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It is the mission of this website to assist in the development of learning environments that promote Career and Technical Education as well as academic excellence. To provide examples of effective 21st century teaching and learning strategies in order to assist in the development of more engaged and motivated classrooms. To provide multimedia Podcasts and articles to facilitate an understanding of how to implement technology and multimedia in classrooms regardless of content area. To encourage independent and personalized learning by teaching students to enjoy the process of learning. To assist teachers in becoming facilitators of learning.
Can You Grade a Classroom Discussion?
Many students struggle with taking written exams, as it is difficult for them to read a written question, interpret what that question is asking, recall the relevant information, and determine the appropriate answer. Those students could probably tell you the correct answer and explain why they chose it, but may have difficulty capturing the same information in written form. Unfortunately for those students, most teachers will assign grades to students solely based on written assessments, and don’t take into account the fact that some students can better express themselves verbally.
I am not saying that teachers today discredit oral expression, or don’t place much value on it. I just think they need to be sure to assign oral expression a numerical value to assist in the student’s overall grade. And this is only due to the nature of how the grades are used in traditional education.Occasionally a teacher will assign an oral presentation in which the students have to speak in front of the class and are graded according to a rubric of some kind. But I’m talking about more informal forms of oral expression, like participation during classroom discussions or asking questions to clarify a topic. Sometimes even a student’s comments during an informal conversation with peers or when assisting another with a particular skill can indicate their mastery of the content better than a test ever could.
Even when reviewing tests in class, I permit my students to debate their answers. Through these discussions, I learn how the students are interpreting the questions, relate the material to previous knowledge, and determine how to improve my instruction. Occasionally, I will provide students credit for a particular question, or provide students credit for the discussion itself, as I want them to see the importance of the discussion and gain confidence to speak openly.
If we are trying to prepare our students to be successful in the real world, developing the ability to verbally express themselves is a skill that should be taught in school.
