Truth About Rigor

In response to Mrs. Steven's Blog, I read a very interesting article called "7 Myths about Rigor" that
disproves common misconceptions about rigor.

Rigor to me is going deeper into your learning. It is beyond surface level learning; it is a true challenge for students when their work is rigorous.

To add rigor to an assignment, it is necessary to add more steps to a process. Rigor proves students understanding, so when a little bit more thinking is being asked of, students learning will be tested. Adding rigor is not always difficult, you can just deeper the question you ask your students. Instead of asking students to identify the causes of  The Revolutionary War, ask them to debate which cause had the greatest impact on the start of the war and why.

Rigor is often viewed as more work, higher standards, and less help; but it is not. Rigor can be going from a math worksheet with 15 questions to a project that students design a game that includes the same problems. Allowing students to create their own game or write their own song will be a fun way to challenge students into going deeper into their understanding on the subject than just a worksheet would demonstrate, while students may not even understand that they are doing more because it is so different than a simple assignment that they are used to.