FIAE+B2+Chapter+10

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Alyssa Amari
In chapter ten of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//, Wormeli discusses possible conditions for students redoing work. The first condition says that student re-dos should be done through teacher discretion; if not students will frequently try and take advantage of the re-do option for many assignments. Another is to have parents sign the original task and request the re-do assignment. Teachers should also always reserve the right to change the formatting for all re-do assignments; this way students will not be trying to memorize, they will still have to demonstrate their learning, Teachers should follow the conditions that they not allow any work to be redone during the last week of the grading period; this will be a busy time for teachers, and by then students should have had enough time and help to understand and complete all assignments. Lastly, teachers should always request that the original assignment be stapled to the new one. This will provide students a clear picture and resource for reflecting and looking at what they missed and how they fixed the problems. These strategies are helpful, because sometimes all students will need the opportunity to re-do an assignment; every student has outside factors that may effect their ability to perform. I think that all of these strategies will be helpful to me as a teacher when I create my re-doing an assignment policy. I think that this will help me to learn more about my students as well as learn to assess students differently. All students should benefit because they will have the opportunity to rethink, revise, and refine. This is just one of the many processes involved in producing optimal student work, and should be implemented in all classrooms.

Rachel Joiner
This chapter was all about allowing students to redo work or not, and for how much credit. In this chapter, the book suggests an idea for allowing students to redo work. I thought this was a great idea to use. The book says to ask parents to sign a form explaining the rules for redoing work at the beginning of the school year. If the teacher believes the student did this project last minute, or did not study on purpose, they will take away the offer of a redo. I thought this was a great idea, and something I would like to use in my classroom. I think it would work well, because this allows students who really need the make-up to have it, but it does not reward students for slacking off either. The book also says that sometimes students will be too overwhelmed to complete the work, and they have factors going against them that really hinder the completion. It is important to be kind to the students and allow them extensions. I think this is an important thing to remember and practice, because sometimes students will have those times, and we need to be merciful to them, to encourage them to continue working and overcome the difficulties. I really liked the idea of having parents sign the original work before a redo. I think this makes parents aware of how their students are doing, and keeps an open communication line between the parents and teachers. This chapter had some helpful tips on how to help students progress, and how to handle a redo of assignments and assessments.

Lauren Scheidegger
Chapter 10 of __Fair Isn’t Always Equal__ by Rick Wormeli went into detail about what to do when allowing students to redo work and gain full credit. Teachers should make sure they are in control of redoing work and when it is okay and be sure that it is solely up to the discretion of the teacher. The chapter also suggests that teachers have parents see and sign off on the assignment that is going to be redone and then request for their child to have the opportunity to redo the work. I see the benefits of creating that time to make students think of a new plan for studying or recreating the assignments, but in the higher grades will this be as affective? It is shown that students whose parents expect a lot from them tend to better than students who have uninterested parents, but is forcing a signature for everything helpful? I’m not positive that I could think of a better alternative this moment but it is something I am going to think about as I venture into the world of education. Another issue about redoing work that was mentioned was making sure teachers know that they can reserve the right to edit the assignment a bit that is being redone. This can come in handy in many ways. For example, for a very large project it may not be reasonable or necessary for the student to start from the top. Say that an individual did a large research paper and presentation. Perhaps all the research was well collected and cited, and the paper in decent condition, and the student simply did not practice for the presentation or prepare anything to say. Would it really be necessary for that student to redo everything? The answer seems clear. As a future teacher I found this subject to be very important and found it to be beneficial to read more deeply about it.

