FIAE+B2+Chapter+11

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Charli Sayward
Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Lessons This chapter discusses whether to record a zero or sixty if a student does not do an assignment as well as whether to weight grades or not. As a future teacher, recording a zero seems a bit too extreme. It is not a fair reflection of the student’s grade. If a student fails to do an assignment it should be graded at a failing score without it being as dramatic as a zero. As far as weighting grades, I greatly benefitted from this in high school since my GPA was higher. I never really stopped to think how GPAs shouldn’t carry as much significance as they do. After reading this chapter I’ve realized there is really no reason for the GPAs. Although I realize this, as a student I agreed with weighted averages. One good point the book made was that every grade is technically weighted. Since tests are worth more than quizzes and projects are worth more than homework it is hard to avoid weighting grades. How are we supposed to make sure grades reflect a student’s mastery fairly?

**Jenn Baum**
Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues This chapter discussed some of the controversial grading issues that frequently arise for teachers. One of those questions is whether to record a zero or a sixty when a student does not pass in an assignment. The point is made that recording a zero significantly skews the child’s grade and does not accurately reflect the mastery of the subject. Before reading this chapter, I always thought that if a student did not turn in their work, then they should not receive credit for it. But since reading, I think that instead of giving my students a zero, or a sixty, I would give them an incomplete (I) and would keep that in place of the assignment until it is turned in, and if it is still not completed by the time grades must be reported, then they would receive a zero. When grading gifted students, they suggest that teachers record the grade that reflects the achievement of mastery at the student’s grade-level, and then note the achievement of the advanced material elsewhere on the report card. I also agree that when thinking about grading late work, it is important to remember that adults are sometimes given breaks for turning in homework late and that most people do not learn well or strive to do well in situations which give them no hope for recognition of mastery and success. As a teacher, I will be willing to be understanding of student’s late work when the need arises.

Linda McLaughlin
//Chapter Eleven: Six Burning Grading Issues// This chapter brought up some really interesting issues and ideas when it comes to grading, that I’ve never even considered before. The top six issues are: record a zero or a sixty?, grading gifted students, weighting grades, automaticity versus concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. The one idea that really struck me was the idea of giving a student a sixty instead of a zero for not turning in work. I never thought of it in such a way of how it would affect the overall grade for the unit, and warp the understanding of what a student has mastered. I’ve always known that a sixty isn’t a good grade, but it always seemed more effective for teachers to hand out zeros instead, like that’s the real punishment for not doing your work. I never really stopped to think that a sixty is just as bad as a zero. They’re both failing grades, no matter which way you spin them. This is going to affect my classroom because I think that this is a concept that I’m going to adopt and use, because as teachers, we’re trying to help students achieve mastery, and the grades need to reflect that, and by doing it this way, it makes it more accurate.

Ryan Pelletier
This chapter talks about the difficulty of grading work. Should you grade incomplete homework as a zero or a sixty? Both are failing grades, but the zero drastically skews the students overall grade. As a teacher I have to understand that everything is not done on time. I really like the concept of a sixty instead of a zero, because it is still failing, but it is not a zero, which is more of a punishment than a lesson. I will give my students time to hand in their late work if they are able to have it due by the time I have asked them to hand it in. If the student fails to hand in the work at all then I think giving them a sixty for their homework is fair. Now that I am in the field, my teacher says that on average five students are not prepared with their work everyday. He handles the situation as if the students were adults, and has them come see them on their own time to hand in the late work. The students seem to respect this, and I also feel that this is a fair and good learning experience for the students.

Bri Douglass
In this chapter it discusses grading issues. One of them that really stood out to me was instead of recording a 0 in the grade book record a 60. I always thought that when students didn’t turn in an assignment, teachers would give that student a 0. But the book gives a good argument that I really understood about why teachers should give a student a 60 instead of a 0. Usually letter grades have 10-point intervals but an F has a 60-point range. Giving a student a 0 can be devastating to his or her grade when factoring it into an average. A 60 is still an F but averaging that instead of a 0 is a much better representation of the student’s learning. I will definitely consider this when grading because I know how much an outlier will bring down a student’s grade. Especially when looking at a student who has preformed well in other aspects but maybe for some reason had a bad day, a 0 would be devastating.

