Rubric, the all in one tool!

AR 7

I LOVE RUBRICS!  I hope that was clear for everyone.  :)

I suppose I have to substantiate the reason that I love rubrics, and that is something I am happy to do.

The first reason I love rubrics is that they give you an objective way to grade and assess student’s work.  This does not just include presentation projects, but also ‘regular’ graded projects (essays, book reports, etc.).  The rubric gives you as a teacher a way to go through each project and check off each of the important pieces of the presentation and make sure that they meet the specified standard.

The second reason I love a good rubric is that it takes the element of ‘surprise’ out of grading for everyone involved.  The teacher knows what is expected, the student knows what is expected and the students’ parents can see ahead of time what it is their student needs to do to achieve a good grade on their class work.  There is none of that “will my teacher like this” or “I wonder what my teacher meant when she/he said to do …” or my favorite “Why did my child get this grade?”  It is all there in black and white ahead of time!

Now, the key to making sure these two steps are really that effective is to go over the rubric when you first assign the project with your students.  Then show the students an example of a good presentation and a bad presentation (if possible from previous students).  This way everyone in the class can see what each element is meant to look like.  At that point the teacher can address any questions the students might have regarding the project or the clarity of the rubric.

Rubrics are a two-in-one solution.  They are instructions and a grading scale all in one.  To this end my presentation example has been added to my Curriculum page as well as my rubric (see below to view).

I’ll be honest, I used a teacher tool to create mine (I mentioned it in a different blog).  It is by far my favorite rubric site (I’ve used a few and this one I like the best).  The site is called RubiStar, and it gives you the opportunity to choose a grade level, a subject matter, and even different ‘typical’ assignments within each subject matter.  Surprisingly to me a digital story was one of the available options.

Once you pick all from all the categories you end up with a blank rubric.  On the left there are a number of cells and you can pick from the suggested list of categories (that already have pre-written descriptions) or you can choose to name something on your own.  The other really neat tool is that even if you pick a pre-designed category you can still change what each description says to match your curriculum needs.

You can also choose the weight point each category will get (on the top of each column).  I feel this tool is so customizable that it’s virtually adjustable to any project.  And the fact that there are different pre designed categories give you (as an educator) a hint on what types of questions/categories you want your students to achieve in this project.  I know for me it gave me two ideas that I had wanted to represent but I wasn’t sure how to grade within the project (flow and purpose).

Saving the final rubric into a word document is not too hard (you first save it as an excel sheet and then transfer it over to word document).  After that it was just a matter of uploading it to my wiki page as a file for students to view and download for their final project!

So please, read, review, and comment.  Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.  Keep in mind; this is a project for the first week of a Spanish class in high school.  The editting is a bit funky, for that I apollogize. 

Digital Storytelling: ¿Quién soy yo?
Teacher Name: Mrs. Stewart
Student Name:     ________________________________________
CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Point of View - Purpose	Establishes a purpose early on and maintains a clear focus throughout.	Establishes a purpose early on and maintains focus for most of the presentation.	There are a few lapses in focus, but the purpose is fairly clear.	It is difficult to figure out the purpose of the presentation.
Images	Images create a distinct atmosphere or tone that matches different parts of the story. The images may communicate symbolism and/or metaphors.	Images create an atmosphere or tone that matches some parts of the story. The images may communicate symbolism and/or metaphors.	An attempt was made to use images to create an atmosphere/tone but it needed more work. Image choice is logical.	Little or no attempt to use images to create an appropriate atmosphere/tone.
Duration of Presentation	Length of presentation was 3 minutes.	Length of presentation was 2-3 minutes.	Length of presentation was 2 minutes.	Presentation was less than 2 minutes long OR more than 5 minutes.
Grammar	Grammar and usage were correct (for Spanish) and contributed to clarity, style and character development.	Grammar and usage were typically correct (for Spanish) and errors did not detract from the story.	Grammar and usage were typically correct for Spanish but errors detracted from story.	Repeated errors in grammar and usage distracted greatly from the story.
Spanish Words	There were at least 3 Spanish words per slide/image that helps in the description and story flow.	There are 2 Spanish words per slide/image that help in the description and flow of the digital story.	There is 1 Spanish word per slide/image that helps in the description and flow of the digital story.	There are no Spanish words in the presentation. OR the words used are not related to the slide/image they are associated with.
Economy	The story is told with exactly the right amount of detail throughout. It does not seem too short nor does it seem too long.	The story composition is typically good, though it seems to drag somewhat OR need slightly more detail in one or two sections.	The story seems to need more editing. It is noticeably too long or too short in more than one section.	The story needs extensive editing. It is too long or too short to be interesting or clear.
Use of approved technology	The presentation was presented to the class using a previously approved medium.			The presentation was presented to the class using a non-approved medium.