Chapter 1: What Makes Grading So Difficult to Talk About?
Based on collaboration with peers during the orientation on January 21, type response to the following questions:
What makes it hard for us to critically examine traditional grading practices?
Read chapter 1 and provide responses to the following questions:
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
Post your answer to the questions above in the comment section here by clicking "Enter you comment" > choose "name/URL" in the drop down menu and add your name before typing your comment and clicking publish.
Comment on two peers' posts by clicking "reply" > choose "name/URL" in the drop down menu underneath their posts and add your name. Participants are required to comment on one " I notice...." and one " I wonder..." on two peers' reflections in each chapter.
Due. January 28, 2022
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI honestly really enjoy my students and believe that they are very capable of learning. In some ways, I enjoy being an elective teacher because I can see more of the joy and fun that they have - and less fear of “getting a good grade” for my class. Regardless, I still have some students who are only interested in the grade - asking how they can get a specific grade, and not really taking the time to enjoy what they are learning. This isn’t everyone, and has actually seemed to be less and less of my students population since I started teaching four years ago.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
I absolutely despise grading grading. My goal would be to do as little grading as possible. I’m getting closer to this since I started up grading groups this year (until just recently because of the Covid numbers). I no longer really worry about the formatives (for most periods) because they are actively engaged in their grading groups, assessing each other. I kind of wish I could do this for summatives as well, but I also wouldn’t mind some self-reflections about their summatives because I’m sure it would help to know how they are feeling about their work as well. In all honesty, I don’t care much for grades. I had friends who dropped out of high school and are doing fine in their current day life as well as friends who went the traditional route of going to college and getting a degree in engineering only to never find a job. I care less about grades and more about what those students can take away from my class.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
I like the format of the book study course. I think the last one I did was very engaging and eye opening. I didn’t quite know what I was signing up for in this class - as I didn’t have a clear idea of what grading for equity would look like, but I am definitely more interested in learning about it after reading the first chapter. I think that it was smart that the author mentioned the “web of beliefs” in this first chapter, and I think I just need to be extra careful so I don't get caught up in that. I will try to be as open minded as possible so I can actually absorb the information being presented.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I am most interested in learning about how to support both “soft skills” and a growth mindset in my class. I think that this is being talked about quite a bit in our school, but I don’t quite know what it looks like at the moment - especially when I take into consideration how I am “supposed” to be grading at this school. I hope it is something that I can implement and am rather interested to see if it is an explicit teaching that I have to do. I am honestly the most scared about having to make grading simpler and more transparent. As a somewhat subjective elective in the arts, this sometimes stumps me and I probably over think this at times. I would love to get insight on how to make this happen in my classroom though.
Hi Taryn! I noticed that you teach an elective subject and seem to have a bit more room to be subjective in your grading and are already using an alternative way of grading with "grading groups." I am very interested in how and what your grading groups look like. I work with a younger group of children and would still like to figure out a way for my students to support their classmates in grading each other. I wonder if adding the "soft skills" to your grading scales would support the growth mindset. My school also has a big push for "growth mindset" and having the students evaluating themselves. I am a Mom of two students at my school as well as a teacher, and I really see my own children working towards the growth mindset by having independent goals and letting them decide when they want to complete the goals and earn the incentives that come along with completing tasks independently.
DeleteHi Taryn... I notice that you shared about how you wish you could do grading groups for your summative assessments as well. I wonder if this is something that you could implement to inform the summative assessment score that you have to provide into Infinite Campus. Having students share and provide feedback on each other's evidence of learning could be a great way to bring them into the grading process for their summative assessments.
DeleteAloha Taryn. I noticed that we both teach electives and I have to say that my students are also concerned about their grade, especially at the end of the quarter or semester. They all seem to have a fun time in class as Iʻm very hands on with my high schoolers, but Iʻve often wondered if too much fun sort of gives them a mindset that they arenʻt learning. I know that they enjoy my elective class, and they do engage in the activities for the moment, but sometimes having "fun" is all they want to do. They are quick to compare how I teach with that of my colleagues, and I give them gentle reminders that all teachers are different. I wonder if our students will enjoy the class so much theyʻll reach a point where getting a "good grade" isnʻt just an afterthought.
DeleteHI Taryn, like you I am an elective teacher. Yes, grading is very subjective, and I at times feel the same way. Art is unique in that and my experience in graduate art school is that even my professors had a difficult time. I agree with you, that grades are not a strong indicator of success. For grades do not measure 'soft skills' that you talk about. I do agree with you that, incorporating the 'soft skills' are very important. When young artist learn to organize, set deadlines, and brainstorm, it sets them up for success in whatever class they are in!
DeleteVal Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Taryn - I really like your idea of using grading groups. Sounds like this would be a great way for students to practice peer review and to share ideas of what learning should look like. I like how you provide students with the opportunity to talk about quality of work and shift the focus to the learning part of the assignment rather than the grade. I wonder though, If the formative assignments are not graded, how motivated are the students to complete work. Unfortunately, the first question from my students as soon as they get an assignment is “is this graded?”. I would really like to hear more about your grading group and how it works - sounds like such a good idea to give back some of the responsibility for learning to the students.
Hi Taryn,
DeleteI notice how you also have the same issue as me with students coming to ask me how they can get the specific grade. I always try to explain to them what the grade letter means, for example, I tell them that having an A means that they are mastering the content and I follow with examples of what mastering the content looks like. I wonder if we have a school approach to what the grade letters mean, students and parents would understand it better.
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI have a very different population of students than most teachers do. I teach preschool special education. My students are only 3-5 years old and are still working on the basics of walking, talking, potty training, feeding themselves, learning to play with others, and learning the basic school routines. My students are motivated by positive feedback, nurturing, redirection, and learning through play. My students find it very difficult to be told "no," rushed to complete tasks they are not done with or asked to comply with tasks for longer than their attention spans let them focus. I feel like so many of these motivators and demotivators are always with us as we move through our school career, but get put on the sidelines because we are so focused on good grades and high test score.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
My vision for grading in my class is always simplicity. My students have IEP goals and I grade my student on whether they meet their goal, progressing on the goal, emerging on the goal, or no progress. This reminds me of the 0-4 scale that is mentioned in the first chapter and makes me wonder if we could make all grading that simple. I think for our most vulnerable population in the special education realm, this grading scale could be beneficial and hopefully more motivating. I wish grading could be more about what you know and less about how well you do on tests.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
This book caught my attention from the very beginning when it stated that grading is one of the only parts of teaching that teachers have full control over. No one teaches teachers how to grade their classes and that really does seem baffling to me. We do have our own beliefs about grading primarily guided by how we were graded in school, but we also have alot of negative feeling towards those ways of grading. I want to read this book and find ways to support my vulnerable population in their future classes. They will be getting older and subjected to grading scales that may not support their actual learning and can cause unnecessary stress to their lives and lives of their family. I hope to find how to add the "soft skills" into grading and find approaches challenge our beliefs of traditional grading.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
My grading practice of getting a quick snapshot of my students learning through play and interaction with their peers is best practice for me. I believe that I am able to catch the skills that I want to see without making tests that may not test the right skills. My students attention span can be very short or they may have difficulty sitting due to motor difficulties. If I ask my students to take a test on their ABCs by sitting and focusing on the test, I may have inadvertently tested them on their attention span or motor skills instead of the actual test of their ABCs. I feel like this can translate to older students as well. Our vulnerable population could be hungry, tired, or have other bigger issues on their minds when asked to take a test. This can truly hinder their test taking skills and end up showing their teacher they do not know the skills, even though they do. I am very open to learning more ways to support the vulnerable population in feeling confident in the grades they receive and how to best support grading with equity practices.
Hi Beth... I notice that your vision for grading is simplicity. I am a middle school music educator and I also believe the same. Students have so many subjects and assignments to think about that the feedback/grades that they receive have to be straight to the point to be effective. Teachers also have so many students and assignments to grade that they need to be efficient with their time as well. I wonder if you have heard about a book called "The Minimalist Teacher" by Tamera Musiowsky-Borneman and C.Y. Arnold. I haven't read the book either, however, I have seen social media posts from Tamera and her ideas about taking a minimalist approach to teaching sounds like it may support your grading vision. We must continue to streamline everything students and teachers have to do and truly focus on what matters most.
DeleteI noticed you stated, “I wish grading could be more about what you know and less about how well you do on tests.” I totally agree with your perspective as it reflects my grading philosophy on progressive monitoring of student growth and accomplishment. I wonder if grading can include benchmark standards and the progression of growth. A learning benchmark is purposeful in the school system because it places students in “grade levels” based on their understanding and skill. Students can learn, but not at the same pace, hence differentiation. In order for grading to change, the school system has to change. Age should not reflect grade level, it should be skill that reflects grade level.
DeleteHi Beth - I noticed that you mentioned how shocked you were that no one teaches educators how to grade, and that surprised me as well! I didn't realize it until I read that too. I wonder if teaching programs do not teach how to grade because every state, district, and school can vary in their grading systems.
DeleteI noticed you wished grading could be more on growth rather than how well you can do on a test, and I completely agree. I have been struggling to use ways to assess my students without giving them tests and it seems we have similar tactics. I like to observe my students growths along the way and grade them on their improvement. I also wonder how we can support students to feel confident in their grades. I so often hear "I'm never going to get an A."
DeleteVal Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Beth,
I enjoyed reading your responses to these questions - thank you for sharing your thoughts. I liked your response to the last questions where you stated "I wish grading could be more about what you know and less about how well you do on tests." Wouldn't this be an ideal situation. I also feel that as a school the focus is too much on test results and less on student growth and learning. If we spent as much time worrying about the well being of our students and how to fairly provide grades that truly reflected their abilities and performance, I wonder how much more successful they could be.
1. One of my strongest beliefs about students is from the following George Evans quote, “Every child can learn. Just not on the same day or in the same way.” I believe that our students are so diverse and that our education system must provide more choices and flexibility in order to meet the needs of every student. I do my best to create flexible learning opportunities for self-motivated students and more structure and organization for learners who need more guidance. I think the pandemic has only deepened our interest to be efficient with our time which in most cases lead students to ask, “What do I need to do to get an A?” It’s important to almost trick students into learning essential skills such as collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Talking about these things often lead students to boredom but having them be empowered through “learning by doing” can help students focus on learning rather than grades. There are so many factors that demotivate students including long class periods, too many subjects to focus on at one time, a lack of interest in the classes they have to take, coursework that is too difficult or too easy, and an inability to persevere through challenges and struggles.
ReplyDelete2. I wish that schools could include students as part of the vision for grading. Because grading is such a complex activity, there must be a team effort from all stakeholders to ensure that it is implemented appropriately. I know that we need to continue moving away from traditional grading practices such as percentages, letter grades A-F, and extra credit points. It’s unfortunate that we use standards based grading but still need to convert to letter grades for report cards. If implemented correctly, I believe that a focus on feedback and reflection would be much more effective than giving out grades. The feedback must be detailed, relevant, and timely. Teachers could spend a lot less time thinking about which letter grades to give and focus more on encouraging students to be self-reflective and be self-directed in providing peer feedback. If students needed to be given a grade, it would be a balance between the teacher providing their professional judgement and the student sharing their opinion based on the evidence of learning provided.
3. Grading has always been a topic that has stressed me out as a student and as a teacher. Many email complaints from parents have centered around grades. I am hoping to find effective resources, strategies, and ideas that will help improve my teaching practice which will in turn help student achievement. Currently, I don’t believe in the value of grades, especially when I think about all of the time it takes to provide grades for all students. However, I realize that this thinking may not be a healthy way to support my student’s learning. I am here to be open-minded and soak up as much information as I can to find authentic value in equitable grading practices.
4. I think one of the grading practices that I believe best supports learning is having my students from self-reflections and peer feedback on various learning activities throughout the school year. These are often 1-2 sentence reflections but are a lot more powerful to drive ongoing learning and growth rather than reflections at the end of a lesson or unit. I have seen students reflect on specific measures, musical elements, and learning strategies that help to improve their sense of timing, note reading accuracy, and rhythm counting skills. The grading practice that I am most open to reconsidering is how to seamlessly weave formative and summative assessments together. I also want to learn more about using grading and assessments in an authentic way that supports a diverse array of learning activities from musical performances to compositions to reflective writing.
