Process and Product: Contradictions in Practice
It’s been a joy welcoming students back to the classroom this week and getting to know their names, faces, and personalities. I work really hard to welcome students into my room, to learn and use their names as quickly and often as possible, and to create a space where students feel comfortable working hard, making mistakes, and being vulnerable. It all starts with that first day. My daughter, Robin, absolutely loves making art. When I came home from work earlier this week she had an artistic creation to show me. She made some crayon and marker scribbles and glued some pom poms onto a piece of colored paper (she’s 2 and a half). I was very proud of her artwork and started complimenting different parts of her piece. As I was doing this, she ripped off a few pom poms and tore parts of the paper. She had a great time making the art, but had no connection to the final product. For Robin, art is a process. The first mathematical activity we did in class this year was a pretty simple question: How many golf balls would it take to fill up this room? I gave students a handout, a golf ball, rulers, whiteboards, and 20 minutes to work, at the end of which each group presented their answer and thought process. The first time I ran the activity, I wrote answers on the whiteboard as groups presented. This led to a focus on what the answer was, and what the correct answer should be, which was counter to what I intended for the activity. The next class, I didn’t write the answers on the board, and just let groups share their process, without focusing on correctness or on the final result. This worked a lot better, and students were more engaged in the sharing process, regardless of the answer. I shared the story about Robin’s artwork and mentioned how to me, process is more important than product. Then, I shared the next slide about my grading policy. I grade 100% on assessments because I believe that grades should only represent what students know and can do, and should not be based on behavior. A student asked about the obvious contradiction in what I just shared: If process is more important than product, how can I only grade on product? I responded with my belief on grades, but also acknowledged the tension between those ideas and said that if we can come up with a better system for grading, let’s give it a shot. So what do you think? Is there a way for grades to value process without including biased judgements of behavior? Is a grading system based 100% on assessments an equitable way to grade? Is my grading system a value judgment? What are some different ideas to try and what could be improved?
0 Comments
|
AuthorMath teacher, Instructional Coach ArchivesCategories |