FIAE 11, 12, 13, 14

These chapters all discuss grading practices in the classroom. The topics covered includes weighted grades, grading scales, and how report cards should be formatted. All of these topics are important to consider when creating a classroom environment that is a safe, effective, and positive learning environment for each student. It is crucial that these aspects of assessment be differentiated. Chapter 11 starts off by discussing whether students should be given zeros or sixties for work that is not passed in. It argues that giving zeros throws off the entire grading scale, making it so that grades are not an accurate representation of student learning. I agree with this because I think that grades should not be used as a punishment, but as a way to see how well the students are understanding material. I think that when zeros are given for work that is not passed in, it is a way of punishing the student rather than a way to actually see where the students are at in their learning. Because of this reason, my mentor teacher has a unique way of calculating class grades. Instead of using a mean-based system where the teacher simply calculates the average of the grades, my mentor teacher uses a mode-based system where he looks at which grades are there the most. This way, he is seeing how much the student really know, rather than letting the whole grading system be thrown off by one zero. These chapters also discuss the issue of some classes having scaled grades. For example, in some schools AP classes are weighted higher, so an A in an AP biology class would be worth more than an A in an average biology class. While the book states that schools do this in order to encourage students to take more difficult classes, I do not think that that is the reason for this practice in many cases. In my high school, AP and honors classes were weighted higher than other classes. However, this was not to encourage students to take the higher levels. The reason my school did this is because it is innately more difficult to get good grades in these higher level classes and the school wanted to make sure that AP students had grades that were competitive in college applications and the class rankings as compared to students who took easier classes and got easy A’s. I think that this reasoning is flawed because it is making the assumption that lower level classes are easy for everyone. However, that is not the case. Lower level classes can still be very difficult and challenging for many students. These classes can be just as difficult to some students as AP classes are for AP students. We should not place more value on students in higher level classes than those in lower level classes by giving the higher level students weighted GPAs. These chapters also offered ways to differentiate report cards and make them accessible to all students. There were many suggestions along the lines of separating the topic into different categories that help students understand more specifically what they need to do to improve their score. This chapter shows that little things like this can many such a big difference for many students. It is important to consider the little things that one must do in order to create a successful differentiated classroom.

FIAE Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10

            These chapters all discuss issues pertaining to grading. I found these chapters to challenge what I had previously thought about grading and made me realize the intricacies that go into deciding grading criteria and the role grading plays in the classroom.

            Chapter 7 introduces grading and discusses the concept of a classroom without grades. Before reading this chapter, I thought that grading was a necessary part of the classroom to show who was doing well and who was not. In high school, I thought grades were necessary to assess how intelligent and hardworking students are and to determine important things such as class rank and GPA. After reading this chapter, I realize that grades should not be used for this purpose. Grades should be used to determine the mastery of students and to provide feedback to them, but students and teachers often focus on them in a negative way. Classrooms without grades allow students to focus on the feedback and their level of understanding rather than the implications of their grades. However, grades can be used in a way that is largely positive, which is discussed in chapters 8, 9, and 10.

            Chapter 8 discussed elements such as attendance and behavior and if they should be factored into grading. What I took away from this chapter is that grades should not be used as a way to discipline students or manage classroom behavior; rather, they should purely represent the understanding of the material. One aspect that I agreed that I agreed with was the discussion of giving students an automatic F based on unexcused absences. The book suggests that rather than giving a failing grade to students who skip class, teachers and administration should consider why these students are skipping class and attempt to address these problems and find solutions that will engage these students. This method will actually help students, rather than for them to attend by threatening them with failure.

            Chapter 9 gave many grading policies to make a grading system that will best benefit the students. I enjoyed the book’s take on revisions and extra credit. The text said that revisions should be graded for full credit, acknowledging the hard work that students have put into fixing their assignment and learning the material. It suggests that instead of allowing students to do extra credit work, which is typically just busy work with no meaning, students should be encouraged to revise assignments.

            Chapter 10 delves deeper into the policy of allowing revision for full credit. It encourages teachers to be careful about these policies, mentioning that in some cases it might be best not to allow students to retake a test or revise a paper. It says that these policies may best be handled on a case by case basis. However, one of the parts that I enjoyed is the one that said that we should treat students how we want to be treated as adults. For me, this is an important issue. I find that many classrooms policies and procedures can be de-humanizing for students. It is important to think of how you would want to be treated and treat students with that same respect.