We have two articles to review. Growing Beyond Grades presents a student-centered approach to teaching and assessment, a somewhat rare idea in the age of standardized assessment., but much along the lines of what you have been discussing online. Are students capable of measuring their own progress? The third piece is from National Writing Project and contains concrete teaching ideas for inclusion in writing programs, some of which have been discussed earlier. (I included this selection because I thought it might be helpful in starting your implementation paper.)
The discussions were have been rich on assessment. Continue your conversations about the Six Traits, assessments, and grading practices. Consider posting a writing/project rubric, idea for approach to grading, or a successful strategy for responding to student work. Continue to share what works for you and how you practice modeling.
The discussions were have been rich on assessment. Continue your conversations about the Six Traits, assessments, and grading practices. Consider posting a writing/project rubric, idea for approach to grading, or a successful strategy for responding to student work. Continue to share what works for you and how you practice modeling.
I guess something that I do to give a writing grade, because I HAVE to have a grade for the report card, is that I grade the process as well as the final product. For example, I give a grade for how complete their pre-writing is, I give a grade for completing the editing step and editing their peers' papers, and then I give a final grade for the writing. I feel like this puts less emphasis on coming up with a perfect final draft and more emphasis on the process of writing. It also makes that final draft less 'high-risk', as it isn't the only grade in the grade book.
ReplyDeleteI liked the end of the article where the author stated, "When we give students freedom to take risks, a stake in their own progress, and the language to understand the writing process, their fear of writing will turn to excitement." I take that to heart. I want my students to be excited about writing....that is my daily fight!
ReplyDeleteWhew! Did anyone else have trouble reading that article? It was really blurry on my computer.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness there are no "grades" in kindergarten. My assessment of kindergarten writing is completely by portfolio. I try to conference with each student weekly and save a piece of writing at least every other week (my kindergarten students produce about 4-6 different pieces each week in their writing folders). When conferencing I look for things that show students their growth; maybe they have moved from labeling a drawing with one letter for an object to sound spelling out a multi-letter label, maybe they remembered to start their sentence with a capital letter this time, maybe their sentence gives more detail than their last effort. Whatever I can find to show them how much better their writing is getting makes them more eager to start on a new piece (or go back and add detail to past pieces). At a conference I pick one item that I will discuss with the student and ask them to work on in their next piece (no matter how many things I am really itching to ask them to fix). When report card time rolls around I have a sequential portfolio to look through and share with their parents.
The National Writing Project list was great. I had some real, concrete ideas, some of which I already use, some I will implement in the future. I especially like the comments about students' drawing from their own experience to write. Everyone's favorite subject is thenself, and I think this is especially true of kids. A collegue of mine does an autobiography unit with his freshmen every year and gets reluctant writers to write thousands of words about their lives, their struggles, and their successes. For kids to care about improving their writing, the have to care about what they're writing about. Having them pull from their own experience is a great way to do that. Also, I think kids are completely capable of assessing their own writing. The problem comes when self-esteem issues and doubt rear their ugly heads. By providing kids with rubrics, we can help them figure out what good writing is and know that they are capable of producing a quality product.
ReplyDeleteI liked reading Meghan's thoughts about grading the process as well as the product. I want my students to be real writers, and writing for a grade is not what real writers do... they write for the piece of writing, for the joy of getting their story on paper and completing it.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the 30 ideas list, especially #19 with Ireland's dynamic ideas for grammar instruction. I also liked the list of questions for students to ask themselves (#21). Reading the breakdown of that list gave me lots of useful ideas for my classroom.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/opinion/20selsberg.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
ReplyDeleteThis is a link to a story in the Op-Ed section of the New York Times from last week, or this week (recently anyway), that argued it was vital for students to be able to express themselves in short, manageable, effective language because that is the type of language that is most required in the 21st century workplace. The author pointed out that while he still required his students to complete the “5-paragraph” essay, he also has them do extremely focused, short (tiny) writing assignments in which they have to focus on succinctly expressing a coherent thought. There’s no room for “BS”. I found it an interesting article, especially in light of this week’s reading, because it reminded me of the idea from the National Writing Project that encouraged teachers to take a page from yearbook class (#28). This focus on short, concise writing also then gives the teacher time to work with each student, simply because there is less text to wade through. It’s an intriguing idea, especially at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
I would like to move "Beyond Grades". Perhaps next year I'll have more flexibility. Like Meaghan, I give my students a grade for the process, as well as the finished product. My process grade relies heavily on prewriting and revising. I have my students score their own papers, then I review what they gave themselves. Just like in the article, I find that my students are score themselves close to what I would give them. I was trying to encourage them this week with how much they have grown as writers. Now, as a class, we have a common language. I can say, "Your paper is weak on strong verbs. You need to revise for more active verbs," and they know what I'm saying. We talk about sentence structure, quality adjectives, paragraph organization, and voice with understanding. It's great to see them looking for ways to add description and detail in their papers. I believe this comes from using rubrics and self-evaluating. I would like to move my writing instruction more towards the model in the paper, of having students set goals. I have not tried that yet. New ideas for the implementation paper.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the article was a bit blurry to read but sure was worth the effort. Its essence was in a statement that in order to help our students grow into lifelong writers, we “must empower them t o access their own progress” because “writing never ends”. We need to trust students with the assessment of their own work and teach them self-evaluation with the rubrics and thoughtful feedback. More often than not they are hard critics of their own writing. With the guidance of rubrics and constructive feedback from teacher and peers, the students can be motivated to do better. I remember showing “My Access” writing samples to a group of three students who were revising their papers, when one of the students student said, “My point 4 writing can be much better that this”. Exactly! Replacing fear with excitement about writing is what I will keep working on.