Lauren Breton
Chapter 10: Conditions for Redoing Work for Full Credit This chapter presented the idea of redoing work and receiving full credit for the redone work. Throughout the past few chapters of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//, this has been a very controversial issue and in this chapter it is deeply discussed. Some of the advice that is given is to encourage students to redo work and to let them receive full credit for that work. The major concern with this option, however, is that students will take advantage of it. Although it is inevitable that some students will take advantage of such a generous system, the text encourages teachers to leave redoing work up to their discretion. Some of the discretionary tips that they provided were to limit the amount of re-dos to two per grading period. This way, students could enhance their grade but would not be able to get away with not doing all of their work. Also, the text encourages teachers to not allow re-dos if they have evidence that the student is abusing the system. This idea seems to be a good way to limit the advantage that students could potentially abuse over the teacher as well as resolves potential character issues that students are developing. One of the ideas that I thought would be incredibly beneficial for students would be to sit down with them, one-on-one, and discuss why the assignment wasn’t done properly or was not passed in on-time. This would help students who need to develop better planning skills to do so, in addition to showing them that they are cared about and that their homework is valued. Also, the suggestion of not allowing any work to be done during the last week of the grading period was a good suggestion for a teacher. Since getting grades finalized and submitted can be a difficult process, it will help to save teachers’ sanity. Also, students should not be redoing work at the last minute just because they are worried about their grade. All of these suggestions were great ideas that I hope to incorporate into my future classroom.

Megan Millette
In chapter 10 of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//, Wormeli discusses redoing assignments and the secrets behind making this strategy work for you. When having students redo work it is good to be careful not to let them take advantage of the opportunity to redo work. If the teacher always allows the students to redo work then the students will purposely not do well so they can redo it. As a teacher, I must randomly allow my students the opportunity to make up work so that way my students do not learn to rely on it. It is a great idea to make your students redo assignments because many of the students have days that just don’t go right and it is good for them to have a second chance if they have given a legitimate excuse that can be confirmed as true. When redoing something it doesn’t always mean that the student must redo an assignment and pass it back in. When students redo something they can do it orally, just fix the mistakes, just do the page that is wrong, etc. Many students have trouble with time management I know I did in high school. I always caught myself procrastinating or failing at being organized because I lacked time management skills. Wormeli’s calendar of completion idea is perfect for keeping students on task. When the teacher works with the student to plan out what their schedule will look like for the course they are more apt to stay organized and in turn learn more. It is always important for the student to hand in not only their final piece but also hand in a copy of what they re did so a teacher can see the old and see how the student has changed and improved on their work. It is important to at least sometimes give kids chances to redo assignments so they can be encouraged to improve and master the subject.

Kevin Lind
This chapter covers how to work around special exceptions in the classroom. The point that was made in this chapter about averaging makes a lot of sense to me. If someone passes their driver’s exam on the second try, we don’t average that with the first one and make them try again. Regardless of when a student is able to master their content, it is still mastered. I know that this is a philosophy I will use in the classroom.

The idea of assessing students in a different format when work needs to be redone is an interesting thought. It makes sense because students may not do well on work that doesn’t fit well with their multiple intelligences. However, if a student who isn’t very good at writing is given work in a different medium, then they may be able to complete that work. This is definitely an idea I will use, since it will help my students. But more importantly, it will help myself by making assignments that easier for me to grade.

The conclusion of this chapter sums up my thoughts on redoing work rather well. Adults are able to go back and fix mistakes they make all the time. Looking back on all the times I missed a street and had to take an alternate route to a friend’s house best captures this point for me. Regardless of when I got there and what way I took, I still arrived in the same location as everyone else.

Mike Kahler
This chapter discusses the idea of redoing work in the classroom. This is something that I advocate, because it allows students who did not fully master the content a chance to redo assignments when they have a complete mastery of the material. Mastery is mastery after all, and that is what we should be looking for in our students. The only problem with this system is the fact that it can be taken advantage of by students, and that is not right. Teachers should be able to take away the right to redo work at their discretion. Some ideas to enforce this are only allowing 2 redos a grading period so that students can display their mastery and get full credit for their assignments even if the were a little behind when they had to do them. Another good idea is only allowing a redo if the assignment was passed in a maximum of one day late but still shows the proper amount of effort. This can keep students trying to exploit your generosity in check. Also having parents sign the original product can keep students in check, and their parents informed. Students deserve the chance to show their mastery even if it is a little late, but they should also show that they have been trying the whole time. Also redoing assignments should not be allowed in the last week of a grading period because teachers have enough on their plate at that time as it is, and a student that really cares would have made the effort to make up work earlier anyways.

