FIAE+B1+Chapter+14

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Jasmine
There are many different ways to grade our students and therefore there are many different ways to report what they know and how they’ve grown. The author lists several approaches teachers could take to report student grades. The first is adjusted curriculum which allows the teacher to grade students against their own progress. This allows for the teacher to really dig deep into what students are doing, and what they are doing well, as well as what they need work on. The second is called the dual approach which allows the teacher to grade students against their own progress and compare them to the goal standard. This method allows teachers to really analyze how their teaching is matching up with what is expected of them based on the students' progress compared to the goal standard. This allows for room for improvement for the teacher when teaching this class or lesson again. There is always room for improvement. Teachers can also use multiple categories which identify the goals the teacher wants the student to meet and then the teacher can provide a grade for each goal. I think I would personally like the last example best, that way the student and parent knows where the child needs extra help and where the child is achieving. It provides a very simple and basic way for parents and students to actually understand the grade that their children are receiving in my classroom. Sometimes a student can easily remember the process and steps to solving an equation but falters at the algebra.. If you break down the pieces of the assignments or the class then it is easier to see where things need to improve. This will allow for much more student success in the class.

Ally
I like how this chapter talked about seeing student growth. I have always been a believer that if a student shows that they are trying and they are giving an effort they should be given a decent grade. I have seen many kids put in all the effort they can but they still do not do well because they could get a wrong answer. I would think if you see in change in work through a year of work than that student should receive a decent amount of credit for their hard work. I also like the idea of progress reports because it does not count for a gpa. It lets students know where they are at in different parts of the year. They can then talk to their teacher about what they can do to either improve their grade or maintain it. It also allows parents to be a part of their student’s education. They can see the progress reports and contact their child’s teacher if they see any concern. I think that both of these tactics will help students succeed whether it is giving the opportunity to show that success or showing their success through a report. I think this will effect my teaching because I will be doing all these different tactics. I think this will keep me in contact with my students and my students parents. This will effect my classroom because it will show progress from the students. They will always know their progress and how they are graded.

Abby
Informing students and parents of student progress is important and Chapter 14 of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// addresses the topic of report cards. One of the main concerns that Wormeli brings up is that of the parent’s wants versus that of the teacher. A teacher’s goal is to keep track of a student’s personal growth and progress whereas a parent wants to know how their student is doing compared with the rest of the class. Parents want to see on that report card that their child is doing just as well if not better than their peers. As teachers we need to make it clear to the parents that this is not what really matters. When we give students and parents report cards we need to make sure that they are useful and informative. We want report cards to show students where they need to improve. Wormeli suggests having report cards show students’ growth against their own progress as well as expected progress. Students all need to be meeting the standards and thus the parent can see how their own child is progressing as well as where he or she should be. The other problem that teacher’s face is the restrictions that their school district put on their grading and their report cards. I like the idea of adding a supplement to the report card is a good idea. I think that this is helpful because it allows the teacher to explain and expand upon the student’s progress. It is not simply just giving the student a grade, but explaining how the student is actually doing. The student might have a C in your class, but is working hard and it is looking like they might even have an A next quarter. This will help students and parents have a better idea of the progress of the students.

Katie
In this chapter of Fair Isn’t Always Equal the main topic is about how teachers should put specific comments into their grade book about what and how students accomplished their assignment. Teachers should put asterisks or some other type of indication next to a student’s grade on a progress report or report card that will lead the parents to read a narration of why the student received the grade that they did. Asterisks on grades are important because if a student was given a high grade because of the effort they may have put into a project, but the high grade does not reflect their mastery of the material as a whole, then the teacher can put an asterisk in order to redirect another teacher or parent of why the grade was given. As a teacher, I plan to give explanations for both the parents and the students for why the student received the grade that they did. I believe that using the idea of marking their grades with asterisks in order to explain further of what they received is a way to accomplish that goal. I feel that it will not be something that will be time consuming and difficult as a teacher to tell the student why they received their grade. It is informative of them as well as their future teachers in case a student’s grade looks suspicious as opposed to what they usually receive. I know that I myself enjoy explanations for bad grades that I receive and most of the time I have to go ask the teacher because they do not write it down for me to know.

