Chemistry is hard. That is why we love it. If it was easy, it would be called “English”. Kidding, I’m kidding. Save the hate mail. But seriously, what a privilege it is for us to be able to teach something that challenges they way kids think and understand the world. It is truly an honor. But it can be hard for kids. And when it turns hard, kids (and the parents that reinforce this thinking) say things like, “I’m just not a science person.” They want to tap out. They want to slack so it doesn’t look like they tried and failed. And so, it is our job to gather all the kids in our class, communicate truths about the natural world, and communicate new truths about what the students can do.
I will keep this blog post brief with one method that I have started using in the classroom that seems to be helpful in many different ways.
The Koch Scale of Confidence
The Koch Scale of Confidence is my way of allowing students to self-analyze where they are at in the current topic. The scale runs from 0-14. 14 was my high school basketball number. So am I self-absorbed titling it the Koch scale of confidence while also reliving the glory days? Maybe. But the kids buy it.
The scale does not measure the exact skills that they have. It measures their confidence in being able to complete a skill on their own. Generally speaking, a confidence of 0-7 means they have no freaking clue what to do. They don’t know where to start. They don’t know where they are going. And darned if they know the way to get there. 7-10 means they have the confidence to parrot along with me. If I say convert to moles, then they convert to moles. If I say use PV=nRT, they will. But it wasn’t their plan. They needed the nudges to know the path. And a confidence of 10-14 means they are ready to do it on their own. They know where they are at, where they are going, and the path to get there.
I will outline some of the benefits to grading with confidence rather that just using right or wrong.
1. Confidence Isn’t Embarrassing
I use the Koch Scale of Confidence to grade a lot of formative work. Daily warmups? Confidence. Practice before a quiz? Confidence? And the reason I use confidence is that kids will be so much more honest. Let’s use this example:
How many grams of water are in 2.0 moles of water?
If I had this question as a warmup. The kids complete it. I show the correct method and solution on the board. And then I ask who got it right, they will lie. They will look around and if a lot of kids are raising their hands, then by golly, they must have gotten it right too. Even if they are lost.
But if I ask them their confidence on being able to solve a problem like that. And I see some kids who are eights or nines, those are the kids that I need to support. They would have lied about getting it right, but they are willing to say they aren’t confident in getting to that answer. It seems like semantics, but it matters to them.
2. Confidence Sets the Teaching Pace
I tell my kids on the first day of class that my teaching mode will be to “go as fast as we can for as long as we need.” And I mean it. If classes are lagging in skills. I slow down. If they are soaring ahead, I speed up. And the stimulus for those changes in teaching pace are the measured in student confidence. If they aren’t confident, slow down. They appreciate knowing that I am watching them to determine what happens next, not watching the calendar.
3. Confidence Reduces Grading
I grade less now than I ever have. But I feel more closely connected to how the students are doing. A big part of this is that I can survey confidence instantly. If I grade homework, look through to see who is struggling, and then go to help them I will always be steps behind. And if I’m behind in supporting them, their overall confidence wanes. I don’t want you chasing yesterday’s problems when you could be solving todays.
I wrote another blog about reducing grading. You can check it out here.
4. Confidence Connects Students to Their Own Learning
I don’t want to shock you, but a lot of teenagers just wing it. In life. In school. Just wing it. When you invite them in to truly analyze themselves through confidence, they get to play a bigger part in the outcome of their education. When I started using the Koch Scale of Confidence, I noticed that I had a common language with the students. Instead of asking, “Do you get it?” I could ask them about their confidence. It became something that we both understood. I will often say in class, if you are feeling less than 10, we need to meet. And you know what? They came to meet me!
“Mr. Koch, I’m like a 7 on what we talked about today.”
And suddenly I know exactly where they are. They can fake it with me doing it on the board. But they can’t get there on their own. And so, I meet them where they are at, and we start to solve the problem. I become an ally instead of an opposing force. And their confidence grows.
5. Confidence Breeds Confidence
Step by step students begin to recognize where they are at and have terminology to quantify it. And then they get the help they need. And the teacher responds to the class’ needs. And you get to start an avalanche of confidence. Performance will follow confidence. I still remember a comment that I received on a student evaluation.
“It was the hardest thing that I have done, but it was so worth it.”
And that, my friends, is why we teach chemistry.
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