Module 6, Unit 3, Activity 2 - Tackling the Grading Dilemma

Marc Finks

Module 6, Unit 3, Activity 2

Tackling the Grading Dilemma

For many students, grading the paperwork is the task is the most time-consuming and energy-draining. People only see what teachers do while they’re at school and in the classroom, but they don’t realize how much work they expect the teacher to do in order to assess their students in the most efficient and fairest way possible. However, there are several ways that teachers can help lessen the load that comes from grading everything the students to.

Peer Assessment:

Peer assessment is having students grade themselves and their classmates based upon a rubric that should be easy for the students to follow. Many teachers often say that students are often much tougher on themselves than the teacher would have been, but from my own experience, I have found that the majority of elementary students will either grade their friends unfairly high, or the students will unfairly mark down students of the opposite gender. I do agree that having the students help the teacher create the rubric is the first step, but I think that there has to be some type of feedback or punishment/rewards that is dependent upon how honest the students are trying to be. Once they get used to this type of assessment and having this type of power and using it fairly, then maybe it’ll work, but I think the teacher needs to set up the framework correctly from the very beginning.

One in Four Rule:

The one in four rule is actually a really good idea. Essentially, only one out of every four essays is graded in detail. The other three essays are given the grade of credit or no credit. I have had weeks before where I’ve had over ninety students giving me essays that had to be graded by the following week, and so I did use the credit/no credit grading scale from time to time, but I like this one in four rule better. To me, though, it would have to be random – at least in the eyes of the students. That way, the students wouldn’t know which ones of theirs would be graded or not, thereby ensuring that most of them would try to turn in quality work time. Also, this way, instead of having thirty essays to grade each week, the teacher would only have seven or eight which would be much more manageable. The only complaint that I can see at the moment is that some essay topics may be more difficult than others, and the students who got graded on those, as opposed to easier topics, maybe feel unfairly slighted.

Stamping Method:

I think that this would be appropriate for younger students, but would most older students care about the particular stamp that is on their essay? And, if this is just going to be put on the credit/no credit essays, then it doesn’t really matter what kind of stamp a teacher uses. I know that I’ve had younger classes who loved getting stickers on their homework, and so it does have a nice, tiny effect, but I don’t think most students turned in their work just because they wanted to get a sticker that said, “Excellent!”

Student Journals:

I really like this idea of having student journals. Besides keeping all of their work in one, organized location, it’s also a useful tool for students and their parents to see the work that they’ve done, and for everyone to note the improvements that the student is making throughout the year. This would also be a good way of incorporating the other grading methods, such as the one in four rule and the peer assessments, since the teacher can choose which ones to grade or not grade when they are given these each week. The teacher can also quickly check the peer grades and make note of which students are giving acceptable feedback, and which ones need to be spoken to privately on Monday.

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I think that I am going to use the student journal in my classes. I think it’ll help me to stay better organized, and I like the idea of students having portfolios and being responsible for their own work. Again, while this will require the teacher to spend time at the beginning of the year showing the students how to do this properly, it’ll pay off in dividends throughout the year. I think that if I were to collect the journals every Friday afternoon, then hopefully I could get through all of them with only a couple of hours of work at some point before class on Monday.

Module 6, Unit 2, Activity 4

 Marc Finks

Module 6, Unit 2, Activity 4

Monitoring Student Performance

Having high expectations for students is an essential component that all teachers need to consider from the very first day of class. In our school, our students have a lot of online homework, and while all teachers mention it the first day, not every teacher actually places much emphasis on it, nor do they check it for completion regularly during the school year. As a result, in many classes, the homework completion rate is around 40%. I have found, though, that when I talk about the importance of doing online homework and how it can benefit them, and then I make a big deal about checking the homework at the beginning of each class and talking to students about why they were unable to compete the homework, my homework completion rate for the term usually ends up being around 95%, and that the students actually help one another to complete it.

I don’t think most teachers realize how much they can affect their students’ perspective on learning and schoolwork. If teachers are positive about it and constantly convey their expectations to their students, while effectively using praise to bolster students’ confidence and effort, then the students will respond accordingly. However, if teachers are a bit more lackadaisical about talking to the students about their goals and how they can get there, then the students soon find class to be pointless and just start going through the motions.

Besides schoolwork, this is also true regarding student behavior. I am very firm about how my students must treat one another. They must be respectful, they can’t bully, they can’t hit…All of the things that I just assume should or should not happen in a classroom. But I’ve had students (or I’ve spoken to former students) who have had other teachers, and I can tell that they are often surprised by the extreme differences in what we allow to happen in our classrooms. But, personally, I believe that besides giving the students knowledge, teachers are also partially responsible for raising good people, and since students spend so much of their time in school, it is there where they should learn what type of behavior is considered proper and improper.

For students who do struggle academically, Response to Intervention, or RTI, is necessary so that we can identify early and support them in whatever way we can in order to help them progress and not fall irrevocably behind. The process for RTI is ongoing and should begin on the first day of class. Teachers need to always be aware of how their students are doing, and they need to learn to identify the ones who are struggling. When teachers do find students who seem to be having difficulty, it’s important for the teacher to differentiate instruction and see if this is enough to help the student keep up with the rest of the class. If it is not, then further steps need to be taken. Besides using tiered instruction, parental involvement it key. Teachers must contact the parents and explain what is happening, explain the plan, and then try to get the parents to work with them so that the child gets help at home as well.

References:

Borich, Gary D. (2011). Observation Skills for Effective Teaching. Boston, MA: Pearson Education. Inc.

