FIAE+Chapter+11+Block+1

Synthesis FIAE C11 B1


 * **Names** || **Abstract** || **Reflection** ||
 * Archambault Michael || Chapter 11 of FIAE continues the conversation of grading. A common problem in schools is that students recieve 0's for work that is not turned in. When the final scores are averaged, those zeroes mutate the overall grade so bad that it no longer resembles something that is even remotely accurate. If the point of grading is to assess learning, we need to give students a 60, or F, when they don't do work, instead of a K-, which is the equivalent of a zero. Weighting grades is another problem that changes the value of grades. How can a student have higher than a 4.0 on a scale that only measures to 4.0? Colleges have begun to lean less on GPA's and more on proficiency and commitment to learning. Weighting grades can be appropriate in classrooms that have special need students in them. In the end, the teacher needs to figure out what is appropriate and accurate for his or her classroom. || Being a logical learner, I can appreciate the mathematical consequences of awarding a student a zero for work instead of the letter equivalent 50 or 60. Most gradebooks that I see don't use percentages like that. It is all fractions, and that allows for the weight of each grade to be figured in automatically. How could you give someone a large chunk of points when they didn't even turn somthing in, but a student who clearly worked very hard on theres and got some things wrong gets just a few more points? Try explaining that one to a student like myself. I think the teacher should be giving the students opportunities to do the work or atleast a parallel assignment. If the teacher does this type of being and breaking for the student, and they still get the cold shoulder, I say give them the zero. "See you next year, buddy!" ||
 * Audy Melissa || The 11th chapter of Fair Isn’t Always Equal goes over “Six burning grading issues” as Wormeli puts it. Each issue is a dilemma faced by all teachers when grading. Each question that arises doesn’t necessarily have a right answer, yet as a teacher, one is forced to choose an action anyway. The chapter goes over six of the most common dilemmas and presents the options, as well as the benefits and negative aspects for taking a certain action. The first section is titled “Record a Zero or a Sixty?” and goes over the effects of putting in a zero for work that has not been handed in. It argues that the use of a zero in place of missing work is unfair, as it greatly affects a grade average, making it an inaccurate portrayal of a student’s actual mastery. The second section, titled, “Grading Gifted Students” goes over the idea that some students may be able to skip to higher difficulty levels of specific subjects, yet one must still record a grade for the subject they have skipped. It brings up the question: how would one record a grade for such a situation? The issue of “Weighting Grades” is brought up—the concept of giving students in more difficult classes better grades, to compensate for the fact that their work has been more difficult than standard level classes. The issue of “Automaticity Versus Concept Attainment” arises, making teachers question whether it is fair to grade students who memorize material the same as those who truly understand. The next to last section, “Grading Late Work,” goes over the negative effects of reducing the grade of work handed in late, stating that this is discouraging to students and doesn’t promote learning. And finally there is the issue of, “Grading Special Needs Students in Inclusion Classes.” The book’s solution to this was to communicate with their special education teacher, and really establish clear roles and expectations. || The issue that I had the hardest time taking a stance on is “Grading Late Work.” I feel that students should be encouraged to get their work in on time, and understand the importance of deadlines. However, I certainly understand that students may have difficulty completing work due to circumstances I may be unaware of. I can’t really decide what my late work policy will be. The “Zero or Sixty” question really got me thinking as well. I always assumed that putting in a zero was the right thing to do, since it is what all of my teachers did when I was a student. They were aware of how badly it skewed a student’s final grade, they’d even mention things like, “If you don’t get this in, your final grade will drop by ten points.” It seemed to be the norm, but looking back, it truly is unfair how much a grade can be affected by one missing assignment. All of these issues were difficult to think about, which once again makes me question, why do we need to grade students? Why can’t we just make sure that they learn? ||
 * Boulter Elizabeth || This chapter discusses grading in 6 different areas that are particularly challenging. The chapter starts by discussing giving zeros of sixties for students who fail to turn in work. Often times when averaging a zero into the student's grades does not allow for a true indicator or the student's work. The chapter next talks about weighting grades and how you can have an A mean one thing in a certain class, and an A mean something different in another. There needs to be some notation on the report card or transcript is one argument. Grades need to be accurate and weighted grades makes that hard. The chapter also discusses special education and regular education teacher communication and level grading system where they are on the same page. What about gifted students? do we grade them on the same scale? are we holding them to higher expectations? || I was overwhelmed by this chapter! It made me a little scared to realize just how many different situations and learners I will have! I want to have a good grading system...but after reading this chapter..I'm scared! It definitely made me realize different things about communication and equal expectations...but i'm not quite sure how to achieve that yet! I know what's on the table now...and I feel more informed...but I'm not sure how to handle it quite yet. ||