Lizz
When it comes to grading out students there are many different ways, which means that there are many ways to report it too. The first way that teachers could take to report student’s grades is called adjusted curriculum. Adjusted curriculum is where teachers grade students against their own progression. Teachers report where the students were at the beginning of the marking period and how far they move along the learning continuum this type of report has some difficulties because writing adjusted curriculum on the report card is not allowed in most schools. This is also a red flag to employers and colleges because it screams that the student may have potential issues. The second report type is called the dual approach, which to me is unique way of grading. The grade might look like A3, which the A represents the grade they received and the three represents where the student is in their progression the type of report that I like the best and I think I would like to use one day would be to have a report with multiple categories within one subject. Using this strategy makes grading fair for students; they are not penalized in all the subtopics of a subject for poor performance in one of them. I think this way will make it easier for both students and parents to see how they got the grade that they did. This will help me becoming a teacher because if a student’s grades are all set out there then it will make it easier to answer any questions students or parents might have.

Jake
In this chapter Wormeli discusses various ways that teachers can report out their student’s grades. One major issue I observed during the practicum piece of EDU 221 was a constant struggle between the parents and the teachers. The teachers always want to know more, and the teachers were always struggling trying to get the necessary information to the patents of the 90+ students in their community. They had a variety of sources in which to communicate with parents, but it never seemed to be enough. Therefore, I was immediately intrigued by Wormeli’s point that grades do not necessarily need to be reported in the traditional way. One of the first ideas that Wormeli introduces is the idea of “Adjusted Curriculum”. This is merely where the teacher grades the student based upon their own progress. I am not a huge fan of this idea, as it does not seem very solid, and does not seem to be all that concrete. Wormeli also points out that it could also cause potential problems in the future when students try and get jobs, as it could be interpreted as a red flag that the student has some sort of issue. I like the idea of giving the students and the parents explanations for the grades the student recieves. I think a detail summary of where the student could improve and where the student has shown mastery could be a very could tool in both the home and the classroom; students and parents will be more on the same page as the teacher, and there will be more room for open conversation.

Jenn
In this chapter, report cards while using differentiated grading is discussed. Because many report cards are designed mainly by focusing clearly on the grade and less on the growth or mastery gained, communicating differentiated grading is difficult. The best suggestion that this chapter offers is to focus on the objective of the reporting system, which is to communicate mastery of the student on the desired essential understandings. Without a comment section or the ability to mark the rubric with indication of notes, than the rubrics becomes less worthwhile because there is simply a report of the composite grade with no indication of mastery. This becomes particularly important when working with a student who has an adjusted curriculum. When a student is reported of having a high grade, but has not mastered the same content as the other students, the grade isn't reflecting the mastery of the same standards, but this doesn't mean that their mastery is any less significant. This is just something that needs to be noted for future reference, so that other educators, parents, and most importantly students know that they are still mastering important content, but that they still have some work to meet the standard. This goes back to the idea of weighted grade. If a student is still getting the same amount of mastery, but different material, they are still worthy of the same grade. This also relates to the confusion one might have when attempting to grade on multiple subjects in one assessment. In the previous chapter it makes a good point of discussing that using gradebooks as representation of grades in the different topics instead of the different assessments it creates a more accurate depiction of the student's mastery.

Caleb "Awesome Pants" Fletcher
Report cards have been my ally and my friend throughout all my years of life. Usually, it was a time of praise and of rejoicing. Thus, as a kid I got the better side of what it meant when report cards came around. However, as the years progress and while I read this chapter there are students that are deadly afraid of it. When the approaching judgment day known as report card day comes I hope that my students will not fear as much as they do now. There is a certain way to calm their hearts and that ‘s through the 4.0 grading system that we have been talking about. Apparently, at least for rubrics, it’s an easier and more accurate way to show the student’s growth during the class thus far. Along with this the student is not going to be graded upon the main idea of the class at the end. That would be like an alien coming down to earth and telling us that he knows about the human race by talking with one person. In order to show the parents and the students that they have mastered the content grade them separately in each subject that has been taught. There are lessons that need to be broken down and graded based upon each summative assessment. In the end I think the one aspect of grades that we truly need to consider is to show the students that they have accomplished a lot and this is their level of mastery in that area.

