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FIAE Ch. 9 Synthesis: Olivia Norris
Chapter 9 showed the ways in which homework is graded. Whether teachers give full credit, partial credit, or no credit. Some teachers assign homework that is not graded (something that was discussed in this chapter). The idea of [|not grading homework] is like assessing students on their abilities and not giving them a bad grade if they did not fully understand the material being taught. Students deserve the chance to try out something new or something that has been taught in class without worrying what kind of grade they will receive. The idea that homework should not be graded would benefit students greatly.

As a class, we decided that it is so important to give students the opportunity to show their teachers what they know and what they are capable of. [|By grading every assignment], students might not be getting a grade that directly reflects their complete understanding or mastery. We believed as a class that mastery should be the goal for the students, and if they are worried about the grade they receive, they may not be concerned with learning the material being taught to the class.

Kassaundra
Chapter 9: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading Many of my teachers through the years either did not give us a chance to redo assignments or only gave us partial credit if we did. Ultimately, they were punishing us for not showing mastery at the specified time. As a future teacher, I will keep in mind that not everyone works at the same pace and learns at the same time. Also, homework should not be graded because it should be used as practice and feedback instead of a grade should be given. As a student, I always got upset when teachers didn’t grade my work so I will make sure to explain the concept to my students. I need to be careful how I assess my students because every student is different and does not come into my classroom with the same set of skills or background and this can affect how they react to certain assessments. There are many things that teachers should avoid when it comes to assessments. For an example, I should avoid giving extra credit or bonus points that do not help to show mastery of a topic, instead of offering extra credit I might give the student the chance to redo the original assignment. Also, giving group grades and grading on a curve should be avoided because both of these strategies do not accurately depict mastery of the individual student. Personally, in school kids would be upset with me for “messing up the curve” and I never want this to happen to my future students so I will definitely avoid this practice.

Bri Douglass
This chapter gives ten things to avoid when differentiating assessment. One of which is avoid grading practice (homework). When I first read this statement I thought that no way would I not grade homework. I know myself that if homework isn’t graded I put it to the back burner and do graded work first and then never get to it. Students need to practice so if they aren’t going to do something that isn’t graded what’s the purpose of not grading it? In the book though it talks about possible grading homework (worth a small percentage) for a quarter to make sure students do it and also to give feedback not grades on it. I like the idea of giving non-grade feedback to the students. I could still collect homework to make sure they were doing it and assess whether or not students were understanding the material or not. It would be something I would use not only to give feedback to the students but to think about what I could do to help the students.

Charli Sayward
Chapter 9: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading Many of the ten things to avoid are practices my high school teachers as well as some college professors use. Most of my grades included effort, behavior, and participation. I find it ironic that my education classes grade participation even though this book frowns upon it. Also, many of my math classes grade final exams on a grading curve. As a student, I have always appreciated this, but now looking at the same issue with a teacher’s perspective I see how inaccurate my grade was. It is hard to switch from thinking like a student to thinking like a teacher. Another issue that I found was whether to reward credit for redo work. I agree students should receive credit, but I’m still not sure it should be full credit. I believe if students are given enough formative assessment, they should be ready to take a test; however, I do understand that not all students will be ready at the same time. It’s a tough decision to make. I hope to learn other perspectives to help me form an opinion about the issue.

Justin Stewart
What really stuck out to me during the reading of chapter nine was the idea that teachers shouldn’t grade students practice. This means that teachers shouldn’t grade student’s homework. This was strange to me, because I know that homework I know isn’t going to be graded has a chance that it won’t get done. After reading the options for grading homework, I came up with a few good ideas that I hope to utilize in the classroom. Give the homework a small percentage of the overall grade so it won’t affect the overall grade but will keep students honest by doing the assignments. Teachers should also provide non-graded feedback on homework so they know what they are doing wrong and can adjust their study habits or thought processes. This can be very beneficial to the teachers as well. The homework of students will be a clear indication of whether they understand the material that you are going over. So this is also a test for the teacher, homework, or any formative assignments are very important!

