From
a very young age, we learn as writers how to stroke a different symbol to
portray what you are meaning onto paper and to make sure that your letters
aren’t too tall or too short. We
can categorize the basics of writing as a young student as simple as neat
handwriting, spelled correctly and makes sense. As we develop as writers, we put more effort into the words
that we are trying to speak. We develop our own voice that is as powerful
written, rather than spoken and we can achieve this level through different
strategies such as similes, metaphors and our ideas. To some writing comes naturally and becomes an escape route
for their thoughts, and to others the struggle to even get a pen down on paper
is their constant battle. As an
educator it is our goal to have our students develop different strategies and
resources to get their point across on paper. Johnston discusses, “With all of the pressure we feel today
as teachers to raise test scores and get students to meet standards, its all
too easy to forget to communicate how much we care about them as young people
and as writers.” When we have
taught our students and given them all of the tools they need to be a
successful writer, we can see that some students will continue to struggle with
their ideas and lack motivation to even begin writing. Where do we draw the line in failing a
student based on the product of the writing, and not on the process? This is something that many teachers
constantly struggle with in many aspects of school and not just writing. What constitutes a piece of writing as
an “A?” Yet again this ties back
into my entire notion that I have discussed throughout the semester on knowing
your students and making that extra effort to help a student learn, because
everyone has that capability.
In
my recent attempt at assessing my students, I was faced with a challenge in
deciding how to grade my students.
A rubric seemed like the most logical choice, that conveys a point
system and the amount of points that a student receives tells you whether they
are an “A” or a “D” student. To be
fair to my students, I created a rubric that consisted of grading based on
ideas and tasks that they have been learning throughout their time spent with
me. The different factors included
discussions about 2 or more characters, the setting, main ideas and spelling,
punctuation and legibility. I was
very happy at the rubric that I produced, but when it came time to actually sit
down and place my rubrics on my right and their writing on my left, I found it
difficult to give bad grades to students I knew that tried hard. I found myself giving more points to
students who put in more effort and have improved their writing throughout the
weeks. After taking a look at my
students work and looking at my rubrics, I knew something was wrong. I completely disregarded the actual
context of the rubric that I created, and was grading my students on who they
were as writers, the improvement that I have seen, and if they wrote up to the
standard that I knew they could.
All I could think was, what is the point of even having a rubric if I
feel confident in this type of grading?
This is where it becomes your decision as a teacher on what route you
are going to take when it comes to assessment. While it is inevitable that we can stray completely away from
assessing our students and putting a grade on their work, there are many
different ways to grade our students based on who they are individually, as
opposed to constantly comparing each student to their classmates.
As
discussed throughout “Assessing Writers,” by Johnston, we receive a preview of
a teacher who truly cared about the students growing as writers, as opposed to
having all exceptional grades in the grade book. One of my favorite ideas about his book is the discussion
and emphasis on conferencing with your students. As stated by Lucy Calkins, “We teach the writer, not the
writing.” This fits perfectly with
my teaching beliefs when I say that every student has the ability to learn
because when you take the time to individually talk to every one of your
students, you are not only understanding their needs, but you are getting to
know that student a little bit better.
If we take note of all of the needs of your students, you will be able
to reach not just a few students but your entire class. As Johnston states, “There isn’t one
writing process that guarantees success for all writers and through every day
assessment a teacher learns about students as initiators of writing…when a
teacher gets to know a student she also imagines what kind of a writer she
wants that student to be in a few months.” The idea of writing about “what the student does and then to
write what you can do to help that student” really puts into perspective that
every student needs something different and it is our job to find a way to
address that need. With that being
known, we already have a start on our assessments with our students. If we know what we have taught our
students and what we expect them to know and do, making a rubric should be
simple and same with assessment.
Assessing
is something that we as teachers dread because it is difficult to put a grade
onto something that may be so different from someone else’s. Even though we cant get out of
assessing our students, we can find ways to truly address how are students are
as writers that will satisfy parents and administration but it will also help
our students to learn what they need to work on. As Johnston said, “The point of teaching writing,
ultimately, is to help students become lifelong writers.”
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