Dan Severson

Well I did it again, I went to a program presenting the pleasure and pain of rubrics sponsored by our Assessment office. They offered excellent ideas on how to become a better teacher through the use of rubrics. I have got to say that many participants did not know what a rubric actually means. To me a rubric is my scoring key to a particular assignment. Others have different definitions but this is how I view it. I create it to see how well my students are learning the content being presented. I actually think involving student into the rubric development will increase the students ownership of the particular assignment. I really like how our University has developed such offices to aid professors. However, how many actually take advantage of this opportunity? I think professors should have to attend these courses and receive continuing education credit to keep a "license" to teach.

I understand how the world works - mostly by money - so our promotion system is primarily based on research, grants, and publications. Furthermore, that is why most professors chose this profession. Our students, on the other hand, are here for an education and this is accomplished by educators. We do not place a high value on teaching and our students can recognize the teachers who enjoy teaching and those who "have" to teach. Should we not expect from our peers what we expect from our students, give 100% to any job you are working on. I would say YES.

Anyway, I have found an area in education that I have come to enjoy and that is teaching education. Helping teachers teach. I would like to help teachers work on improving their instructional methods to improve student learning. I would have never thought about it except as I get older I can see things more clearly once I took off the "teacher goggles". Thanks