It’s near the end of a quarter and I’m having this conversation in circle. Again. This ought to be a constant conversation in any classroom but it’s particularly important in a project based classroom. What are the ways in which different academic standards have been met? What are the ways different academic skills have been developed? And, now, with kids who’ve been in our program for a couple of years, shouldn’t they have deeper conceptions of outstanding? In other words, a ninth grader might advance an argument about growth and effort by saying things like “if I did my best, it’s outstanding” or “I tried my hardest.” But I’m worried if an eleventh or twelfth grader is.
I want them to be able to identify outstanding and then explain why their work is or is not outstanding. I want them to be able to explain the factors that made the work not outstanding. While I’m thrilled at the ability of my students to explain why they couldn’t do the work or what broke down in their work process, that’s not enough: I want them to be able to look at the standards and explain why their work is or is not outstanding.
So today’s activity was the question of where outstanding comes from (three graphic organizers below, last one is mine).
The first one has a few ideas that are concerned with the process but focuses primarily on how the work fits into the outside world, i.e., “when other people think it’s outstanding” or “when it solves a real problem.”
The second, though, is totally different. The understanding of where outstanding comes from is rooted entirely in his/her personal process. “When it’s turned in on-time” and “When you receive your grade.”
As proud as I am about getting to an understanding of the process, I want students to be able to situate their work in the world. If you’re sitting in a college class and claim that your work is outstanding because it was turned in on time or because you revised it, you’re in for a world of hurt. I don’t want to bruise anyone’s self-esteem but until you’re at the top of a field, you don’t get to set the standards for what makes outstanding work.