Aloha Taryn, I notice that your answer for #4 includes thoughts that I too am very interested in, namely "soft skills"- both in promoting them and assessing them in students. And how do we grade that, or do we? Also, that was such an introspective thing you wrote about being scared of making grading simpler and more transparent. This really exposes us to scrutiny right? Self-scrutiny, scrutiny from our department, our administration, parents and students. So no pressure... I wonder how we can to examine and adjust our grading systems for a more effective and positive learning experience for students and ourselves. I feel that a great start to that is this Grading for Equity course which will deepen our knowledge and allow us to bounce ideas off of one another. Maybe also creating a new network amongst the teachers in this group that keep in touch with email and will lead to a broader scope of understanding for us to create and implement grading systems that will be beneficial for all parties. I am the mother of an 8th grader who struggles in school and I can really see how the traditional grading system presents challenges to his learning experience and his emotional and mental health. I know that if he is struggling, many students are struggling also, so I look forward to being a part of a positive solution in regard to grading.
DeleteAloha Zachary. I totally agree with your response to #3. I too, have always seemed stressed out about grading. I donʻt recall even having a discussion about grading in my college courses. I noticed that you have also encountered parentʻs questioning your grading. I just recently had a parent question their childʻs grade, even though they knew that he was out almost an entire quarter and didnʻt do any of his assignments. Although we send out the syllabi at the beginning of the school year and parents and students sign the contract, I often wonder if having conferences at the beginning of the year would help to alleviate any misunderstanding of how we grade. In addition, their grades are posted and updated on Infinite Campus on a regular basis, which is another mode of communication on how their child is doing in class, but some of these parents have no idea how to navigate the website. I think offering some kind of orientation on that would be helpful as well. I get bombarded at the end of the quarter with questions about "how my child is doing", when in reality all they had to do was check up on them periodically to see what was, and was not being done.
DeleteHI ZACH, you really hit the nail about tricking students into learning specific skills. I think I really teach this way myself. We don't tell them, we are learning this KEY CONCEPT, no we have them create. It is like in the movie, Karate KID. The master Mr. Miyaji tells Daniel-san to wax his car. He tells him to wax the floor. After hours and days of cleaning all of his masters belongings, Daniel-san wonders what am I learning? He gets a little mad and confronts Mr. Miyaji. In response, Mr. Miyaji shouts, "show me, wax the floor" and punches Daniel-san. But Daniel-san blocks it by doing the motion of waxing the floor. It goes on, "show me paint the fence!" Daniel-san realized he has been learning Karate the whole time. We do the same thing with our kids. I might have them, create a perspective drawing, but they are really learning about time management, interior design and creative thinking. It is all there. The only thing the DOE makes us do it to document it! Great JOB!
DeleteHi Zach,
DeleteI noticed that you shared about the need to move away from traditional grading practices. I personally share these views, but I thought it was interesting when I asked all my students what their ideal education would look like. Surprisingly, many (at least half of the students I talked to about it) said that we shouldn’t get rid of grades completely. In their ideal world, they would still have grades to be able to tell if they are improving on things - and that parents wouldn’t worry about those grades as much. But they still like the idea of such a measure for themselves. I was pretty surprised about that. I wonder what that tells us about our grading system, and where the problem actually lies.
Aloha Taryn, I really appreciated your honesty and insight in your answer for #4. I too am very interested in "soft skills"- both in promoting them and assessing them in students. And how do we grade that, or do we? Such an introspective thing you wrote about being scared of making grading simpler and more transparent. This really exposes us to scrutiny right? Self-scrutiny, scrutiny from our department, our administration, parents and students. So no pressure... I look forward to examining and adjusting my grading for a more effective and positive learning experience for my students and myself. I am the mother of an 8th grader who struggles in school and I can really see how the traditional grading system presents challenges to his learning experience and his emotional and mental health. I know that if he is struggling, many students are struggling also, so I look forward to being a part of a positive solution in regard to grading.
ReplyDeleteAloha Zachary- I totally agree with your thoughts about students being so diverse that our education system needs more choices and flexibility to meet their needs. I also think that many/most people would agree with that sentiment and that in an ideal world this would be a reality. I think the real question is: Will we ever be allowed to make that happen in real practice? Teachers, schools, and districts face so many different issues: money, standards, community expectations, etc. that hinder best practice from actually being implemented. I get discouraged when I look at all the obstacles that prevent the ideal from becoming a reality. However, I am hopeful that as we find better ways of doing things that we will be supported and assisted in implementing them, not being prevented by financial or political or whatever other reasons from doing what is best for our students and ourselves as teachers.
ReplyDeleteAll students are capable of learning; whether it incorporates school academics or not. Motivation stems from an inner curiosity that students possess that is linked directly into learning, hence students are capable of learning. I also want to emphasize that learning is a natural reaction for survival and kids, like all other human stages, are survivors. I perceive my students as capable learners who can find an interest that motivates them because it’s part of their evolution. The idea of learning for a grade should not be a motivator, it should be a reflection/assessment of student input/output. A student should use grades to monitor their progress and growth, not as an end all, be all cessation of learning.
ReplyDeleteAs an elementary school teacher, the grading process for quarterly report cards is progressive learning; where on the scale of WB to ME are the students. I am more than satisfied with the current structure of the elementary report card, as it’s not finite, and students are progressively attaining skill to improve their understanding of the common core state standards. This is what I believe learning should be reflected as in grades for the report card.
My goals for this course is to expand my horizons as an educator and to seek out best practices from differing perspectives. Grading, as the text stated, has been traditional for a long period of time. Misconceptions derive from opinions and perceptions from other educators. I would like to perceive grading from other “shoes” and make connections from their points of view. In addition, indulge in the information with an open mind and organically discover new ideas.
I believe in my current grading practice as it reflects the beliefs of continued growth and progressive learning. I would say that I flourished in the system of the elementary report card that has always encouraged progressive learning, so in my perception, this is what I know and have learned as the right thing for students. At the moment, following chapter 1’s grading perceptions, I still believe in progressive learning. I look forward to expanding my perception from various grading techniques that will come from taking this course.
Hi Matthew! I notice that you are an elementary teacher that uses a progressive learning scale of WB to ME. I have experience as a parent seeing this learning scale on my own children's quarterly report cards and I also think that the progressive learning scale makes sense for elementary students. I like how confident you are in your grading and I strive to get there as well. I wonder if your goal for expanding your horizons as an educator would be supported by our book Grading with Equity and finding the pukas in your grading and seeing if this course can help to broaden the whole perspective of Equity for our Hawaii Keiki.
Delete1. I think most students as they get older are more concerned with their grade. School has become sort of a factory that students are stuck in. Students despise homework and at just want to complete jumping through all the hoops. There is learning, but more just satisfying your parents and teachers, that here, I passed. I got a good grade which equals, I succeeded. It can become extreme when cheating is involved or something like the college application scandals. So in a sense, students strive for the end goal, but can miss the process of learning.
ReplyDelete2. As an art teacher, my vision for grading is based on not how well it 'looks' but the students engagement and involvement with their art. Art is very subjective and yes, you can have a rubric or bullets for them to hit, but overall, I really feel from my experience as an artist that your involvement in the work is what makes it unique. For my most vulnerable students, I would grade them as I stated. Effort and involvement in creating a product. If I have to, I can modify the assignment. In a way, at my current school, we grade only summative tasks. So I have to provide a rubric to the students. In the rubric, I will add my own personal elements like personal engagement, to help mesh it with the IB Units criterion.
3. What brought me to this book study is simply to keep learning. I like to read and challenge my current thinking about education. Also, a colleague of mine, Zach Morita, recommended this class. We took a similar class together with others, What School Could Be, which challenged our thinking about how/what we teach. This class, will help me with how do I grade. So I kind of like how it completes the circle.
4. The grading practice I follow is creating a Rubric for each art project. At our school, we grade/rate students on a scale of 1-8 on 4 different criterion. The criterion are: Knowledge, Skill, Creativity, and Responding. So your grade will simply depend on your summative projects. You get no homework or participation grade. I like the simplicity of it and how we do not take into consideration behaviors, but if you meet the requirements of learning as described in the rubric. I think this is good, because it is up to the teacher to set up/personalize the rubric as needed. Also, because this is an art class, it is very subjective. I am really looking at engagement and effort, which I think is totally fair if you are grading art. The only other thing I might consider grading as part of their grade is their art sketchbook. I can see how that could be viewed as part of the art process.
Aloha Jeff.
DeleteI noticed you describe schools as factories students are stuck in. I agree with you one hundred percent! Students are merely focused on the end goal-their grade, as opposed to knowledge and understanding the content. I wonder how this course will impact our approach to grading as well as our philosophy of the practice itself.
Aloha Jeff,
DeleteYour comment on schools as a factory is heartbreaking but true. I feel the same way! There are many memes out there that illustrate this statement and to think I am apart of it is also heartbreaking. I teach in an elementary school and feel that students are not able to be "kids" anymore. The fun in learning is being stifled by assessments, reading and math programs and dare I say even technology. I as their teacher find it hard to have a say in all of this as many school initiatives are mandated to the point that administrators come to observe that it is being done in classrooms. I hope that my students learn to value their learning instead of the grades that they receive. Mahalo for your thoughts!
Aloha Jeff!
DeleteYou presented a lot of valuable insights about the current grading practices of schools. Indeed, there needs to be a deeper conversation on how to grade students especially with what you have stated about subjectivity and objectivity. There is more freedom on electives on how to grade students since it is more subjective, and could just apply professional judgment in grading. However, as regards the content areas like English, Math, Science, and Social Studies, objectivity is at its finest. Much more pressure is put in because of many assessments, that when results come in, they get to question the effectiveness of the strategies and the teacher as well. I wonder how we could achieve a balance of both for the common good and how we could operate freely in the pursuit of fostering “learning” within a confined educational system.
Mahalo for your insights!
1. I deeply believe that all students need a nurturing, safe environment. It is a basic need that, if not met, will impede and even prevent learning. I believe there are intrinsic and external motivations that are different for each student and that as we get to know our students we can find out what that is and help them to perform at a high level. At the high school level I find that there are very few students concerned with learning, and that most students are just trying to get either a passing grade (those that do not want to go to college) or very high grades (those that will be applying for scholarships and colleges).
ReplyDelete2. My vision for grading is that it will be a win-win for all parties involved. Meaning, not stressful and time consuming for me, and not stressful and a negative experience for my students. For my vulnerable students such as ELL and SPED students, I wish that I could have a grading system that would more accurately reflect their abilities without me having to use a completely different grading scale and system from the general population. For myself, I wish that grading could be less time consuming and would be a way for me to give feedback to students and their families, maybe not daily, but more often than mid-quarter and report card time. I know they can access their grades in Infinite Campus but I think there must be a better option than just that to assess learning regularly. Currently, when they look on Infinite Campus they see the scores they got on assigned, graded work, but they do not see all the formative assessments I have been doing regularly in class. These formative "snapshots" of student understanding and learning are so important but they do not make it into the gradebook.
3. I am always looking for ways to make my practice more a more effective and positive experience for myself and my students. Grading in a way that helps myself and my students would be so awesome, I am hoping to learn and implement strategies that make learning possible and enjoyable for my students and that does not drain and/or frustrate me. I have already learned new things from chapter one and our orientation session, I have also skipped around in the book and found charts and tables that I know I will be using so I am already meeting some of my goals of learning and implementing new strategies for success.
4. I believe that my practice of not giving and grading homework is supporting learning. I think this because I have seen an improvement in student learning and scores since I started this policy over the COVID lockdown. Students told me it relieved so much stress and freed up their time to produce higher quality work on the projects and activities I assigned and I saw that they did submit higher quality work. Students related that the amount of work and homework from each of their teachers was just too much and they couldnʻt keep up. They all thanked me for relieving their stress. It was so sad to hear them talk about their stress levels. When we came back to in person learning this year I kept the no homework policy and it has worked out really well. We do all the learning and work in class and I have a very low percentage of students that do not complete work and students that are failing my class. Lower than what it was before I started the no homework policy. I am open to reconsidering ALL of my grading practices. I l look forward to analyzing all of them- the pros and the cons. I will keep the ones that work, and tweak or remove the ones that are not effective and that may even be harmful.
