Category Archives: essays

Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs

Posted on by
Rick Wormeli

Who is Rick Wormeli? Keep reading to discover why I included a photo of this forward looking educator. Hint: It is not because he has grey hair.

More and more I have been encouraging students to redo essay assignments. Essays are my high stakes proof of understanding assignments. I break down essay assignments into four parts.

Students begin by turning in a research assignment. This consists of a list of references with quotes, notes and summaries for each reference. I often let teams do the research, with each team member being responsible for finding a certain number of references. Team members then discuss the value of each reference and help each other assemble their individual list of references. Once the references are turned in I give a small grade indicating my confidence that these references and notes will lead to a successful paper.

After the research has been approved students are required to individually write an outline for their paper. What is the criteria for a good outline? I tell them that someone should be able to write a good essay using nothing but the material they find in the outline. The thesis, the claims, and the evidence should all be included in the outline. The outline also receives a small grade.

Next the students write the essay. When the essay is complete each student must have one or two other students read and critique the essay. While the critiques are happening the essay writer must ask questions from and take notes on a prepared form. The essay writer then goes back and edits her essay and submits it along with the evaluation form.

If after all of this is done, if the essay writer is not satisfied with her grade, she may rewrite the essay one time for regrading. This has been pretty successful, especially with students who received poor essay grades. They read my notes. They ask me questions. They rewrite their essays and almost always receive a higher grade. Sounds good. Maybe I have this whole thing figured out.

But then I listened to a couple of Rick Wormeli videos and started rethinking this process. He is a standards based grading guy. This is something I have been looking at more and more. With a standards based system students do and redo until they meet the standards. When they meet one set of standards, they move onto the next set. At various points these can be translated into letter grades, but the focus should always be on meeting the standards.

To be honest, my school back in the ’70’s went to standards based grading and it was pretty much a bust. There were lots of check lists and lots of writing, and little understanding by anyone. Standards based grading has come a long way since then. We have the C3 Framework. We have digital portfolios. We know much more about standards now than we did a half century ago. (Yes, I am that old.) I am eager to revisit standards based grading and will be looking for inspiration and edification from Rick Wormeli’s videos and books.

If you would like to join me in exploring standards based grading, watch these two videos. See if they make you want to do something different. Send me a reply.

Rick Wormeli: Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs, Part One

Rick Wormeli: Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs, Part Two

That One Time I Had An Idea…

Posted on by
I have so many ideas that I don’t even know what to do with them. Finding the time and energy for all of the things swirling through my head is a daunting task. Once I have an idea, and I think it’s great, I automatically think about how I can make it better…and then I get overwhelmed and it becomes a vicious cycle. 
I actually had so many ideas for blog posts, and they all live in my head and I haven’t found the time until now (because I have to) to actually compose my ideas in this blog…woops?
Anyway. My most recent idea came from Lacy Matthews: 
She’s the best! 🙂

who made an announcement about immigration over the loud speaker one morning during prayer in first period. I got inspired in that instant to assign my Spanish 3 Honors students the task of writing a personal narrative of an immigrant coming from a Spanish speaking country during this time. Students were to write their story in the first person from the perspective of an immigrant (obviously in Spanish).  First they were required to pick a scenario: which country? What is this person like? What is their family like? What challenges or successes arose from the immigration process?

Students researched social media posts, news articles, blogs, vlogs, pretty much anything available to them to get the most accurate, authentic perspective they could find. And they really enjoyed it. They were tasked to work in groups, and produce a dramatic, first person perspective narrative of what an immigrant might go through in various scenarios.
My students found themselves learning about government policies regarding immigration, polarizing perspectives, the daily struggles of someone living in a war-torn country or a country with limited economic opportunities. They found themselves feeling compassionate toward individuals that they had never encountered before. They learned things that weren’t readily available in a textbook or a lecture, and that’s awesome.  Oh, and I guess they learned some Spanish along the way too 😉
I found that my students were really into this project. They took pride in what they were doing,  and they wanted to do it well. They were meticulous with the grammar, conjugations, subject verb agreement, adjectives, and the best word choice, because as one student put it: “I want to do these people justice. Their story is important, and I owe it to them to do a good job.” 
(And then my teacher heart exploded into a million happy pieces!) 
I later found out from one of my students who has Lacy for religion class that she was simultaneously teaching about immigration and was showing a film titled: “Which Way Home?’ (I think that’s what the movie was called, my brain turned to mush during Christmas break, correct me if I’m wrong, Lacy). Students in her class were also privileged to see a guest speaker who discussed immigration policy and bills regarding the issue. I was delighted to know that several of my students in my Spanish class also share Lacy’s class and we were discussing the same themes.
This unintentional collaboration happens more often than not with my classes. Somehow whatever I happen to be teaching completely coincides with another discipline, and then BAM! Interdisciplinary teaching. The only problem is, I don’t want to have to find out from my students what’s happening in other classes, but it’s a welcome blessing anyway. I love to see that my students are making the connections on their own without it being forced. I like when learning is organic, and when students can come to their own conclusions on their own. 
Back to what I was saying about so many ideas…I like this project…It has been great so far, but I want to do MORE with it. I’m open to more ideas and suggestions because I want to expand on this topic. I don’t want to just leave it as an essay. Let me know your thoughts!