Jenn Baum
Chapter 9: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading This chapter introduced several different approaches to avoid that seemed really important to consider when thinking about how to assess in a differentiated classroom. One approach that I will definitely consider will be to make sure that students have several attempts to master a given subject. I have had classes where I have been given the option to redo a test or project for half credit or to have it averaged, which is kind of unfair because even if I understand everything the second time around, I could not receive full credit for it. Also it is suggested that differentiated teachers not grade homework, which I agree with because it is not fair if you are graded in an attempt to master the material. There have been times when I have not known what to do on my homework, or I try it and get it completely wrong, so I feel really discouraged and sometimes more confused when I have to redo it again. In this case, how does grading homework accurately reflect a student’s mastery of the material? A third suggestion that I agreed with was to avoid grading groups because giving all group members the same grade is usually not truly reflective of each student’s level of mastery and understanding of the material. I have personally been in too many groups where I do more work and understand more than my group members, but receive the same grade. As a teacher, I will try to limit and carefully choose how I assess group projects.

Ryan Pelletier
Chapter 9 gives ten things to avoid when differentiating assessment. The one that I found most interesting was to not grade homework. All my life I it seems like I was graded more on my homework than anything. I honestly cannot remember a time where I did not get a homework assignment back that did not have a number or letter grade on it. The most feedback I got was “redo”. I really like this idea a lot, but it will take me time to be able to get used to it. I just do not see my students doing it the work they are not going to get graded. I think the best way to compensate this method is to still grade the work and provide feedback, but make sure that your homework grade is just a small percentage of the grading process in the class. Also make your homework meaningful to the material. I will make sure the homework helps the student understand the material, and not confuse them.

Kelly Steinhagen
This chapter focuses on what type of grades just should not be considered in order for a student to thrive in the classroom. One example that I completely agree with is not grading homework. Homework is practice and is supposed to help students learn the material. What is the point of stressing students over partially meaningless tasks that just may be too hard at the beginning of the unit but could be done at the end? I would want to grade students for just bringing in the homework with evidence of attempt, so that there is some incentive to try the work. I also like the idea of not having extra credit or bonus points. It would be much more effective for my students that do not do so well on tests or projects to redo them and actually master the understandings.

Megan Wallace
I learned some interesting approaches when it came to grading work. I still personally feel that attendance and participation should receive some sort of grade. It should not however receive a large portion of the overall grade. I have never been graded on a curve myself and after reading this chapter I don’t intend to grade my students that way. It isn’t fair to them and some students may not get the credit they deserve. I’m not sure I like the idea of not grading homework. Homework is important for the practice it gives the students but it only works if they do it. I believe a lot of students might put it off, not put in the effort, or not do it at all if it isn’t graded. This chapter gave me a lot to think about how I will run my classroom.

Taylor Kemp
This chapter talks about ten different actions that should not be taken while using differentiation. Two that really intrigued me were avoiding penalizing students' multiple attempts as mastery as well as avoid grading homework. These both make perfect sense. With the first one, if a student is willing to take the time and effort to go learn something more in depth and redo a test, they should receive full credit that they learned. Or maybe they are just a slower learner then others. They should not be punished for that. When I was in school my teachers would let us make up work, but we would only get a portion of the credit back. It never made sense to me. With the not grading homework, I feel like this is a given, even though it happens all the time. Homework is usually the first time that a student is putting into practice their knowledge, or just learning it. They have no refined their knowledge on the subject, but rather just started gaining it. This will impact my classroom largely. I do not plan on grading homework, but rather use it as a tool to check in with the students on where their progress is.

Alyssa Wadsworth
I read about the ten things to avoid doing while utilizing differentiation in the classroom. The two that made the most sense to me but didn’t really occur to me were grading homework and not encouraging multiple attempts at mastery. If you discourage multiple attempts at mastery, you are marking them for failure for not developing at the same pace as the rest of their peers, and discouraging mastery at all. As a teacher, I want my students to feel comfortable with the pace of the learning in my classroom so that they can learn at their own rate while learning what I need them to. This will create a better environment for my students and me.