Aloha Charme! I noticed you feel students need a safe learning environment in order to be successful. I could not agree more! I also feel that is step one to a motivated and positive learning experience for all. I noticed you do not assign homework. I have tried that myself, but found it unsuccessful simply because without an assignment to practice at home, they simply neglect our content completely. I understand how busy students are outside of our classroom settings. I wonder if I should nix the homework for a few weeks and see if there are any changes in student performance during exams. Mahalo for sharing this!
DeleteHi Charme,
DeleteI wonder if there is a way to share formative assessment data with students/families so they can track their progress via the gradebook without these scores counting towards the students final grade. I noticed you mentioned your school is using infinite campus as a gradebook. I wonder what options it has. My school uses Jupiter's grades and then we transfer final grades into infinite campus. I am going to look into the capabilities of the program. I agree that comminuting formative assessment data is important. I might argue that sharing and analyzing formative assessment data is more important than seeing the summative data because formative allows students to see where they are at and where they need to go in their learning.
Aloha Charme, I noticed you do not grade or give homework to your students. I started doing the same thing this year. I can tell all of my students are very grateful. I tried to assign homework a few times at the beginning of the year just to see how many of my students would complete it, each time none of them did. Many explained that their home lives just did not leave time for homework. I wonder, do you feel pressure from your colleagues or administration to provide homework in the name of pacing?
Delete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI learned students need to form relationships with their teachers in order to be successful in a classroom setting. Students need to feel welcomed, cared for, connected, and safe first and foremost. Once learners feel these emotional connections, they can learn content. I believe we are active role models for our students. Students are motivated to learn when the content is presented in a creative, fun, and engaging way. Grades also serve to motivate students to perform. I believe the majority of students are more concerned with their grades than actually absorbing information in a classroom. I hope to discover how to intrinsically motivate students to desire content knowledge as opposed to simply earning a passing grade.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
I wish to improve my current grading practice. Currently, I use a point system for all students. My vision would be to eliminate all letter and numerical grades and replace them with standards and more explicit feedback. I wish grades for vulnerable students honored their progress as opposed to completion in a timely manner. My current grading practices are flawed, which is why I registered for this course. I only provide detailed feedback to students after a project or presentation. I hope to implement a comprehensive grading system which will better serve all learners.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
I am here, recognizing, I need to learn how to improve my grading system. My goals include;
Modifying my grading scale, learning how to use standards based grading, and collaborate with other educators. I plan to read this book one chapter at a time and feel since it is non-fiction, that will help me stay focused. I tend to mark up text while reading-this really helps me highlight important information that I find useful for conversations with other peer educators.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I believe that providing students detailed verbal and or written feedback best supports learning. Students must understand why they performed well on a particular assignment/project. The more details the teacher is able to provide students, the better they will be able to achieve on future tasks. I need to reconsider my current grading in general. I wish to switch to a standards-based grading system. I have no clue how to set up a grading system based on standards while using infinite campus. I am hoping this course provides me knowledge, practical, and concrete examples on how to modify my grading system.
I noticed you stated, “The more details the teacher is able to provide students, the better they will be able to achieve on future tasks.” This is factually true as feedback should be explicit and purposeful. Grades should be perceived as continuous progress and not a finite grade. I wonder if grading should be formative as opposed to summative, or is it all in one?
DeleteAloha Melissa,
DeleteI agree with your beliefs on the relations that you cultivate with your students. I think back on my own teachers. I honestly don't remember a lot of what I learned. Here and there I remembers some subjects and activities. What I do remember is how each of my teacher made me feel. I remember teachers who were kind, loving, strict and even those who didn't really care. Does the we make our students feel in class motivate them to learn? I hope so! Mahalo for your thoughts!
Hi Melissa,
DeleteI noticed that you stated your wish is to improve your grading practice. You mentioned that you only provide detailed feedback to students after a project or presentation, but I assume you want to take advantage of this more. I wonder what you teach and how many students you have, because I find that the hardest part about providing meaningful feedback is how many students I have and how incredibly long it takes. It honestly doesn’t seem feasible to do all the time. This being said, I also wish to improve my grading practice, but do not know how this might look yet.
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI surely believe that children are capable of learning. There are many children who do not seem to “want to” learn or do not “produce” work that shows that they are learning. There are many factors that affect learning for children. A child’s motivation to learn and its opposite is unique to every child that steps in my classroom. Having multiple opportunities of learning, teaching styles and even topics of learning, helps me find what motivates my students. I honestly can’t pinpoint just one activity, lesson or even teaching style that motivates every single one of my students. Many times people who are not in the teaching profession may comment that teaching is easy because I can just do what I did last year. My answer is “yes” and “no,” I have new students who come every year. Are they all the same? No! I need to find ways to motivate them to learn. Overall, students I believe are more concerned with their grades. Do I mention that the administration or even their parents will see their grades? Yes, I do! Why do I do that? To motivate them to get better grades. Should I change? Definitely!
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
I vision grading could be a picture of what a student is learning instead of checklists of completed and missing assignments. I do wish students could be more involved with grading with the use of rubrics and conferences. Many of these practices that I wish I could do are either sporadically done or not done at all. I believe time is the overall factor in not using these practices daily. Vulnerable students will only learn more when they are involved in their grading. They will know where they are, where they must get to and learn how to get there. Towards the end of each quarter or before I send out report cards, I conference with each of my students. Although this is being done quarterly I believe it's too late!
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
Grading has always been a challenge to me. I have realized early on that I don’t recall receiving instruction in college on how to grade students. I have witnessed many different ways of grading all of which seem good but not consistent. My goals for this class is to analyze the way I grade now and change my thinking and practices. As was mentioned in Chapter 1, many things in this book will challenge even my own beliefs. I hope that I will read this book with an open mind so that I will be able to reach my goals for grading.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
One practice that I believe supports my students' learning is giving opportunities for students to retest. I feel that all students may not be able to show their learning at the time of assessment or may not understand a concept because of the teaching style or environment or other factors. When a student is confident they are able to show what they learn they should have the opportunity to do so. There are many grading practices that I am open to reconsidering. I want to learn more ways to help motivate students and be involved with their grading. This will help cultivate a love for learning and accountability.
Hi Dayton,
DeleteI love how you said that grading should move away from checklists--whether it's assignments that are done and checked off, or whether it's using checklists to grade a singular assignment, I feel that to do lists are both a help and a hindrance to learning. While it allows things to be more explicit and clear (you only did 1/10 assignments, or you only completed 2 out of the required 5 paragraphs), it also makes it all about whether an assignment is completed/attempted or not, rather than the joy and depth of learning. For peer editing and self-assessment purposes, I provide checklists to my students for individual assignments, but I wonder what it would look like to move away from those. My students have a hard time with my school's rubrics because they're often vague and they have different descriptors such as "outline" vs. "state" vs. "explain" so checklists often help to break those down, but I wonder how we can make assessment (especially those in which students are assessing each other's or their own work) more clear for students and yet at the same time move away from simply checking things off a list? Or maybe it's not a dichotomy, and there's another option available. What is the best way to help students learn to assess their own work?
Mahalo Dayton for sharing.
DeleteI noticed that you offer students a chance to retest, which is a great motivation to achieve goals/objectives! I mention that to my students, it takes the anxiety and stress off of their behavior towards the formatives/summatives and they are able to go in with a more relaxed and focus mindset.
I wonder if you're able to have small talk story sessions with your students who may have had a poor score after they have taken a test. Not everyone test has the luxury to have one-on-one student discussion, but a group reflection. All the students who got the same number on their formative/summative incorrect can work on a similar problem to see where they went wrong'; prior to the retest.
Aloha Dayton! I noticed that you said that you give your students opportunities to retest. I agree with this practice and your sentiment that students may not be able to show mastery of a concept for various reasons and that they should be allowed to show learning when they are confident in their ability. I wonder if it would be beneficial to offer options for demonstration of knowledge besides just a test/retest. Perhaps offering students an option to do an activity/test/project etc. to demonstrate learning at the end of a unit would be helpful. Although, I feel this is easier said than done but with forethought and planning it could be done.
Delete1. I do believe that all students can learn, keeping in mind that not all of them will be able to meet the standards as well as the next student. I believe that making learning fun is what motivates the majority of them. I say majority because there are always some students who prefer not to engage in classroom activities when we are singing, laughing, playing games, etc. However, I do feel that allowing them to be silly and to have fun is one of the biggest motivating factors for them to want to be in my class to learn. I also learned that building a good relationship with every one of them is huge! By doing this, I feel that they tend to let their guard down a little. In my class, they are taught to make mistakes, and that making mistakes are okay because only through them can they learn. What demotivates them? When you walk into a class unprepared, the students know it, and that makes it a bad day. I teach them that success is through preparation and I make it a point to model that daily. The next point about demotivating them comes straight from the students themselves - when a teacher just sits at her desk all day and doesnʻt offer help. One more comment from students about why they arenʻt motivated to go to some classes is that their teacher doesnʻt seem to care. Again, building relationships is half the battle. there.
ReplyDelete2. I envision that grading should always be left to the teachers to decide and Iʻd hate to see that one day weʻll be required to follow certain guidelines on how to grade students across the board. Do I like the grading system? I donʻt particularly enjoy every aspect of it, but I do welcome the fact that itʻs the one area of teaching where teachers have autonomy to do as we see fit. Student reflections and self assessment are always a good way for students to take part in receiving the grades they deserve. I often have one on one discussions with them so they understand what it is that they can do to "earn" their grades. These kids are smart - they know exactly what grade they deserve. They feel valued when they are able to give input. As far as what I wish grading would look like for me, I feel that Iʻm already a holistic grader and that I personally value more than what a test score tells me. How is my current practices meeting those expectations? I feel that by implementing the teacher/student "mini check ins", as I call it, Iʻm moving towards meeting my expectations. Students have a say in the rubrics we create together so they are already in agreement of whatʻs expected, and students have a say as to the grade shown on IC. There have been times where just sitting down with them and understanding why or what happened during a certain assignment or period, moved me to make a grade adjustment.
3. I think weʻre all here to help grading make sense. With many years under my belt, I still get questioned by parents about how and why their child gets their grade. It ʻs always put me in an uncomfortable position. According to the book, teachers are in the "most powerful position to make grading practices more equitable." My goal for enrolling in this course is to learn how so I wonʻt question myself and my grading practices as much. I want to be reassured that some of the things Iʻm already doing are okay, and at the same time learn how to make it not just okay, but on point! Change may not come easy and yes, Iʻm sure my belief system differs from others, but Iʻm willing to make the necessary adjustments where needed in order to make grading equitable! As an educator, I welcome the help and canʻt see how going through this course and soaking in new knowledge could hinder the realization of my goals.
ReplyDelete4. Through all of my years of teaching, I learned that grading is not a one size fits all. I think one of the best grading practices I have that supports learning is allowing my students a say in how they are tested. They are always given options as to whether they want it written, oral or project based. They are also given the options for retakes. I believe that by doing this, they realize what their strengths are and how to best show me what they learned. I feel that it takes a lot more planning and time, but the outcome is usually a good one. In regards to a grading practice that I would like to reconsider doing, I often wonder if giving full credit for completion of an assignment is hurting them. Some students work really hard and turn in quality work where others just turn it in to go through the motions. I feel pressured into having the "classwork/homework" component in the grading system. I donʻt give homework. Classwork should never be done at home, and the home is for family time, not more schoolwork. Anybody feel the same?