 * Brown Ryanne || This chapter addressed the problems that can arise regarding grading. There were six main grading problems listed. These problems were: giving a zero or a sixty, grading gifted students, weighting grades, automaticity versus concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. Each of these issues is explained with minor suggestions for solving each dilemma. Most of the problems and solution will be particular to the student. It is so hard to say how to handle a situation without knowing the students or their efforts. Grading is such a large emphasis in schools, and at the same time presents more problems and requires more strategy than any other element of teaching. The chapter goes into detail for each problem and helps with understanding how complicated grading can become when it comes to real life students with real life problems. || My reaction to this chapter was nervousness. I feel like it’s hard to think about every problem that could possibly arise in every lesson, every situation, for every project, and even now, for every grade. All the students are going to be different, and I am terribly nervous to make judgments for the purpose of grading. One student expressing a certain amount of effort may have put forth the same amount as another student who had the same end product, but did not voice their effort. Do I give more points of for the effort, or do I assume all my students have put forth their best effort? All the complications, including the ones listed in the chapter really are scary to consider. Grading seems like it could possibly the most difficult piece of teaching. This chapter helped me realize all of the elements to consider when grading and thinking about how I am going to be basing my grading. I would love to be able to avoid giving grades, but I am unsure that that is a practical solution. This chapter will help me maneuver through the difficulties of grading. ||
 * DePue Margaux || Chapter 11 discusses six issues dealing with grades. The first is whether to put a zero or a sixty in the gradebook for an assignment, the argument being that zeros skew grades and cause self-esteem problems when viewed by the student. The second is how exactly teachers should grade gifted students, which can be a difficult issue. Teachers should find a way to show that the gifted student went above and beyond in the curriculum teachings without distorting the interpretation of the results on the report card. The third deals with weighting grades and whether or not they should affect a student's GPA. Weighting grades can be helpful to students in higher level classes, but if it leads to higher GPAs and only helps to better rank the students, this is not beneficial to deciphering students' mastery of a topic. The fourth issue is whether to assess for automaticity or attainment of a concept (how efficiently a student responds to a task or how well they understand a concept in general), and the book states that teachers need to be clear about this and tailor their assessments to what they want to see in their students' work. The fifth is how to grade late work, saying that a student shouldn't be penalized for passing in a late assignment and that if assignments are chronically late, teachers should work with them or take a few points off rather than a whole letter grade. The last issue deals with grading special needs students, saying that teachers and special education teachers need to collaborate to help students meet the specified goals, though not necessarily through the same means as the other students. || I agreed with much of what was stated in this chapter about grades. I do not intend to record zeros for work that is not turned in, but instead of recording a sixty I would rather record an incomplete and allow the student to make up the work. That seems more fair to me than giving them credit for an assignment that they did not do. I feel that the author is correct in emphasizing the importance of mastery of a subject instead of emphasizing the importance of grades because students come to school to learn, not compete against each other for the top score. But one thing that I thought was a bit extreme was saying that there should be no valedictorian, since it only created feelings of animosity among the students. I feel like having a student to speak at graduation has earned that privilege and that it creates a sense of unity to have them congratulate everyone on their achievements. That is why there is a valedictorian, to acknowledge all of the hard work that EVERYONE has done, not just the one person. ||