ReplyDeleteI love the National Writing Project list and find it to be very helpful in getting us on the “same page” and having us share the common language of Six Traits. I scanned the list and emailed it to all HS ESL LA teachers with whom I work, hopefully, not violating anything serious with this “bold move”. Great professional read!
At my school, I am required to do entries in the Grade Quick program every Friday. If I get more than 2 Fridays behind, a principal will come remind me to do it. It only takes one reminder for me to never miss Fridays again. I don’t like the “Big Brother” feeling that comes with a principal.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to grading reading, it is easy, with the assignments I give them. Writing is a bit harder. I don’t want to discourage a student with a 50% grade, which is accurate for some of them. I want them to feel they are successful writers and focus on participation and effort. If they don’t try their best, their grade will be lower. If they try hard, and even make the effort to edit their mistakes, their grades will all be higher (“A’s” or “B’s”). My classes are special education classes and don’t count toward a regular diploma so I don’t have the stress of having to have grades on the curve with the rest of the school, thank goodness. All my students know, they are being graded on trying their hardest and making the most of the skills they have and new ones they are learning.
Most of my students have a very difficult time realizing that a skill I have taught them, like the use of apostrophes, should be immediately used in their writing. They can see the lesson but can’t apply the information.
I also, as my fellow teachers liked the 30 ideas for teaching writing. I listed all the things I want to try in class from the list. This week we have been doing resumes but will have them finished by Monday afternoon and I want to try #20 -- Ask students to experiment with sentence length. I am certain we will have to do it as a group. My students think when they write a sentence, it is perfect exactly the way it is. Group work in search for words to make the sentence sensory, or descriptive for example will certainly come out when the group review the individual’s work.
This article gave voice to many of the issues my school has been dealing with in writing. This is our greatest area of challenge. This year we set in motion a plan to reach a goal of having 1-2 pieces of writing per quarter taken through the entire writing process, graded using the six traits.These are sent home to parents with six trait rubrics explaining the grade. We are saving at least four pieces of writing per student on a digital data base that makes the writing accessible for the following year's teacher. We have four different types of writing, each graded on two of the traits. It has been difficult and time-consuming to implement, but in the end, it has been a great thing for school. We start by showing actual student papers that are scored according to the two traits of the present assignment. Then we have individual teacher-student conferences discussing their first draft. They are welcome to ask for additional input on their writing until they submit their final draft which is graded on two of the six traits. Over the year we cover all six traits. I am quite proud of this in my school. We have worked for several years to find a workable and meaningful way to assign and assess writing. It is a goal that I feel we are very close to achieving.
ReplyDeleteHI everyone. I have two different google accounts that are posting. Just to let everyone know. lalion is Suzie Feuer. Can't quite figure out how to correct all this.
ReplyDeleteAt this moment, my husband is creating a writing assignment for his Science class. "Do you have a graphic organizer for them?" I asked.
ReplyDelete"A what?"
"They need an organizer to help them organize their thoughts." So we made one. "Do you have a rubric?"
"Do I have to have one EVERY time I make a writing assignment?" he asked.
"Ahhh, come on. It's simple." We check out Rubistar, make an adequate one. "Now they know exactly what you want, how to organize it, and how it will be assessed. You'll get a much better product." He looks doubtful.
"I'll be consulting with you throughout the week," he says.
It's so exciting. The students will be shocked to find all their normal writing class steps being followed in science! I can't wait.
