Learning
how to write rubrics is something I don’t have much practice with. In a way, I
am intimidated writing them because it can be tricky to make sure they are very
specific but easy for students to read and comprehend. When I am completing an
assignment, having a rubric is very helpful. In order to help us learn how to
write rubrics, class included a cookie activity that was fun yet effective.
When
we began the activity, I didn't expect it to be the way it was. I was anxious because I was teaching my first lesson right after our class so my mind was a bit preoccupied. We
were told to write a rubric on how we would score a chocolate chip cookie on a
scale of 0-4. This activity reminded me of when I was in elementary and middle
school and we were told to write instructions on how to make chocolate chip
cookies in order to practice writing procedures. I felt this was a great way to
introduce rubric writing because it felt easier to write a rubric on chocolate
chip cookies than anything in a subject area (at least in class that day).
Unfortunately my group didn’t finish our rubric. We tried to make sure it was
very specific and we had trouble coming up with categories that were
sufficient. I was definitely just over thinking because we ended up having very
similar categories to the other groups.
The
class became very laid back when we were actually instructed to try 7 different
cookies and score them using another group’s rubric. However, I felt bad that
one of the groups had an incomplete rubric (sorry guys!). Eating the cookies
was a nice treat that actually helped me learn a lot about rubrics. I had
learned rubrics have to be very specific. You need to know what you are
expecting from your students, essentially, what you want to be turned in. There
is a lot of room for gray areas especially if it includes “good chocolate to
cookie ratio”. This can vary among the people grading. Something that is good
to me is not good for everyone else. It also has to be consistent throughout
each category. Also, one of the most important factors is that the rubric has
to line up with the objective. These are all things that I learned first hand
by completing the cookie activity. I know that the first rubric I write will still
not be the easiest thing in the world, but I do feel more confident than I did
before this class.
Tiffany, I agree this is one of the more memorable assignments I have done in an education class. I do not think i will ever be able to write a rubric from now on without thinking about cookies! As the group that got your rubric its wasn't that bad, as you guys had filled in top and bottom scoring criteria for most of it we were able to make an educated guess to figure out where in the middle something should fall. I think when making a rubric if you know what you will accept for a the most points and the least points you got it halfway made, from there you just have to break it down.
ReplyDeleteThis cookie rubric will always be in my mind while writing any other rubric in the future. It will be very hard to forget because every rubric ended up to be similar at the same time very different. Like you Tiffany, I am very nervous and know that writing my next rubric will be extremely tough. Making sure that it is specific and clear enough for the students to produce exactly what you ask for.
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