Nicole Marvin: Authentic Assessment to Inspire Student Growth

[Nicole Marvin]

I currently teach regular freshmen and regular junior English at Spanish Springs High School.  Next year I will be teaching honors freshmen and regular junior English.  I teach and use writing in a variety of ways in my classroom.  Students use writing in my class to connect to the text, further their comprehension of characters and people, as a tool to analyze text and express ideas/opinions.  Of course we use writing for other purposes as well but these are the overarching uses of writing in my classroom currently. 

 

My freshmen students are still eager to learn and advance their writing but I have more difficulty with my junior students after they have passed the high school proficiency examination.  Teaching juniors I have noticed that once they receive a passing grade on the proficiency examination their growth as writers tends to shut down. Especially my students who are not college bound. They have been told for so long that the reason they need to write is to pass this exam, however, this exam takes place early their junior year resulting in their attitude that their task of learning to write is complete. The writing skills and variety of skills being tested are limited on this exam as well.  The perfect time for students to play and experiment with their writing skills in a variety of ways is after passing the high school proficiency exam.

 

My difficulty with inspiring students to grow as writers is finding a way to authentically assess their writing with the purpose of growth, especially when all of my students have a different set of writing skills. The quandary I have experienced with using a writing rubric is that students often get the same vague types of rubrics to grade a variety of writing assignments.  The goals for good and bad writing are usually very fuzzy and impersonal to their skill level.  If students could take a teacher created rubric or goal set and apply their own skills and input they may be less likely to see their passing score on the proficiency exam as a final destination.  They may also be more willing to push themselves and improve their personal skills knowing that they have a chance to be successful no matter what level they are starting at. 

[Kelly Rubero]

Nicole,

I really like how you focus on inspiring your students with authentic assessments! I look forward to seeing some of the student created rubrics and hearing about the successes that your juniors had at the end of the school year.

Kelly

[carol bergin]

Nicole;
I can share your dilemma (only on a much smaller scale) with teaching the 6th graders with special needs. Just explaining how a rubric is a learning instrument and how it will help them poses a teaching problem. I need "a carrot" for almost any writing assignment and am looking forward to your presentation.