Highlighting Mistakes

submitted by
Amy Wix
MCTM VP for Junior High / Middle School

It use to be that when I handed back an assessment to my 6th graders, they would look at their score and be done.  A few years back, after attending a presentation from Rick Wormeli, I revised my teaching to include standards based grading and the chance for re-assessing on any of the standards until they were met. This along with using some of the resources from Jo Boaler’s Youcubed site has helped me in my journey to promote growth mindset with my students. I had a fair number of students take the time to learn the material and re-assess on concepts they needed to strengthen.   But,alas, there were still those students who would look at their score and file away the assessment.  This past summer I was able to attend another presentation from Rick Wormeli at the FIRST Institute held in Kasson.  He shared a youtube video called Highlighting Mistakes- a grading strategy. The teacher, Leah Alcala would highlight the step where a mistake was made on a test.  Before returning the tests, she would share and discuss with the class some of her favorite mistakes.  The students would get their test back without a score on it.  The students would access their score from the online gradebook the following day.

As a PLC, our middle school math department decided to try this strategy out as a way to give feedback on assessment this year.  It is too soon to have data, but the feeling so far is positive from both students and teachers perspective.  When assessments are returned the students go straight to the highlighting and try and figure out their mistakes. This has promoted a mindset shift that focuses on the learning. No longer am I hearing “What is my grade?” or “How much is that problem worth?”.  Rather the students are looking over their mistakes, talking with peers and me to correct them, and more importantly, learning from their mistakes. Often times this is where I remind students that they can Get off the escalator and help themselves and their grade by reassessing on the concepts they have struggled with.

I’m hoping this grading strategy fosters a class culture that values risks and learning from mistakes.  What strategies do you use in your classroom to help promote risk taking?  Please share!