Hi Ruth,
DeleteI agree with your feelings about classwork and homework. I know that it is easy to say, but really difficult to promise that there will be no "homework". With my students every assignment is started in the classroom and whatever they don't finish becomes homework. Usually most students are able to complete the assignments, get help if needed and work with others if they choose. I do feel strongly that just giving them "extra practice" as homework is totally not needed. I agree, the home should be family time, and time for them to really be kids. Just like teachers, students need to have boundaries and we shouldn't expect them to only do homework at home. If anyone has learned anything from the pandemic, it's that family and time is precious! How do you teach your students that mistakes are okay? I'm finding that this school year, I have a few students who are very hard on themselves and don't like excepting anything less than perfection. Thanks for sharing!
Ruth, I noticed that you are wondering if "giving full credit for completion of an assignment is hurting them" and you feel pressure to have a classwork/homework component in the grading system. For many years, I had a classwork & homework category as part of my grading systems, but as I have learned more about assessment for learning and standard based grading, I have begun to move away from this idea. I wonder…. Can a grading system be standard based if it has a classwork and/or homework component?
Delete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI believe that all my students are unique, have the potential to be successful and should have the option to go to college or follow the career path that they wish. It is my job to support and challenge them as they continue on their learning journey. Historically, my students have been most motivated when they feel like the goal/learning is in reach for them. They tend to give up if they think it is too hard or they can’t do it. Overall my students are more concerned with grades then learning, but they can recognize when they have learned or improved. Being an AVID teacher, my students do quite a few reflections and they have shared that they are proud that they have improved on organization, note taking, and asking high level questions, so they do care about learning not just grades.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
My vision for grading is to be standard based and it be a true reflection of what my students have learned and are able to do. I want a well thought out assessment plan that includes students in the assessment process and grades that show how much the students have gained or improved. I wish grades to be something to be celebrated between teacher and student. In order for this to work, students will need to have multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning and soft skills must be eliminated from the grade unless part of your content standards. Grading policies must match the assessment plan. This is a relatively new realization for me, so I will need to relook at my whole grading system.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
My colleague recommended taking this course which includes reading this book. When I looked into it, I felt that this was a great next step. I just finished the assessment for learning professional development course and the ideas seem to align. As I am redesigning my assessment plan it makes a lot of sense to analyze and adjust my grading system as well. My plan is to be open minded as I read this book as I was when thinking about assessment, so I can meet my goal of creating a standard based assessment and grading system that allows all students to meet their full potential.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
Currently, the majority of the student’s grade is based on assessments of the standards. I do allow retakes. I believe that I am on the right track. I need to look at grading categories, weighting, scales, and all of my classroom policies to ensure that they support the idea of students' grades being based on the student's mastery of the standards.
Christine, I noticed that you mentioned being an ADVID teacher. What does that intel? I really like what you were speaking of regarding having students complete reflections and help with organization skills. I feel that would be something I would be interested in.
DeleteI was wondering, when you allow your students to do retakes on their assessments, do you give them the same assessment or do you create a whole new assessment on the same level as the first? I also allow retakes, but if they are retaking assessments the highest grade they can receive is a proficient grade not exceeding the standard. What are your thoughts?
Hi Krystin, AVID is a college and career readiness program. At the middle school and high school level there is an elective course called AVID. AVID stands for advanced via individual determination. Writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading skills are things we focus on in the elective class. Here is a website put out by AVID that you might be interested in. https://avidopenaccess.org/
DeleteAs for retakes, I create a whole new assessment on the same level. I found that students would try to retake without being prepared, so students have to complete an assignment or come study with me to earn the retake option. Highest assessment score is what goes in the grade book. One thing that I am working on right now, is giving students several opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of the standards.
Hi Krystin,
DeleteComment above was written by me, just forgot to add my name before hitting reply. Sorry!
1. I truly believe that all students want to learn. There are things that hinder their learning from time to time, but initially all students yearn to improve and learn in life. I feel that well motivated students put effort into finding connections as best as they can to what they are learning. Students who have positive experiences in their learning continue to find it easier to motivate themselves and push their understanding as they continue on throughout the grade levels. Families who also positively support their children at home really make a difference in their learning progress. On the other hand, there are many things that interrupt and hinder a student's motivation. Things like negative experiences, uninteresting topics and lack of life experiences that they may not understand can all prevent students from staying motivated. From what I am seeing in my students this year, most of my students seem very concerned with asking me, “What’s my grade?” rather than reflecting on the learning that is taking place over the quarter. This is a sad reality, but I do feel that students focus more on their grades rather than the process of seeing growth and improvement.
ReplyDelete2. My vision for grading is for it to be easy to balance, accurate and focus on growth rather than meeting the standard. I remember very little wanting to have a “perfect report card” so much that if I didn’t get perfect grades, I would be anxious, cry and be very disappointed. Every student starts at different places at the beginning of the year and each lesson. My wish for students in vulnerable populations would be that they have access to internet and mobile devices in order to have learning equity. I also feel for students who live in very stressful situations at home that they have no control of. I know that I can’t control home life, but I can control my classroom, making all learning equitable for all students. In some ways the current grading system meets some of my expectations, but in ways they do not. Not every student has access to computers or internet access which makes them less motivated to complete their assignments and eventually trickles down and affects their grades. I do like grading to a standard, rather than averaging grades like they did many years ago. What is not working is the vague categorization that the report cards given at the end of the quarter. Many students might be improving a lot but their quarter grades do not show progress, which is frustrating. I just wish there was a way to grade progress rather than strictly meeting the standard or not.
3. I decided to join this class because I am interested and open to updating my grading strategies. Especially with many concerning issues that happened in the past two years, I have struggled to collect data to grade my students fairly. I am interested in stepping up my game and to continue to make learning fun for my students. I also signed up for the course because it was a free PD, which I appreciate!
4. I found it really difficult this year and last year to get data for grades. So what I have been doing this year I have been doing a lot of exit slips at the end of every daily lesson with immediate feedback for my students. I feel like students are able to get real time progress on what they are currently learning so that they don’t wonder “how am I doing in __”. They have a daily check in and way to self-assess what they will do in order to improve their learning. However I have to admit collecting immediate data with feedback is very time consuming and tiring. I am most open to reconsider my grading practices for assessment. At the end of the quarter I would like to have a more solid strategy/grading process instead of scrambling to put students' report cards together.
Krystin, I agree with your statement that "Students who have positive experiences in their learning continue to find it easier to motivate themselves and push their understanding as they continue on throughout the grade levels." Students remain motivated when they have positive experiences - and that doesn't always mean a "good grade." It can mean encouragement and growth, it can mean they find a new interest or a focus. If students have a champion, they find it easier to remain motivated even in times of struggle.
Delete1. Students are motivated to learn through real world experiences and relevance. In the art classroom, this often presents itself through the balance or teacher-directed vs. student choice. When students are challenged to demonstrate their learning through subject matter that is relevant to their interest in life, it engages them. I find that the more teacher-directed learning demotivates students and can affect the quality of their learning. I learned that some high school students I work with are more concerned about grades; it is a high pressure time of their lives, and often athletic eligibility is tied to classroom outcomes. I don’t think it’s possible to make a blanket statement about whether students are more interested in learning or grades. Student populations at schools are so diverse, teachers are accounting for all types of learners, and their attitudes and motivations towards learning.
ReplyDelete2. My vision for grading is an ongoing process that informs the student of their learning through multiple forms of formative and summative assessment. I wish there was more focus on grading practices being discussed on the school level, so vulnerable students had opportunities to retake or revisit their learning to show improvement in all their classes. I learned that current grading practices are often an “island of autonomy”. (pg. 4) Also, which can be part of the issue that factors into what I wish grading could be. While I appreciate when this autonomy protects me from being intimidated or coerced into grading practices I don’t believe in. I also agree with the author, that this is also part of the problem of conversations around grading being inhibited. To change this current practice of not having conversations with other educators that are necessary to examine our grading practices. I will implement more effort into starting these conversations around grading in professional learning groups at my school.
3. What brings me to this book study is to learn more about grading. I really like the lens of equity in education and I was interested in learning more about equity in grading practices. Also, my colleagues Beatriz and David were taking the class and we had taken a similar book study together the previous summer and fall. My goal is to understand equitable grading practices and implement new assessment strategies in my classroom. I think if I read the book with an open mind it will help me achieve my goal, especially if I can keep an attitude toward grading where I am willing to try new things and make adjustments to ways I have become set in, if it will benefit my students.
4. I think one of the grading practices that best supports learning is the use of midway reflections and self-evaluation in the classroom. When students have to check themselves where they have met success criteria and where they need to improve to meet the criteria, they can set new learning goals and improve. I learned this creates a learning environment that normalizes revision, which in an art classroom is all too familiar with the drafts it takes to achieve a final work sometimes. Changing my current grading practices looks like reconsidering my work habits grading category, in the past it was a more accurate indicator of studio habits of my students. With the current situation in education I am no longer sure if it’s an equitable practice, it seems too difficult to disentangle from attendance. I will implement some of the strategies in future chapters to find an adjustment to this practice.
Aloha Angela,
DeleteI've enjoyed reading your responses to these post questions; number 4 in particular. I appreciate your comment recognizing the use of reflections and self-evaluations. I have noticed, from my experience of being on our school's WASC leadership team, that self-evaluations are a highly encouraged part of accreditation. It is a form of assessment that lends itself to overall student learning but more so, it is a successful informational tool meant to guide instruction.
I wonder what percentage of teachers at any one particular school utilize such an assessment tool like reflections and evaluations. Looking at our WASC data that we recently gathered at our high school, at least 64.6% reported using self evaluative tools in their classrooms in helping to provide next steps in their curriculum. I look forward to further discussions about assessments and its influence on grading practices.
Val Shindo-Uehira
ReplyDelete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
I truly believe that each of my students is capable of learning. They are enthusiastic and inquisitive and I enjoy my time with them in Science. The biggest motivator for these students is the positive reinforcement they receive from peers and teachers. I notice that even the “lowest” student will try harder if they are given proper support and encouragement. The thing that demotivates them the most is seeing poor scores on their assignments and assessments. Unfortunately, I feel that most of my students are more concerned with grades than learning. It would be nice if I could get them to change their mindset and focus on learning rather than fixating on their scores.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
To be honest - I wish I didn’t have to grade. This is probably my least favorite part of my job as a teacher. However, I also realize that as much as I dislike grading, it is important as these grades provide students (and parents) a snapshot of their academic progress in my class. I do feel that grades should reflect a student’s growth and ability to master skills and content. Therefore, I wish that grades were progressive so as students move through their benchmarks and are able to demonstrate their learning, their grades change to reflect their growth. I feel that current grading practices do not really reflect this type of progress. Traditional grading seems to be independent of each assignment and does not truly reflect the growth of a student.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
I enrolled in this course out of curiosity and to learn new strategies to implement in my own classroom in regards to my grading practices. I am willing to reflect on my current practices and make changes where appropriate to increase student learning and success. I also enjoy the format of guided book studies as it allows for more interactions and sharing of different ideas. When reading the book, I think it will be beneficial to have an open mind and to really connect with the content, making sure to read and respond to others’ comments in response to the chapters and to read others’ comments left on my posts as well.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I best support student learning by giving students the opportunity to make revisions to work that did not meet standards/benchmarks. The higher score is then given as the final grade for that assignment/assessment. This provides students with a chance to demonstrate learning and encourages students to work towards mastery. I am actually open to modifying any of my grading practices as long as it benefits my students. If I can get students to focus on the learning rather than the grade itself I believe this will benefit them in other classes as well.
Aloha Val,
DeleteI like your post where you speak with honesty in sharing your curious intentions in learning new strategies. I noticed your self-reflection on grading and how it's a dislike of yours. I share the same sentiment! Grading has been a thorn in my side for decades and it frustrates me that I have not been able to master it yet. From your shared words, it's easy to notice and determine your humility with participating in a guided book study. I believe that continuous study and practice informs change and I too hope to be well-taught in the area of grading.
I continue to wonder how many teachers use student revisions as a continued demonstration of meeting standards as the curriculum progresses. At my school, a teacher survey used as part of our WASC process shows that 56.3% of our teachers allow for revisions after specific feedback is given. I happen to think that this kind of opportunity to revise and resubmit will raise student success in one way or another. Thank you again for your post.
