FIAE+B1+Chapter+13


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Rachel B.
This chapter was about grade book formats which are meant for differentiated classrooms. When it comes to education and teaching this subject makes me pretty nervous. It seems that even though this text book and the others we have been reading “express the importance to teachers that they need to stop thinking of their jobs as assignments, tests, and activities in which points are assigned, and to start thinking about in terms of levels of performance in the declarative and procedural knowledge specific to his/her subject area…..,” but they still think about them in terms of points and so don’t students (strongly). This is an issue, but it has been like it is for so long that we may have to be patient to see real change. This chapter had some good ideas on how to organize your grade book. My mind may work best by listing assignments by date in my grade book, but again through experience (trial and error) I may decide differently.

Rachel F.
Chapter thirteen is very repetitive after reading chapter twelve and eleven but the information that is being repeated is so crucial. All teachers need to remember what the meaning of grades really is. Grades are there to measure students’ mastery in the subject and nothing else. We want students to learn and that should be our most important goal. This chapter talked about grade book formats and what would probably be the best and most accurate. I have seen many teachers who just write the assignment at the top of the column in their grade book then they write the grade the student got on that assignment. I thought this method was the usual but I’ve learned that it truly is not the way to go. Students come in all shapes and sizes so teachers cannot expect all of the students to do the same worksheet and get all 100s. If teachers give students options, they will find that their students will succeed and actually learn much better. Grade books should reflect the grade that a student received for accomplishing a standard rather than just a specific assignment. Also, teachers should take the median and mode of a student’s grades to get the accurate final grade because averages can really warp the accuracy. By keeping a grade book like this, teachers will able to see much more success among their students and will be able to correctly report out the student’s accomplishments in their class.

Courtney
To be honest, as of now, I haven't thought much about how to organize a grade book. It is going to be an important aspect in my over all grading in general. So far I don't really understand some of the formats for a grade book that this chapter has provided because I haven't really had much, well any, experience using a grade book. I would have to see one and use one first hand in order to really understand and choose which way would be best for given situations in differentiated instruction. But one thing that I did find to be important when formatting a grade book is that assignments should be given more then one grade for different aspects of that one assignment, because it could include writing or presenting or showing different knowledge's. In this way it will allow for a better idea of how a student is doing in that one area in its different ways. Organizing a grade book that can include feedback from simple numbers and letters is what a teacher should aim for because then the grades will be useful to the teacher, students, and parents.

Stephanie L.
There is no right way to eat a Reese's. There is also no right way to format a grade book. Like most things in a differentiated classroom, the format in use is going to vary based on what it is being used for. I'm not sure how I feel about the first suggestion. That type of categorization just doesn't make sense to me. I do, however, really like the idea of organizing assignments by category and date. For example, my mentor teacher breaks her grade book down into tests, essays, and smaller assignments. This system makes it easier to weight grades and it also keeps things organized by due date. This allows for a quick way to check what assignments are missing. I look forward to implementing a similar system into my future classroom.

Jen P.
I like the idea of having a specific grading format. As I was reading, I found that I would consider melding the format on page 166 with the one on page 167. Then I realized that what I really wanted was a format that explained what the assignment was, what the assignment was worth, and the date of the assignment. The closest I found was the format on page 169. I do not, however, like that the assignments are given a letter. The letters do not even match up as a good symbol for the assignments; there is no way for the teacher to make a solid association. Also, given the choice, even thought the textbook encourages the 4-point scale, I prefer the 100 point scale. I would, however, use a rubric on the 4-point scale and then convert to the 100 point scale, which would not be that difficult. I plan on exploring gradebook formats more before I finally settle on one that is perfect, not just for me, but also for my students.

Karin
I like the idea of grading assignments for more than one element. Before being in practicum, I had never before thought about the idea that an English essay includes more work than just the writing content. Writing is definitely a large part of the success of a literature analysis essay, but on the other hand, literary comprehension is also very important. I don’t believe that one part should be entirely dependent upon the other. In this way, a strong reader doesn’t get penalized for being a weak writer, and vice versa. The only grade book that I’ve seen that I really like is the system where the assignment is titled and written and outlined in a specific color that links it to whichever category of grading it falls under. I think this is a good practice, and I know that it has worked well for the teachers I’ve known who used this format in the past.

Megan
I don’t think I would organize my grade book by standards, objectives, or benchmark. I think I would be more apt to organize mine by due date. I tend to think in more of a sequential order and that would just work better for me. I also might organize it by things like tests, homework, projects, etc. If I can, I would probably combine the two: organize them by assignments and then put them in sequential order. I don’t know if all this will matter because schools are starting to get into electronic gradebooks where you can choose if you want it by date, category, etc. Which is probably a good thing because I feel like getting your gradebook organized in a way that works for you will take a few tries. If I have the time I would also like to keep a hard copy of my gradebook. But that’s assuming that I have the time to work that out. Also changing the layout of my gradebook will not be quite as easy as changing it on the computer.

Sara
I never thought about organizing a grade book, mostly because most school utilize software that does it for you. The program my mentor teacher and my old high school used allowed you to program the weight of different assignments and then group the assignments by weight, category, and or date. If I did end up keeping a paper grade book as back up (which I probably should) I would group the grade book by category since my assignments will most likely have the same weight if they are in the same category. Organization of grade books is up to the specific teacher’s organizational style. It

Geoff
I really like some of the ideas for organizing gradebooks that Wormeli offers in chapter 13 of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//. My two favorites are the gradebook where assignments are grouped by weight or category, and the gradebook where assignments are listed by date. Actually, I think I envision my gradebook as being a combination of both, where not only are the assignments weighted, but so is the time of the quarter, semester or trimester when they are completed. In this chapter, Wormeli talks about how grades can hold early-grading period struggles of students against them, even if they are performing exemplary by the end of the semester. Students, particularly in high school, are changing and developing at a very fast rate, and, as Wormeli points, someone who could be struggling at the beginning (getting F’s, for example) could be doing very well at the end (getting A’s). If these average out to a C, does the grade accurately reflect student achievement? Moreover, does it reflect student progress? While I am sure that Wormeli has discussed this situation several times in the previous chapters, reading it in chapter 13 was the first time where I actually thought about whether a situation like this is fair. I want my gradebook to reflect both of those as much as possible, so I am thinking that a gradebook that weighs both on the type of homework or assessment and on when the homework or assessment was completed, with the end of the grading period weighed more than the beginning, will go the furthest in accurately portraying these.

Jordan
This chapter describes various formats a teacher may use when creating and organizing their grade-book. I like the idea of grouping assignments by category (test, quiz, homework) and grouping assignments by date. I think that those two formats would make it very simple to record grades and figure out averages. Everything would be organized in a way that leaves no room for guessing what each item is (like in the topics-based grade-book). I had actually never thought of how I would organize my grade-book until I read this chapter. I think I will definitely utilize either the format of grouping assignments by category or grouping assignments by date.

John
This chapter, which deals mostly with gradebook formats, seems like a valuable resource for the first few years of teaching. I find each of the formats are useful in their own rights, but I think that the format that groups assignments by date to be the most useful. Not only does it keep the week in perspective, but it is a clear way to view individual students' progress over the week as well. It also helps make the averaging easier, and being able to view the student's grades by the week would be a great supplemental resource when coming up with comments about their progress on report cards. I'm glad that this chapter is in here, since even after being in the middle school I didn't think about the possibility of having to make my own grading format.