Assess Chapter 8

Abstract:
Chapter 8 focuses on the decision on whether you should grade or not in the classroom. On one hand grades seem necessary to track the progress and knowledge of a student but yet on the other you may think that there are other ways to track such things than a letter grade between A and F. The chapter addressed the issue of grading becoming an essential part of the educational system and how it is a good way to gauge a students understanding. Opponents’ to grades say that grades can have a negative impact on student who do not understand the material immediately and hence do not receive high grades. This can be discouraging for students and can lead them to give up where if there were no grades the only thing that would be important was whether the student learned the material or not.
Reflection:
Our group really felt that grades tend to be overrated but until a better method is developed to evaluate a student than grades will have to do. People tend to worry too much about grades and not enough about learning the material. That is the reason why students are in school is to learn not to remember for the test next week and than forget about it. Students can go all the way through high school and learn minimally and receive good grades nonetheless because they are not required to ever learn but yet to memorize. Our group feels that although grades are overrated when used productively they can be a great tool in assessing a students knowledge and progression through a unit, month, semester or school year.

Assess Ch. 14

Abstract:Chapter 14 was about report cards and how to make them work for both the parents and colleges. Both parents and colleges want an accurate representation of the students progress, learning and knowledge but unfortunately this can not always be found on a report card with letters A-F but sometimes another method must be used to show the real position of the student. The book understands that parents want something to look at in a glance and understand but the bad thing about that is those report cards are not always representations of the student.
Reflection:Our group feels that a change needs to be made to get away from the traditional report cards but are not sure how to do it. We feel that change is necessary but the jury is still out on how to change the system. Report cards need to be able to show a parent truly how their child is doing as well as demonstrate the same things to a college. This is where it become tricky because their needs to be some common trend between students applying to colleges so they can be compared and if you are getting a smiley face from Oak Hill High School and a B from Traip Academy how do you really know which student will be more successful and you should admit to your university.

Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 13

Tyler Duran 13 Nov 2007
Ryan Michaud
Rebecca McIntire
Samantha Brissette
Fair Isn’t Always Equal Ch. 13


Abstract:
Chapter thirteen was focused on grade books and the many ways to set up and record a student’s grade in the book. The chapter opens with the admission that no one form is best, and that teachers should sample many types and choose the best, or combine the best into a format that works for them. They go on to list several recommendations from other individuals, one of whom suggests listing a “f” or “s” near the grade to determine whether the assessment was formative or summative. They go on to suggest many different ways of grouping the grades—longitudinal, by weight, by category or by topic. Each system has its downfalls and benefits. The chapter concludes with stressing that it doesn’t matter what system you use, as long as you are constantly checking whether the format works the best for our current needs.



Self-Relations:
While many examples were given of how to set up a blank template for a gradebook, electronic formats were merely glossed over. Mt. Blue High School, and many others, have all switched to Power School, which only allows for so much variation in setups. More time should have been dedicated to the future of grading systems, which is in electronic forms.

Assessing Chapter 12

Reflection on Reading

Name: Tyler Duran, Sam Brisette, Rebecca McIntire, Ryan Michaud
Date: 11-09-2007
Book Title: Fair Isn’t Always Equal
Chapter: Twelve

Write a brief abstract of the chapter.
Chapter twelve started off by outlining the two most common grading systems in the secondary classroom: the 4 point and 100 point scales. It then went on to suggest that the 4 point scale was better because of its magnitude (or lack thereof). That is, because the grading scale is smaller it will have a higher rate of inter-reliability, or use across classrooms and school districts. It went on to correspond the grades of a 100 point scale and their 4 point equivalents, and then exemplified the problems with 100 point scales: the vary across schools districts. It then goes on to emphasize, however, that the 4 point scale does not, and should not, be used to equate an equivalent letter grade at the end.

How did you connect to the reading and briefly reflect on your thoughts?
Probably because of its shortness the entire chapter seemed to be an “ah-ha” moment. It also helped that the chapter was focused around two central grading systems, and compared the two. I agree that the 4 point system is better because it is easier to implement, is inter-relatable, and has less variance than a 100 point scale. More importantly, it is a lot more “rubric friendly,” which is essential in letting students know what is expected of them in order to guide them in fulfilling their potential as a learner

UbD/DI Chapter 9

Reflection on Reading

Name: Tyler Duran, Sam Brisette, Rebecca McIntire, Ryan Michaud
Date: 11-09-2007
Book Title: UbD/DI
Chapter: Nine

Write a brief abstract of the chapter.
This chapter discussed how lesson plans would look from a teacher who used backwards design and implemented differentiated instruction. It offered example syllabi, step-by-step procedures of how to implement the processes, and examples both UbD and DI through an example Health class plan. It also offered various activities and how to observe classroom behaviors in order to recognize when and how implementation should occur. I thought it was a good summary of everything the book had preached to us with an example of what a lesson plan should look like.

How did you connect to the reading and briefly reflect on your thoughts?
I really connected with the part where it said students should use rubrics to guide and revise their work; and that they will regularly set goals related to achievement, progress, and work habits. Although the chapter was a bit wordy these two suggestions seem to be something that would work effectively in the classroom because students would know where they are supposed to be, what is expected of them, and self-evaluate themselves to discover how they can improve. Essentially, it’s all about learning.

