FIAE+B2+Chapter+11

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Alyssa Amari
In chapter eleven of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal,// Wormelli discusses six issues that frequently arise when grading students. The first issue is concerning whether to grade a zero or a sixty. If a student does not do homework then most people give a zero, but the problem is, if that student has consistent A’s throughout the semester, that one zero is going to greatly affect their grade and make it a B or C. This is not proper evidence of mastery in that subject because it does not reflect all of the grades. Another issue is grading gifted students, this is a common issue because gifted students are often offered the opportunity to advance with the class material, so to grade this most teachers should use and addendum. The next issue is weighting grades, grades need to be accurate so teachers should weight grades by weighting grades of thing that are more important at a higher scale. Another is issue is automaticity versus concept attainment; this is when we need to learn how to grade on the students concept attainment ( is when students are beginning to grasp the basic concepts of a subject), or automaticity (how deftly and efficiently the student responds to a task). Another issue is grading late work; this is something that should not result in a loss of a whole letter grade, but consideration of how often the student passes in work late. The last issue is grading special needs students in inclusion classes, this should be done wisely and should be noted on report cards how it was graded. I have never actually had a teacher take much consideration into these six issues. It is interesting to actually understand how these grading issues can affect a students grade and not reflect their level of mastery. I would like to work on these issues when I grade work, I know that it will not be done perfectly the first time through, but it will benefit my students because it will reflect their mastery.

Emily McGee
Wormeli discusses the importance of having a dynamic grading policy that can conform to fit the many individual situations of the many individuals in the class in a way that I “fair” to every body. First Wormeli discusses the idea that teachers should grade missing work with a 50-60 rather than a zero to provide a more accurate description of student mastery rather than a skewed number scale. He describes the importance of allowing special considerations for grading the tiered assignments of gifted students by providing alternative naming or written reviews to accompany a letter grade that shows mastery of class content and advanced content too. He also considered grading for automaticity rather than concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. I think all of this is important because grading should be an indicator of individual mastery of skills and understandings. Students should thus be graded as such. I believe differentiated grading is equally as important as differentiated instruction and assessment. Individuals learn differently and thus should be taught differently, show what they know differently and should be assessed differently, and are able to perform in certain ways differently and thus should be graded differently.

Samy Tracy
In this chapter of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal,// the author explains how to address grading issues. This chapter was completely fuzzy for me though because of the fact that it second guesses itself a lot. Many of the questions about grading were addressed in two different ways but both of these ways could be correct. For example, many teachers do not know whether or not they should use the 4.0 scale or 100 point scale. The benefits of a 4.0 scale is that students can be graded more fairly and if they get a zero but all A’s, the grade will not drop as far down as a C. Also, they suggested weighting grades because it helps bring the grade-point average up. All of this confusion about grades and how each one works best just makes me think that it would be 10 times more beneficial to just get rid of them and find another way to help students master content and judge that for yourself. A big concept in this chapter is the automacity and concept attainment system. Both methods seem to be both beneficial but it depends on the setting that it is in. Concept attainment is how well students understand a subject and if they get it or not. They are just beginning to find out about the subject or unit and still need to explore certain aspects of it. Automacity deals with how they take the information that they just learned, or how they quickly and efficiently respond to the task. When just starting a new unit, it is best to teach in the concept attainment method and then once students have shown that they understand it, use the automacity approach.

Rachel Joiner
This chapter was all about grading issues, and the problems that can surround grading. I found this chapter to be helpful, because it addressed several issues with grading that may occur. One thing I seemed to disagree with in the book was that it suggests instead of giving students a zero, give them a sixty because either way they fail. By giving a zero, the book believes that it gives an inaccurate measure of mastery. While I do understand their argument, I do not agree with this view. I think that students are well aware of what will happen if they do not turn in an assignment, and it is up to them to decide. By giving them a zero, I feel it is giving them a lesson in responsibility, which needs to be learned as well. Although I did not agree with this point of view, it really helped me within my classroom, because it held me better understand my philosophy and view on late work and grading. One thing I learned from the book was that students who are in honors classes should be graded against more challenging standards. I found this to be helpful, because it seemed to answer the question on how to handle grading students that take courses that are more challenging by choice. The book also mentions that by weighting classes that are more advanced gives students no more motivation to take the class. I have always thought this might be true, but the book seems to say this really plays no effect. I think this is good to know, because it should not be used in an argument against weighting advanced classes because it plays no role. I think students should be rewarded for taking the more challenging classes by having that little bit of weight towards their grade. I found this chapter to be very interesting and exciting.

