Our Jen S in New Jersey (not our jen s in New Hampshire) has commented on a tremendous thread from last summer. I am so happy. Every comment in that thread is gold. Nathaniel and Laurie get real about it down toward the current end of the thread. The reason I am happy that it is being resurrected is because it has been ignored now pretty much for a few years and yet it could help new people so much in the area of TPRS assessment.
One thing Nathaniel correctly point out is that we really should start calling jGR what it really is – the Interpersonal Skills Rubric – ISR. But it will always be jGR to me. Many of us cut our teeth on that one, and we built it together – me, Robert, jen and Annick over two years of intense work. We literally had to expand our minds every day for two years.
It was an amazing achievement and had jen not suggested the actual form of the rubric we may not even have it. But it is now as I look back in my mind one of the BIG things we have done here, one of the big moments for us over all the years.
Here’s the post from Laura Avila that started that thread. Another reason it is good to revisit it here is that it may not have gotten as much attention as it deserved when it first showed up back in the middle of June last summer.
This is from Laura Avila in Maine:
Hello Ben,
Could you please post these questions for the group whenever there may be room?
JGR (and me personally) have come under attack at my school. A parent and all three main administrators are saying it is not standards based. I won’t be allowed to use this rubric next year as the school moves to a standards based diploma.
Aside from saying that using this rubric is what allows me to attempt the goal of 90% Spanish, I found myself not having much more to defend it as SB.
I have tried not using the rubric, but the “we don’t use English here” does not work. It also has the limitation that many students really don’t care about their grade or any of that “acquisition” thing.
My questions for the group:
1. Since the interpersonal mode standard is worded as assessing how much a student can SPEAK the TL, Can jGR/ISR be defended as standards based when it does not measure output? How?
2. How does assessment and grading look like for those not using jGR/ISR?
I find it harder and harder to teach using only CI. Compromise seems to be on the way.
Thank much,
Laura