FIAE+B1+Chapter+12


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Seth
If I have to read one more chapter about grading I think my head may explode. In the past I have had teachers boot my grade from an 84-85 to an 86 (B+) so I would be exempt from the final but that could have been because I showed a “mastery” of the subject like the book talks about. Boosting grades is big thing for teachers and students and really shouldn’t depend on whether or not they had “that one little last ounce of //umph//.” If a student shows that they really understand a subject and ask me to boost their grade a few tenths of a point I won’t immediately give in or fight them, I will say, “Let’s look over your grades and see what we can do.” Work it out as a team, you know?

Lily
Grading is very different for all teachers and it is something that is figured out after trial and error. There are 2 very common ways to grade; they are the 4-point scare and the 100 point scale. The final grade should not come down to the mathematics from the grades, but more at the teacher’s discretion. If a student is trying hard and putting in the time and effort to study but at the end of the grading time has a failing grade the teacher should be able to add effort or participation points to help the student. I think that the 100 point scale is much more effective because it is easier to see how the student is doing. Rubrics are a great idea that should be used for every assignment, because we are the teacher should always explain our expectations to the students are we are subject to grading whatever comes our way. Using "RubiStar" has been a great way to learn how to make rubrics!

Max
I am not surprised but the next chapter of this book talks about grading. I think that if a student is on the fence between a B+ and an A- then I think the teacher should incorporate effort into the student’s grades. If the student only showed up and didn’t have to put in much of an effort, then I don’t think that he or she deserves some extra points. But if they worked really hard to get that B+ and showed a lot of effort I would have no problem giving that student some extra points. My art teacher gave me a B+ last semester and I needed to get a 2.5 GPA and I talked about it with her and she ended up giving me an A- because I didn’t pass things in late and worked hard on all my assignments.

**Casey**
Chapter twelve goes into detail about the two different approaches to grading, the four point scale, and the 100 point scale. It discusses the differences between the two and why each one is used. It also talks about why teachers like each one of these grading scales, and why they do not like them. I personally like the 100 point grading scale because it is easier for me to understand, and easier for me to average, especially in the grade level that I am going to be teaching. When I was in middle school, if I saw a 4.0 on my paper I would have no idea what that meant. If I did that to my own students I feel as if I would have to spend so much time explaining how to use this grading scale when they already know what getting a 100 on a paper is!

Brody
In this chapter of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal//, Wormeli raised the question of whether to grade students on the traditional scale of 100 or whether to grade them on a smaller scale such as a 4.0 measurement. I am in full agreeance with Wormeli in favoring the 4.0 scale. When I ask myself what I like to see when I get a paper back, it is clear that the feedback is most important. I want to see what in particular I need to work on for future improvement. Say for example I got a 78 for a grade. What does that arbitrary number mean? Why did I “earn” that number? That number is so large that it is hard to break down and decipher what it actually represents. A 100 point scale is more subjective and does not often promote future learning. A 4.0 scale on the other hand can easily be broken down. It’s best to break down this scale using rubrics that have clear descriptors of what it takes to earn a specific point value. When parents come into a parent teacher conference, I want to be able to tell them why their child got the grade they did. This is best accomplished through smaller scales and rubrics so I can point to the descriptors and show how the student work did or did not meet a specific category. Showing a parent a paper with a 78 on it and not being able to point to specific tangible data as to how that grade was determined is a disaster waiting to happen. Smaller scales and rubrics shift the focus from grade hysteria to learning through ongoing long-term processes.

Mike
This chapter talks about the idea of a grading scale and what it could mean. While my high school used a grading scale of 1-100 or A-F the author suggests that using a 4.0 scale is more effective because students will get a better idea of what is expected from them by their teachers. Throughout the whole semester, the importance of rubrics have been stressed since they state directions and what is expected from a student on a project or assignment very clearly rather than a teacher just naming things off. I think that a 4.0 scale and a 100 point scale are both effective depending on what student or specific learner you are dealing with at hand. A student that likes assignments that have detailed directions or expectations would enjoy rubrics, but a student who enjoys seeing an actually number grade like on a test would benefit from looking at a 100 point scale. As a teacher, I would like to incorporate a 4.0 scale on projects and a 100 point scale on assignments and tests.

