Grade the Work, Not the Child

9yo gave me a rating scale and asked me to rate each of his math solutions using that. He said this would motivate him to focus more and get distracted less.

At first, I wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea of bringing such extrinsic motivations into his routine. But when I looked more closely at his scale, I could see the difference between his approach and the traditional letter or number grades that students typically receive in schools. Grades are often assigned to the student, the problem solver, but he wanted his rating to be applied to each individual solution. After all, it’s much easier to receive feedback, when it focuses on the work and the solution rather than the person.

I still think intrinsic motivation is key for deep learning, but thoughtful external feedback systems might help with increasing focus and engagement.

P.S. Later, I learned that his rating scale was inspired by the labels for chess moves on chess.com, where he has been spending quite some time recently.