Rewriting a Rubric To Be Formative instead of Summative

In my last blog, I mentioned that my students had suggestions for improving their essay rubric so that they could better understand it. I went through and made all of their changes. As I made those changes, I began to see that my rubric lacked examples of what each category asked for. I added mini-examples such as a real thesis statement, a paragraph topic to support it, words that support it, real transition words, concluding sentence, etc. All of my examples supported the thesis example that I gave. With these changes, I feel that the students can “see” what each section requires. They no longer have nebulous terms but real examples to look at.

I will try it out on their this week’s essays and then have the students react to it next class.

How you changed your rubric to help students understand what is really expected of them?

Student Understanding of a Rubric – Not that easy!

Tonight in class I passed out an essay rubric and asked my students to circle any word or term that they did not understand. I said, “Imagine I gave this to you after you wrote an essay. I’ve circled some words that show you your learning gaps. Would you understand these words?” About 1/4 of the class circled items on the rubric that they did not understand or they wanted more clarification on. (I had revised the rubric from one from Rubistar) I will rewrite the rubric so that they can understand all the items on the rubric. One student mentioned he would like examples of each. A good thought but I have to consider how long the rubric will be. At present it is two sided. After I use it once with them, I will ask for them any more clarification on the rubric.

How well do your students understand your rubric? How beneficially is it for them?