 * Dunne Kaisha || Chapter 11, Six Burning Grading Questions, looks into the following questions: should one record a zero or a sixty, how should one grade gifted students, how should one weight grades, what is automaticity versus concept attainment, how should one grade late work, and how should special needs students be graded in inclusion classes. When a student decides not to do his or her homework it then becomes the teacher’s job to decide whether the student should receive a zero, because they didn’t do the work, or if they should receive a sixty, because it is more appropriate for the grading scale and is actually a closer reflection of the student’s knowledge. Another topic discussed is the author stated that one of the first things that we need to do as teachers is assess whether or not the late homework occurs once in a while or on a regular basis. This will help determine how much points to dock for the work. First one needs to sit down as a teacher and decide whether or not they want to except late work or not and if so how and what are the consequences, if any. Late work and not passed in work is hard to grade and make up consistent rules and constantly follow them. || I feel as if a zero is needed for non-turned-in work; I think that's only fair. I feel like if they have a legitimate excuse why they didn't do the work they can make it up, but other than that zero work equals a zero in the grade book. I feel like another tough subject is late work, and I feel like I'd make a rule that you only get a certain amount of chances to hand in late work unless its an excused absence reason. I had a teacher that did that and it work out great; everyone saved up those times. ||
 * Hudson Kimberly || There are six different issues in regards to grading. The first is whether to record a zero or a sixty for work that is not turned in. It seems like student can do nothing and still earn a sixty. In a differentiated class, the grades must be accurate in order for them to be useful. Teachers who are worried about students who earn zeros and have it adjusted up to a sixty, can brag about how he can achieve that grade without doing anything. However, adjusting a zero up to a sixty is adjusting the grading scale so that each grade has an appropriate amount of influence. There is also the question about the students who are considered gifted. For these students, the teacher has to make sure that they have not only mastered the regular curriculum before experiencing an enriched one. A high grade for this student means that they mastered both. The next problem is weighted grades. For most teachers, the more complex and demanding the task, the more credit it is given. However, weighted grades are supposedly used to motivate students to take more advanced classes, even though there is no evidence supporting it. || I think the thing that bothers me the most is the zero and the sixty for work that is used to grade work that is not handed in. In all the years I have been in school, it seems that giving a student who has done nothing a sixty, is just wrong. However, that one zero very often skews the final grade, so now that grade is no longer accurate. I am torn, because I know that the accuracy of the grade is extremely important, but giving someone who has done nothing some sort of credit goes against what all the years of schooling has lead me to believe. I am not sure what I am going to do about this when I become a teacher. ||
 * Korn Shauna || This chapter was about how to grade students who have different circumstances than others. For the first part it talks about what to give students if they don’t do an assignment, a zero or a sixty. It is explained that most people would think that if a student doesn’t do an assignment they should receive a zero and that if you were to give them a 60 it would be like thy were receiving credit for nothing. In the long run though giving a student a 60 actually average the rest of the grades better and allows us to see a correct pattern in the students work. Teachers should not go from getting a D which is around a 70 to the getting nothing for an F. The next little section talks about how to challenge and grade those gifted students who excel at everything. Teachers need to find ways to challenge their learning and push them to show you how much they know and can learn. The last few sections talk about weighting grades, when to and when not to, and how to do accommodations for special ed. students. || I think that this chapter is really great when it comes to talking about the importance of giving out grades that are a sixty for missing assignments. I never thought about the real impact that a zero can make and how in fact it can mess with a lot of things for seeing the learning pattern of that student. I know that sometimes my mentor teacher give out tens if a student gets no answers right on a quiz, but gives them some credit because they actually took the test. I think that this is a good idea because it allows them to get credit for just taking the test and trying. I know that a lot of my teachers in school would not have felt this way at all and would have given out zeros or made the student retake the test. ||
 * LaRose Rebecca || This chapter posed a couple of questions that can make or break a teacher. What would you do if a student didn't complete their homework? Is the homework worth an 'F' or a zero? Where a zero may be what the work is worth, a 60 will show a more accurate picture of how the student is doing. So, is it more important to give the student what they deserve or allow them to have a more accurate representation of how they did throughout the marking period? Another part of the chapter discussed how there is also a problem with grading students that fall under the "Gifted & Talented" category. There should always be opportunities for them to continuously challenge themselves. Although it may be difficult to always reach them in this way, as a teacher there is the obligation to try. The final sections dealt with the appropriate times to use weighted grades that challenge G.P.A.s. || I thought that this chapter was really helpful. I find that I am really conflicted with my ideas on grading. There are many things that I would like to do and accomplish with my grading, yet there are also some things that I have found that are not in my scheme of grading. I often find that I worry about how to reach G&T kids and struggle with ideas about how to help them without going crazy away from the original curriculum. I also worry about not grading lower level too harshly. I don't want to be unfair, yet I want them to know how they are really doing without taking pity. ||
