and clearly articulating why you think you deserve a higher grade and what you think that grade should be based on that reasoning
4. Resubmit your portfolio to me with your appeal letter no later than 5 PM on 12/18
At this point, I will read your letter and then email you my decision. If I do decide to change your grade, I cannot tell you the new grade over email, but I will change it on the registrar’s page where you can see it.
Tips:
1. “I tried really hard” is not something that I’m going to find persuasive. A’s are for quality work, not for effort.
2. “I didn’t know…” is also something that I’m not going to find persuasive. It’s your job to be proactive when you don’t understand something. So, if you were confused about what the assignment meant, then you should have contacted me about it well in advance of the due date. Also, “I didn’t know that I was responsible for work that we did in class on a day that I was absent” is also a no-go. You are always responsible for work that you missed.
3. What I will potentially find persuasive is you engaging with specific points that I made in my letter to you. For example, if I said that your paper was organized in a way that was confusing, you could counter with reasons why you chose to organize it that way. Also, if it’s a simple case of me saying that something wasn’t in your portfolio when it really was, you could easily draw my attention to that in a way that I would find compelling.
One final caveat, grades can either go up or down on appeal. So, be sure to consider whether or not you want to open yourself up to the risk of losing more points before you submit an official appeal.