Blogging can take many forms in an educational setting with students, but how do we “grade” them? I don’t have a complete answer yet. At the start of this task I simple started by reading other blogs on grading blogs. Integrating, Evaluating, and Managing Blogging in the Classroom was the very first blog I read on the topic, which lead me to Lessons from a First-Time Course Blogger. I found that these blogs really got me thinking about how I was going to grade blogs when I start using them. (And if it were not for this assignment, I don’t know that I would have thought about it before assigning a blog project!! Oops!)
In a class, grades are just par for the course. There has to be a tool to measure what students are learning. A blog is a great way to see how students are comprehending content, but can be a struggle to assign a grade. In science, part of the scientific process is communication. I plan to use a blog in science as a way for students to communicate about labs and other activities. I will want to grade some tasks for content while other I will want them to form an opinion and back it up. ‘How are you going to this?’ helped me understand a few of the ways a teacher could grade content of a post as well as comments. Most importantly the post helped me realize there is more than one right way to grade blogs, but having clear expectations from the beginning, as in any assignment, will make the blogging process easier for everyone.
While I don’t know for sure how I am going to grade posts, comments, and other content of a student blog, there is one thing I can’t ignore… GUMS! (Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, and Spelling) I want my students to free write at the start of a blogging assignments, however they MUST look over it be for posting. Just like a student would do before turning something in a traditional classroom. I have always struggled with writing for fear of messing up and looking “stupid.” It takes more than just the Language Arts teachers to teach writing. I feel not expecting students to take GUMS into account before a post is doing them a disservice, there for I am adding it to the rubric. (Even if I always get unacceptable!)
Below is the rubric I have come up with for a general blog assignment in science asking students to formulate an opinion on a given topic from class.
I like that you added the GUMS part to your rubric. Teaching first grade, I had not heard that term before but I think it is one that would stick in students minds and help them become better writers. Computers give us the ability to type what we want to say and then go back and re-read to check for errors which is much easier than traditional writing in the reviewing process. (darn it! I need a new sheet of paper - I have too many things here I want to fix and I won't be able to read anything!)Let me tell you how many things I fixed in this response alone! Sometimes I think we forget how much easier it is to type in a program where you can go back and make changes without having to start completely over.
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