Solving the Rubric Cube:Designing Rubrics that Promote Mastery and Student- Directed Learning
Links used during the presentation:
These tools are great way to support active engagement, formatively assess, and promote conversations within your classroom.Why a rubric? Rubrics are a tool that can guide students towards mastery of standards, while promoting creativity. When done correctly, a rubric can challenge each student wherever he/she is on the learning continuum and provide students ownership over the learning process. As the lead learner in the room, our responsibility is to do what is best for students, not what is easiest for us. We know that for students to become creative and critical thinkers, they need the opportunity to apply their knowledge in authentic and meaningful avenues. Rubrics provide the framework for assessing student mastery in these types of projects. |
Challenges
By thinking through some of the challenges we have faced with using rubrics, we can begin to address them at the beginning of the process. Because of our digital world, students want to have a voice in their learning. When we give them a teacher-created or computer generated rubric, most learners will disregard it. In their eyes, the mastery expected needs to be transparent, clear, and fair for all.
Standards versus Expectations
Rubrics can quickly become overwhelming for us and our students. We want for our students to exhibit strong habits of learning, work ethic, and citizenship. However, should those elements be included within a student's grade? We need to answer the questions: What is a grade? What is mastery? What do we want for our students to be able to do with their learning?
Equity
We all have diverse students who fall all along the learning continuum. Ambiguity needs to be removed so that learners have a clear view of their goals. Students need to have the ability to use choice, creativity, and meet individual goals when applying new knowledge. Rubrics need to foster this type of equity in our classrooms.
Student Ownership
With the devices in the palms of their hands, today's students are masters and commanders of their lives .They crave control over their learning choices, this includes how they are assessed in reaching mastery of standards. As teachers, it's important that we remember that what we do is about them and not about us. With our guidance, students can create the rubrics that will assess their learning, giving them that control that they crave. Here is the example student-created rubric that I shared.
By thinking through some of the challenges we have faced with using rubrics, we can begin to address them at the beginning of the process. Because of our digital world, students want to have a voice in their learning. When we give them a teacher-created or computer generated rubric, most learners will disregard it. In their eyes, the mastery expected needs to be transparent, clear, and fair for all.
Standards versus Expectations
Rubrics can quickly become overwhelming for us and our students. We want for our students to exhibit strong habits of learning, work ethic, and citizenship. However, should those elements be included within a student's grade? We need to answer the questions: What is a grade? What is mastery? What do we want for our students to be able to do with their learning?
Equity
We all have diverse students who fall all along the learning continuum. Ambiguity needs to be removed so that learners have a clear view of their goals. Students need to have the ability to use choice, creativity, and meet individual goals when applying new knowledge. Rubrics need to foster this type of equity in our classrooms.
Student Ownership
With the devices in the palms of their hands, today's students are masters and commanders of their lives .They crave control over their learning choices, this includes how they are assessed in reaching mastery of standards. As teachers, it's important that we remember that what we do is about them and not about us. With our guidance, students can create the rubrics that will assess their learning, giving them that control that they crave. Here is the example student-created rubric that I shared.
Please stay in touch. I would love to continue these conversations. You can follow me on my blog at [email protected], on Twitter and Instagram @juliedramsay or on my Facebook author/educator page, Julie D. Ramsay.