While some educators create rubrics with which to evaluate the work they assign, this is strangely not a part of my job. Instead of creating a new rubric for each assignment, our school uses the Common Core as a huge, on-going rubric that drives student evaluation. I link certain standards to my curriculum and projects, but don’t create seperate rubrics. When a kid submits work, I ask, “What skills have been demonstrated here? What learning has taken place? Which standards match these skills/learning?” I then award proficiency for a standard or mark the standard as “possible.” Completion of standards then add together towards earning a course credit.
In this situation, how do I as an educator appropriately give value to creativity?
Working Solutions:
1. Note standards that can be leveraged toward creativity.
- ELA. LAN. 3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts to make effective choices for meaning or style and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
- ELA.WRI.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas concepts and information clearly . . .
- ELA.WRI.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences. (Skill A – Engage and orient the reader. . .)
- ELA.WRI.6: Use technology including the Internet to produce publish and update individual or shared writing products taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
Seeing creativity and innovation in standards is crucial for our students’ success, says James Paul Gee. He notes that, “if they’re going to survive in a developed country outside of low-level service work, they’re going to have to innovation and creativity.” So it’s not simply a matter of being creative for a higher purpose; there’s a very practical side, as well.
2. When students work to earn these standards, give feedback and ask questions that would spur their creativity.
- For LAN.3 : The idea of being more effective in choices for meaning and style is something at the heart of creativity, I think. It’s less about “rules” and more about doing “what works.” Ask questions like “How do I know I’m communicating effectively? What creative ways can I grab my reader and share my ideas?”
- For WRI. 2: Blogging would be a great way to encourage the writing of engaging informational texts. Ask, “How can I gain a wide online audience for my information and ideas? How will I grow my audience? Why will people come and listen to what I’ve got to say?”
- For WRI.3: Narrative writing is a great moment to be creative. Focusing on “engaging the reader” would be a great way to insist on creative expression. Ask questions like, “How will you keep your reader’s attention? What will make them want to keep reading?”
- For WRI.6: Publish in real environments. Provide students with great examples of dynamic websites, blogs, etc. Ask questions like “How will be reading this? How will you engage and keep their attention?”
Many of these ideas focus on engaging the audience in different ways for different purposes. Grant Wiggins calls this “impact” saying, “The point in any performance is to cause the appropriate effects in a performance, i.e. achieve the purpose of the performance. Yes, you get some points for content and process, but impact matters.” If we over-focus on process we are short-changing our students, because in the world of real communication, it’s the impact you make that counts.
3. Scaffold for creativity as I create curriculum.
- I can create projects that allow for a variety of creative expression.
- PBL is the norm for our school and real-world context is the goal. Providing great examples and giving them clear purpose will give them the motivation and context for creating something wonderful.
- Look at language use and patterns, and allow students to play with breaking the rules a bit.
Wiggins notes that it “is vital when asking students to perform or produce a product that you are crystal-clear on the purpose of the task, and that you state the purpose.” They need this context and staging if they are to reflect well on what, how and why they are doing what they’re doing.
References
Gee, James Paul. [Edutopia]. (2010 July 20). James Paul Gee on Grading with Games. [Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=557&v=JU3pwCD-ey0.
Grant, Wiggins. (2012 Feb 20). On assessing for creativity: yes you can, and yes you should. Posted to https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/on-assessing-for-creativity-yes-you-can-and-yes-you-should/.
Sodeman, Bill. (2009) Evaluation Scale. [Image file] Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/billsophoto/4175299981.
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