Grading is Difficult... Incorporate A Rubric!

This week in my welding and electrical class I began grading the work my students were doing for more than just completion and participation points.  My welding and electrical class is a really good group of guys.  With only seven in the class small group work and individualized instruction is the way to go!  These seven gentlemen have very little experience welding and it has been a challenge for some of them.  However, at the same time they take right to the tasks I assign them and give it their whole hearted effort.  Which I stress to them is all that I ask.  It is an awesome feeling when they come up to me and say “Mr. Tate how does this look?” or “Mr. Tate can you give me some advice on how to make it look like it does on the poster?”  The no quit attitude they have as a class is stupendous.  And the smiles on their faces when they are given a word of encouragement or praise on a job well done makes me smile as well from ear to ear.

So here is a quick run-down of the class there are two freshmen, three sophomores, one junior, and one senior.  With every grade level represented in the class it is fascinating to observe the class dynamic.  As a whole they help each other and work well together when given a group assignment. 

As I stated earlier I began grading my students on how well they could do a specific type of weld.  Grading them has been a challenge because each student is at a different skill level.  Using rubrics has made it that much easier although!  It blew me away how their self-evaluation lined up almost exactly with where I felt they stood in the class right now.  Each student honestly and whole heartedly put in their best effort and did not cut any corners.  As we continue on throughout the semester I want to continually make the point that as long as they give it their best it is all that I ask of them. 

Yesterday the students were given the task of completing a butt weld and given a rubric to self-evaluate themselves before turning it in.  Before we went out into the shop we spent some time discussing the theory of a butt weld and what makes a desirable butt weld.  The students were given ample amount of time to practice on scrap metal and provided the expectations for the assignment.  While most of my students worked diligently and on task.  One did not.  He did not create a butt weld, but more so just layered his two pieces of metal together with welds.  At the end of the period I spoke with him asking why he did not create a butt weld.  His answer was “this is a better stronger weld and I didn’t want you to be able to break my weld on Monday.”  I left our conversation at that.  What made giving him the grade he deserved was he himself allotted the points I was going to give him.  The takeaway is that a solid well produced rubric leaves no gray area.  And when questions do arise why a student received the grade they did.  You the instructor can give specific examples of why he/she did.