Reflection #6 -- Creation of Rubric

When I enrolled in my first graduate class in the College of Education at UCF, I encountered rubrics for the first time as a student. I remember being astonished and excited about the fact that I knew what the teacher wanted from me! It was often a struggle in undergrad, but especially in law school, to discover what was expected and what was necessary to do in order to achieve success in the class. While I realize that the Socratic method utilized in law school was partially to blame and not necessarily my professors, I have long since realized that letting a student know what is required is not only helpful but almost necessary. I am hopeful, as a teacher, that I can lead my students in the ways that I wished I had been led as a student.


As I sat down to complete Module 12 and draft my own rubric, I was again astonished at how difficult it was. I realize that this is likely because it truly is my first time formulating and articulating what it is that I would want to see in the completed assignments.

So, I first began in Excel, trying to set up the fields and categories. Even though Excel is a program I’m rather comfortable with, I quickly discovered that I was making it more difficult than it needed to be! So, I went back to the textbook (particularly the discussions in Chapter 7 about assessments and the elements of effective assessments) and then Module 12 instructions and began pulling up the suggested websites. After looking through and evaluating the varying tools, I selected iRubric for my rubric. After several false starts and odd looking scores, I was able to modify my rubric to my satisfaction. The final product can be found here: Identification of ISSUES Rubric

It is certainly not as polished as many of the rubrics I’ve been given and it is my hope that practice makes perfect!!