In the video, Ms. Mossman assigned a presentation for her students to research and ‘follow’ the lives of different writers throughout history. When coming up with an assessment for the presentations, she asked her students how they thought they should be assessed. They gave her ideas as to what they found very difficult and what ways they should be graded. I think that by involving the students in writing the rubric, it gives them a sense of being a part of their grade. It gives them a part of control, in knowing that they worked really hard on a certain part of their project and now they will for sure get graded on it. Also, if they struggled on a part of the project, if that is made known to the teacher, than it may be a small (if any) percentage of the final product. She also allowed the students to grade each other. Getting the students involved, again, gives them a sense of control over their grades. Sometimes students are able to give great opinions to other students that the teacher was unable to think of herself. Students are also able to interpret things on the same level as other students versus the teacher. Taking into account all of the extra opinions that the teacher has to work with on assessing students, he/she will have a better way to grade a student than if it is just them listening to the presentation. Also, if you are giving the student something to do during presentations, it will keep them engaged in the activity, thus learning occurs!
To do this type of grading for smaller children wouldn’t be ideal. It would depend on how young you are teaching. Kindergarteners, I don’t think should be grading each other because I think they do not understand the concept of giving someone a grade. But I think once students are able to form opinions about ones work, than they should be involved in the grading process.
For this particular assignment, Ms. Mossman could very well have just assessed the presentations on her own. She, more than likely, knows the information that is being presented and would be able to give a grade on how accurate the research was. But this would 1)Not keep the other students engaged, 2)Make a lot of work for Ms. Mossman, and 3)It wouldn’t be utilizing all the teaching opportunities available. Ms. Mossman could also have taken the information from the projects and combined them into a quiz to ensure the students were paying attention. But then again, 1)More work for Ms. Mossman, and 2)The students wouldn’t know what they key points are and they wouldn’t know what to look for (that would be on the quiz).
I like what Ms. Mossman did in her class. I think that integrating students into the grading process is a very useful idea. I think that the students are learning more by having to listen to the presentations and formulate opinions on what and why they should earn a certain grade. And the students who are presenting are getting more feedback. Getting feedback from the teacher is one thing, but when you have feedback from numerous people, who are at the same level as you, it is easier to comprehend.
-Korri M. Kraemer
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