FIAE+Chapter+9+Block+1

Synthesis FIAE C9 B1

students in ways that do not accurately indicate their mastery, the example was assessing us on the reading and assigning us to do a six minute interpretative dance on what we know. || I had mixed feelings about this chapter. I believe that it is very good they gave us a list of different approaches to avoid. However, I believe that it is more important to give teachers things which they should be doing rather then what they should not be doing. I enjoyed some of the ideas and examples shared. I agreed with all the things to avoid and believe that these examples helped for a better understanding of the approaches which need to be avoided. ||
 * **Names** || **Abstract** || **Reflection** ||
 * Archambault Michael || Chapter nine is about how to not grade differentiated instruction. It talks about some common pitfalls, like penalizing students who take longer to master material than other students. If what is important is content knowledge, what difference does it make how soon or not the student learned it. Things like half points or averaging two scores to curve the grades can be detrimental to students learning. You should avoid grading things like homework. Essentially, use formative assessment methods up until you are ready to test total knowledge. Extra credit puts the validity of grades in trouble. Anything that could falsify a students mastery of the subject by inflating a grade needs to be avoided. Things like curves do not help reflect each students progress, but rank each student against each other, which is not accurate or fair. || This chapter is good. I don't think there will ever be a correct answer in grading fairly and accurately. There are too many variables and too much information. I don't know if I agree with everything in this chapter, like how a curve is bad, but I understand the arguement. I don't really know what I will do in terms of extra credit. I liked the quote from the teacher saying that every kid has a bad day or two, and they should be allowed to show what they do on a good day, and not be penalized for their bad day. What a great concept. In the end, we need to teach for mastery, and grades should be direct feedback to let the student and their guardians know how they are doing. ||
 * Audy Melissa || The 9th chapter of Fair Isn’t Always Equal speaks of ten approaches that will make differentiated assessment fail. The point of differentiated instruction is to accommodate the needs of the learners and by carrying out any of the approaches listed, the learners are not benefitting. Rule one was not to grade things like behavior. The second important thing to consider was that students may need multiple chances to succeed and this should not detract from their grade. Practice activities should not be graded. Another thing that some teachers may forget to avoid is the “withholding” of assistance. Some students need more help than others, and that is OK. The next rule is to make sure that assessment successfully measures mastery. Extra credit and bonuses should also not be used very often. These points can not take the place of the things students should have learned and didn’t perform well on. Group grades and curve grades are both unfair due to the way they are developed. The authors also believe that teachers should not give 0’s for work that is not turned in, simply because this can greatly affect an average, far more than it should. || All of these rules were very helpful and things that many teachers lose sight of. I agree that teachers shouldn’t give 0’s due to homework not turned in, yet I don’t know what I would personally put in the place of that, because I believe that late work (without a valid excuse of explanation) shouldn’t be accepted after a certain point. I also agree that extra credit shouldn’t just be handed out. When I was in high school, I got extra credit in math for being on math team. Although I loved it at the time, looking back, it wasn’t a very fair policy. My grade was improved just for participation in an after school activity, even though my mastery of the unit was not enhanced. Sure, my understanding of math was better, but not the type of math being taught in my class, which I was supposedly being assessed on. Another rule that really struck me was that homework should not be graded. I agree and disagree with this one. I can see the unfairness of grading practice, however, if it is not counted, what is the incentive to do it? Overall, this chapter provided many great guidelines. ||
 * Boulter Elizabeth || This chapter was about 10 approaches that we as teachers should avoid. When it comes to grading and assessment, this chapters suggests that we stay away from rewards, penalization of multiple attempts, including behavior and effort into the grade, grading practice homework, daily quizzing, and withholding help. They focus on student achievement and clear goals, not requirements and penalization of missed work. || This chapter was insightful. I feet like a lot of teachers I had did these things. I worry that I may mess up and use some of these methods just because I’m so used to them happening. I thought the suggestion to not have daily quizzes was interesting considering how often that happens. This was a great resource because it described why you should not use those practices and instead, how to support and work with a student. ||
 * Brown Ryanne || In chapter 9 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal, the book makes the bold statement of 10 approaches to avoid when dealing with assessment and grading in a differentiated classroom. These 10 approaches are: 1. Avoid incorporating nonacademic factors (such as behavior, attendance, and effort) into the final grade. 2. Avoid penalizing students’ multiple attempts at mastery. 3. Avoid grading practice (homework) 4. Avoid withholding assistance (not scaffolding or differentiating) with the learning when it’s needed. 5. Avoid assessing students in ways that do not accurately indicate their mastery. 6. Avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points. 7. Avoid group grades. 8. Avoid grading on a curve. 9. Avoid recording zeros for work not done. 10. Avoid using norm-referenced terms to describe criterion-referenced attribute. All of these points create a more secure differentiated classroom in the end. || I agree with some of these points, but not necessarily all of them. As I stated in my reflection of chapter 4, I don’t find it all that horrible to incorporate a piece of participation in the grade if the students will benefit from it in the long run. Avoiding homework can be difficult, not grading homework is not difficult, and makes perfect sense to me actually. Assessing student in the proper way is very important, and I think that is one of the most important pieces on this list. Group grades can be difficult, but individual grades in a group project can be really difficult also, and group work cannot necessarily go without grading. Some of these points are very helpful to me while other are not something I am jumping to agree with. However, I do think they are all effective ways to work towards a differentiated classroom. ||
