FAIE Chapters 11-14

All four of these chapters provided very useful insight to the grading process and policy that I may not have considered had I not read them.  For example, I always thought that a zero was a zero and that it had the same effect in the gradebook as any other failing grade, because an F is an F.  Maybe I thought this because I’m simply not a math person and my brain just doesn’t think in terms of averages and numbers and all that, or because I had so many teachers that said an incomplete assignment equaled a zero.  I thought that giving a zero for a missing assignment made sense because zero stands for nothing: there was no assignment handed in.  BUT, after reading Chapter 11 I can totally see how giving a zero for an incomplete assignment could really mess up a kid’s final grade and skew his level of mastery.  In my classroom, I won’t give out zeros for this reason—grades should always indicate mastery, otherwise the evaluation we give our students is inaccurate.  I do, however, feel that including comments on report cards is extremely necessary, because it is important to take things like effort, timeliness, and completion rate into consideration.  If a student knows that homework isn’t graded in any way shape or form, they are less likely to take it seriously.  For this reason, I will include a separate grading criteria beyond mastery when I am assessing my students.  I will also try to use a smaller grading scale whenever possible, as suggested in Chapter 12, because it is more useful and can provide better feedback.  In terms of the different types of gradebook formats presented in Chapter 13, I personally liked the format that grades according to standards.  Not only are standards becoming more prominent in schools, I think that this format allows more specificity to student mastery and are therefore more useful, insightful, and less subjective than categorizing mastery based on assessment type.  Of course, I understand that this format will not work all the time, and it is important to be flexible and tailor gradebook formats to student needs and course objectives. (I also really liked the topics-based gradebook approach because it connects topic to assignments and is quite specific.)  In terms of report card formats, I simply couldn’t decide which I liked best; I think it will depend on my students and the school I am teaching in.

FAIE Chapters 7-10

Each of these chapters focused on grades and grading policy.  While some of the material (especially that found in Chapter 9) seemed like common sense, some of the material struck me as surprising at first, but then made more sense as I continued to read on.  For example, I always thought that students should be and are graded on things like participation and effort, but I never considered how such factors could skew a student’s grade in terms of mastery.  Because I feel that students deserve to be “rewarded” for their hard work, I thought that it would make sense to include these factors in the grading criteria, but these chapters of the book emphasize that the purpose of grades is to measure mastery and nothing else.  This does make sense, however, especially since education has become standards-based.  Also, because grades are subjective and oftentimes controversial, it is important for students to understand why they are receiving the grades they get; never let a grade speak for itself.  As a teacher, I will make sure to include commentary and rationales along with grades so that students and parents can make sense of them.  I also believe in recognizing student effort and participation without including it in the gradebook.  Instead, I will use feedback and reinforcement both through formative assessment, and later, in a “separate column on the report card” (112).  Like the book states, students are more likely to work harder when they know their effort is appreciated, but they also may need extra feedback and motivation when it comes to putting forth a little more effort.  I will never have this extra motivation stem from giving a student a bad grade, however; instead, I will give them feedback before it is time for me to determine their level of mastery.  And, if a student is still struggling when the time of assessment comes, I will give them the opportunity to redo the work whenever it is feasible.  I found Chapter 10 to have strong insights towards redoing work.  For example, I never really considered that allowing students to redo tests whenever they want could result in them becoming “chronic redoers.”  This had made me realize that I will need to establish a policy regarding redos before the school year begins so that I can be prepared for all kinds of circumstances.