 * Murphy Amber || This chapter discussed a difficult topic regarding grades with students. When students miss a day of school, forget to pass in a homework assignment, skip a quiz or a test, and not finishing a class project what do they earn for a grade a zero or a sixty? This question is hard to answer for many teachers and it is a difficult decision to make. Giving the students a 60 gives them grades for absolutely no work what so ever. However, if teachers give sixties it is still a failing grade, but allows a more accurate reading of the students overall grade compared to averaging in a zero. When a sixty is given it still hinders the students grade, however it still allows the student to pass. Grading students who excel in certain area or students who are challenged in an area can be difficult. It is hard to grade a gifted student compared to his or her other classmates. Weighted grades are hard and frustrating and it all goes into our counties outlook on grades and GPAs. If grade standards need to be adjusted to fit an individual learner it is essential that teachers meet this need whether it is towards a gifted individual or a challenged individual. || I believe that giving a zero or a sixty is a very difficult question to answer. I believe that it all depends on the situation and it is essential to take the individual into consideration when grading the students. I think that this chapter really helps to remind me the importance of grades and it is essential to keep the individual student in mind when giving grades. Looking at the grade is hard to do because I don’t agree giving students a grade for no work, but also I can see how one zero can effect a grade. I would tend to try and give students another opportunity to make up the zero as opposed to giving them a 60 instead. I believe that the 60 helps to keep the grade accurate and it actually represent the individual’s real grade compared to one thing messing the entire grade up. ||
 * Nieuwkerk Hannah || This chapter dealt with grades and what students fairly deserve. Typically in schools, homework not passed in, a project not finished, or a missed quiz is counted as a ‘zero’. There is a new idea and different way of dealing with these so-called ‘zeroes’. Teachers can put a sixty (a failing grade, but not a zero)in the grade book instead, because every student has a bad day and putting a zero in the rank book throws off all the other grades of the student, making the overall grade inaccurate. A sixty would lower the grade a little to chastise the student, but not jeopardize him/her. And overall, teachers are not looking at the numerical grade of the homework, project, quiz, or test; if the student didn’t do the work or did it very poorly, the teacher should be more concerned about the student. Is something happening outside of school? The book also goes into grading the gifted students; it is a difficult decision about grading and weighting grades. And what’s more: what do these weighted grades and GPAs have to do with real life in the long run? The book hints toward the fact that GPAs really do not matter and are a little ridiculous sometimes. The last section talks about how to adapt the curriculum for students with special needs; if the standards need to be tweaked a little for the student to learn in the best way possible, etc. Overall, grades are about being fair to each and every student and what is developmentally appropriate. || I enjoyed reading this chapter and looking at grading so differently. I have never heard of this idea of giving a ‘sixty’ instead of a ‘zero’. I really like this idea because it still gives the student a failing grade (for the students that did actually do the work, and worked hard to do it), but it doesn’t totally skew the overall grade for the student. A zero on a quiz or test really brings down the average and if the student isn’t an ‘A’ student to begin with, it is very hard to recover from getting a zero. Also, most ‘A’ students would //always// pass in work and show up for school every day, even if they were deathly ill, so the “sixty or zero” question almost never applies to them anyway, it is the students receiving lower grades. ||
 * Scheffler Erich || This chapter dealt mostly with grading problems teachers may encounter in their classrooms. The first part of the chapter talked about how some teachers replace zeroes in their grade books with fifties and sometime sixties to make the grade better. The book talked about how if a students consistently receives 90 and above on tests, and then gets a zero, that average may not accurately portray their knowledge of a subject. The chapter then talked about how we should grade gifted students. Should we give them higher grades just because they are gifted? Should we give them more work because we feel as though they can handle the workload? These are decisions teachers must come to themselves. The book then talked about how some grades are weighted. In some schools, they give grades in higher level classes more weight as an incentive for students to raise their GPA’s. The book said that teachers weight grades because teachers count things such as tests for more than, say, homework. The book then talked about Automaticity, which is how quickly a student responds to a certain task. Then the book talked about how to grade late work. The book talked about how some teachers take a full letter grade off an assignment for being just one day late, and