Dan
Now that we have figured out an appropriate grading scale and a proper way of recording grades for the records, it is time to discuss how to format report cards. One of the formats that I really find a lot of interest in is the dual approach with the report cards. You give the student a letter grade for their mastery of a subject area, and also a number that reflects their growth over the course as well. I think it is important that students see how they have grown, because if they are not satisfied with their letter grade, they can still see that they have learned a lot throughout the lesson. I know most if not all students would rather see a high letter grade than a high number for growth, but it is not what’s important in my eyes. I know for a fact that if a student has a high number, their grade will reflect that as well. I want students to learn, not just play school, and when I become a teacher, I am going to change that. The one I do not really agree with is the multiple categories within one section. The final grade presented in a report card should sum up the entire unit, not each part. I understand students my enjoy seeing all their achievements all presented individually, but if a student does poorly grade-wise, then having each individual grade could have a serious negative outcome.

Alex "Slackanator" Slack
This chapter was about Report cards and how to structure them and the preparation that goes into these cards that report our hard work and dedicated time. The one thing I learned from this chapter and I take away from with full gusto and exciting energy is the idea of progress reports multiple times throughout the semester or length of your class and this is because it not only lets the student know where they are for your class but they can see what they missed and they have to bring it home and get it signed so therefore their guardian at how also sees how they are doing, therefore building a connection on all fronts. You can also grade the progress reports bringing them home and have them signed because it teaches responsibility and also has them keep their grades on their mind and on their parents minds as well. Progress reports can be your constant reminder to do what needs to be done in the classroom, not to mention if you map them effectively you can show mom and dad, and the student what it is they can work on whether it be test taking, effort, participation, projects, or classroom behavior or whatever it is the students need to be working on because the progress report should be a constant reminder and help to all of your students

Tyler
Chapter fourteen discusses report card formats for differentiated instruction. One format is the adjusted curriculum report card. Basically, a teacher assess a student's knowledge at the beginning of the course and the end of the course. Instead of grading the student purely on grades and assessments, the teacher decides how much the student seems to have learned during the course and grades accordingly. This is a very good fit for differentiated classrooms because not every student will have completed the work in the same way.

Another effective grading report is grading both a student's personal progress and achievement against the standards. When the grades went into the report card, there would be a letter and a number. The letter (standard A-F scale) represents the student's knowledge in comparison to the school's standards. The number represents the progression of the student. A three would be tremendous progression, a two would be expected progression, and a one would be little to no progression. So, an A3 would be a student who fully met all of the standards set by the school and showed tremendous growth. These grades show how the student did according to the school and according to the teacher.

The final report card format that the author provides is the continuous progress report. This kind of report card is meant to assess a student's learning over a span of two years. They are much more extensive than the standard letter grade and provide a more in depth analysis of a student's growth. These would most likely be a supplement to the generic report card.

Roger
Chapter 14 of FIAE deals with report cards, and how summative grading can be effective. One huge idea that stuck out to me was the idea of grading based off of progress instead of an average. This sounds like a great idea to me. Instead of averaging how a student has done over the progress of the class, use the grade for where they are at the end of the grading period. This accurately reflects where they are, how much they need to improve, and their progress. It is unfair to have grades from the beginning of the semester, when the student may have been struggling, haunt a student through the rest of their school year, and possibly even their school career. This ties into grading based off of how a student is achieving in relation to established standards. The student should be graded based off of how they are doing at the termination of the grading period relative to the progress made towards the standard, not towards the standard itself.

There is also a section in this chapter that deals with comments. Comments are a vital tool in explaining the simple numbers on a piece of paper that the parent receives. These comments are the critical lifeline between the number and how the student is progressing. While an actual discussion would be better, the comments section is that last shot to get the point across with grading.

Brittany
This chapter talks about grading based on growth, (Adjusted Curriculum) which is probably my favorite thing about grading. I love looking at how much the student has grown and learned rather than focusing on how well they have done compared to the others in the class. Because we differentiate in the classroom, whether for individuals or the class as a whole, compare students to one another is not an accurate depiction of each individuals growth. The best part about differentiated class rooms is the diversity in learning styles, and therefore we should grade based on growth of individuals just as we try to teach to each individual. I do however think that standards are important as well, but I think the growth factor is the more important of the two. Standards should be looked at as to see where the student is, but I think that it should just be a goal to get each student not only to meet them but surpass them. I think that if we are able to look at growth of a student we can inevitably see where they need help and what they are missing, and thus get them to the standards. I think I will definitely give continuous progress reports to students and parents/guardians to allow them the advanced notice of their grade in the course. This would allow the student, their parents/guardians and I to formulate a plan to get the student back on track before they fall to far behind.