 * DePue Margaux || Chapter 9 lists ten things to avoid when grading students in the classroom and differentiating grades. Along with not grading behavior, participation and attendance (within reason), teachers should not downgrade students based on how many attempts they make at mastering a topic because students learn at varying paces and should be allowed to redo assignments. Homework should not be graded because it is practice. Students should never be sent home to do assignments without a strong understanding of the material or confabulation (when the mind “fills in the blanks” with certain material they do not understand) will occur. This can be avoided with frequent assessment and revised instruction. Teachers should avoid withholding assistance for students, such as refusing to differentiating lessons when necessary. Teachers should not assess students in ways that do not accurately show that they have mastered the subject. Teachers should avoid substituting bonus points for the grade on the actual assignment since they may not have completely understood the material. Group grades should be avoided since one student may have done more work or less work than others, and some may understand the material while others do not. Zeros should never be recorded in place of an incomplete grade. Lastly, teachers should never show how a student is doing in comparison to others, but how they are doing in terms of the standards given to them at the beginning of the assignment. || I agree with many of the points that the chapter was trying to make. I could not stand it when teachers would grade homework when we were supposed to be using it for practice and not a basis for grades. I know a teacher who would record zeros in her grade book before the semester had even ended, not understanding that when she did this, our averages were much lower than they should have been. She never bothered to fix this, and it was insulting to us as students. I will not be grading my students homework, and I would rather not enter any grades lower than a 59 unless I have to. ||
 * Dunne Kaisha || Chapter 9, “Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading”, goes into exactly as the titles says how grades must be accurate to mastery through 10 different approaches to avoid while differentiating assessment and grading. The ten approaches discussed are: avoid penalizing students’ multiple attempts at mastery (atl east they tried [effort counts]), avoid incorporating nonacademic factors, avoid grading practice (hw), avoid holding back assistance with the learning when its needed, avoid assessing students in ways that do not accurately indicate their mastery, avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points, avoid group grades, avoid grading on a curve, avoid recording zeros for work not done (put incomplete), and avoid using norm-referenced terms to describe criterion-referenced attributes (which I need a few more examples of).These items seem to expand on previous chapters and class discussions like the first approach is to avoid incorporating nonacademic factors, such as behavior, attendance, and effort, in the final grade is exactly like what was just discussed in the last chapter. || This chapter does seem as if it is repeating itself from past book and class topics, but is still another good way to look at assessment and grading (through the wrong way). This reminded me a lot about the teachers I had in high school, like clear examples and some are the things that made me want to be a teacher and not do in my classroom. ||
 * Hudson Kimberly || There are ten things to avoid when grading. The first is to avoid incorporating non academic factors into the final grade. Next, is to avoid penalizing students’ multiple attempts at mastery. Also, a teacher should never grade practice such as homework. This is because homework is never used to learn material the first time around. Next, is to avoid withholding assistance with learning when it’s needed. Also, the teacher should avoid assessing students in ways that do not accurately indicate their mastery and should avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points. Next, the teacher should avoid giving group grades and grading on a curve. Also, the teacher should not record missing work as zeros because it then distorts the grade. Lastly, the teacher should avoid using norm-referenced terms to describe criterion-referenced attributes. || I think this chapter was helpful because it gave some guidelines to grading; however, I do not agree with all of them. I think some bonus points or extra credit should be allowed if you can see that the student is trying. I do agree with not handing out these points all the time. I also agree with not giving group grades if possible. This is because a lot of the times one or two people in the group do more work than others. So, I think part of the individual grade should be taken into account. ||
 * Korn Shauna || This chapter lists the “Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading.” The first talked about how teachers should avoid basing grading on negative behaviors in a student; which was explained in chapter 8, because you never know what is going on in that students life. The second what that you as a teacher shouldn’t penalize a student for attempting to do an assignment a bunch of times to get it to where they want to, instead you should be happy that they are trying to have their product reach that level. Three was avoid grading practice homework or work that will given out for practice in class. This is meant for practice and if you place a final grade on it you can’t call it practice. The fourth was about teachers that have the students do so many assignments on their own that they can’t come to the teacher for help and don’t know how to move forward without a little bit of guidance so they stay stuck. The fifth was to avoid using grading techniques that didn’t really match up with the end product that the student should have. If the grading technique has a lot of loop hole chances are the grades are not going to be anything like you wanted unless you get specific. The sixth was avoid giving extra credit, but instead have the student perfect the product they have been working on or something to do with it. The seventh was avoiding group grades, because they do not tell you the individual’s strengths and weakness’s and sometimes can end up with just a couple people doing work. The eighth was to avoid grading on a curve because it shows that you will change the grade, but that you won’t change your assessment or figure out another way to see what they are learning. The ninth was to avoid zeros for missing work as a final grade, but instead gives students a chance to make it up for half credit. The tenth and final one was avoid using levels such as expert, average, etc. because on a grade level it just shows that they have mastered getting the information, but you as the teacher need to see how they can apply it. || I think that these steps are good. I was surprised at not giving kids extra credit. I always thought that extra credit was a good way to give student that chance to add some points after a low test or just because they wanted more. Now I see that there are other ways to go about it and to see what the student is having trouble with in the first place. I would have liked my teachers to do this especially in math because I was almost always struggling and only got my B’s because of the extra work that I was allowed to do. It makes sense to me know that if I had been worked with a little more I would have learned more and not needed the extra credit. ||
