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Jordan
Though we have differentiated classrooms, it is a whole other challenge to demonstrate the meaningful learning outcome and progress that a student makes using the standard gradebook. Wormeli begins by stating that there is no one format that works for all teachers, however, there are strategies that teachers can use to ensure that they are grading their students in a differentiated way. Some of the few suggestions that are provided is grouping by standard, objective, or benchmark, grouping by weight or category, listing by due date, or developing a topics-based gradebook. For each method that is used, there are pros and cons, especially when it comes to making decisions about how to accurately grade in a differentiated way. I personally preferred the topic-based gradebook because students were given more than one opportunity to demonstrate mastery on the same material and best simulates the differentiated classroom. This method, though initially more time consuming, provides a more accurate map of what a student has learned in terms of content. As a student, I would have liked if a teacher would have given me several chances to meet a specific mark (by using a topic-based gradebook) because I would not have felt as pressured to “get it right” and may have spent more time learning the material. As a teacher, I would eventually like to test this method of grading in my classroom because I feel it gives a more accurate picture of where a student is at in his or her learning.

Leah
As teachers we should record grades that best show student progress. There are many different formats for gradebooks, but one of the key aspects of grading in a differentiated classroom is making sure that all the staff is on the same page. It's important when considering the backwards design model to format a gradebook based on goals and not the assignments. Their are many ways to group assignments in the grade book including: by benchmark or objectives, by weight or category, by date, and by making a topics-based gradebook. I'm not sure how I feel about grouping assignments according to weight. That sort of grouping may make it easy to put the assignments before the goals. I personally think that listing assignments by date would be the most organized way to handle grades and to keep track of what students owe work.

Mykayla
The ways that this chapter says to manage your grade book seem a little ridiculous to me. The only one that made any sense to me was the one that listed assignments by the date with color-coding. I feel like this would be the most effective way for me to keep my book. The other ways don’t make any sense at all. They all feel like they would take more work than their value at the end. Reading about it, let alone keeping my grade book that way, confused me.

Ryan
This chapter discussed the many ways to organize the grade book and how important it is as a teacher to realize assignments that attain to the goals and are not used just as grades. This connects to the backward design model because it is working backwards and deciding what assignments are going to be put in the grade book before they are given. Some of the ways the grade book can be organized are by objectives, weight, date, category, and by assessment. I feel that grouping assignments by objectives would be most beneficial for myself. I think as a teacher I would incorporate the idea of categorizing my grades by objectives that way all my grades would be organized.

Cara
Since we are to teach in a differentiated way, then out grade book should be geared towards this idea as well. "Filler grades" remind me of empty calories; it's adding more to the whole and it is unnecessary. Every grade that is given should be important and have a purpose. I like the idea of organizing the grade book by objectives because this will help me realize whether or not an assignment or project is simply a "filler grade" before I actually have the students complete it. I really like the pictures used for examples in this chapter.

Brittany
There are many different grade book formats to go along with the many different ways that there are to grade assignments in a classroom. The trick is to find the grade book format that best complies with the form of grading that is used in the classroom. One of the more interesting topics discussed was the idea that one assignment could be counted more than once when factoring a grade. For example, if the student’s grade is broken down into three different categories, then it is possible for one assignment, such as a lab, to fall under more than one of the categories. This will provide for a more accurate reading of the grades because the grades for each category will directly reflect the level of learning that is achieved in each of these different facets of the class. Teachers also have the right to alter grades so that the numerical grade correctly reflects each student’s learning progress. For example, if a student has earned A’s on all of the assignments except for on F, the teacher would be right to throw out the F because it does not accurately reflect the student’s achievement. Teachers need to figure out the best method of grading for their class. Each class is different, but the main idea of grading is the same, to measure progress of knowledge.

Scott
In this chapter we are told that our grade books will almost certainly reflect our lessons. It will most likely take me a long time to figure out exactly what grade book format will work for me. When formatting the grade book we need to make sure that we are not only designing it based on what is easiest for us, but will accurately reflect a student's achievement. When we begin a unit, all the grades for that unit should already be in the gradebook, this reflects the backwards design model in this way. None of the examples provided in the book really appealed to me, I guess I will have to be like John McCain and be a maverick and find my own way.