Justin Stewart
The difficulties of grading students’ work are what chapter eleven covers. Should teachers give zeros or seventies for work that is late or missing? I would have believed in this before and I can’t count myself out for using this method yet. However, after reading this chapter, I believe that I will give students an incomplete (I) in the grade book until the student has passed in their work. Even adults are allowed to make mistakes occasionally, so students should be allowed the same. If the students are not able to pass in the work before the end of the grading period, then the incompletes will turn into zeros. This allows students to make up for work that may have slipped behind. Gifted students should be graded based on the grade level standards. There should be another place to put on a report card the further knowledge of the student. This will show that he/she has completed the required knowledge and has gone beyond the expected as well.

Taylor Kemp
The main thing that I got out of this chapter was learning about the pros and cons of recording a 0 or a 60 for a grade. I had never really thought about this before. Obviously I have realized that for the overall grade a 60 will not lower as much as a 0 would. But further then that I have not really thought much of it. This chapter talks about how the overall grade is on showing mastery. It raises the point on how each letter grade has a range of about 10 points, where and F has a range of 60. Getting a 60 is still and F, but wont damage the grade so much, therefore still accurately showing mastery. The way this will impact my classroom is that I believe I will be a teacher that puts in the 60 and not a 0. It still is a failing grade, just not one that effects the end result as much.

Kelly Steinhagen
Grades have always been a sticky situation for teachers. The main parts of grading that can be unsettling include weighting grades, grading late work, and the difference between a sixty and a zero. I think that it would be quite difficult to decide what the best policy for most of these would be. Would it be worth it to run the assignment into the ground, in hopes that a student will turn it in to get an F instead of a zero? I think I will have to learn by trial and error, but I know that I will have some sort of late work system that will not allow the work to be drawn out but chance for points. As for weighting grades and deciding between sixty and zero, I will have to decide once I have more experience.

Darcie Doodle
Grading is most definitely one of the most challenging things about teaching. The one pressing issue that really stood out to me in this chapter was the question “Do I keep the zero or turn it into a sixty in order to make the grading scale fair?” (137). This is a very important question, and it will be something that I’m faced with in the classroom. There are going to be those students who don’t do their homework, or turn in their project, or just don’t participate at all. As a former middle and high school student, and a future middle and high school teacher, I am quite aware that sometimes life just gets in the way of things being turned in at a timely matter. I like the idea of putting an Incomplete in my grade book for homework that has not been turned in. That way the students will have until the end of the grading period to give me their work. If and when the students don’t turn in their work then I will most likely give them a 60, not a zero.

Erin
Chapter 11 of the book Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about six grading issues that teachers face when assigning grades.There is a debate over whether late or incomplete work should receive a zero or a sixty. The book suggests teachers should record a sixty because it is a valid indicator of mastery. The next issue the book talks about is grading gifted students. We need to grade students based on the protocol of the class. For example, grade a student who has skipped a few grades the same way we would grade a student old enough to be in that class. Weighted grades are the next issue. “Learning isn’t as linear as we think; it’s more episodic. Connections are made in students’ minds in millions of ways we can’t witness.” (147) Grading late work: the book suggests we allow students to turn in late work for full credit if it is occasionally late. If it is a chronic thing then we need to teach the students the idea of on time. I like the idea of giving students an incomplete on an assignment and then give them time to make the work up. I also like the idea of students receiving points off for every day the project is late. If anything important occurs where the student will not be able to complete the project or homework on time, they would talk to the teacher for an extension.

Lyzz Stevenson
Chapter 11: In this chapter, the grading of student work is discussed as a difficult topic. One of the biggest issue or topic of the chapter was how incomplete work or late work should be graded. Should students receive a zero or a sixty for the work that they did or did not do. Both would be a failing grade, but giving a zero would have less of an impact on students’ final grade. I think that this is an interesting issue. In my class I think that I will give sixties instead of zeros because I do not want the focus of my class to be on the homework. That way if students have a less supportive home life after school then they still have the chance to make up the ten points instead of seventy.