Samy Tracy
This chapter focused primarily on letting students redo their work. Some things I did not agree with, like having students’ parents sign work that is redone or sign a form that outlines the upcoming semester. It seems as if the chapter is second guessing itself because it talks about parents signing papers but then expects students to act like adults. When you are adults, your parents do not sign paperwork for you or any of that, you take responsibility of yourself and that should be true (to a certain point) in high school classrooms. Another thing with redoing work is students all want to do it the week before their report card comes out or grades close. This is not doing them or you any favors. If students truly wanted to show their full mastery of a subject to you, they will want to redo it right after their grade comes back. I do agree with this statement because I knew many of my classmates who really did not care until it was crunch time for their assignments and just wanted their parents to see an “A” on their report card. Waiting until the last minute is never a good idea, and will not work well in the future.

Emily McGee
Wormeli describes instances when students should be allowed to redo their work for full credit. He impresses the importance of teacher discretion when it comes to assignment redos, to ensure that the teacher is not being taken advantage of by students they come to class unprepared time and time again. He also recommends having students’ parents sign off on their first grade before they are allowed to turn in a make-up. He believes that teachers should clearly define their right to change the format of the assignment or assessment to ensure that the work still demonstrates student’s understanding. He impresses the ideas that allowing students to make up work is focusing on student learning, so they should not be able to make-up work the last week before grades closed because they should have the assignments and the learning completed by then. Students should always staple the old assignment to the new one as a record of growth and a source for reflection.

I believe students are extremely impressionable in high school and are often have little control over their situation at home and factors that may affect their ability to perform all the time. I am very sensitive to this fact and believe students should have the opportunity to redo work. I want students to learn the material and learn it well and I believe reflecting on mistakes and fixing them commits information to memory in a powerful way. I think students should have the opportunity to redo work for one week after they receive feedback on it and the format should be different. For example, if students are correcting a multiple choice quiz, they should write out short answers for all the questions. If they are correcting a short answer quiz they should right out a short paper. So the learning is ongoing and students are motivated to succeed the first time, so they do not have to do more work. Thus allowing any person to better their grade and understanding, but also being sensitive to and accepting of mistakes and extenuating circumstances that arrive and accommodating all students in an unbiased way.

Morgan Ware
Chapter 10 is about when to decide to give students the opportunity to redo their work. Teachers have to ultimate power when it comes to deciding when a student is allowed to redo their work. Teacher can have parents sign a form stating the expectations and rules for redoing work. This way the parent cannot call and complain as to why their child cannot redo an assignment that they did poorly on. If the teacher catches wind that the student is doing poor on purpose because they know that they can just redo it later, then the teacher can say no you cannot redo the assignment. Teachers have the ultimate right to take it away from students that are abusing the privilege. Teachers can treat their students as if they were adults in the way that stuff happens in life that hinders your ability to complete a task on time and teacher understand that. As long as it does not happen every time, teachers will understand. Teachers can get parents involved by asking them to sign the original task and have them request the redo. This prevents students from cramming during a break to retake a test at the end of the day. This also forces student to rethink their studying habits. Teachers can also change to format of the assignment, for example if the original assignment was a poster but the student did poorly and does not feel that the poster accurately portrays their mastery of the material a teacher can change it to a written assignment instead. Students need to come up with a plan with the teacher on how they are going to complete the redo of the assignment that way the teacher is not waiting for whenever the student decides to do it.

