Week 5 Creating a rubric

    Rubrics make assessing student work quick and efficient, and they help teachers justify to parents and others the grades that they assign to students. At their very best, rubrics are also teaching tools that support student learning and the development of sophisticated thinking skills. When used correctly, they serve the purposes of learning as well as of evaluation and accountability. Like portfolios, exhibitions, and other authentic approaches to assessment, rubrics blur the distinction between instruction and assessment.
I am familiar with rubrics but I have never created them with the help of the Internet tool – rubric maker websites (e.g. http://rubistar.4teachers.org/). It turned out much easier and time-saving.                       
I also value this practical assignment of this week very high – really necessary for every teacher.

The rubrics I created are determined for assessing my web project “We are the same, we are different” . The students of 10-B form (intermediate level) after making a web search on the topic will present their information in the form of a Power Point Presentation or a Movie. I included such dimensions into my rubrics: quality of information, organization, originality, mechanics, illustrations, multimedia and sources. I've chosen 4 levels of gradation: beginning, developing, very good and exemplary. The total score is 100%. The students will get the rubrics before starting their project and will know to what level to aspire and what to expect. The link to my rubrics on  Rubistar: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&module=Rubistar&rubric_id=1926775&.

Designing an instructional rubric takes time. You can create rubrics successfully if you have vast experience with rubric design, but if not, don't despair. Take some class time and create a rubric with your students. Thinking and talking about the qualities of good and poor work is powerfully instructive. Your students will not only help you come up with a rubric; they will also learn a lot about the topic at hand.  Creating rubrics with your students can be powerfully instructive.

Suggested reading:

 “Rubrics and PBL assessment tools” http://www.globalschoolnet.org/Web/pbl/plan/assres.htm

“Creating a Rubric: Tutorial” http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/eta/Rubric_Tutorial/default.htm

One more interesting article about creating rubrics: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb00/vol57/num05/Using-Rubrics-to-Promote-Thinking-and-Learning.aspx