Kaitlyn Haase
Each of the six “burning grading issues” in this chapter, have made me think in terms of upholding the goals of differentiated instruction. For example, initially I was skeptical of recording a 60 instead of a 0 when students didn’t complete an assignment because I thought they would think they are getting credit for not doing anything. But then the author reminded me, “in differentiated classes, the grade must be accurate in order to be useful.” By recording 0s instead of 60s, grade averages will decrease significantly, even if the student has 100s recorded for all other assignments. To be concise about the other five issues, I learned: 1. The blurred perspective of how to grade gifted students in grade-level classes, 2. The impacts of weighting grades. 3. The difference between automaticity and concept attainment, 4. Grading late papers instead of giving zeroes or docking letter grades each day it’s late, and 5. Effective and accurate approaches to grading students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. In my classroom, I will approach these issues with the mind set of differentiated instruction and the goals and objectives of my class.

MeganWallace
This chapter spoke a lot about whether or not to assign a zero or a sixty as a grade for a project not turned in. The book felt that to give a student a zero on an assignment was extreme. I disagree. To me a zero shows that there was no work to grade and a sixty implies that there was. In my opinion if a student doesn’t turn work in, they shouldn’t receive a grade for it. It was also discussed in the chapter whether grades should be weighted or not. I do not believe weighing grades is fair. Not all students are capable of an honors classes work but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t put in just as much effort into their regular class and to have that grade count just as much.

Matt Towle
 This chapter discussed many of the controversial topics that surround grading. I learned that teachers should avoid lowering grades as a way to encourage students to stay caught up on late work. Although many teachers believe this will push students to complete the assignment, it also destroys the credibility of the assignment. Why would you complete an assignment once it is not worth a grade?  This will help me in my classroom by allowing me to assess a given situation to make sure the loss of a grade is really the best course of action. In many cases where students don't complete an assignment, there is a reason. It is important for teachers to understand this so that they can communicate with students and make decisions based on the particular situation.

Alyssa Wadsworth
This chapter discussed grading—should students get a zero if they fail to turn in an assignment, or simply a failing grade? It is difficult to avoid weighted grades but I think, that as long as weighted grades exist, then zeros should be given for minor assignments that are not turned in and higher failing grades for major assignments, until those things can be turned in or redone because grades need to reflect a student’s work, whether they do it or not. I am torn as a teacher because I want to reflect the student’s learning, which includes responsibility, but I also do not want to discourage students by giving them zeros, or completely ruin their grades through one assignment. This impacts me as a teacher because I think that my first few classes will be guinea pigs in respect to grading systems, because I will experiment until I find something that works for me and the students. It impacts my students because, although I will make up for any imperfections that may have harmed a student’s grade, they might be stressed out by any inconsistency.

Olivia Norris
In chapter 11 of Fair Isn't Always Equal, the idea of giving zeros for assignments not passed in was discussed. As a student who requires a lot of think time, I remember how hard it was to show my teachers what I needed to succeed. Giving a student a zero for an assignment tells the student that they shouldn't try to master the skill. Grades should reflect the students ability to explain the subject. Students should have the opportunity to show their knowledge, and as a teacher I will be sure to allow my students this chance. I would much rather have a well-done assignment late than have a bad assignment completed on time. As a teacher, I will be aware that my students have other things going on in their lives besides school, and that they might not have the time to get some assignments in on time. Hopefully this understanding will help my students understand that I want to see them achieve.

Kassaundra
Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues Grades truly need to be accurate in order to be useful in the differentiated classroom. It can be hard to maintain the level of accuracy that differentiated instruction calls for but ultimately it is necessary. This means that if a teacher decides to record a zero on an assignment a student didn’t do then they are distorting the mastery of the student and the accuracy of the overall grade. For this problem, I believe I will take the recording an “incomplete” approach because I feel that students should be able to still complete the work even if it is late and I would want more time to see a trend in grades before making the last decision. With report cards it may be helpful for teachers to use an addendum to report on gifted students progress with advanced material. This allows the student and the parents to see where the student is for the grade level and also to see what the student has accomplished above grade level. The idea of automaticity vs. concept attainment is new to me. From my viewpoint my class should include some of each of these concepts and I just need to be conscious of how I am assessing students based on what concept I am utilizing. The debate over how to grade late work can be controversial but my mentor teacher at Mount Blue High School breaks grades into two categories as suggested. One grade deals with the time the product was turned in and the other deals with the actual product. This seems to work well because students still get a chance to complete work but they start to understand the importance of timeliness.