Val, I agree that "even the “lowest” student will try harder if they are given proper support and encouragement." Students all fundamentally want to do well and when they are not provided support and encouragement, that is when they lose their will and motivation. Every student deserves support and someone to champion them so that they continue to strive to be their best - no matter what that "level" or "grade" may be.
Delete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteA deep belief that I have about students is that they look the same to me; making it hard to identify one learner type from another nowadays. A handful of students will stand out and pull away from the pack. These, in my opinion, are intrinsically motivated towards earning an honest education and oftentimes reared in a supportive home when inheriting an abundance of absolute nurturing. A large percentage of students in our demographic area donʻt respond to much - regardless of the wealth of privileges afforded them in the form of a free/appropriate education, individualized programming, academic accommodations, and overall incentives, to name a few.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
Aah, I have visions of grandeur when it comes to grading. But all in all, I long for the fairness with consistent standards-based grading processes for all students and across all curricula (high school social studies being the exception without specific state standards.) In my lifetime, I've experienced all sorts of grading styles as a student on the receiving end and as an educator in both general and special education areas. In all honesty, I have not narrowed down any one particular grading style that works for me in this day and age. I do know, however, that students deserve equality, impartiality and above all else, they need truth. Where I am currently employed, I fail to see accuracy and consistency in our practices. To me, our school is not noted for its veracity.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
As a special educator, I've taken on the desire of being well-rounded in all school-related information. I purposefully get involved with these developments so that I remain knowledgeable in areas beyond my assigned position and training(s). I like to be taken seriously as a special educator and I wish for my expertise to be vast and growing. Taking this course will enlighten me with new approaches and methods different from my own. My goal for this course is for it to teach me new information from text, other resources/materials, and colleagues.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
In my opinion, I firmly believe that standards-based grading - at this time - best supports learning because its hard to argue; students either meet the standardized expectations or not. The other question is, does my school's existing curriculum and its components scrupulously adhere to teaching the state standards with rigor? With that being said, I remain very open to reconsidering how I've done things in the past two decades regarding grading practices.
Hi Ceslee,
DeleteI also believe that standard-based grading supports learning better than other grading systems because it seems more accurate. This is my second year teaching, so I still have a lot to learn. I am starting to see that there is not a prescribed grading system that would work for everyone without having to adjust it. I would love to learn how to adjust these ideas, so they are beneficial for my students.
Hi Ceslee!
DeleteI resonated with a lot of what you said--I noticed and appreciated your views and philosophy of grading--how it should be about equality, impartiality and consistency. My school could also improve, especially when it comes to consistency (we're standards based too!).
I teach the vulnerable student population as well through inclusion, and I've found that the achievement gap continues to persist regardless of the additional support, parent meetings, accommodations, IEPs, etc. I agree many of them don't respond to much, and I'm curious as to how we can make grading more equitable for those students with 504s, and IEPS, as well as students who are ELLs. Their motivations are so different across the different populations, but the gap still persists, especially for students with IEPS. I look forward to reading more of your responses and learning from your perspective as a special education teacher!
As a science teacher, I believe that students have a natural curiosity to learn, although it may need to be coaxed and reignited the older they are, and I believe that all students have the ability to learn, but they may need different entry points to access the curriculum. They can be intrinsically motivated when the subject is interesting and relevant, but often students are extrinsically motivated by their parents or by grades themselves (grades can both motivate and demotivate them) When it comes to demotivating students, in science I see that whenever students are asked to think critically (as in, they're not given the answers but instead need to figure it out themselves), there’s a small population of students who don’t want to put the effort into finding the solution to a problem, and then give up. I think in general, students are used to be told the answers, and therefore not all of them are willing to put in the mental effort to piece the answers together on their own.
ReplyDeleteMy vision for grading is really based on my school and the standards based grading system that we ascribe to. I actually appreciate standards based grading, where students aren’t worrying about missing a point there, or a point here, it’s more holistic, and it allows the freedom to move away from averages if a student had extenuating circumstances at the beginning or end of the quarter. It allows us to look at trends in progress as well as effort, and to give students a higher grade if they showed effort, participated, and did their homework. That said, because classwork and homework is not counted in their grade, it does make it difficult to motivate some students to complete it, because it “doesn’t count” toward their grade. I wish grading could reflect the progress students make, allow for forgiveness to take into account the circumstances going on in their lives if necessary, but also hold them accountable for completing assignments at the same time (and preferably on time).
Initially, I was just curious to learn more about different styles of grading since I’ve only ever taught with a single grading system, and I’ve enjoyed the book studies I’ve done in the past, however, after reading chapter one, I’m really curious to know if I am somehow contributing to systems of inequities in our society, increasing generational educational and wealth disparities. I hadn’t ever considered that, and I would also be interested in how grades can really help mark the progress of the whole child (like communication, collaboration, etc) not just their knowledgebase.
I believe that using standards based grading does best support learning, because it allows room for professional judgement and taking the needs of each child into account. I don’t have to stick to averages or points, but I can look at the big picture of their progress overall. I would be open to reconsidering my statement regarding late work, and I also currently do not allow redos because I want them to try their best and get help the first time around, however, I would be open to changing that as well.
Mahalo Jennifer for sharing.
DeleteI notice we have the same students, they believe the response for 'critical thinking' is giving a 'critical excuse not to do the work'. I notice that your school has SBG and it flows the same way as mine. I've only known one way of grading when I was in a course alike, so I agree with you on wanting to see if there are other ways of grading that may benefit myself and my students.
I wonder how your students track the progress of their grades and if those trackers helps them become motivated to set goals.
Hi Jennifer,
DeleteI am also a science teacher and I totally can relate in your comment. My students don't seem to know how to "think". They are just waiting for the answers without question them. I also think that critical thinking needs to be thought in most cases, and we do not invest enough time in the classroom.
I also think that standard-based grading supports learning the best, but I am struggling with the implementation.
1. Students in high school don’t want to be ripped off when it comes to education. I’ve noticed that my students that register for the classes they want have a high expectation of what they will be learning and enjoy being in the class; compared to those that get placed in my class have an expectation to just, how do you put it - get by.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it depends on the subject that I teach that will motivate or demotivate a student. During my math class, they’re motivated by the amount of work they need to complete; if it looks simple with a handful of problems/equations - they’re quick to complete and use less time asking for help. Yet there are days when I feel like they demotivate themselves by the mere fact that it’s math and they put themselves down or give up before they try to learn/understand the concepts.
Today I had an opportunity for my math class to make-up their summative, a chance to raise their grade. I had a student that flat out told me they were happy with a “C” and expressed how when they tell their parents they’ll be happy for their child because, “they’re not failing”. Yet for me, they failed the opportunity too ‘be better’, ‘try better’. And that made me feel sad for them. I would love for my students to be concerned with what they learn, but when the students know that they need a particular subject to graduate (I teach 11th-12th) - it’s “pass or fail”, so it's a tough competition.
2. My vision for grading is a standard rubric. All of the standards are met for each ‘unit: concept’ that is taught. I grade on what my students are able to accomplish. For example, math: a student can ‘exceeds mastery’, ‘master’, ‘near mastery’ and ‘remediation’ for any given formative and/or summative. They have multiple opportunities to achieve the grade/score that they desire.
I work in a school that is a vulnerable population, but my grading is equitable for all students. I’ve had students take a formative/summative assessment once and other students have taken the assessments numerous times. Some stay after school, others attend before school, even a handful of times students request for extension and submissions via Google classroom.
I wish grading didn’t affect students mentally and emotionally, or become a barrier to possibilities.
I wish students could see grades like getting their driver’s license or certificate of achievement in a frame - something to be proud of, that they accomplished a subject that they needed to better their life skills/goals.
My students are able to easily identify their grades by how I release their scores on Google Classroom. They’re given a grade book tracker built in on GC to see their classwork, group projects, formative and summative assessments. I’m also able to give feedback to my students as a class and privately to their various assignments.
3. What brought me to this book study was an incident that I had with my nephew’s 8th grade teacher during concurrent learning. Teacher didn't follow the syllabus and grading style - which lead to a group parent teacher conferences with Administration present.
My goals for this course is to read the course book with an open mind and try to implement a few strategies. I hope to better understand how grading equitably will improve the way I teach and assign bell work, classwork, group discussions, formative and summative assessments.
4. I like giving my students a rubric of what they’ll learn in each unit. We learn all the sub-unit concepts in scaffolding levels to build their depth of knowledge. Practice with classwork, group work and formative assessments. Once level understanding is established, then I’ll give the students their summative assessment to test their knowledge of the standards and grade them according to their levels of mastery. The reason I grade my students this way is because there are goals/learning objectives in each unit that the students can achieve to their level of understanding and motivation. Added bonus, it makes it easier to explain to parents/guardians in student IEP (Individual Education Plan).
Hi Hoku,
DeleteI noticed that I have the same students, the ones that settle for the "C" , I teach 8th grade and I find that some students are just happy with that C, and like you said not motivated to take a dip at that opportunity to better not just their grade, but their ability to gain more knowledge. I dont blame the students , I think it may be their way of "getting by" . We just got to keep helping them by showing them the benefits of retaking and learning more.
I wonder the amount of high school students realize how their grades effect them when wanting to continue their education after high school. For example, I wonder if they realize the effect on their GPA, when wanting to enter a specific college of their dreams. Or I wonder if they know how taking advantage of opportunities when given to them?
thank you for the post and for sharing!
Tammy Cabral
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteIn my honest opinion, I think many of my students care about their grades because they are afraid of the consequences of failing. I do not think they can connect failing with no learning, or having a good grade with mastering the standard. It is all about "am I passing?"
I teach 9-10 grade, and they are at a very complicated age. Some of them deeply care about what others think about them, and they are still developing their personality. They are very motivated about popularity and being liked by others. Also, many of my students are growing up in an environment where financial instability plays an important role and education falls in a secondary position. One of my students asked me, "How this is going to help me to get a job in McDonald's?" Although I believe that any job can bring purpose and happiness, it seemed that the student thought it was the only option.
It is demoralizing to see how students don't seem to care about their learning, just about the grades but, haven't they been training for that response their whole school life?
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
I strongly believe in standard-based grading. I think it provides an accurate "measurement" of the student's learning. However, it is very challenging to apply it when the absenteeism is high, and I cannot get enough data to analyze their learning and understanding levels.
I wish I could connect to the students and engage them in a conversation about their current and future learning expectations. I would love to bring relevance to their grades. Also, I would love to be able to look at the student and explain him/her precisely where he/she at the moment and guide him/her to set his/her academic goals. I think accurate grading can help me to reach that.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
My goal for this book study is to explore and learn different ways of grading. It is crucial to have this conversation if we want to improve our practice, this is why I am very excited to be here. I cannot wait to have meaningful conversations about grading and equity with other teachers. I think I am going to learn a lot, and it will be very beneficial for my students.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I am trying to follow standard-based grading. I believe it supports learning because I am focusing on what the student knows and not on other skills that are not included in the standards. My biggest concern is that I do not know how to implement it correctly. I tried not to penalize students for missing work if they showed learning in the summative assessments. Many students have to stay at home in quarantine, and they do not have the means to follow the class from home. However, this approach has been interpreted as "classwork is not important." I do not need to say that the engagement decreased, and it made me rethink my grading system. This is why I am excited to be here; I am ready to learn and reflect on my practices.
Hi Beatriz - I noticed you mentioned about standard-based grading and its measurements, but the challenges occur with absenteeism and lack of data collecting. I wonder how we can encourage students to come to school, but honoring their fears about returning to school due to the pandemic. I also wonder how we, as educators, can sufficiently collect data and still provide students' grades they deserve despite their attendance. I feel for those students who have been healthy, but have to stay home due to being a close contact and quarantining. But, I also feel for teachers because hybrid teaching was a huge challenge.
