Customer Reviews

Room 109: The Promise of a Portfolio Classroom

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Rich Kent embodies the metaphor "teacher as guide." In this text, he uses example of the richness of student input in something that is so much more than just a "how-to" approach to portfolios and portfolio assessment. I strongly encourage a deep reading of this text to make meaning of the real purpose, process, product of student learning.

This book is a must for any educator that is interested in portfolio assessment and individualized student curriculum. Although the focus is on english, all educators can benefit from the examples and ideas that are presented in this enjoyable and easy to read book. Inspiring and informational!

Mr. Kent has broken new ground and helped teachers everywhere with his clearly written text, Room 109. First year and veteran teachers alike will gain new insight and confidence from Kent's successes and adventures in his classroom. Especially pleasing are the countless models he provides, from parent and student letters to evaluation and response forms. Room 109 is a complete how-to manual for launching,managing and sustaining this very exciting pedagogy.

As a student of Room 109, I have experienced the use of portfolio's as a teaching aid. What a wonderful way to teach your classrooms so that a student can explore and learn on an individual basis. If you walk into Room 109, you experience the magic ad artistry that this idea has brought about. As we come into the 21st century, the views on how we teach must change with the times. Portfolio's are a new, and much needed change to traditional teaching. The book provides a "how to" for starting this type of class.

Published some 12 years ago, Richard Kent's ROOM 109 remains a potent antidote to the mentality that has taken hold in this age of NCLB, standardized tests, and data-driven practices. The Maine school teacher is a throwback to the golden age of what I call the "Peter Elbow School of Writing." That means Kent gives no tests in his high school English class and only one grade -- the one based on each student's portfolio.

Though adopting Kent's methods wholesale might exhaust many teachers, there's plenty of cherry picking to be had as Kent provides methods, forms, and anecdotes in abundance. Many of the Room 109 portfolio components can be adapted to suit the needs of teachers who are convinced, as Mr. Kent is, that writing is the ticket to self-discovery. Add it to your collection of books by Nancie Atwell, Tom Romano, Thomas Newkirk, Dixie Goswami, Penny Kittle, etc. Then begin some form of portfolio teaching to your classroom the next chance you get. Your kids will thank you (in writing) for it.

When I decided to become a teacher, I knew that I wanted to do things differently. Richard Kent's book gives me the information I need to transform learning in my classroom into dynamic, student-driven exploration. Teachers will tell you it's too hard to run a classroom this way. It's too much work to teach students the skills they need to produce a portfolio. If you have children, you know that it's just too sad to hear them say, "Leonardo daVinci is boring." Something is missing in schools' curriculum and instruction today. We need to make some changes in education, and portfolios appear to be a good solution.

Before I entered Mr. Kents class I was utterly confused and then I read his book and it really opened up my mind to portfolio work and now I feel like I can do anything in his and any other english class. Mr. Kent is the worlds best teacher and a wonderful author!