Kirsten posted this cartoon, and I really thought it tied in well with what we discussed this week in literacy:
I think that assessing writing can be tricky for educators. Depending on where the kids are in their writing curriculum, a teacher can be looking for content, grammar, syntax and spelling. What Routman was saying (and as a group, we agreed with) is don't get so caught up in the format of the written peice, but look also at what the child is saying (or trying to say) in the piece. Is the thinking there? Are the ideas contained in the writing? Routman cautions against using rubrics to assess students' writing because then the writing becomes stifled and narrowly defined-- as she puts it, "rubricized." But then what I wonder is: What if our unit or lessons are on very specific elements of writing, like punctuation or correct essay formats? If the ideas are there, and are well-written and expository, should we make a mark that lets the student know that the ideas are wonderful, but the rest of the essay (format-wise) needs work?
It seems difficult to find that line between grading and judging. The last thing I would want to do is damper a kid's enthusiasm for writing because I found errors in the way it flows, or say, wanted them to write their own story, but in my way (see above, ha)! I do like the six traits handout we were given the other day-- I'll most likely use that as my guide (depending on grade level, of course), but I also think a lot of it boils down to knowing your students (imagine that--going back to something we focused on in a major way during the beginning of our tenure here at UWB)!
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I think that assessing writing can be tricky for educators. Depending on where the kids are in their writing curriculum, a teacher can be looking for content, grammar, syntax and spelling. What Routman was saying (and as a group, we agreed with) is don't get so caught up in the format of the written peice, but look also at what the child is saying (or trying to say) in the piece. Is the thinking there? Are the ideas contained in the writing? Routman cautions against using rubrics to assess students' writing because then the writing becomes stifled and narrowly defined-- as she puts it, "rubricized." But then what I wonder is: What if our unit or lessons are on very specific elements of writing, like punctuation or correct essay formats? If the ideas are there, and are well-written and expository, should we make a mark that lets the student know that the ideas are wonderful, but the rest of the essay (format-wise) needs work?
It seems difficult to find that line between grading and judging. The last thing I would want to do is damper a kid's enthusiasm for writing because I found errors in the way it flows, or say, wanted them to write their own story, but in my way (see above, ha)! I do like the six traits handout we were given the other day-- I'll most likely use that as my guide (depending on grade level, of course), but I also think a lot of it boils down to knowing your students (imagine that--going back to something we focused on in a major way during the beginning of our tenure here at UWB)!
