Wall of Awesome

Main Entry: Wall of Awe·some
Function: noun
Definition: a wall set aside for displaying awesome student work
Eatamology: Merced (co-teacher in 2007) and I first dreamed of the Wall of Awesome during a weeklong New Tech Training session in Bloomington, Indiana back in 2007. We dreamed of a place to display student work that satisfied rubric criteria that was more advanced than Advanced criteria. We got so busy with our first year at MNTH that we never implemented in idea. This Fall 2009, Banks (current co-teacher) and I figured out how to implement the Wall of Awesome – see below.
Date: Summer 2007, Fall 2009

At MNTH, most project products are graded using 3 column rubrics. The three columns are Emerging or Unsatisfactory, Proficient, and Advanced or Exemplary. Students can earn up to high B’s by completing all the Proficient criteria correctly and up to high A’s by completing all the Proficient and Advanced criteria. This is a simple scheme when students complete ALL the proficient criteria BEFORE attempting the Advanced criteria. Often they don’t do this. Instead teams often partially complete items from both columns and assigning A’s and B’s becomes much less straightforward.

Banks and I figured out a solution to this. We do not allow teams to view the Advanced criteria unless they complete all the Proficient criteria several days before the final product is due. Teams that apply for the Advanced rubrics also have the option to apply for the Awesome rubrics. Both Advanced and Awesome rubrics allow teams to earn up to 100% on their final products. Awesome is more challenging than Advanced. Teams that apply for Awesome have to attend invitation-only workshops on enrichment material in order to complete all the Awesome criteria. Teams going for Advanced can complete the Advanced material based on workshops and learning activities accessible to all teams. Although Awesome is more challenging than Advanced, we do not give out extra-credit points to teams that complete the Awesome criteria. Instead, we reward these teams by creating slides of their team members and their work that hang up on the Wall of Awesome for the entire year.

Having an application process for Advanced/Awesome rubrics has encouraged many teams to avoid leaving project work until the day before major deadlines. Many teams who apply for Advanced/Awesome rubrics choose the Awesome rubric even though they know it’s harder. Some students who have already made it on the wall have set higher goals for themselves in the course because they believe they should be awesome if they are on the Wall of Awesome.