FIAE+B2+Chapter+9

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tocAbstract
This chapter discussed ten ideas to avoid when teaching and grading in a differentiated classroom. Ten items are listed and then are explained in detail in order to show that they are not great methods to grade in the differentiated classroom. Some of these methods of grading include incorporating nonacademic factors, don't penalize students multiple attempts at mastery, and avoid grading practice. Chapter nine also would like teachers to disregard withholding assistance, avoid assessing students in inaccurate way, avoid allowing extra credit, avoid group grades, avoid grading on a curve, avoid recording a zero for work not done, and avoid using norm-referenced terms when it comes to grading and teaching.

[|Synthesis Ryan]
It seems as though a lot of us had similar problems with this chapter. Most of us expressed that in high school our teachers used the ten [|approaches] to avoid in the classroom and that we would use some of the approaches in the classroom. It seems as though these ten [|approaches] contradict with what has been used in the classroom for most of our education. However most of the class said they would consider incorporating not using these approaches. This chapter really caused people to become confused on how they will grade assessments in the future as a teacher.

Kirsten
This chapter listed ten things we should avoid doing when assessing and grading. Some things were really obvious, either because we had read them in previous chapters/books or because I already thought they were a bit unfair, like grading on a curve, giving zeroes, and giving group grades. However, I had never thought seemingly innocent practices like awarding bonus points or extra credit could be perceived as being negative. I agree that giving bonus points on a test like, "What's my favorite color?" are silly, but I think you really deserve the bonus points if it's an extra tough question that requires a little extra effort or knowledge. I feel the same way about extra credit. If you have a student who is doing extra quality work outside of class (in the case of English, extra readings or writing) then I feel like that should count for something if they choose to bring it in.

Jordan
There are many ways to approach the various situations that arise in a classroom; this chapter offers ten to avoid when differentiating assessment and grading. Wormeli lends the reader many pieces of advice, ranging from not grading on a curve, avoid offering extra credit, avoid group grades, or avoid giving zeros for unfinished work. While each of these approaches needs to be addressed, I felt that one of the most important approaches that Wormeli discussed was to avoid grading practice. “We’re out to be fair and effective as teachers” (Wormeli 117), and it is both unreasonable and unfair to base a grade from what a student produced while practicing the material. Practice, or homework as students know it as, does not demonstrate mastery in any means, way, shape or form. It is fair to provide feedback and supplemental assignments for those students that need more practice and it is fair to vary the difficulty of the homework assignment based off student readiness. If a homework assignment is graded, teachers have missed the concept of “assessment of learning” altogether, for it is not an accurate indicator of mastery. This chapter alters teachers to stop making the same mistakes that have been practiced in the classroom for centuries. We need to move past withholding assistance and using norm-referenced terms and aim for assessing students for mastery of what they have learned. As a student, I have been exposed to all ten of these approaches. Some of them I liked, some of them I did not, but in the end, none of them enriched my learning my experiences. As a teacher, I will steer away from these practices in my classroom because they do not evaluate my students for mastery.

Ryan Snowman
This chapter recommends ten practices teachers should avoid when grading. Interestingly enough, many of my teachers participated in these practices, instead of avoiding them. A lot of my teachers used to grade on a curve, especially my math teachers. This was not helpful to me because it did not teach me mastery. I would plan for the curve. If I could score in the 80’s, then with the curve, my grade would be in the 90’s. I did not strive for excellence when teachers graded on a curve. A lot of my teachers would give zeros too. I never got any personally, but I remember the demonstrations on the white board where they teacher would show us what a zero would do to our overall grade. I did not like it then, and certainly will not incorporate it into my grading policy.

Mykayla
After reading this chapter, I realize I am not ready to grade in a differentiated classroom. Out of the ten approaches to avoid, I was either thinking about using them or I had never even thought about them. There were a couple in particular that stood out to me. The first was avoiding bonus points and extra credit. I agree with the last half of this sentence, however, I have always thought bonus points on tests and/or quizzes were like presents. I was never planning on using pointless or irrelevant bonus questions, but the idea of giving a couple of deeper thinking problems that they can attempt to solve for some extra points was an idea I had. I do agree that extra credit is not needed. I feel this instills the idea into students that they can slack off on an assignment and then get extra credit to make up the difference. The other approach that stood out to me was “avoid recording zeros for work not done.” Again I can see both sides to this. Sometimes there is a very reasonable and acceptable reason to not get an assignment done, but what should be done if a student just refuses to do that work? I feel as though something has to be done so that the students who do complete the work don’t feel as though they did it for no reason.

Leah
I appreciate that chapter eight gave an expanded explanation of the first approach to avoid when grading or else with a lack of reasoning I may have ignored that advice. I've seen how not grading practice or homework is really effective. I had an algebra and pre-calc teacher who did not grade homework, but checked it for completion and it motivated me to do the homework for understanding not a grade or teacher approval. The fourth approach just seems silly to do and should be common knowledge not to do, every teacher should help students to learn and target they way they learn best. I had thought about the problem of recording a zero for missed work, and how it skews the overall grade, and more importantly how it will impact a students motivation. I will hold on to the tip of replacing a zero with a sixty or another numeral grade that represents an incomplete assignment.

Ryan
Chapter nine takes everything away from what I thought grading was and has made me confused on how I will grade. I believe in some of the ten aspects that this chapter says to avoid, but some of the ideas I planned on using in my classroom. Some of these ideas that I were going to include into my classroom that this chapter said not to are avoiding group grades, avoiding bonus points, avoiding grading practice, and avoiding incorporating nonacademic factors. So right now I am very confused, but as a teacher I will try to incorporate ideas of my own and ideas from the book.

