Selection Sunday & The Model for Grading

Outside of Thanksgiving Day, I could make the argument that Selection Sunday is my favorite day of the year.  I can remember as a young sports lover sitting to watch the selection show and then going back to my computer, waiting for the modem to dial, waiting some more, clicking on the internet icon, waiting, finding the website, waiting, running my picks through my head as I’m waiting, refreshing, waiting, and finally finding the bracket to print off. 

Can you imagine having to do that in 2012?  The bracket will be on twitter in almost real time, and hundreds of thousands of people will have filled out their bracket before 15-year-old Me would have even been on the website.  It’s amazing to think about those ‘struggles’ we used to have (I know, I know, I can picture a bunch of my elders rolling their eyes reminiscing about the days they had to walk uphill both ways to retrieve the bracket from the local paper the next morning, in 5 feet of blowing snow).

(Without coats)

Anyway, Selection Sunday brings unparalleled excitement.  I repeat the phrase “the journey is greater than the inn” on a regular basis.  68 teams, upon hearing their name, begin a mental journey crafting their way through their region.  Fans everywhere print out their brackets, fill them out, print out more, fill them out, and then stand by the water cooler for three days discussing who they’ve got in the final four.  What is better than dreaming about going to the final four or winning the office pool? 

Those three days by the water cooler and some huge upsets are what it is all about.  You remember all of the upsets you’ve watched over the years, but each year I always find myself saying “there used to be far more upsets” when there really weren’t.  The games, more often than not, play out as expected, and then because the final four is played in a huge dome stadium with very different sight lines, the end result is a sloppy, low-scoring brand of basketball. 

The funny thing is, as the tournament rarely meets the level of expectations, we continue to come back for more each year.  We continue to pump this up as the greatest thing, and we sit down to watch the selection show to obtain that same level of excitement as the year before.  We all want the process of that journey of hope, and talk, and strategy, and…

How is this like school?  Well, it isn’t… yet.  When I sat down to compare Selection Sunday to school I thought about my class and grading.  My philosophy on grading is gaining steam with each and every day I enter my classroom.  I am grading the students on the process, not their final product.  I know it sounds odd, but after having this policy in place for 6 weeks, I get more and more upset when I hear students talk about how they are graded in other classes.  I really think our grading system as a whole needs a makeover because our students no longer take any meaning away from the grades that they receive and I don’t believe the grades they receive accurately represent their true knowledge and understanding. 

Here is my analogy of my grading system as it relates to Selection Sunday… (for the sake of the analogy, nutrition will be the unit we are working on)

- Sunday night bracket release = Introductory lessons to nutrition

- Bracket printout = unit objectives students must meet from nutrition standards

- Researching teams, listening to experts = research of topic within nutrition

- Filling out pool entry = Individual learning plan (self-made guide to project steps)c

- Water cooler talk = 1.  expressing what you have learned in a meeting with the teacher to satisfy unit objectives.  2.  Collaborating with peers/ group

- Editing pool entry = taking teacher or peer feedback and furthering research, development of project based around a nutrition topic

- Submission of final pool entry = an expression of what you know and have learned, accompanied by an explanation of “why?”  Showing you’ve met the requirements.

- The tournament, watching the games = Student project, expressing knowledge

- Upsets = setbacks (not failure, learning and moving on, improving product)

- Picking the Cinderella = Going out on a limb, trying something new, obtaining a new 21^st Century skill

- The Final Four = Submitting project to the website (The big stage.  A chance to share with a huge authentic audience). 

I believe the grading should stop at the submission of the final entry.  The project shouldn’t be produced for a grade, but produced because it is something the student wants to do, is good at, and enjoys doing.  The project should be produced in order to educate others on what you’ve learned.  It should contain student voice, and should be completed without the pressure of meeting rubric guidelines.  The project should meet the student’s individual guidelines of excellence.  It should uncover the intrinsic motivation of the student to do the best they are capable of doing with the teacher nearby as a facilitator to keep the student on track and provide assistance. 

Teachers:  ask yourself what grading that final product or test actually tells you and the student?  If they knew it before, but made a mistake on a test, is that test really an accurate gauge?  Give feedback rather than grades once you know that they know the material.  And if you don’t know that they know, that is where your expertise as a professional comes in.  Help them, teach them, don’t test them.  Don’t accept a product less than the student is capable.  If it isn’t great, guide them to greatness by encouraging them to improve it, edit it, resubmit it, but don’t put a number on it that gives the student false closure. 

The base goal is for the student to learn the curriculum.  When they submit their bracket and have met the unit objectives the knowledge portion is over.  Take the knowledge and use it to develop 21^st Century skills.  Let the students explore, create, try, fail, and improve.  Don’t make it about grading, make it about learning.  Learning new skills that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.  An 80% should tell you that a student doesn’t know 20% of the material, not that they’ve earned a B. 

Grade the process, not the product.

Create Selection Sunday in your classrooms.  Create excitement, give students the framework (bracket), and help guide students to realizing their potential.  Make grading about the process and reasoning for picking a team, don’t penalize a student in a gradebook because Cinderella made an unlikely run.

Take care,

Coach Mo