I find myself on the fence with the “Growing Beyond Grades” article. Yes, if students are going to grow up to be actual writers they have the luxury of wallowing in their writing and creating multiple drafts and thinking about writing as “process” and “nonlinear,” but for most of us there are deadlines and there are “final grades,” whether that is an actual letter grade or whether that is the approval or disapproval of our superiors when we send out an email. We aren’t asking our bosses to conference with us about our writing techniques and we probably aren’t having the guy in the next cubicle over give us a peer review before we hit send. Closer to home, we have things like the SBA tests and the HSGQE which require students to be able to produce on-demand, quality writing with very high stakes. Sometimes it is important to care about the final product, and sometimes the product is final. I think there needs to be a balance between the “process-driven, writer’s workshop style writing assignments” that “Growing Beyond Grades” supports, and assignments that teach “on-demand, here’s how to efficiently and effectively craft a competent piece of writing” that real-world, workplace style writing necessitates.
ReplyDeleteRubrics and conferencing:
ReplyDeleteIsn’t this the challenge? I love rubrics because the students and especially parents know exactly what they grade is for. I hate that we are encouraged to use rubrics but our grading system doesn’t match up. I struggle with applying a point value to a rubric.
We teach the 6 traits at my current school and many years ago when I taught at a title school had the pleasure of attending Vicki Spandel’s workshop. We would also do the cross -district assessments and that was a very helpful tool of assessment. These days I rely on rubistar.com to create rubrics. This is a great site that allows you to customize for exactly what you are assessing. I have several general ones I can use or I can make one just so for certain projects.
As far as peer editing, ugh! Helpful in theory but I have found it requires so much time and follow up it is easier and more time efficient to do it myself. We do attempt peer editing and for the first go round it is acceptable. I do a ton of modeling first, putting samples up on the projector and going over the desired skill. I find that really narrowing down what they are looking for helps. Otherwise it is too much and they don’t see anything.
We also talk about constructive criticism and that is still very much in progress.
My son is in seventh grade and his teacher uses the color coding, I have been super impressed with what it has done for his writing and have been looking for ways to make it fourth grade friendly.
So many challenges, so little time!
Apparently, I lost my first post. I'm not sure of why it didn't post, but alas, I'm rewriting this. Hope I hit all of my points!
ReplyDeleteI feel the article sums up my feelings towards grades in general. Being a special education teacher, I have often questioned whether the A is more of a motivator and the F being an un-motivator, for lack of a better descriptor. In the pull-out setting, my students earn grades for participation and completion, rather than letter grades and percentages for mastery. Let's be honest, if we lived life at a 60%, we'd be pretty darn bored, or sleeping an aweful lot. And what does that 60% really measure? My instruction is objective and goal based, indicating that students are progressing at a measurable and tangible rate. My students identify progress and mastery by correct words per minute or correct written sequence. At this point, I'm not completely sure of why we haven't progressed to more of a skills based assessment, anyway. We have standards to instruct by, but we have grades to evaluate, which makes absolutely no sense to me.
With that said, I also agree with Stacey's perspective in regards to the article. Students need to identify, at some point or another, that there are writing pieces that need strong correlation to the final product, and which ones can be a work in progress. SBAs, HSGQE, and future jobs will dictate that students write on demand for a final product, and students need to be able to identify ways to write and communicate in response to these demands.
My biggest suggestion regarding these times is to educate and instruct our students to outline or develop rubrics to help them identify where their paper begins and ends to write and meet the demands of the assigned task. It's easy to do something when given a checklist, but the process of creating that checklist is far more daunting. I think this is part of why students struggle, at least in my school, to come up with original ideas and complete these on-demand writing pieces; they haven't been given the tools to create their own checklists or rubrics. Furthermore, without taking that ownership in the writing process, determining what is important and whether it's relaying to the reader what it is you set out to relay is less of a personal process. I think students invest less of themselves in the writing process and eventually lose interest in becoming a life-long learner and writer.
Now, how do we instruct that? I have no clue. Suggestions are more than welcome!
I am still confused, I think I posted the response to last week earlier here. I'm as bad as my students, where do I turn it in?
ReplyDeleteAs for this weeks reading, "Beyond Grades" that is exactly what I have been writing about. I agree BUT what do we about the system?
Linda, you made me nervous. We are getting a new principal next year and that is worrisome. Sometimes a writing project can stretch out for a couple weeks! I guess you can always "grade" the parts of it.