Corinne
Wormeli lists ten different things to avoid when differentiating assessment and grading. Mainly these restate past chapters that discussed flaws and ways of grading that should be avoided. , such as grading nonacademic factors like attendance that was discussed in the previous chapter. It even jumps ahead by advising teachers to stay away from giving zero's, as is the basis of chapter 10. One thing to avoid that I found interesting, but that makes perfect sense, is avoiding allowing students to do extra credit. Often the extra credit is busy work and does not use the same skills that were meant to be built in the original assignment. Well at first it seemed a little cruel, there is an alternative to allow students to receive a better grade and that is allowing re-do's on assignments.

Brittany
Differentiation can become especially tricky when a teacher is dealing with assessments. The biggest point that I walked away with from this chapter deals with the idea of exam retakes. In all the classes I have taken in my career as a student, teachers have been very strict about retaking exams. Through differentiation, it is stressed that grades and exams should reflect mastery. This implies that students should get the chance to retake an exam if they feel they have more knowledge on the subject. I love the fact that these exams replace the previous and are not averaged with the original exam. By taking these steps, teachers are coming closer to accurately reflecting each student’s grade to indicate the magnitude of learning.

Jennie
Some of the approaches in the really good. Wormeli gives us 10 things to avoid when we are grading. A couple of them are "avoid grading practice" which is otherwise known as homework, "avoid grading on a curve," and "avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points." I was skeptical of the first approach I mentioned. Don't grade homework? But Wormeli gives some very convincing things to accompany his statement. Homework is meant to help get students to mastery. If students are still learning and they get some of the questions wrong then that would discourage them from even trying to learn the the concept. Then he gave the example of if we learned a very complicated teaching technique and we had a month to learn it then we would get observed. But the observer came in a week into that month, observed you to see how you were doing then told you that this would determine your final grade. I understand where he is coming from. I don't think that I would fully grade homework, but I will probably check to see if its done.

Rachel
When grading students, it is important to allow them to make up their work. Some students really benefit from receiving feedback and getting a second or third chance to fix their work. I am one of these students. I generally don’t get something on the first try and I really do well to receive feedback so I know how to do it better. Every student learns at a different rate, and I should not punish those who don’t learn as quickly by not allowing them to make up work. Also, homework assignments should be viewed as a means of receiving feedback as well. It’s not meant to teach the student, it’s meant to measure what the student has already learned. I feel that sometimes teachers give homework and grade everything because they feel like that is their responsibility. I think this should change.

Tim
Going into Practicum, grading students seemed to be one of the few things I assumed myself capable of. Now after reading these past three chapters, I have no clue what I am going to do. I do not agree with all that Wormeli says to avoid in grading which just further complicated my ideas on how to grade. Wormeli does stress that homework should not be used as a grading tool but instead as a way to offer students proper feedback, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Wormeli also speaks out against “grading on a curve.” I used to love when students would grade on a curve, it just gave me a reason to slack off. But it is kind of a dumb thing to do. Wormeli includes those two quotes that basically say grading on a curve is doing nothing but enhancing the idea of competition between students in a classroom. One of the quotes states “Under these conditions, students readily see that helping others become successful threatens their own chance.” (Page 129) This is a crazy notion to think students wouldn’t help one another just to improve their chances at success, but I guess there are mean people out there who would do such a thing. This chapter did nothing for me but skew my already skewed ideas about grading. I will take nothing from it but a feeling of dread as I am now more nervous than ever to attempt to grade a student’s work.

Sarah
On top of providing me with excellent examples of what not to do in my classroom, this chapter made me realized how grade oriented education has become. Teachers are so focused on students getting the grade, not mastery. It leads me to wonder what it says about our society and how it relates to the machine known as industry. Overall this concept makes me think og having mass production to make a product only to have the product break after the first time you use it. Oddly enough, that seems to be the trend with goods in these modern times. It also tells me that as a society, we have become focused on the surface, the aesthetics, not the important internal works. Relating it back to the classsroom, this chapter has taught me to honestly put as little push on grades as I can, and to make learning be about the pure mastery (a task which I am 100% convinced will be difficult). I am sorry to have not reflected on the chapter in direct relation to my classroom, but I felt that this idea was too big to left unsaid.

Cara
I agree that homework should not be graded. Homework is a way for students (and the teacher!) to check for understanding. Grading homework does not seem fair to me at all because it is practice. I think that there are good ways to give extra credit in a classroom, though. For students who are struggling with material, extra credit work may really help out their grade. Students should be allowed to make up their work as well. As a teacher, I need to talk to students who have work to make up and allow them to make a plan to get that work to me.

Scott
Chapter nine basically did exactly what the title suggested it would do: It suggest "Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading." That chapter wants us to avoid using nonacademic factors when we are determining the final grade. We should not penalize students when they need several attempts to master something, and similarly homework that is meant for practice should not be factored into the final grade. We need to make sure that whenever scaffolding is needed that it is made available to our students. When we are grading we should not use assessments that do not accurately assess how well a students has mastered a subject, and extra credit is not cool. We should not give group grades and zeros do nothing to motivate students to learn and do their work.

Drew
This chapter provided 10 non-examples of what to incorporate when grading. The some of the ones provided seemed pretty obvious. Some of them had me saying out-loud, "Well... duh". However, I tripped over one of the tips. This was tip number 6: "Avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points".(pg. 124) I never really considered this before. I feel like it's something that never came to mind because my fore-teachers practiced this quite a bit. So much so that in US history in high school, I would have passed the class one semester with a 110. I guess this could be a bad thing because bonus points, for the most part, are not a piece that reflect mastery. Extra credit homework, also, does not add up to mastery. Supposing a student failed something three weeks ago and it's putting a tarnish on their grade. The class has moved on. Is the student going to practice more on content that is not the same as the original content they did poorly on? I think it is good practice to leave bonus points an extra credit out of the class room.