My Personal Experience Using Rubrics and Checklists
holistic and analytic. In my personal experience as a student, I have always appreciated when teachers/professors have provided a rubric for assignments or projects. I believe that rubrics deliver clear expectations to students as well as guidance. In EME 5050, we have learned about two types of rubrics,
Although more time consuming to create, I believe that an analytic rubric offers a more detailed description of expectations as well as a breakdown of specific weighted components. As a student, I prefer using this type of rubric when completing assignments. I believe that using an analycatic rubric helps me to be more organized and successful when completing assignments or projects for a class.
As a first grade teacher, I also feel that it is important to use rubrics to help provide clear expectations to parents and students. At the primary level, I provide kid-friendly rubrics and checklists in the classroom for students. For example, in writing I use this Sentence Smiley checklist.
I also use rubrics as guidelines for parents to help their children at home. For example, the weekly homework packet that I send home has a cover page in a rubric format with cells to help parents understand what is expected and when assignments should be completed. Also, in my monthly newsletter that I send home to parents, I include details about what standards we are covering as well as a small checklist at the bottom of what students are expected to know to meet on-grade level expectations for the current nine weeks.
I also feel that using rubrics helps to enhance communication with parents. Providing clear expectations limits continuous questions or confusion. Also, parent-teacher conferences and report card conferences seem to run much more smoothly when teachers have an organized rubric or checklist system to show parents. From my personal experience with parents, I find that most want to help their children academically, but need a little guidance as to what skills and strategies to practice at home. Providing this information can greatly impact student performance.
All in all, I have used rubrics from the student’s and the teacher’ point of view. In both cases, the pros outweigh the cons. Yes, rubrics may be time-consuming to create, but I feel they make a positive impact on student achievement. This is my ultimate goal as an educator.
For further information on why teachers should use rubrics in the classroom, check out the article “Rubrics to the Rescue”. Also, if you feel inspired create your own digital rubrics, Rubistar and iRubric are a great place to start. I personally prefer to use iRubric for formatting purposes.