A Rubric for Life: Measuring What Truly Matters
Since exiting my first startup the day before my 40th birthday, I’ve been living in a way that once felt impossible: a life that balances structure with spontaneity, ambition with introspection. My children are thriving in the best school I could find for them, safe and happy in a way I never quite imagined but deeply appreciate. I can travel at a whim, have conversations with some of the most inspiring minds in education and technology, cowork in spaces across Europe that fuel my thinking, write poetry, consult, coach, teach, dance, and (perhaps most remarkably) I’m up to date on both my dental hygiene and my taxes.
I work late into the night because that’s when my mind comes alive, and I remember (most of the time) to put on socks before hyperfocus renders my feet blocks of ice. I’ve sold my house, embraced minimalism, and in many ways, redefined success for myself.
But that’s the thing about success—it’s a slippery concept, shaped as much by external validation as by our own evolving needs and desires.
So why don’t we have a rubric for it?
Back in lockdown, before I knew I had ADHD, I launched into an ambitious personal sidequest hyperfocus project: mapping every skill in the UK national curriculum!
I was watching my children and my students thrive in some subjects but struggle in others, unable to transfer the same analytical skill they used in History to interpreting graphs in Maths or bringing their knowledge of percentages into a Geography lesson. It was as if walking through the doorway into a different classroom erased the skill entirely.
Now, in this new phase of life, with teenagers off at boarding school and AI at my fingertips, I’ve returned to this project—this time with a broader goal: developing a cross-curricular rubric that doesn’t just define subject-specific expectations but pinpoints the shared skills that underpin learning across disciplines.
Because if we’re serious about education, we need to help students (and ourselves) see the connections between what we know and how we apply it.
Here’s what that could look like…
1. Identify Common Skill Categories
Problem Solving & Reasoning
Communication
Technical/Digital Skills
Creativity & Innovation
Conceptual Understanding & Application
2. Structure Your Rubric Framework
A useful rubric might be organised into several key dimensions, each with performance levels. Here’s an outline:
A. Knowledge & Understanding
Emerging: Demonstrates basic grasp of subject-specific concepts.
Developing: Shows clear understanding and can relate ideas to familiar contexts.
Proficient: Applies concepts accurately across varied scenarios, making connections to other disciplines.
Exemplary: Extends understanding to novel situations and synthesises information from multiple areas.
B. Problem Solving & Reasoning
Emerging: Attempts to use known strategies to solve problems; may require guidance.
Developing: Uses logical reasoning and identifies key steps but may miss more subtle relationships.
Proficient: Systematically breaks down problems and selects appropriate strategies independently.
Exemplary: Innovates with flexible problem-solving approaches, evaluates alternative solutions, and justifies choices clearly.
C. Communication & Collaboration
Emerging: Conveys ideas with minimal structure; communication may be unclear or incomplete.
Developing: Presents ideas with some structure; begins to integrate feedback from peers.
Proficient: Communicates clearly and uses evidence or examples to support ideas across different media.
Exemplary: Articulates complex ideas effectively and adapts communication style to different audiences and contexts.
D. Technical & Digital Competence
Emerging: Demonstrates basic technical skills and uses tools with support.
Developing: Applies digital tools correctly in familiar contexts.
Proficient: Uses technology effectively to analyze and present data, supporting cross-curricular tasks.
Exemplary: Integrates and adapts digital tools innovatively to enhance learning and extend beyond standard practices.
E. Creativity & Innovation
Emerging: Begins to explore ideas beyond routine responses.
Developing: Uses creative approaches to connect ideas or solve problems with some risk-taking.
Proficient: Consistently demonstrates creativity by applying multiple perspectives and novel ideas.
Exemplary: Leads creative inquiry by innovating and connecting diverse disciplines in original ways.
3. Linking Skills Across Subjects
To ensure rubrics are meaningful across the curriculum, consider these strategies:
Alignment of Descriptors: Adapt the language in each level so that while the skills are described in a common format, examples or evidence can be drawn from any subject. For instance, “Problem Solving & Reasoning” might note that in Maths it refers to numerical problem solving and in Biology it might refer to troubleshooting experimental designs.
Subject-Specific Exemplars: For each level, provide examples from different subjects. For example:
Iterative Development with Stakeholders: Engage teachers from Maths, Biology, Geography, Art, and English to refine the descriptors. This collaborative process ensures that the rubric is flexible enough to reflect both the unique content of each subject and the universal skills that underpin all learning.
Integration Through Projects: Consider designing cross-curricular projects where students must demonstrate multiple skills simultaneously (e.g., a project that requires mathematical modelling, written explanation, and creative presentation). This helps illustrate how skills developed in one area support performance in another.
4. Example Matrix
Below is an example of how a simplified rubric matrix might look:
This matrix can be adapted and expanded with subject-specific examples to clearly show how skills in Maths (like geometric reasoning), Biology (such as experimental design), Geography (like map analysis), Art (creative expression), and English (critical analysis) interconnect.
I wrote a few weeks ago about using Instructure Canvas as a free course management system and there's a really easy way to embed rubrics and share them across courses and assignments.
A bit fiddly to set up the first time but literally hours, days and weeks saved in marking time! So empowering too for students to see what they're aiming for allowing "self assessment" to be a real thing. Heck, maybe involve them in the process of creating rubrics of success themselves - you'll be amazed at what they value and want to work towards.
Which brings me back to—a rubric you make for yourself to measure your own success.
I work with students, mentees, and coaching clients to create their own daily, weekly, and quarterly rubrics—you get the idea. Even my kids have a version in their dorms: make the bed, put washing in the laundry, brush teeth, eat breakfast.*
(*For the entrepreneurs and educators out there, “eat breakfast” means actually consuming food—not just boiling the kettle again or microwaving that lukewarm coffee for the third time, although in particularly rough patches we can call this breakfast level "emerging".)
In the early weeks and months of transitioning to this new life, I needed these basic reminders myself. Some days, success wasn’t about launching a new project or making strategic decisions—it was simply remembering sky before screen, eating something nutritious, stepping outside, or watching a Netflix series just to have something non-work-related to talk about with friends.
And even when life is cruising, don’t forget how successful you already are in those small, everyday wins—reading the bedtime story, getting them to school on time, conquering the endless toothbrush and laundry battle, or (now that I’m over 40) actually following a skincare routine.
Because suddenly, those markers of success shift.
So now… what is your rubric for success?
If this resonates, let’s chat. Join me this Wednesday too, when I’ll be speaking with Professor Steve Joordens about peer assessment—where rubrics really come into their own!
📍 Register here: https://www.linkedin.com/events/buildingschoolsinthecloud-peerl7296479769133535233/theater/
#RubricForLife #SuccessOnYourTerms #LifelongLearning #AIinEducation #FutureSkills #RedefiningSuccess
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First published in Building Schools in the Cloud on LinkedIn, 24 February 2025.