Delete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI believe students are consistently growing and learning. They are motivated by the connections and relationships they develop within their environment. In our society, it seems like our success is determined by grades and test scores rather than through the process of the learning that happens throughout the time. I feel as if this is portrayed on our students as "success," when in my own teaching philosophy I believe in the journey as a reflection of success.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
I believe students' grading should be based on a continuum, or in some measure of growth rather than the "all end goal." For many students in my classes, even pre-pandemic, I encourage students to make growth within their own goals rather than just reaching for grade level proficiency. Many students in my school community are first-generation American schooled children, who are provided an opportunity that their parents/guardians have dreamed about for these children. In their homeland, school is least of a priority and bell schedules do not exist. So for my students, teaching their parents the importance of punctuality is a new concept as a family. Therefore, having conversations with students and families about grades is a foreign concept to them. I choose to share the growth the child makes within their means rather than focusing on consistent grade level proficiency.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
I would like to know how to create rubrics and align it to our K-5 grading scale with meaning. My goal for this course is to learn more about effective grading scales, and how I can incorporate practices into my own teaching.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I believe in the practice of growth mindset. I believe in taking where a child is at when they enter my classroom, then build their skills from there. Unfortunately through my school, they often look at the number of students who are proficient rather than the growth that is made. I would like to learn more about Practices that Lift the Veil on How to Succeed and build more rubrics to measure the growth.
I noticed you mentioned that society determines success by grades and not the process. I also agree with this. It's important that our students see the process of learning as the success rather than the grade. I believe this will help them to continue to learn and take responsibility for their learning. I wonder what would happen if we helped students to see their growth, build their confidence and focusing on the journey instead of a letter.
Delete1. I believe if all students can embrace their uniqueness and differences that they can learn to share and grow in confidence to succeed. We all have qualities that can contribute to learning. Many of our students feel scared to share who they are, where they come from, and the talents they possess. I feel if students can contribute to the learning they are more likely to be successful. For example, if students can make choices throughout the project and have a voice in the process they are more likely to stay engaged. If students have control over the end product they focus more on the learning process rather than the grade.
ReplyDelete2. My vision for grading would be to have concrete evidence and best practices provided for educators that help us to make better-informed decisions on how we choose to grade. I still feel grading should be left to the teachers but I would like to see more conversations and data collection on how we can work towards equity. I don’t feel students who have the same level of performance should get better or worse grades depending on which teacher they got. I wish for my students that they be afforded multiple opportunities to demonstrate their proficiency level, especially vulnerable populations. It’s important to me that we understand that not all students learn at the same pace or the same style. Some are better with summative assessments while others are better at projects, hands-on assessments. Currently, most of our teachers at my school follow standard-based grading, which does allow for multiple opportunities but not all teachers see this as providing multiple strategies or types of assessments. For example, some teacher believes multiple opportunities means getting to keep retaking the written summative, while others believe that having a written summative, a lab assessment, and oral assessments is considered multiple opportunities for the student to demonstrate their learning. I wish we could either give students choice based on their strengths or provide a variety and often opportunities.
3. What brings me to this book is to learn more about grading, the pros & cons of it. I want to learn something concrete with data/evidence to help me make better-informed choices on how I grade. I want to know that I am grading fairly and providing students with accurate assessment (grade) of their learning. My goal is to understand what equitable grading practices look like and be able to reflect on my practices and implement new strategies if needed. I feel like reading this book with an open mind will help me to grow as an educator. It will help me experience new ideas and that may help me strengthen my professional practices.
4. One grading practice that I do is to allow students to get grading and feedback from their peers. I often have students use the rubric and grade another student's work/project and provide specific feedback using the words from the rubric to support their grading. This allows students to learn the expectations and guidelines better and provides an opportunity to fix their assignments prior to turning them into me. I also collect the feedback that was provided to ensure they had provided meaningful feedback to that student. I believe that this really helps students to build relationships with their peers, strengthen their understanding of the expectations, and build collaboration amongst the students. Lastly, I am open to reconsidering all my grading practices if I feel it will best support my students.
please add your name before typing/posting your response
DeleteHI
DeleteI noticed that you have a passion for your students and that by having such passion, grading is important to you. I also like that you give students a voice and choice in their academic success. I am one that also believes that many students have differences and sometimes they are scared to learn and they shut down either because they dont know, or they just scared to fail.
I wonder sometimes how many parents have expectations of their kids, or do they just settle for the fact that they passed and didnt fail. For me as a parent I always looked at their grades and focused on GPA, but I wonder if parents even understand grading. I think I would like to see more tutorials for parents/guardians to udnerstanding grading, expecially when it gets to where it really counts in high school (because it affects their college entry applications)
Thank you for sharing!
Tammy Cabral
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI believe that all students can be successful in their academic and social lives when teachers demonstrate care and appreciation for each as an individual. Students are always willing to learn, we as educators need to be willing to teach in a variety of ways. I think students are motivated by the idea that someone believes in them. When students have a support system that demonstrates trust and care, I believe they become motivated learners. I think students become unmotivated when they have no connection to the learning process. When students do not feel heard or seen, they check out. I believe students can be more concerned with grades if they are in a culture that prioritizes grades over the learning process. It all comes down to what is modeled and what students witness as a priority.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
My vision for grading is to have students be able to self assess. I wish students could look at their learning process and reflect on their areas of growth and areas that they may struggle in. The most vulnerable populations should view grading as a process of reflection, not one of fear and rejection. I wish I could grade in a collaborative process. Currently, I do have my students practice reflection after assessments and activities. I use those reflections to give them an overall grade. They do not have much of a collaborative piece on them. I am hoping to perhaps get the students' home support to get involved with their grading process as well.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
I am in this book study so I can hone my grading practices. I really want to develop an unbiased system of grading that equally assesses all my students' growth in their individual learning journeys. I am hoping the book provides me with new ideas that I can practice in my current and future grading. I would like to make sure that the way I grade does not negatively impact my students' learning and the way they view themselves. I think I have a problem with procrastination, but I love to read. I think the way I read will help me take in the information that I would like to apply to my grading practices. Hopefully my reading strategies will allow me to reflect on what I like about my current grading strategies and what I would like to improve on.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I think my reflective activities I have the students complete after a learning unit really help my students congratulate themselves as well as look for areas of improvement. The reflections also help me as a teacher realize where I need to improve so that I may better serve my students. I am most open to reconsider the way I scale my categories such as participation, projects, and essays. I am not confident in the best way to weigh each category or if they should be weighed at all. I would like to understand the most effective way to assess student learning and growth without diminishing it down to a single letter.
Aloha e J. I wonder how that issue of bias or subjectivity will be handled in the book. I have generally tried to make my grading as objective as possible to minimize how my personal bias or POV might influence my grading. And more objective grading criteria makes it easier for kids to meet requirements. However I am wondering if the Feldman book will argue for more holistic, and subjective grading.
Delete1. A deep belief I have about students is that they all, in some capacity, want to succeed. Teaching lower elementary, I notice a lot of students are extrinsically motivated by praise from someone or getting a toy or sticker as a reward for doing something successfully. The students that I have come across in my grade level, seem to be more concerned with their learning than their grades. I think as students get older, this may flip and they might be more concerned with their grades than learning. Drawing from my own experience as a high schooler, I definitely “studied” to get the grade, rather than to learn the material because it might be useful in the future.
ReplyDelete2. A vision for grading that I have is that academic grades are based objectively on their mastery of the skills needed for the grade level. I think at the lower elementary level, grading can be very subjective – Did this student improve in this strand since last quarter? I’ve even noticed that even though teachers who work on the same grade level, may grade the same standard, but grade them in different ways and one student who might get an MP from one teacher, might get a DP from another teacher.
3. I am in this book study because I want to be better at assessing and grading students. I feel like that’s my weakest area right now and it seems to be very subjective come report card time. I don’t think I have a lot of expectations coming into this because I feel like I know so little, so I just want to improve in my grading practices and maybe put better systems in place.
4. I believe practices that support hope and a growth mindset best support learning because students will feel like they can learn and grow from their mistakes. These kinds of practices make them take ownership of their grade because they have chances to make the mistakes. While I don’t yet think this best fits how I would like to grade- I tend to gravitate towards the practices that value knowledge, not environment or behavior- I want to see the all the different practices so that I can really find out how to be the most “fair” when doing grades. I am most open to reconsidering the practices that lift the veil on how to succeed because I don’t think it’s ever something that I’ve considered trying out. I usually find myself without enough time rethink the rubric or just sticking with the status quo.
I notice that you seem very open to new ideas and changing your perspective, and I think that is very brave!
DeleteI also wonder how changing all of the grading practices can help us to determine what more "fair" is and if there is a way to objectively determine fairness, because we all come from different backgrounds and perspectives in terms of understanding that term.
1. Despite the various academic abilities in a classroom, every student has the potential to learn when provided with a positive and nurturing environment. The learning process can occur at a different rate for each student due to their own beliefs of learning. Their beliefs of learning are based upon their experience with school, family, and the world around. It is these experiences that shape their understanding of what learning is and how one is able to learn. An important aspect of learning is providing students with the necessary skills to solve problems by using their resources, to be able to generalize newly acquired skills in a variety of settings, and then synthesize the information by forming new ideas. Some students are intrinsically motivated while others may require extrinsic rewards in order to motivate them. Students are more motivated when they are able to track their progress in real-time and receive the assistance that they need in a timely manner. However, students can be demotivated when their needs aren’t being met such as the lack of food, instability at home, or even failing grades. I believe that it varies for each student on whether they are more concerned with learning than their grades.
ReplyDelete2. My vision for grading is to use Infinite Campus to accurately implement a standards-based grading report card. Currently, I have to provide the students with a single grade on their report for the content area despite having multiple domains. I feel like I am trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Not to mention that the school’s policy states that all formative assessments are worth 20% of a student’s grade while all summative assessments are worth 80% of a student’s grade. Even though the students are allowed to retake their summative, it can be challenging to the most vulnerable populations because they require the prerequisite skills in order for them to do well on the retake. I wish that grades weren’t seen as a letter with numerical value, but were focused on what the students were able to do and the growth that they made over time.
3. While I am taking this professional development course, I hope to analyze my current grading practices to determine whether it is equitable for all of my students. Teaching in a middle school setting, it is difficult to see a student’s grade fluctuate throughout the year depending on a summative assessment. By participating in this course, I will be able to learn whether it is best practice to have a summative assessment be worth such a high percentage of a student’s overall grade or how I can adjust the point system to objectively assess the student. Reading chapter 1, I am interested in learning more about the five sets of practices towards equitable grading. I want to make sure that I am providing all my students the opportunity to be successful in my class and am assessing them equitably.. If that means that I will need to change my grading policies, then I am absolutely open to it.
4. One of the best ways that I support learning is by providing students the freedom to retake their formative and summative assessments. When meeting with the students the focus is either on reteaching the lesson or providing intervention based on a misconception that they had. After meeting with the students in a small group, the students are given a different assessment to determine if they are able to apply the skill successfully on their own. Yet, due to Covid-19 it has been extremely difficult to provide intervention during the period since I have to work with multiple students who are absent on a daily basis. For this reason, I am open to reconsidering how I can utilize my time effectively to be able to assess students during the whole group lesson.
I notice that are very focused on giving your students multiple opportunities to allow them to succeed and do a very good job and working to support them on that. This must be challenging with your 80/20 grading scale that you have to use.
DeleteI also wonder how assessing in different ways can be done while still using time effectively to address those students who need help without neglecting those students who are ready to move on.
I noticed that you give students the freedom to retake their formative assessments. I think that's an interesting freedom. I allow my students to retake their summative assessments, but never their formative. I wonder how that would affect my teaching practice if I implemented it.