Lauren Breton
Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues

Late work is a controversial issue for many teachers. Although we certainly don’t want to let students think that they can skate by without doing their fair share of the work, we also don’t want one piece of late or never-done work to greatly impact their overall grade for that grading period. Zeros in the grade book can be devastating to the student’s average, and can lead to an inaccurate reflection of the student’s mastery for the course. There is no point in having inaccurate grades in the differentiated classroom, because grades are only useful if they are accurate. Although I certainly would not want students to be so severely penalized for missing one assignment, I also do not know if it is okay to send the message that you can still receive half of the credit for the assignment if you don’t do any of the work. One of the suggestions that the text offers is to record an “I” for incomplete as the grade for the assignment and then later change it to a zero if the work has never been completed.

Another aspect of grading that was discussed extensively in this chapter was the idea of weighting grades. If grades were weighted, this would mean that students who chose to take higher level courses (such as honors or A.P.). The theory behind this is that the students are achieving at an advanced level, so their grades and transcripts should reflect that higher level of achievement. This affects their GPA and keeps them in the running for being named class valedictorian. Although I have conflicting feelings on weighted grades (I believe in them as a student but do not believe in them as a teacher who hopes to practice differentiated instruction), I do agree that there is no value in recognizing the class valedictorian, and that it is a practice that schools should abolish, not keep around for the sake of tradition.

Lauren Scheidegger
CHP 11 FIAE

Chapter eleven was all about whether putting a zero in a grade book is something a teacher should do or not. I personally feel like it could be unfair to give students who did not even attempt an assignment a 50, 60, or 70 %. It is like rewarding the students whom did nothing and not giving any sort of “break” for those who did their work. If students who originally get a “0” for not turning in their work have their grade turned into a “60”, then do the students who did the work and got an “80” get to a “140”? If not is that fair? While balancing these questions I do see how one zero can seriously distort a students’ average. That zero could belittle all the student has accomplished and learned. I think it is of course a different situation when a student has a very valid reason for not doing an assignment. The student could them be given something else to ensure they get the knowledge without giving them so much work that they are likely to fall behind. However, what does a teacher do when the student does not have any excuse for not doing the work? Perhaps allow up to two zeros being replaced with a 50 or 60 for each student, and allow them all that safety net in case they need it. I am still not sure what I think is most right or fair but I do now know that this is something I need to be thinking about.

Megan Millette
In Chapter 11//,// Wormeli discusses the idea of grading and the issues that grading brings forward. The idea of getting a zero on an assignment is something many students fear. I believe that instead of just failing a student for a missing assignment; it would behoove me to give them an incomplete and talk to them about finishing it. If they refuse to do the work then possibly a zero is in order; however, zeros tend to distort the grading system’s accuracy. This is why I believe I will use the method of incomplete rather than the idea of plugging in zeros. The idea of an addendum is a good method to use when dealing with gifted students because it allows the teacher, the student, and the student’s parents to see where the student is for grade level as well as seeing what they achieved beyond that point. The idea of adding and addendum to their report cards would be a great way to show progress through out the student’s school year. I did not agree with the idea of getting rid of rank and valedictorian. I believe that yes this could have negative effects on students. However, I believe a little competition is beneficial to students because it makes them strive to do their best. In the real world they will have to strive to be the best at work and will be facing the idea of going against others to reach the top. This concept is a part of life, so why should we get rid of it? One of our jobs as teachers is to prepare our students for outside of school and the idea of rank helps do this. I believe if we are trying hard to keep our students from getting their feelings hurt we are not preparing them. In life their will be negative aspects that will bring you down, but it is how you overcome that and rise to the challenge that proves your success, and this is the same for the school atmosphere.

