I recently found an article from the November 2008 issue of Education Leadership titled "Formative Assessment that Empowers". My action research has been on promoting student responsibility and ownership in my middle school art room and I continued to search for suggestions on how to do this with my students. One example outlined in this article was about a seventh grade teacher who had their students create a checklist and rubric to plan, monitor and refine their drawings of the water cycle. As the teacher walked around the room each day, he was able to refer the students to their checklist and rubric to offer connections or lack thereof. It was noted that students soon became focused on the checklist and rubric and it aided in the quality and accuracy of their drawings.
My eighth grade students are currently working on a micrography drawing lesson - drawing only with text. Before students began working with ink, I guided them through the process of creating a checklist for their work. We then used the checklist to create the rubric that will be used to assess the final drawings. The drawing checklist consists of the following criteria: Shading is completed using only text; Full range of values present (gradation); Final product is clean and undamaged (craftsmanship); Drawing is complete (design fills the paper); Creative design (unique, detailed, interesting).
Students will also be assigned to complete a written self-evaluation; this checklist consists of the following criteria: Complete sentences; Legible (easy to read and understand); Lesson vocabulary used correctly.
This is the first time I have created a checklist with the students - in the past this is something that I had always created for them prior to the beginning of the unit or lesson. For the most part I thought this process went over very well - because it was the first time going through this with students, I noticed that they did not offer very much for the checklist, so I had to really push for students to participate. I think that this would improve the more students are exposed to this process. Overall, this helped to give students a say in the work that was being assessed while also providing them with a very clear outline of expectations for their drawings.
Click on the link below for this Educational Leadership article -
Formative Assessment that Empowers
Example of Micrography
:) Your idea is VERY intriguing! I am very interested in the process of students taking ownership and responsibility -- those are ALWAYS a good thing in my eyes. The more they are aware that their actions have consequences and that they can CONTROL that, it is good. It also gives those higher achieving students something to aim for -- they are self motivated :)
ReplyDeleteThis idea may help me in some behavior issues in my classroom. The students in my classroom are VERY IMMATURE and they are unaware that they are disrupting other often or maybe it is that they don't CARE that they are interrupting others. Anyway, they could make a goal for themselves and rate themselves each day, with a goal being set for each week. It just might work!
THANKS! Your art project is SO GREAT! LOVE IT!
Thank you so much for the kind comments! This seemed to work well for most of my students. I, too, have some students that are very immature and seem to be unaware that how they act in the classroom has any ill effect on their classmates. I'm still working on ways to get them to put that energy into their work!
DeleteWhat a neat project. I love the example you provided. I agree, giving students ownership of their work makes it much more meaningful to them. They are apt to give their all when they take control of what they are doing. I also like to use checklists when giving an assignment for a project. I feel it helps them stay on task, and alleviates many questions that they potentially could have. However, do you find, especially within the discipline of art that a checklist or rubric limits their creativity? Sometimes I have seen when my students are using checklists that they stick to exactly what the list gives them. I feel that this may hinder their ability to produce their own quality projects. But I do agree, the checklists are nice to use and a good way to keep unorganized students on task and on track.
ReplyDeleteI do worry about the checklists getting in the way of their creativity - and there are definitely those kids that will do exactly what is on the rubric or checklist just because I gave that to them as a guide. I do not use checklists for every project, for that very reason. I do try to keep them very vague at times too, to keep them thinking creatively. This can be difficult for the students because they have almost become accustomed to being told exactly what to do. I always like to point out that I am challenging them to think creatively and that is not a bad thing!
DeleteI also like the idea of students taking ownership of their own work. I have found that it makes them more accountable. It is easy for me to conference with them by just going through the check list and have them show you what they have done. It also promotes them going over their work a second time to make sure they have everything done on their check list. Did you have any students who did not pay attention to the checklist? Our art teacher has used check lists and rubrics before and it has helped when a parent has questioned their child's grade at the end of the trimester. All the expectations are right there and either they have completed the items on the checklist or they have not.
ReplyDeleteI do think it helps them to stay accountable for the work they are doing and for showing evidence of their learning during a unit of study. Unfortunately, I do have those students that don't care to follow the checklist (and I honestly don't have a problem with straying from the list if they have other ideas - in fact I encourage it!) and a few who do not really care about how poorly they perform in class. With these students, I do like to use the checklists with parents so that they can see what the expectations were at the forefront.
DeleteLooks like a fun project! I like the idea of students showing ownership of their work. I think it makes the project more meaningful. When I taught design I created rubrics for the projects. It helped the students know what was expected. I really like that you went through the process of writing the rubrics with the students, so they had a say in what they needed to do to complete the project.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this process as well! The only unfortunate piece about that process was the time that it took to get through it. I imagine that it will get a bit easier to get students to participate in the process, but it can eat up a big chunk of time - but it is beneficial so it's kind of a toss-up! :-)
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