how after a while the students just doesn’t do the work because they know they’ll get an F. The book says that if a student only occasionally hands work in late, then you should still give it full credit, but if it’s a habit, then the student should be punished. The chapter ended by talking about how teachers should grade special needs students in inclusion classes. The book says that the teacher and the special aide should work together to find a suitable way of grading the student. || I think this chapter was pretty helpful. I agree with the practice of raising a grade to 1 fifty or a sixty if a student receives lower than that grade. A zero can severely hurt a student’s grade, and I think if they don’t deserve to get a grade lowered by whatever amount just because of a zero, then there’s no problem in raising to a more suitable average. Also, I don;t agree with the practice of weighting grades. In my high school, students’ grades were counted for more if they were in honors classes, so if a student got a B in an honors class, it would count as an A in a normal class. I don’t think this is fair to the students in the normal classes, because it makes them feel as though they are not as good or as wanted as the honors kids. Also, in the first figure in the chapter, the book said that the student who had a 93 average had a B+ for a grade, and I just thought that was a little uncool, because I always thought that 90’s were A’s and 80’s were B’s. Just something that jumped out at me while I was reading. ||
 * Simoneau Andrea || This chapter addressed six issues in grading that teachers face. The issues were whether to record a zero or a sixty, grading gifted students, weighting grades, automaticity vs concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. The book argued that recording a sixty over a zero was fair if the student had done the work (albeit not to an acceptable standard) because a zero implied the student did not do the work at all and therefore was not fair. It argued that grading gifted students was messy, but they should be held to a higher grading standard. It argued that weighting grades had to be careful, and concepts that are trickier to master should have more opportunity to gain credit, since mastery is harder for students. Automaticity vs concept attainment talked about whether the students can readily apply the material versus their struggling with the content, and when you are grading you need to consider whether they are at the stage of automaticity or concept attainment. Automaticity implies mastery, and concept attainment implies that they "get it" but haven't gone the extra step of being able to apply it. In grading late work, the teacher has to consider whether the late behavior is occasional or chronic. If it is occasional, give the student a break. If it is chronic, teach the student a lesson by failing them for once but investigate further into why the student is chronically not on time. Finally, grading special needs students requires the teacher to think of htem in terms of being regular education students, not "my" students vs the "ed tech's" students. The IEP must be consulted in grading special needs students, and the teacher considers if the goals on the IEP are being met, demonstrated through the student's work. Collaboration with the ed tech is needed as well. || Some points that struck me as interesting were the points that a) dropping a grade every day that work is late is an ineffective practice, b) the GPA is not an indicator of future success and c) the practice of naming valedictorians should be abandoned. I had never heard a teacher's textbook specifically condemn what i took to be time honored if flawed traditions in the education system. The book argues that dropping a letter grade every day an assignment is late is not effective, because after three or four days the student gives up hope and does not turn anything in, thus taking the zero over the sixty they may have gotten, and driving down their average. The author also condemned the practice of GPAs, saying that GPAs have come to be seen as indicators of future success, and points out the many examples of students who did well in high school according to their GPA but then got put on probation in college, or vice versa. Finally, the author condemns the practice of naming valedictorians, because this title is often determined by comparing hundredths of a point between students, and creates unnecessary bad feelings of competition and inadequacy among students. Sacrificing the many to honor the one. These are all traditions I have seen upheld in my own school experience, and it was interesting for me to see a teaching textbook condemn them as unhealthy. ||
 * Stevens Newcomb || This chapter was about the six most common problems faced when grading. There is quite a controversy with weighting grades and the grade average scale in general: one of the major themes was the flaws of the 100 point scale. One of the more prevalent problems was the 60 versus the zero grades: this was controversial because they are failing grades but are also very different value wise. In situations like these, being fair to the student is actually better that being equal to the student.  ||  I wish some of my teachers had read this chapter when I was still in high school: I was very mad at the 69% equals failing and so does a zero. I think that the teacher should make a very educated decision when dealing with this particular issue. If the student truly deserves a higher grade but has a lower one, then the student deserves the higher grade. According to the text, this is still ethical. I think that teachers should really use their best judgment in this situation.  ||