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Aloha Everyone, I am planning on having my student develop a rubric using GLO 2: Community Contributor and have questions before I have my students be involved in this process. One of the problems that I am foreseeing is that I have multiple periods and if I have each period come up with a rubric, does this mean that I have to have 4 different rubrics for my classes? Yikes! Any suggestion on how I could find a way to tie it into one rubric would be great. As you can see, I have limited knowledge or experience when it comes to student developing rubrics. Thanks, Randy

I forgot to mention that I am having students develop this rubric for my STEM class and that part of their grade will be collaboration. This is the reason for developing the rubric for GLO 2.

Hi Randall,
One suggestion would be to use an internet program like Rubistar with the students. That way each class would have a site where they could share with each other and collaborate to turn their individual/group rubrics into one class rubric. It would make it easier for you, too, to have each class rubric available under their class section, period, or name. You may find the rubrics to be very similar when they are completed. It may not be that difficult to combine them into one more generic one. Perhaps you could provide all your classes with the same levels of achievement or point values. That way they can could spend their time determining the attributes to be assessed.
Another idea is to create a google docs spreadsheet rubric and have each class download it. Allow them to be contributors. Each group could save the template, then use it as the basis to create their group rubric. You were the creator, so you will be able to view and make any changes you deem necessary before it is used.
Carolyn

Hi Carolyn, Thank you very much for your response on rubistar. I actually took the time to check that site out and have found it to be very helpful. I would like to have my students utilize that site once they gain a better understanding on how to create rubrics. I took your idea and ran with it on having each class create a rubric. I had my students read GLO (General Learner Outcomes)#2 which is a community contributor. I informed the students that they had to create a rubric on collaboration because the GLOs are skills that the State of Hawaii wants our students to obtain. The students read a rubric that the department of education created and we went over the pros and cons of the rubric and agreed that it was very difficult to be graded upon it. I then had the students surround a table with a big poster paper and each student had a different color pen. Each student wrote down one specific thing that should be included in their rubric for a community contributor. I had the students rotate one spot to their right and add to that person's comment. Once completed, I had the students read all of the responses and return to their seats. I then asked the students to only contribute what was necessary to meet that specific criteria. From there, I taught the students to make life easier for themselves by using specific terms from exceeding that criteria to not meeting that criteria.

Hi Randall, Carolyn makes an excellent suggestion using Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ with your students. I have had my middle school students create rubrics for some of the units throughout the year using the tool. One thing I have found helpful is to have each of my eight groups create a rubric they think should be used, print them out, then have them jigsaw with other groups sharing their rubrics with other groups. For those not familiar with the term, jigsaws are a sharing technique where each group develops something that needs to be shared with other groups. In my case, there are four members in each group and are numbered one through four. At the end of the task, I have all ones get together, all twos, threes, and fours get together and they then share what they created with their new team members. You can do this several different times, though I generally just do it once. All of the group members then come back together and share what they learned from the other groups. At this point the groups share what they learned and can modify their ideas from those they found in other groups or leave their task intact with no changes. I then have the class come up with a class rubric. After each class has done that, I share the rubrics from other classes with each class. Students are astounded to find that for the most part they all have the same idea as to what is important to be scored and the level of proficiency. I commend you for doing this because this really gives students ownership and buy in for the rubric and the project. Every time I have done this, the projects have turned out better than ever imagined and most are done on time. You are correct when you say “ … make life easier for themselves by using specific terms from exceeding that criteria to not meeting that criteria.” All of a sudden students begin to understand what high level work should look like because they have to think about it from the lens of a scorer instead of as a student that just wants to finish a task.

Hi Adah, Thanks for your response. I' just had my students create a rubric on what a good community contributor is (GLO#2) for Hawaii State Standards by collaborating and brainstorming. I will make sure to use what I learned from the journals that you sent me. Thank you very much!

Hi Sandy, I want to thank you for your response. I will admit that it was pretty interesting in how things turned out with my classes. There were the ups and and downs and I made it! I did not use rubistar but I will make sure to incorporate it into my lesson next time they have to create a rubric. I think this would be a valuable tool. I like your idea about doing jigsaw. I think the students would be able to learn more if they did that specific jigsaw in my class. Guess you can say that I have a lot to improve on but its a start. Thanks again for your awesome ideas!

No matter how many years you have taught, there are always things to learn. Part of the fun is trying something new each day. Page Keeley has an NSTA book that helps you with different strategies for sharing work, called “Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning, http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id= 10.2505/9781412941808 Another book I found at Amazon that has really helped identify techniques for informative assessment and student engagement is “Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College”, http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781412941808 I am glad everything went well. I look forward to hearing more from you in future form postings.

Hi Sandy, Thanks for your response and I definitely will keep you in the loop of things and how the class goes. I know that during Quarter 4, each group (group of 2 students) will design their own rubric for their STEM project which they will teach elementary students. This will help my students reach their goal of becoming critical thinkers and I will read the resources that you provided me. Thank you again!

What a great way to get kids involved! I love it! Great ideas