Delete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteI believe that students can be motivated by a number of things, these can include grades, their peers, relationships with their teachers, interest in the subject content, and a goal of living up to expectations from their parents. I have students in my classroom who are motivated by some or many of these items, and I also have students in my room who are not motivated by any of these, or whose motivation fluctuates on the day and their mood. I believe that students who are motivated from their parents of from their grades tend to be those who may focus less on their learning. Those who are motivated by peers, teacher relationships and interest in the subject tend to care more about whether they "get it" and less about the grade their received.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
My vision for grading is that it would allow me to ensure all my students understand the content. I feel that for many of my vulnerable populations we move along before they really master the content and we don't often cycle back, we just build. Well we do cycle back, but not in terms of assessing their knowledge. I am very interested in changing the way I perceive grades and the way I assess, I am also very hesitant because I don't know how it will work that will not cause me either a ton more work to do in grading and assessing, or will slow down the rest of the class in content learning.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
Honestly I was brought to this because of the Professional Development credits. I have always been skeptical of the standards based grading idea, yet I have never taken a class or really delved in so I don't have much basis for the skepticism. Already I am happy to see how this book is written and how the author understands we feel skepticism. I am very optimistic that I will be able to change and add to my practices that will make me feel like a more impactful teacher and feel better about my teaching.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I am actually not sure what of my grading practices best support learning as I am starting to doubt everything, but I've always thought that grading homework for completing (not correction) and reviewing it each day supported learning by encouraging students to complete it so that they could practice, even if they made mistakes. I am open to reconsidering my assessments and retake policy (which is typically to average the two scores), but also the number of students that usually even try a retake is sadly very low, so I'm very interested in ways to encourage and motivate students to care either about learning or grades, because I seem to have many students who care about neither.
Aloha Jessica,
DeleteI noticed that you mentioned about students being motivated by their parent's influence about being grade conscious. I agree with you, in fact one of my students mentioned that his parents were much concerned about his grades because of plan to apply to an Ivy League School. Sometimes, I feel said, because that's how the culture we are at.
I wonder how your skepticism can lead you to be one of the pillars or advocates of grading equitably in Hawaii? I believe that it is healthy to throw some questions out there.
Sharilyn Pang's Response
ReplyDelete1. I believe that all students want to experience success. It is human nature. When students continually experience failure, they become defeated and begin to believe that is who they are, often giving up after becoming demotivated. This failure has been long marked by letter designations in schooling. Emphasis has been placed on grades rather than learning, as grades have been considered the marker for success in education for generations. As stated by Feldman, “our traditional and inequitable system of grading has been hardwired into our conception of schools” (pg.12), a system that students’ parents and grandparents experienced before them thus perpetuating the focus on the letter or mark rather than learning as that is what everyone has come to know. Though adults may say they are concerned about what a student learned more than what grade is given, when report cards go home or when college applications are filled out, grades are what are focused on. Students are not asked what they learnt, but rather what mark they received in courses and why.
2. My vision for grading is that any mark given is a reflection of students’ abilities and output. Marks should be a reflection of the performance that students provide towards the assignment or assessment. All students should be held to the same expectations and their performance should be judged against the same academic standards. All students should be held accountable for their performance in class. That being said, individual circumstances may demand adjustments being made to deadlines and modes of demonstrating performance, but the same expectations of performance should be placed on each of those modes. Students, regardless of educational program, should be held accountable to the same expectations, their performance a reflection of what they can and will put forth.
3. I joined this book study as it has been a few years since I looked at the research on grading and am curious as to whether or not any new strategies have been uncovered. I have learned about what Guskey and Marzano preach about grading practices but the word “equity” in the title of this book and course stood out to me as a concept that is not talked about enough. Based on research I have done on grading, I have based my grading scales in 4-point for many years. I have eliminated categorical grading and have taken a more holistic approach when determining quarter/semester/final grades. I have also overridden marks as students make improvements to their work that show a closer match to my expectations of their performance. I am hoping that this book and course can clarify if any of my current practices are based in inequity and subsequently make adjustments to my practices and hopefully encourage receptive colleagues to do the same.
4. The grading practices I employ that best supports learning is the allowance of retakes, overriding scores, and taking a holistic view of students’ performance over the course of the grading period in order to make a judgement of how the student is performing most consistently. Allowing students to make corrections and take retakes promotes a growth mindset and encourages students to continually improve upon their performance and their learning. Looking at student performance overtime rather than averaging scores allows me to give students a more accurate rating based upon their most consistent performance in a given grading period.
Aloha Sharilyn,
DeleteI noticed that you allow students to make corrections and take retests as strategies to promote their growt mindset. I couldn't agree with more. As a math teacher, I use this strategy a lot especially when students make mistakes on their solutions and when we talk through it, they realize it. I call this exercise, "error analysis." Sometimes, I give them solutions that were intentionally solved incorrect and they analyze it and explain the error.
In your vission, I wonder how can grading be a reflection of student's abilities and output without putting numerical equivalence to those criteria?
Hi Sharilyn,
DeleteI noticed that you mentioned that the word "equity" as one of the things that drew you to taking this PD. I think a lot of about this word, what it means, and how it relates to our classroom practices. While I hope that it's not simply a buzzword, I wonder if it has become one. I too am looking to see how to improve my grading practices through this course.
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteIn general, I believe that students have the potential to become change-makers in their own generation. I believe that all students can learn and they can grow if they are given the necessary essentials to thrive. As a high school teacher, I believe in their ability to reach for their dreams and aspirations in life. They are in school for several reasons. They could have been influenced greatly by their parents or siblings who have attended school. Or they are just through the motions because their peers attend school. I think what motivates them the most is their ambition to be successful in life and someday they will be able to raise their own family and provide financial assistance. Some students are motivated to achieve their chosen careers. Let’s not forget the fact that some students may land into the wrong company that might change their perspective. I had a discussion with my student regarding grades. Majority if not all of them are concerned about their grades for whatever reasons. Some would like to achieve at least 90 % because they would like to apply to a great university. They believe that getting high grades is their passport to go to college. Conversely, some would just want to pass with a “D” grade.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
Knowing what I know now, I wish that grading should not be based on a letter grade; it should be based on what students have learned throughout a certain period of time. My hands are tied in my grading practices because I use a system prescribed by the organization. I have been handling inclusion classes for three years and that was a big challenge for me. However, my participation in other professional development courses such as Sheltered Instruction gave me the opportunity to differentiate not only my content instruction but also my assessment. Fair is not equal especially when it comes to handling an academically diverse classroom.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
My main reason for diving into this book study is to have a deeper understanding of the science of grading and what does it really mean to grade equitably. I would like to know grading strategies that I can implement in my classroom.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I think the results of my formative assessments are the best indicator of whether my students have learned or are still in need of improvement. I can have a better understanding of where they are at through the use of questioning strategies, using entrance or exit passes, or simply engaging in a meaningful conversation about the content. Recently, I learned the topic of average. I was a bit guilty because the grading I am using implements averaging models. I need to reconsider this.
Hi CJ. I notice you spoke about feeling a bit guilty regarding your previous grading practices. I have the distinct impression that you were doing the best you knew how to at that time. You wrote about how students "can learn and they can grow if they are given the necessary essentials to thrive," and I think you may want to give yourself the same permission to improve over time.
DeleteHi CJ. I notice you spoke about feeling a bit guilty regarding your previous grading practices. I have the distinct impression that you were doing the best you knew how to at that time. I also notice that you wrote about how students "can learn and they can grow if they are given the necessary essentials to thrive." And I wonder if you may want to give yourself the same permission to improve over time.
DeleteHi CJ
DeleteMany students of my students also do the minimum even though they have the potential for so much more. Even my "A" students will strive toward meeting the 90% and not do work after they reach the minimum for an A. I an feel your frustration in your post and I feel strongly that the letter grading system is setting up students who are bad test takers to fail. Also the letter grading system makes students who are behind fall into a hole that just gets deeper and deeper as the year goes on. In your last question I appreciate your vulnerability in vocalizing what you think needs to be changed and reconsidered. As teachers, we need to continuously adapt and make changes to fit the needs of our students and honestly being flexible is the only way to succeed!
CJ, you say, "2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
DeleteKnowing what I know now, I wish that grading should not be based on a letter grade; it should be based on what students have learned throughout a certain period of time. My hands are tied in my grading practices because I use a system prescribed by the organization. I have been handling inclusion classes for three years and that was a big challenge for me. However, my participation in other professional development courses such as Sheltered Instruction gave me the opportunity to differentiate not only my content instruction but also my assessment. Fair is not equal especially when it comes to handling an academically diverse classroom." and I totally concur with you. I HATE having to give letter grades at the end of courses. However, I am now getting to the point with equitable grading practices to see how letter grades DO align with actual performance. Why I hated giving these grades in the past was because I knew the point system, the zeros, the 90% and above (an artificial level) making an A all had problems. I hope this course gives you the same clarity it has given me.
1. I believe that students fulfill our expectations. If our expectations are high, the kids rise to meet them. If they are low . . . they fulfill those expectations too. I believe that success motivates effort, for all human beings. I try to create opportunities for students to be successful in my grading. I find that most students do eventually value growth and learning, but few of them begin a new course with that attitude. At the outset most students are motivated by grades and shift to a more sophisticated concern with learning generally emerges only after students learn to trust me and are persuaded of my credibility, and that can take a couple of months.
ReplyDelete2. I don’t know if I have a vision for grading. I have more than 20 years of experience trying different things and developing different aspects of my grading, but there is no unified vision. But I do fundamentally believe in the growth mindset. I want my grading practices to foster growth and development and help students recognize excellence. I want grading to be less of a bummer and take up less of my personal time. Right now I am doing a grade split of 30% on formative assessments and 70% on summatives, which is essentially tests and final drafts of writing assignments. I like that construct, but I wonder how a 25-75 split would work. This year I am going to try to shift how I give feedback on essays. I have been giving ad hoc verbal feedback in writing workshops (which often focuses disproportionately on the weakest students) and extensive written feedback on final products. This semester, I intend to hold one-on-one writing conferences during the writing workshops and give almost no written feedback on the final product.
3. The curriculum coordinator at my school shared information on this course. I am new to the DOE and to public school education so I am very interested in PD opportunities. Of course I am motivated to increase my salary, but I am always interested in improving my craft. This is my second year in my new job, and I am working with completely new populations, both ELL and SPED, and working with these kids requires significant growth and development on my part. I have found my professional development courses invaluable thus far.
4. Some of my grading practices that support learning are grading many assignments for completion, and allowing students to re-do assignments that have been graded more critically for a higher grade. I provide electronic, focused study guides for tests and let kids retake tests for a higher grade. My rubrics are good and as much as possible they are objective rather than subjective. I have students give each other peer feedback and teach lessons on how each rubric will be applied. I am open to reconsideration of all aspects of my grading, but would be especially interested in anything that makes it less labor-intensive.
Lorrdez Williams
DeleteHello Nimblewill,
I notice that you are changing your writing workshop model to include one-on-one conferences with the students. This is a great idea since you will be able to hone in on the skills that they are struggling with. I imagine that once you begin conferencing with you students during the writing process, they would need less feedback on their final product since you would be constantly monitoring their writing. I wonder if it would be possible to group the students according to the writing skill that they are missing and then teaching a mini-lesson on that skill.
1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
ReplyDeleteThe only deeply held belief I have about students is that they are all individuals with backgrounds that are specific to their lives. What motivates or demotivates each student has a lot to do with who they are and what their influences are (what their families value, what’s important to them personally, in upper levels their friend groups, etc.). Some students are more concerned about learning and some students are more concerned about their grades. I don’t view students and who they are as having these set positions and views because student concerns are complex. Even the most unmotivated student has some desire to learn even if what they want to learn has nothing to do with my subject area and class. I have the same philosophy about student wanting to do well.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
My vision for grading is that individual assignment grades will be a clear reflection of the skill that students are being asked to acquire/learn. Assessment grades will be a clear indicator of whether or not a student has met the criteria for acquiring that skill. Students' overall course grade will be a reflection of the work that they put in and their achievement in the class.