T.J. Hebert
This chapter outlines conditions for redoing work and provides an excellent example right in the beginning. By explaining the redo policy right in the beginning, and perhaps having it in the syllabus, makes it clear from the start. So when one student decides not to do an assignment until the last day after having four weeks or discussing with classmates that they will just take a test the first time as a preview and then just take it again. These situations require a sit down with that particular student and by having the policy laid out from the beginning, the student has no excuse. Another aspect to look at is if a student has unexpected events occur prior to a due assignment that affects quality or timeliness (as long as it is not habitual). Everyone has unexpected things happen that is out of their control. Reserve the right to change format for re-done assignments or assessments. This can prevent that student who wants to take the first test as a preview in order to get a higher grade on the redo. A teacher could also change from a written test to an oral to vary the format. I strongly agree with allowing re-work on tests or assignments as long as it is done correctly. Giving the same tests or assignments in the same format over does not seem to be an effective way for re-work. Doing this can show false levels of mastery. If a student re-takes the exact same test three times until he gets an “A” and this is allowed on most tests or assignments, the grade will not truly reflect what level of mastery the student reached. Re-work should be done differently for each student based on their learning styles and intelligence type. Certain formats and assignments may not work for every student and by learning more about the students, the teacher can develop effective methods for each student to learn more effectively.

Patrick Hurley
This chapter discusses redoing assignments. Should a student be aloud to redo everything? In previous chapters, giving the students a chance to correct their work is said to be crucial. So you need to have a balance of the two. You can let them redo certain assignments, but it shouldn’t always be for full credit. If it is always for full credit the student will always just do the minimum knowing the teacher will correct it and they can just fix it. This kind of mentality would not be good in the classroom. I think letting a student redo their work is a good way to have them learnt he material. But, they shouldn’t be able to do it for everything. Only do it for certain things, like essays or some quizzes. If you have them fix what they did wrong and then have them explain why it will help give them a deeper understanding of the topic. Also, giving partial credit is another good way to have them fix their mistakes without giving full credit. You also don’t want to overdo it because that is just a lot of extra grading.

Simone Thiry
This chapter was focused on the nitty gritty details of allowing students to redo work for full credit. I learned that it is best to record the higher grade, even if the student redid the assignment and got a lower grade. I know that it may be helpful for teacher sanity to not allow any work to be redone in the last week of the grading period, but I have been saved a couple times by teachers who have made exceptions for me towards the end of the semester. One of my former teachers has a policy where 2 weeks before the end of the semester there is a day and she says, ‘If you have any assignments that you want to redo for a higher grade you have to do them by this date.’ This prompts most students to think earlier about what they would normally try to cram into the last week of the grading period. She will still make some exceptions for special circumstances, but by making that announcement she has reduced her workload for the final week tremendously. I also like the idea given in the margin of page 135 for redoing tests. That teacher allows any student to retake a test, but they must first attend a mandatory study session. This way, the teacher can help the students improve their mastery, and ensure that they comprehend the material. I think that that is a strategy that might work well for me as a future math teacher.

Matt Roy
In Chapter 10 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal, Wormelli builds off of chapter 9 and discusses retakes on work. In this chapter, Wormelli really builds on the stipulations that he suggests should be set in place if you are willing to consider allowing for retakes. I feel that this chapter was extremely important because these stipulations must be set as students can often take advantage of beneficial opportunities such as these. However, we still have the fundamental difference of how much should be allowed to be earned back. Wormelli feels that 100% of the points should be able to be earned back whereas I’m still not quite sold on it. I could still be convinced with a more engaged argument but I still have yet to see how allowing for 100% of the points to be remade will serve as an accurate indicator of individual understanding. Certainly the direction provided by feedback will unlock further understanding but a certain degree of that might not be their own. I think it is important that Wormelli made the real life connection of remakes in the real world. He states that, even as adults, we find deadlines to be overwhelming in the stresses of everyday life and points out how we adults appreciate leniency and we should thus extend that same courtesy we appreciate to our students. This not only touches on real world applications but also touches on the issue of mutual respect. I feel that, if we as teachers expect something then we should also be expected to give it in return.