Assess Chapter 11

Tyler Duran 8 Nov 2007
Ryan Michaud
Rebecca McIntire
Samantha Brissette
Fair Isn’t Always Equal Ch. 11


Abstract:
Chapter eleven in the text focused on six issues that often arise with grading. First up is the debate between recording a zero or a sixty in the grade book. They argue that a zero only dilutes and ruins the whole idea of having a grade report the mastery that is achieved. They suggest recording an “I” for incomplete and then, if the assignment is never turned in, be changed to a sixty. The chapter goes on to discuss how to grade gifted students, whether to weight grades, and how to grade late work. The chapter concludes with the tough subject of how to grade special needs students—should they be held to the same standard as the other students in that grade, or whether they should be given a grade based on their achievement and improvement over the course of the year.


Self-Relations:
At this point in my reading, all the texts seem to be running together. I have the feeling I have read this exact chapter before, but I think it was in a different text. So while the information is relevant, it has already been delivered to me before and thus has lost any initial reactions I might otherwise have recorded here. Many however, felt the chapter highly useful and was a change in pace from the other two texts that seemed to repeat themselves.

Chapter 7 Assess

Abstract:
Chapter seven centers on grades, and all the meanings and ideas that grades incorporate. They start by providing a short blurb from an essay response and asking how we would grade it. Some feel that all students, regardless of their situations, should be judged by the same standards as everyone else. Others, including this text, feel that teachers should adjust grades according to the students' backgrounds. The text acknowledges that if we change grades due to personal issues that they become increasingly relative and subjective. They also state that judging what is normal from one student against another does not accurately report the student's learning. To solve many of the problems, schools are switching to an A,B,C,I scales so that they don't accept failure, but give an incomplete to be made up later. The chapter concludes that grades are usually given at the end, and thus are not conducive to providing students with timely feedback to encourage growth.

Reflection:
The part that stuck out to us the most in this chapter was the quote at the beginning. We really liked the fact that this teacher took the time to make up a whole new system of grading just so that it would relate the grades to the students' abilities better. Even though it was more work for him and took up more time, he was still willing to do it. We also think it's cool that he did this because he probably got a lot of crap from parents and the school, at least at first.

Chapter 9 Assess

Abstract:
Chapter nine dealt with the ten practices to avoid when grading. They spent a good amount of time convincing the reader to allow their students a retry on all of their work. They also feel that homework should not be graded, grades are for mastery only, and homework is practice. The text also emphasizes providing differentiation when needed and always assessing the students in the same content area that they are learning. It also cautions of allowing extra credit to influence a student's grade when they have not put the effort into demonstrating proficiency. Rules seven through ten deal with grades; not grading on curve, group grading, zeros, and non criterion based grading.

Reflection:
A part of chapter nine that stuck out to our group was number 7 on page 127. This was about not grading students as a group. This really stuck out to us because all of us have had experiences where we have been graded as a group and gotten an unfair grade. This happens so much in school that it makes some students even hate working in groups. Many students would rather work as individuals because at least they know that their grade will be their own.

Assessing Chapter 10

Reading Reflection

Name: Tyler Duran, Sam Brisette, Rebecca McIntire, Ryan Michaud
Date: 11-05-2007
Book: Fair Isn’t Always Equal
Chapter: Ten

Write a brief abstract of the chapter.
Chapter ten focuses on allowing work to be redone, emphasizing that this should always be decided at the discretion of the teacher. Although it was brief in its entirety the chapter offered many valid suggestions to allowing redo work. I thought the most important piece of advice was to base this decision based on whether the student who requests the redo option is an occasional or chronic offender.

How did you connect to the reading and briefly reflect on your thoughts.
Redo work is always a very tricky and murky subject for teachers, and it should be because it should be allowed on a case by case basis. Each student and their respective requests for rework are submitted for different reasons and obstacles that would force them to redo their previous work. I really connected with creating a calendar for completion because this then puts the accountability on the student, and the quicker the timeframe the better for both grading and understanding. When accepting this work I really connected with writing down both grades, maybe in an A/D format to see the student’s progression throughout the grading period, see if the offenses are occasional or chronic, and then reflect this on the student’s grade in the best way to explicate their knowledge of material and level of success in the class.

Ubd/DI Chapter 8

Reading Reflection

Name: Tyler Duran, Sam Brisette, Rebecca McIntire, Ryan Michaud
Date: 11-05-2007
Book: UbD/DI
Chapter: Eight

Write a brief abstract of the chapter.
Chapter eight discussed some basic principles teachers should incorporate into their grading systems for a differentiated classroom. It also dealt with how different grading systems can harm the motivation of some students, and to accommodate grades accordingly for each individual student. It also suggested using forms of alternative grading systems (i.e. not using the traditional A, B, C, etc.) which seemed to be a very novel and intriguing approach that some school systems are already implementing.

How did you connect to the reading and briefly reflect on your thoughts.
One of the most important aspects to the chapter was motivational loss of students due to certain types of grading systems. I found this to be a crucial aspect of grading because each teacher has a different system, and one of those systems has negatively affected every one of us in some way, shape, or form. I mostly connected to their discussion of avoiding using a mean grading system (principle five) because factoring in zeroes can severely effect a students overall grade while at the same time be a poor indication of student learning and understanding. The suggestion of using a 50 or some other numerical value seemed to be an easy and perfect solution to such a problem.