**Jen**
Wormelli discusses using a 4.0 scale vs. a 100 scale gradng system. As much as I really like the 100 grading scale because that's what I am used to doesn't mean it is necessarily the best way. I do see how in ways a 4.0 scale can be more beneficial over a 100 scale because when assessing a student based off a rubric it is easy to determine which catergory they fit into rather than trying to assess whether the student is deserving of an 80 vs. an 85. See but what I don't agree with is that on page 157 when they say that if a "student makes one careless mistake they may receive a 3.5 or a 3.0" That is where I don't agree. If a student makes one mistake their grade shouldn't be penalized so much that on the 100 scale a 3.0 is equivalent to 84-89 or a 3.5 which equals 90-93. I feel like in that case it's not fair because a student is being penalized a significant amount for one mistake.

Kaitlyn Barltett
After reading chapter 12 of Fair Isn’t always Equal, there was one specific part that really jumped out at me, the scenario between the student and the teacher. As a teacher to be, I cannot believe that that could really come out of another teacher’s mouth. After being in the schools and noticing that participation is not on a lot of teacher syllabuses, it would be impossible for me to leave a kids grade at a 93.4 instead of a 94. This will impact my classroom because if a student has a situation similar to this, there is no way that I wouldn’t change it to the next point up. I understand that mastery of the content is very important, but so isn’t participation to me. If participation is not represented by a percentage in the course, it will certainly show up in my grading if something like this happens. It just seems like a no brainer to give the student the benefit of the doubt.

**Brittany**
First, I must say that I love the idea of using just rubrics and checklists to grade all student work but I also like the fact that they tell us not to stress over those times that we may have to use the 100% scale for one reason or another. I myself plan to use that 100% scale to grade quizzes and tests. It just seems to make sense for me to do it that way; I can grade the paper faster and students do not have to wait so long to see how they did. With that said, I agree that the 4.0 or some such scale is the better way to go. With this method, the students can see exactly what is expected and where they perhaps did not meet what was expected of them. It is all right there on the paper! It is quite wonderful for both the teacher and the student. The student does not look at the paper and see this ambiguous letter/number grade that tells them nothing but a set of standards that tells them what they did well and what they can work on. For the teacher, these rubrics may take longer to create but in the end, I believe, they will see better work coming from their students.

Kim
It seems unfortunate that grades have the reputation and significance that they do. Not only does it make it difficult to fairly and adequately assess students, it also makes it difficult to change the method for assessing students. As the chapter suggests, students and parents are often opposed to teachers switching to rubrics because they don’t see how a teacher could give a student an A or a B using a rubric, when that isn’t the point. I personally experienced a transition in grading while in high school. My school went from using a 100-point scale to using what they called standards-based grading, which was for the most part a rubric 4-point scale. At first it was a confusing transition, but once teachers posted what the new grades meant somewhere so we could see that a 3/4 was a 90 in the book, we were able to better see how it worked. I think this transition has been successful in the long term picture. It requires teachers to take a close look at the concepts and skills a student needs to be successful and show mastery in a content area. I think that no matter what the grading system is, it is important that the teacher take a close look at how the student performed in reference to the concepts and skills, not the aesthetics of the assessment. I also think that an entire school should use the same grading system, to make it easier not only on the teachers, but the students as well. Uniformity and consistency is key to students understanding their assessments and feedback, and it makes it less difficult for teachers to team teach, co-teach, and to compile data on student progress. 

 Jasmyn

I appreciate a good/clear grading scale. If the teacher can create a structured grading scale than can understand it. This is an important element to the student, because most students weigh their success by the grades they receive. The grading scale should be available in the course syllabus so the student has a chance to anticipate their final grade, developing rubrics is also a great way for students to be aware of how they are doing.