T.J. Hebert
Whether or not to give a zero or a sixty is a dilemma most teachers face and debate frequently. A zero can have major detrimental effects on a grade with no justification. The chapter makes a great point by saying if a student scores a 100 on a few papers and then does not do one of them then that student has a C+ level of mastery of the information. This is unfair and inaccurate when interpreting what a student has learned. The 100 point scale grading system provides point ranges for the different letter grades, with an A, B, C, and D an about 10 point range and an F with a 60 point range. The scale is heavily tilted to an F. In order to make the grading fair, it is suggested that if a student does not complete an assignment, instead of assigning a zero, they get a 60. This better levels out the scale and provides a more accurate interpretation of the student’s mastery of information.

I had a difficult time understanding this for a while, just until recently actually, and now it makes perfect sense to me. I struggled with giving a student 60 points for doing nothing but I have realized that it is completely unfair to assign a zero. When I was in high school if work was not done it was a zero with no arguments and I agreed with that. I never viewed grades as a picture of a student’s mastery of the information because I had decent grades in high school but remember very little. I have never heard a teacher refer to a grade as a level of mastery; it was always just a grade and nothing more. When I become a teacher, I intend to use the 100 point scale but a 60 will be the bottom score (or a 70 depending on the schools grading system) unless I am exposed to a better grading system from now to then.

Kevin Lind
I feel as though I disagree with a good portion of what is being said in this chapter. The first major issue I have is with the idea of changing zeroes to sixties as a way of recording a more accurate grade. I personally feel as though this is unfair to the students who actually put effort in and did the assignment. If the assignment has 0% completed, I see no reason for me to give the student a 60. I will have to admit, however, that I agree with the idea of allowing a few late assignments if a student is consistently turning in work on time. I know that when I was in high school, sometimes I would bring the wrong binder to school or completely forget about an assignment. There is no problem with letting slide once in a while. As the chapter points out, it is necessary to take action when this becomes chronic. This is where I disagree with the book. It says that dropping the grade isn’t effective, but when I was in high school, it worked incredibly well.

I also disagree with the statement made about weighted grades. Weighted grades can definitely be used to motivate students to take higher level courses. In my high school, it seemed like this was the only reason anyone signed up for honors and A.P. classes. Many students are very competitive, so the idea of proving you are the best by becoming valedictorian is rather appealing. It seems as though Rick Wormeli should talk to more students about his books, since he might actually get accurate information that way.

Mike Kahler
Me and this chapter had some serious issues. Primarily this is the idea of giving a 60% on assignments instead of a 0%. The idea here is that 60-100 are passing grades while 0-59 are failing. This gives students a much bigger opportunity to fail as the majority of the possible grades that a student can receive are failing. This becomes a dilemma because even the most consistent students will miss the occasional assignment, and the delightful presentation of a zero as a grade will seriously hurt their grade. It actually seems unfair how much their grade will suffer from a single zero. This is kind of stupid though. Consider that this also means that a student can slack off a lot and still do really well in class. Skipping one out of every four assignment will still leave students with a "B" if they do well on the other three. Honestly I think that this chapter is a bit outrageous. It should not even be considered that a 0 could equal a 60. If a teacher simply allows students to make up assignment with a minimal penalty or no penalty they will produce the work and get an adequate grade. This also brings up the fact that a student getting 50% of an assignment correct is not showing a mastery of the topic. If I can only do 50% of my job I am not doing a masterful job. Simply put the grading scale we have now is perfectly fine. We just need to start allowing assignments to come in late with a minimal penalty. Some would say that this is going too easy on a student, but so is giving them 60 free points on every assignment.

Morgan Ware
I do not agree with this chapter. It is extremely frustrating to read this chapter when I disagree with it so much. I do not agree that students should get a 60% instead of a zero when they miss an assignment. This will allow students to slack off and still pass. This does not show accurate mastery of the content. If a students does not do any part of the assignment I do not feel that they have earned a 60%, instead they have earned a 0% for the zero amount of effort they put in. I do agree with using a 4 point scale instead of 100 point scale. It is what Dr. Theresa uses on our rubrics and I find it easy to use and understand. It might not work 100% in public schools but It is worth a try. I also think that weighted grades are extremely useful because I think that this country is too worried about making sure everything is fair and equal, when we need competition to get back on top. Students need challenges in order to succeed or they will not try. My school used weighted grades and it motivated us to try harder to get into the higher level classes.