The Power of High Expectations. (n.d.).  Retrieved July 29, 2014, from http://teachingasleadership.org/ sites/default/files/Related-Readings/Diversity_CommunityandAchievement_Chapter2.pdf

Module 5 - Unit 1 – Activity 4

Marc Finks

Marc Finks

Module 5  - Unit 1 – Activity 4

This was one of the more helpful units for me so far. I’ve never had to consider standards before since most of my classes in South Korea already have lesson plans and books, and so we just show up and do what we’re asked. I have created some of my own classes, but we never had set curriculum goals for them. However, after doing this lesson, I can see how helpful this kind of a guide is.

Backwards mapping is very important. If you know where you have to get to by the end of the year, then it makes it so much easier to plan out the steps necessary to reach the goal.  For example, knowing that the students need to be able to write a cogent paragraph with excellent supporting details and punctuation by the end of the year would help me to start breaking down the steps needed to help my students reach that goal. I think that if teachers are ever stuck trying to decide what to do with a class, then backwards mapping from an end point would be an effective way of helping them come up with something that would be beneficial for their students.

After backwards mapping and figuring out where you need to get to, unpacking the standard is the part that was the newest to me. Asking myself, “What steps do I need to take to get my students to this point, and what are my objectives for each point?” really helps clarify the entire process. Without this step, we would just look at our end goal and maybe try to get there somehow. But without any organization or planning, which is what this activity really taught me, I think that many teachers would just get lost. For example, if the object was about making sure that students could write a five-paragraph essay and the teacher just tried winging it without actually unpacking the standard and realizing everything that is necessary for the students to actually be able to write a five-paragraph essay, then those students would most likely be less prepared than other classes where the teachers had completely mapped out the process and each step from the very first day until they reached that end objective.

Writing lesson objectives and a lesson plan was a bit tricky at first as I haven’t really taught to specific objectives before. However, after unpacking the standard, this wasn’t too difficult. The best way of doing this is to make sure that you clearly know what the next step is and how you want to get there. You can’t just say “Teach them how to capitalize” because new ideas and concepts sometimes take time to learn, and different students may be at different places, and so lesson planning helps prepare for the lesson in an organized and efficient manner so that there isn’t really any time wasted.

Overall, this unit has been very helpful for me. It’s given me a foundation from which I can build upon, and I think I feel more confident about understanding how to begin approaching teaching in a standard classroom.

Module 4 – Unit 6 - Activity 4

Marc Finks

Module 4 – Unit 6 - Activity 4

Video and Reflection

Both Mr. Torres and Ms. Felix are first year teachers. Even though they have different approaches, I do like their attitudes about how they want to interact with their students from the first day of class. Mr. Torres keeps stating that he’s nerdy, which I think some of the ‘cooler’ kids may sneer at, but I think he’s trying to show the students that it’s okay to be smart and to like odd things. He smiles a lot and shows personal photos and tells them that he believes that school should be fun, rather than boring, and then he had the students create name cards and introduce themselves to each other.

All of this is an excellent way of building rapport with the students and creating a classroom environment where the students get to know each other a bit, which can help them to feel more comfortable with one another and respect each other. However, he didn’t seem to notice students using their cell phones, and didn’t really establish any rules or expectations besides having fun, and so that is something that will lead to classroom issues for him later on. As Marzano (2009) noted, “Regardless of how well behaved students in a given class might be, they still need rules and procedures” (Marzano, p.117)

Ms. Felix’s goal was to set an environment where kids respect each other and themselves. She does a good job of establishing routines and having the students come up with rules and possible consequences because this can help the students believe that the rules are fair because they came up with them themselves. She tries to do a “superstar” project where each student has to write something on a piece of paper to say why they’re awesome, but she doesn’t seem to understand why her students are reluctant to do this. She says that she wants the students to know that she cares about them and that she believes in them, but showing them this through interactions with them, and just having them write something on the first day of class that other kids may tease them about are two different things.

Both Mr. Torres and Ms. Felix have great interaction with their students one-on-one or in small groups, and the students seem to feel that they can trust them and don’t hesitate to ask questions. They also both come up with great, collaborative projects that are engaging and can help build class rapport, and from the scenes that were shown in the video, the students do seem to get along well.

However, both teachers have serious control issues. In one of the classes, the students were just joking and making rude comments when the teacher asked them to do something and there wasn’t any negative reprisals. One of the mentors mentioned how teachers need to change their tone and pitch of their voice to show that someone has done something wrong and that they’re displeased, and this is something I completely agree with. Students should trust their teacher – like they can trust their parents – but, just like  their parents, students should recognize from the tone of voice if they are behaving satisfactorily or not.

I’ve also had the issue that Ms. Felix faced during the confrontation where none of her students wanted to do the work or respond to her questions. It’s a horrible situation, but I think that teachers oftentimes views that situation from the wrong perspective. It’s not that the students want to make the teacher angry or for themselves to get in trouble. It’s more about that they either aren’t sure how to complete the assignment, and/or they are afraid that they’ll look stupid or feel embarrassed if they try to do it and fail. I have found that when the directions are very clear, and there are certain steps that the students know for sure that they can complete without any help, then they will be much more willing to do what’s asked of them. As one of the mentors said, we expect students to know how to do everything that we ask of them, and we often forget that they probably don’t understand what we expect for them to do.

At the end, both teachers seem to have positive relationships with their students. Mr. Torres works really well one-on-one with his students and he has a great relationship with them. And I really liked Ms. Felix’s incentive program where she lets students retake tests. As she mentioned, she changed from averaging their scores to just giving them their best scores because the goal is for them to master the material. I think the fact that she shows that she truly cares that the students are learning, as opposed to just testing them once and getting a grade written into the test book, is something that the students can recognize and respond to.

References -

Marzano, R., & Brown, J. (2009). A handbook for the art and science of teaching. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.