 * LaRose Rebecca || This chapter was all about what to avoid when assessing and grading. Teachers should refrain from penalizing students, rewarding students,including behavior and effort, daily quizzes, grading things that don't hold merit, and revoking help. Teachers never know why a student acted the way they did on any given day, and they won't know if something horrible is happening. If teachers grade on certain things, a student's inevitable bad day could be a devastating blow to them and their grade. It is unfair for students to be assessed in this way because they don't learn anything from it, especially when they are not given a second chance. || I think that this was extremely helpful because a lot of teachers do these things. If the teachers I had did these things, then teachers are probably still doing it. I think that this chapter really helped me put things into perspective as far as keeping the students in mind. ||
 * Murphy Amber || This chapter deals with ten different approaches a teacher should avoid when they are assessing and grading their students. The ten approaches include avoid nonacademic factors or behaviors, avoid penalizing students multiple attempts at mastery, avoid grading homework it is practice, avoid withholding attendance, avoid assessing students in ways that do not accurately indicate their mastery, avoid allowing extra credit and bonus points, avoid group grades, avoid grading on a curve, avoid recording zeros for work not done, and avoid using norm-referenced terms to describe criterion-referenced attributes. These ten different approaches when avoided help teachers to gain a more accurate grade of the individual students. This chapter gave a great example of assessing
 * Nieuwkerk Hannah || This chapter addresses ten different techniques that should be avoided when assessing in the classroom. The teacher should avoid incorporating factors that have nothing to do with the final grade, such as attendance, effort, and also bonus points; if they have nothing to do with the subject, why should points be added? Some students need more time and drafts to get a final product, and teachers should not penalize students for this; as long as the student fully understands the concepts and comes up with an excellent product, time is not an issue. Also, homework should not be graded, it is a stepping stone for full comprehension, not an assessment piece. Tiering and differentiating should be used when necessary, it only makes sense to do what is needed for students to understand the material and perform just as well as their peers. Avoiding group grades and assessing in ways that do not match with the material learned; in both instances, the grades will not be accurate and will probably cause the students much frustration. Teachers should not grade on a curve, it is an old, outdated way of grading and does not accurately show grades, if anything, it makes the students not want to help each other because they want to be higher up on the curve than their peers. Also, zeroes should be avoided in the grade book, because it skews the other grades of the student. Finally, teachers should avoid comparing students to the other students; each student is different and they should be looked at as individuals who keeping improving all the time. || I liked these tips, some of them surprised me, such as no bonus points. I liked the questions like, “where did I go to college?” because it made me more relaxed and took my mind off the quiz for a couple seconds. But, it does make sense not to award points that have nothing to do with the information that was supposed to be learned. On the other hand, I liked how one teacher put extra credit towards a bad grade to boost it up because ‘everyone has a bad day’, which is very true. I have always thought that grading on a curve was dumb because it doesn’t really show anything, and has nothing to do with the actual grade that you received, and it does make learning the material really competitive because you want to be ahead of your fellow peers. ||
 * Scheffler Erich || This chapter was entitled “Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading.” The chapter contained ten factors that teachers should not consider when they are grading students. These included: not grading homework, not giving extra credit, not grading on a curve, and not giving zeroes for work that isn’t done. The book also gave a little summary about the main idea for each bad approach. || I thought this chapter was pretty good. Honestly, I liked reading about all the things my teachers did in high school, and how those things are not things that should be graded. I found myself agreeing that things like homework really should not be graded, and teachers really shouldn’t give zeroes. ||
 * Simoneau Andrea ||  ||   ||
 * Stevens Newcomb || This chapter talked about the dos and don’ts of grading. Avoid grading homework because it can falsely assess a student based on bad practice rather than what they get out of it. Always give help and assist students when they require it. Avoid giving out extra credit because this can be the same as a filler grade. Encourage multiple assessments because learners learn at a different pace: no two students are exactly alike. Avoid grading on a curve because this may seem brutally inaccurate of what a student is capable of and it can really skew assessment. If a teacher remembers these tips, the student can truly grow. || I think that this is excellent advice for any teacher because this encourages learning and not just grades. Students need to be encouraged to take multiple tests because that is where the real learning occurs. One of my former professors did this on a key exam: I was able to know the material inside and out because I was able to learn from my mistakes. This exam that I could do over was not just about a grade, it was about proficiency and after the test, I felt more than proficient. I will try to practice the advice in this chapter as I become a teacher. ||