Rubrics, really?

Yes really.

We used to have rubrics on the reverse side of the instructions for special projects or research papers. One side explained in several paragraphs what you were supposed to do. The other side was a form which showed specifically what you had to do to earn a specific number of points. It broke it all down. These were great while they lasted.

I started last year doing what I called check-backs on instructions, where I underlined or highlighted the specifics buried in the instructions for assignments. This year I've starting just making my own rubric, going one step further.

For example, in AP Psych we were assigned to do either a PSA, book or case study explaining one kind of condition. The explanation was several paragraphs, and since I was working with two other people on a team (and I'd carried one of them before on projects teams like this) I decided to convert the long description to a form that we could use to divide up the work, like translating it into what we had to do.

That last part didn't quite work out, but I did actually have them come over to my house and used the form to make sure we had done everything we needed to do. It kept us on track, and when we were done it turned out that ours was the best one.

Plans are great when they work. But first you need a plan.

Trouble in project team land

Is it me, or does everyone have problems with projects where you have to work in teams?

I used to think it was the project, or the people on the team with me, or even the way the instructions were set up. Now I think it's just the way these things go.

Once or twice the work's been divided pretty much equally, or we've all worked together to get it done. But for most of them I've carried the team, either because I cared more about the grade or just because I started early enough to be able to pull it off when everyone else waited until the last minute.

I've written skits (with costumes, set and recording!), made posters, created illustrated books, constructed science models, printed up brochures, and completed countless PowerPoint presentations. And my name was the first of two, three or more who got equal credit.

I know that I could and should have done it differently, and I'm getting better. But maybe I'm a little more creative, or maybe willing to work a little harder, or just like to do projects more.

My grades are great for these things, but so are my teammates's grades. But I notice that when the teacher asks to keep the project to show as an example for future classes, the question is asked of me. Too bad there's not a bonus grade for that.

What are you proud of?

I was asked recently if there was something I was especially proud of, and I was kind of surprised by the question, because it really was focused on school accomplishments. My answer was a little bit surprising too.

I am most proud of how many projects my teachers have asked to keep so they could be used as examples for future classes. It isn't just the grades, although of course getting the highest grade on a special project is pretty great too. My pride comes from creating something so good that it was considered the best example to show others about how to do the assignment, setting a standard to aim for.

The other day I saw my Silk Road scrolls on the wall in the AP World History classroom, and I hear that the video of the one-act play about two young traders making their fortune on the Silk Road was shown to this year's classes. Down the hall is the Catch 22 billboard and the Greek Isles brochure. The champion purple and white mousetrap car is on display in the lab. Across campus is a book explaining the parts of the brain for my AP Psych class, and over in the theater department there's an exact scale model of a furnished medieval castle great room. Across town at my old middle school is the periodic table I made using flavors and colors of jelly beans, and a book explaining Newton's laws with original cartoons. All were kept for examples of best of the best.

There are fewer and fewer projects every year, and I miss them. They were fun and I worked hard on them, but it's nice to leave a kind of standard for the kids who come after me.

Besides, I'm too old to have them on display at home. I am, right?

Supply central

I'm about to get my driver's license so maybe this will change, but I am going crazy discovering that I don't have what I need just about when I need it. I know, I know. I should think ahead, plan better, anticipate, I get that. But I'm a teenager, OK? I'm busy here.

But I stumbled on a solution. My mom has what she calls the disaster closet, only half kidding. When we had that big flu scare she went out and bought all kinds of medicine and supplies, and now when she runs out she goes to the closet and shops for what she needs.

I mean, it's kind of funny BUT I kind of like it for solving my problem.

I have one teacher who only wants black pen, no blue ink. I have another who wants pencil only, no pen. A third teacher wants us to always have a yellow highlighter and a red ink pen. And another who wants hand colored maps with map pencils, not markers that bleed through. Then there's all the other stuff I need for projects.

So I have a big drawer of back-ups, extras, and more extras. And a whole shelf in the disaster closet, filled with paper and supplies.

Crazy, but sometimes you have to pick less crazy over more crazy. Especially when they take off points.