This article was extremely meaningful. I feel similar to Meghan, we are required to get a grade for Writing and I often have a hard time keeping the writing grades “not important” and the writing the main goal of the grade. It is hard to explain, I guess what I find the most difficult is the idea of keeping the grade less focused on the correctness of spelling or grammar and more on the students understanding of being honest and meaningful in their thoughts. I don’t think that my students view writing as something that can be used to express they thoughts and feelings and more as a way to torture them set up by me, the teacher. I really liked the idea of focusing on the process of writing, the planning, drafting, revising, and editing, not the final outcome necessarily. The idea that “style and voice can only be judged subjectively” is something that I need to always keep in mind when considering the importance of writing. When we add a grade to writing is definitely emphasizes the importance of correctness and not the meaningful aspect of the expression.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the article I found extremely helpful was the common language section. Making sure that all the students in my classroom have the same understanding of the writing process and the aspects of good writing definitely makes an important show of writing. Just giving examples of good writing and the process of writing really helps my students and I think that the most important thing is to make sure that the students understand that writing is their own and they can change the example to fit their own needs. My students are still working on separating the example from their own ideas.
What a crazy week! Two things stood out for me with two of the articles. In Growing Beyond, it hit me that I've been trained to give grades to everything, that it would keep kids motivated. It did work in a previous position w/ highly gifted students, but I'm not sure it was very useful over all. I like the idea that we can get away from using grades that way, but I will have to work on my own "letting go"...
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I have students now that can help me. They're not that grade-driven, and love my feedback on their writing. I do find though, that a lot of them (boys mostly) want to be "done" and aren't that interested in multiple drafts. "I"ll just take the C+"
I loved the idea in the NWP article about headline news on Monday mornings. I truly believe the Monday-talkies can either make or break the lesson plan. Why not play along, adn have the kids make headlines about their life events, then give them each 3 minutes on the spot? Great idea I will use next week.
I agree with all who love rubrics, and Zan, thank you for the rubistar reminder!
I use rubrics not only with writing but across the curriculum. When I give a project I also give the students the rubric so they know exactly what is expected and how the project will be graded.
ReplyDeleteI find grading with a rubric much easier in science and social studies. Using the rubric for writing is wonderful but then the idea that a grade has to be attached is the problem. I use a 6 traits rubric for writing and the intent is to help students improve as writers. I struggle with the grading expectation.
Students also use a rubric to evaluate their own writing. The rubric they are currently using is one that a group of teachers created off of our school district's rubric to make it more user friendly; language that students could better understand.
In the article "Growing Beyond Grades" it points out that until students are able to evaluate their own writing they focus on only the grade. I find this true and that the honesty doesn't come through in their writing; focus on what will get them the good grade. Modeling for students how to use the rubric to evaluate their own writing then letting them use it is a big step for them as writers. Also with this process students develop a common language along with setting their own goals for writing. Even struggling writers blossom in this process and grades become much less of a focus.
I also use the rubistar site for creating rubrics.
As I read this week's writing assignments, the thought occurred that writing is like creating art. Painting, sculpture, architecture and the other visual arts are made from various elements that, when blended with skill and understanding of the process, becomes "art." Writing is the same. Art students learn color theory, composition, perspective, drawing techniques, and scale, among other things. The Six-Trait Writing Analysis Tool forces us to examine some of the elements that make up the "art" of writing.
ReplyDeleteWe writing teachers should network with art teachers. They break down art into components that students can learn individually and then synthesize. Also, art teachers develop vocabulary and elements for evaluating art.
When I worked at a university auditorium as a lighting technician, I was assigned to work with one of the art professors who had designed the scenery for a production of the musical Oklahoma. We spent several weeks painting background "drops" and set pieces. I learned a lot about evaluation and critiquing from him. These are the same processes (applied to writing) that we're trying to develop in our students. I tell my students combining sentences, varying sentence length, using vivid verbs and so on are "...what good writers do." I think I need to also emphasize that actively evaluating one's writing is another process that good writers do.
I enjoyed browsing the National Writing Project website. Among the list of ideas, I liked "Work with words relevant to students' lives to help them build vocabulary." This is something I have been trying to incorporate in my classroom and I have blank notebooks for students to start their own dictionaries. I would like to use the ABC book idea to start out the dictionary.
ReplyDeleteAbout "Growing Beyond Grades," I totally agree that kids need working time grade-free. Writing needs it obviously and in math, too. I actually have been experiencing that when I tell my students "this work will not be included in the grade book," they write better, make more through observation, and use more sophisticated problem-solving strategies! Then I ask myself, "what I am doing other times???" I know for a fact time, including the time to go back and forth, and time to pounder ones thoughts in the process of writing is crucial, in addition to teachers students familiarized with 6 traits and their concepts.
We have workshops and professional classes to deepen our knowledge in different writing models, reading strategies, etc., all sorts of techniques and methods that make the transfer of the information from teacher to students go quicker, so the students will "perform" better. I have never come across with a class that raised so much awareness on the teachers need to give time for students until this one. I just have to think of ways to make more time.