3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
A colleague of mine had mentioned this specific book at the beginning of the year, and I hadn’t heard of it. So when I saw this PD opportunity I decided to sign up and learn more about the concept of “Grading for Equity”. My goals for this course are to keep an open mind about the information being presented and really try to understand the author's stance to see if their suggestions can improve my teaching practice. I’m going to have to really try to keep an open mind, especially when and if something rubs me the wrong way.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I think that all of my grading practices best support student learning. My current grading structure is 40% Formative Assessment, 40% Summative Assessment, 10% Participation, and 10% Homework. Formative assessment is the practice work that students engage in in order to practice meeting the standard/target. Weighting it at 40% and grading it as attempted/completed or not attempted/not completed and taking into consideration the student when giving the grade, I feel that it’s a fair assessment of how much work a student is putting into learning how to meet the standard/target. Summative assessment is a student's ability to actually meet the standard/target. Weighting it at 40% makes the ability to meet equal to the practice of meeting. Participation is 10% and this goes toward class discussions, engagement, and task appropriate behaviors. Weighting it at 10% allows for reinforcement for students who actively participate, engage, and show task appropriate behaviors. Homework is 10%, homework is essentially extra practice, it’s never a new task and I assign homework once a week. I am open to reconsidering any/all of my grading practices if the reasoning makes sense and it doesn’t substantially increase my workload.
Lorrdez Williams
DeleteHello Nicholete,
I noticed that you mentioned that they are internal an external factors which can motivate or demotivate a student. I have learned that in the classroom motivation varies from student to student. Some students may require extrinsic rewards to help shape the behavior while other students are intrinsically motivated because it is who they are. I too believe that every student desires to learn but some may take longer than others. I wonder how excluding the "soft skill" such as participation from your grading practice would change whether the students are proficient with the academic content.
Aloha Nicholete! I like how you've stated that you'll try to keep an open-mind to achieve the goals you've set in joining this PD course. Grading is indeed one of the critical components of the teaching-and-learning process. But the educational system’s pursuit in equipping teachers with a repertoire of teaching approaches, strategies, methods, techniques and tools does not actually equate with the value it gives on grading. It should be given more focus especially with the goal to achieve equity.
DeleteYou stated in your discussion that your grading categories include formative assessment. I just wonder, if the aim of grading is to give an accurate measure of the achievement of proficiency of a certain standard or a reflection of what the students have acquired or learned, is it necessary to grade formative assessment/practice? I just see a disconnect of measuring the performance of a student during the duration of a practice leaving a struggle to achieve an A. I am teaching mostly entering and emerging levels of ELs and some are dual-identified Sped and EL and I am perplexed whenever I work with grade categories and weights, in compliance with the current grading practice. I just hope this PD would clarify this. Mahalo for your ideas!
1.Some of my beliefs that I have about students is that students want to feel important, they want to do well. This is my 5th year teaching 8th graders and I notice that students want to feel that they are making a difference and that they are doing well. Many students are motivated by their grades based on their extra curricular activities. For example, they are doing well and getting good grades because they have to do a grade check for sports. Students are motivated to do well for their parents /guardians too, they want to bring home a report card that shows good grades (which sometimes means no D’s or F’s). I have had students ask me, Is “C” a good grade, is that passing? And they will settle for that “C’ and even when given the opportunity to redo the lesson, some will say no because they got a passing grade. I think that some students are concerned about their grades more than learning. However, if a teacher makes learning engaging, fun and doable , they will start to see grades higher than a C and then eventually start caring about their learning.
ReplyDelete2. I wish that grading wasn't so hard to do. I do believe that students should earn their grades and that grades should not be given. For example, if a student works hard and spends a good amount of time working on a lesson, but didn't get all parts of the rubric met, they should be always given an opportunity to redo after discussion or a reteach lesson. If a student just didn't do it, I would like to find out why instead of having them earn a F. I believe teachers should follow a rubric scale but students should always be given a change to retake, or redo a lesson. But I also don't like seeing students that turned in an incomplete assignment earn a “F” and a student who worked very hard but didn't meet rubric requirements earn a “F” as well. (that doesn’t seem to make sense to me) I would like to see students earn the grade that they deserve and work hard for. And if I'm holding them accountable to earn that grade , then I must have resources for them as they work on their lesson and do their best.(Because everyone's best is at different levels, and it's my responsibility to make sure that every students has the resources to meet their needs )
3. When I received the book, I was excited just seeing the title and the work EQUITY. I am excited to see what I will learn from this book. I noticed that 8th graders get a huge impact on their grades. They are looking for passing grades, and will often ask me , “is C or D a passing grade?” I always find myself expressing my passion for grades and GPA’s (because gpas do reflect your ability to get into any college you want). My goals for this course is to have an open mind, ready my peers to post and capture moments or stories that I can relate to and use some of what we are learning in the classrooms. Being a special education teacher I understand equity , fairness, and differentiated teaching which I want to be fair in my classroom when it comes to grading making sure that my students are able to earn their grade fairly. I enjoyed chapter one and the overview of what we will be learning. I agree that most teachers have a web of belief about students and grading and one of my goals while reading and going though this course is to have an open mind and learn everything I can from my instructor, peers and book.
4. I have been teaching for 5 years and I believe that first I want to set a learning environment where students feel comfortable and successful at their level of learning. For example, as a teacher I have recognized that all students have different learning styles and abilities. So with that being said students should be given the opportunity to succeed academically along with their peers. . I am excited and open to learning anything and everything that will allow equity in grading for my students.
Hi Tammy!
DeleteI will definitely agree that sports is one of the main motivating factors for some of my students. There are students that will do the absolute minimum for a C so that they can play in the game that weekend! Also, sometimes students will literally start an assignment (because theirs peers are doing it) and then it will bring them to a grade higher than a C and they say "oh my gosh so I did it for nothing??". I will also attest to wanting to give hard working students a better grade. For example, one of my hardest working students somehow couldn't get higher than a low B on a test, but to be fair based on my grading rubric, with the formative assignments he completed it only brought him up to a high B for his final grade even though he worked way harder than the other students for that B. I love that you want to set a learning environment where students feel comfortable and successful at their level of learning and I am hoping to do the same as a new teacher. Although, it is also reassuring to hear that other teachers (even experienced ones) are figuring out things with grading too! It makes me feel like I'm not incompetent for not having it figured out by now.
PINKY GRACE C. FRANCISCO
ReplyDelete1. What are some deep beliefs you have about students? What motivates and demotivates them? Are they more concerned with learning or their grades?
I firmly believe that students need not just intellectual honing, rather, enriching the other aspects like physical, social, emotional, mental. Each is an integral part of the development of an individual and they are interconnected, thus must also be nurtured.
An individual’s motivation and demotivation, depends on certain factors, but the greatest influence would be the environment. Culture plays an important role in this motivation aspect of the teaching and learning process. If for example a student comes from a culture where education is not a priority, there is really a challenge on how to stimulate their intrinsic motivation. This then again poses the value of “Knowing each Learner”. For a majority of students in the elementary and middle school, I perceive that they are motivated by fun, privileges and rewards, may it be points, high grades, tangible rewards, food, opportunity to play games, etc. and are often demotivated if they have already lacked interest towards something. For most high school students and adult learners, I believe that if they already have developed their intrinsic motivation to do something, they will do whatever it takes to achieve that, but will greatly be demotivated when pressure comes in.
Generally speaking, I perceive that most students are more concerned about their grades because of how the whole educational system has set it as a norm-PASS or FAIL, Do the task or NO grade, Complete VS Incomplete and a certain GPA is a requirement for most colleges.
2. What is your vision for grading? What do you wish grading could be for students, particularly for the most vulnerable populations? What do you wish grading could be for you? In which way do current grading practices meet those expectations, and in which ways do they not?
I envision everyone working towards standards-based grading to achieve equitable teaching and learning. Teacher preparations had been immersed into teaching approaches, strategies, methods, techniques and tools but had neglected grading. If we are not going to focus much on grading, which is at our current state the basis of school processes-intervention, program assimilation, system adjustment, and student acceptance in college courses, we would never be effective at fostering quality and equitable education. In general, grading should be standards-based and need to reflect what the students know and can do.
I hope grading would not limit a student in achieving whatever he would like to achieve, because although most say that grades don’t define a student, society views it otherwise because of having a certain grade as a requirement to pursue college courses and even to get jobs. I also hope that teachers would not be burdened about grading because they have to follow how the system currently works, parents ' complaints about grades, and the quandary of how to grade within a diverse population. As of the current grading practices, we still foster accountability to students on their own learning, however, the accuracy of our grading system as linked to student achievement and learning is questionable.
PART2
Delete3. What brings you to this book study? What are your goals for this course? How will the way you read it help or hinder you from realizing those goals?
Part of my endeavor of student advocacy and equity, I have been hooked by the title, Grading for Equity. And as I started reading the book, there were some statements that became an eye-opener for me. Indeed, we have taken strides as to pursuing equitable access to education, but we have left grading behind. This is an integral part of education and its impact can make or break a student, thus must be done with great objectivity and accuracy. I look forward to gaining more insights as to Grading with Equity, be in a mind battle of whether to accept the new knowledge I will be gaining, looking for ideas that will corroborate with mine and just be better at assessing and grading. In order to achieve the goals I set for myself, I need to take time to process each new information I will be meeting along the way, will try to make connections to what I already know and what I don’t, load and unload new information and just be open-minded with everything.
4. Which of your grading practices do you believe best support learning? Why? Which of your grading practices are you most open to reconsidering? Why?
I am teaching content-based ESL to entering and emerging levels of ELLs (some are dual identified Sped/EL). Although they are within the level, I am still delivering academic rigor and that I see the students have a “productive struggle”. I provide different types of feedback in every task: feed-up, feed back and feed forward, and give scaffolding and support, as the need arises. For every feedback, I have students reflect on their product and performance according to a set of rubrics, and provide opportunities for them to work on the skill and improve. Although grades are deemed important, I don’t encourage students to focus on it as an end goal, rather, I encourage them to focus on the journey more-how they are able to arrive at their grade, and what things they learn along the way, rather than what their grade is. I would like to learn more about how to objectively and accurately grade a student who is a fast learner and is not provided with a lot of support versus a student who is provided a lot of support before meeting the standard, this way we could be equitable and fair, as dedicated by both reason and conscience.
Some deep beliefs I have about students are their abilities to thrive in all situations. As the pandemic has shown, even though the students often get fatigued, they have exemplified resilience throughout the entire duration of this school year. The new generation can quickly adapt and also mold to fit the needs of what is asked of them. I have noticed that there is a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation but it is primarily extrinsic. I struggle with having students do work for themselves - often times they do the absolute bare minimum for a grade and don’t feel motivated to do well for themselves. Other extrinsic motivators are awards and money from parents. I think the main thing that demotivates them is getting started. What I have noticed in my own classroom is that students get a lot of work done once they get over the hump of starting. Honestly I think that overall they are more concerned with grades over their learning. For example, I know that most of my lower achieving students will do the minimum quantity of work for a D and then stop doing work entirely for the whole year.
DeleteMy vision for grading is a system that assesses both student knowledge and abilities. I also like a grading system that doesnt heavily rely on 1-2 tests. For vulnerable students I would love to see students multiple formats for taking tests and also multiple ways to assess students knowledge other than plain standardized tests. My current grading practices have a variety of different grading elements which include a combination of performance based projects, tests and laboratory actvities. My goal is a way to find other ways to assess students and also other ways to find tune how I grade labs and performance based assessments.
I am brought to this book and also this course because I would like to learn more about grading and how to make my practices more ethical and equal. As a new teacher, I get to observe and hear about what many of my expereinced colleageus do, but what I have noticed is that there are many inconsistencies and that there isn’t one set way that all teachers grade. So far my grading policy as a new teacher is just styles that I have adopted from other teachers in my department, but my hope is that in the near future I will develop my own format for grading.
Hello Julia, I see your knowledge of students focus being more on grades than learning with the lower performing students as a true cultural problem in our schools. I too have students who only want to do the bare minimum to get a passing grade (which is the D in our system). I've often wondered if the value placed on education and learning starts at the home or with friends who, themselves, have not become empowered through public education, so they create a value in their conversations and actions of public education as a nuisance, a system to suffer in with the only objective to pass classes and graduate (but no focus on actual literary mindedness or transferable skill development).
DeleteFurthermore, you say you are a new teacher. This book study is GREAT for a beginning teacher to take. Think of the years many teachers spent with learners using inequitable grading practices. I'm sure you will have many appreciative learners in the future as well as some students who would otherwise do the bare minimum (in getting points or something like that) who will now actually see what learning is all about and make some more meaningful, reflective efforts.