Reinforcing Effort - Chpt. 8

This is one of the shortest chapters, with the fewest resources, yet its importance is tremendous. I wonder, if I had been educated with an effort spreadsheet (although for me it would actually have been a large sheet hung on the wall, since I was pre-technology), if the all-night cram sessions for exams and marathon term paper writing would have taken place in my college years. The idea of an honestly completed rubric, in many cases, seems idealistic for kids that have already developed a non-effort philosophy and don't seem to care about grade performance. However, if we could begin with a simple smile, flat expression and frown rubric for the little guys - Kinder and even 1st grade - that could be filled out in a non-threatening manner, I think the developmental impact could be significant. If the little kids can begin early to associate the happy face with effort, that goes on to match the happy face of grade/success level, then, perhaps the whole "effort is hard = frowny face" can be avoided. Of course, this simplified version wouldn't require the use of Excel, just a good old word processing application, but for lower elementary, the less sophisticated effort could still yield a smiley.

Even before I read the data collection piece, I was thinking again of the on-line survey tool. For the older elementary kids, I think this would be more effective than the spreadsheet. Admittedly, the spreadsheet could translate straight into a graph for illustration purposes, but I think the kids might be more honest about their effort with a survey. The responses could still be anonymous, but if the survey was taken after the evaluation, the final question could ask the grade result. A post-survey like this could be used to make the point, and later change to a pre-evaluation survey in which the student is asked to anticipate the resulting grade. This subtle change demands that the student assume responsibility for the grade. By predicting the result of the effort, deflecting the blame becomes more difficult. Some might argue that this could all be done without the use of technology and perhaps it could. But the flexibility of the technology applications makes their use the logical choice for today's classroom.