D rew
This chapter has a central focus on keeping a grade book. The one method that really jumped out to me was listing assignments by date and color coding them. I've seen this before working with my mentor. Although a lot of grade book work has turned into software I find it is important to have a hard copy available too as computers are not always reliable. I didn't really care for the methods described in this chapter with the exception of the color coding and dating method. I think that there is no true right and wrong way of keeping records. I feel it comes down to personal preference and what makes the individual teacher more comfortable. That being said, I believe once I am in the field, I will have my own personal method.

Kirsten
This chapter covered a few different formats one can use in their gradebook. They were: Grouping Assignments by Standards, Grouping Assignments by Weight or Category, Listing Assignments by Date, and Topic-Based Gradebooks. The standards-based gradebook really caught my eye because it discussed being able to talk about students knowledge in terms of what standards they have mastered versus just saying they have such-and-such a grade. I feel like the more deeply you can discuss a students knowledge, the better, and having a gradebook that allows for that makes things all the better. I also like the idea of a topics-based gradebook. It seemed complicated to me when looking at the figure on page 169, but after studying it for a bit and reading the explanation of it, I'm pretty much sold and would love to try that format. I like the fact that the example for it from Marsha Ratzel says that children of a special education student were really impressed with how much she knew about the student simply based on how her gradebook was set up. I think that when teachers are so bogged down with over-crowding and have dozens of students to worry about, they need something that they can reference quickly that gives a great deal of information.

Tim
Chapter 13 of FIAE focuses on making sure a teacher’s gradebook supports the idea differentiation. Wormelli explains how there isn’t one gradebook format that works well for all teachers. Instead, Wormelli suggests examining several different types of gradebook formatting and picking the one that best meets and serves our needs. Out of the few gradebooks presented to us, I most enjoyed the Topics-based Gradebook. This gradebook seemed like a primetime way to keep all the grades organized to the maximum and appears to be an excellent way to be able to quickly show students or parents an exact grade. Being a fairly disorganized person, this format definitely appeals to me and what I would like my gradebook to one day look like.

Ryan Snowman
This chapter discusses gradebook formats. Wormeli lists several different formats that teacher’s could potentially use. Gradebook formats should provide clear reporting of achievement, be responsive to students needs, and be easy to manage. The one that caught my eye was listing assignments by date. The reason that it caught my eye was that it is an easy way to organize assignments chronologically, and you can see a student’s growth over time. This is the method that my mentor teacher uses too, so I am somewhat familiar with it. Another advantage of this system is that teachers can look at a trend in grades easier, and most teachers agree that grading on a trend is fairly accurate. Gradebook formats, however, boils down to what works best for you, and I think that when I’m a teacher, I will use the listing assignments by date format.

Jennie
This chapter discusses the different kinds of grade book formatting that a teacher can use. There are a number of different kinds of formats. Although Wormeli does stress that no one grade book format works for all teachers. The one that makes the most sense to me was the book arranged by date. The idea of seeing how students grow over time is a very good idea. This way, if something didn't connect then we can see exactly where it didn't. This is the style that a lot of my teachers in high school used. The date format seems to work very well for a lot of teachers. It is a very logical way to do look at assignments and I think that this is the way that I will be doing my grading.

Rachel
I can understand how recording more than one grade for an assignment would be a more effective strategy. It uses the same reasoning as no recording a zero, since the purpose of grading is to assess when students know. By using more than one grade for an assignment, it allows the teacher to mark that the student shows mastery on one aspect of the assignment but still may be having a difficult time grasping another part. I feel that, for a teacher who sees hundreds of students every week, this strategy is very time consuming. The author even asks readers the question, “is it worth it?” (165).

Corinne
Armstrong gives many examples of ways to format a grade book. Some different ways are to : Group assignments by category (ex. Analysis, Synthesis, Prediction), which measure students level of performance based on skills that they have acquired. Another way is longitudinally or by date, a topic based grade-book, which I liked because it allows the teacher to see which topic the students struggled with and might need to work some more on, I had never thought too much into different formats of grading, all I have seen are the generic ones that have the assignment and the grade out of how many points. As a teacher I would like to get creative with my grade-book, and most likely use the topic based format.

Sarah
Chapter 13 discussed grade books and how to effectively manage them. Up until this point, I have thought very little about grade books and keeping them in a certain condition for my records. In my opinion, a grade book should be a means of note taking for the instructor and as such, it does not necessarily have to follow a set format. However, after reading this chapter, I see that there are actual methods to organizing such notes and some are more effective than others for each individual. I personally think I might keep track of my students grades using all four formats Wormeli presented just to give myself a better "photo album" view of my students' academic progress.