Linda McLaughlin
//Chapter Nine: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading// This chapter discussed ten important things to avoid when grading a student in the classroom. The one approach that struck me as really odd was the idea that teachers shouldn't grade practice, meaning homework. This is bizarre because I think we all know that if it's not being graded, a student won't waste their time on it. The book talked about the idea of confabulation, which is "when the mind seeks the big-picture connections of something it has learned, and when it doesn't find all the pieces of the puzzle, it makes up information or borrows from other memories and inserts false information into the holes of missing understanding." (p.116) This is what happens when students try to do homework before they have mastered the material. This impacted me because I don't think I would personally ever do homework if there wasn't some kind of reward for doing it. However, this did put homework into a new perspective for me. This will impact my classroom because now, I might not grade all homework assignments, but instead find other ways to make homework compelling so that students will complete the task. Instead of always using just grades, I will provide a lot of feedback so that students can feel that they are getting something out of doing the assignment.

Darcie Simmons
This chapter outlines ten things to avoid with differentiation. Two that really stood out to me were: avoid grading practice (homework), and avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points. The first one concerning avoiding grading homework I feel is really important. Because I know that when I was a student in the classroom I didn’t enjoy taking the homework I had done and turning it in just for a grade without any discussion on the homework that we had the night prior. Giving homework is fine, but having it as a check to make sure it was completed is all that the teacher really needs to see, grading what they are doing for practicing to master the content just seems to tear the students down. The second thing of avoiding extra credit and bonus points is really interesting for me. Because the student side of me really wants to say that that’s not fair, but the teacher side of me knows that when giving extra credit, it needs to be presented to the whole class, or all students taking that particular class. Which then leads to more work for me. I like the alternative idea though of improving old work instead. Both sides of me like this, the student and the teacher, because it makes it easy on both. While in the classroom I will definitely use this technique.

Kaitlyn Haase
In chapter 9 I learned ten methods to steer clear of when differentiating grading and assessment. The top three approaches that I would avoid in my classroom are: allowing bonus points and extra credit, grading on a curve, and grading practice.. I think that giving students bonus points sets precedents; other students may feel as though they should have deserved bonus points/extra credit. In my class I won’t grade on a curve because this puts too much emphasis on the grade. In addition, I won’t grade every single homework problem; instead I may grade based on if they’ve attempted each problem and have shown all of their work.

Matt Towle
This chapter talked about ten different grading and assessment strategies to avoid when differentiating. It was interesting to learn all of these because, after high school, I expected most of these "don'ts" to be the established rules. Many of my teachers used these tactics throughout my school career. This will impact my classroom because I will have to leave these ideas from my old teaches behind if I want to be grading as fairly as possible. One of the approaches I wouldn't have considered being "bad" was that we should avoid grading homework because homework is not meant to be used to determine mastery. Another one is to avoid using extra credit.

Lyzz Stevenson
Chapter 9: This chapter discusses ways to differentiate assessments. The chapter discussed ten major areas that students should be graded on. Surprisingly enough, homework is not one of them. I support this statement as I think that homework is another form of learning and teachers need to be grading their students on the mastery of the material not how they learn. I think that as a teacher I will not assign homework very often as it is just as important to give students a break from school as it is to learn and master the material.

Erin
Chapter 9: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading discussed ten important points when deciding how to assess students. These points ranged from avoiding withholding assistance to not grading homework. The two points that stood out to me a lot were: avoid allowing extra credit or bonus points and avoid penalizing multiple attempts. I have always been a strong believe in giving extra credit and bonus points to students who want to raise their grade because they are not satisfied with where they are at; however, this chapter helped me realize that there are better, more efficient ways for students to raise their grade if they are not satisfied. If students are required to redo an assignment that means that they have to dig deeper into information that they might not have truly understood. I also like the idea of allowing students the ability to have multiple attempts at achieving mastery levels because not all students learn at the same rate. Some students take longer to understand the material, but when they finally do get it, they have a deeper understanding of the content area. Especially in math, students need to understand the process more than anything so allowing them multiple attempts will help them sort out the steps.

Olivia
In chapter 9, there was an interesting subject brought up about not grading homework. I agree with this because I want my students to know what I expect from them without them worrying what kind of grade they will receive. I know it will be a hard task to get my students to finish their work without the push that grades give, but I want to be fair. Part of being fair is giving students the ability to show me what they can do. Even though I do not plan to grade the homework, my students will receive an effort grade. After I review the homework they have done, I will check to see how much of it is completed and grade them based on whether the assignment is on time. I want my students to understand the importance of what they are learning without penalizing them for getting something wrong.