Creating a rubric
At the beginning of term 2, Sue, Khismira and I created a DMIC rubric. On the left, you can see a large rubric with images. This is the rubric that my children can see in class. On the right are the criteria for each colour level. Throughout term 2, I explained this rubric to my class and gave students feedback on where they were on the rubric. I was really surprised with how engaged my groups were with it. Students would often ask me where they were on the rubric and if they had improved. I was honest with them, and explained exactly why they were at a certain point.
Changing our view of success in maths
After a while, I decided that instead of them asking me what colour they were, they could decide by themselves through self reflection. As we wrapped up each DMIC lesson, I would ask students to write their name on the book and colour in what they personally thought they were for that lesson. I was intrigued when I saw that Lesieli marked herself as red - meaning no effort. When I asked her why, she believed it was because she got some answers wrong. It was at this point that I stopped the whole class and straight up asked them "who thinks they suck at maths?". They all raised their hands. When I asked why, they all said the same thing, "cos I get the answers wrong".
From that moment, we've been working hard on changing our view of success in maths. I remind my class that it isn't about the answers, it's about their effort. It's about everything that is in the rubric and there is nothing about correct answers in the rubric. Just listening, speaking and working well with peers.
It was interesting to see that when I reminded Lesieli that her success wasn't about right or wrong answers, she changed herself to gold, 'buddy teacher'. And she was spot on.
If you skip to the video on slide 5, you will see the golden moment we had after our chat about what success looks like in maths. What a change in the general vibe!
The power of self reflection
On slide 3 you will see a Group Norm Goal poster. My team leader Helen found this online and I thought it was brilliant. Instead of focussing on the rubric, I am now using this every lesson.
I have printed this poster and keep it on my whiteboard where everyone can see it during maths lessons. Before each lesson, students choose their own goal. I write their name in that box and then we have a quick discussion about what those goals would look like. I purposely don't choose the goals for students because I want them to take ownership of their own goal. At the end of each lesson, they are now reflecting on their chosen goal. It's been great to see how honest some of their responses have been. We still have a lot to work on when it comes to self reflection, but I have already seen students begin to take more ownership of their effort and behaviour during lessons as a result of choosing their own goal. It's also been awesome finishing lessons on a positive note, where students focus on their goal rather than focussing on how many answers they got wrong.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes!
