An archived stack of papers: 'grading'

Positive Feedback Only

In a stack of papers called Writing.

  • Apr
  • 30
  • 2013

What if you only gave students positive feedback on their writing? Could you leave a comment that begins with “I like” on every student’s paper? How would that change the way you evaluate writing? Would that impact scores or instruction? Might that make you dread evaluating writing just a leeeeeeeeettle bit less?

Think about how far negative/constructive comments have gotten... read more

Deflating The Grade

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Jan
  • 06
  • 2011

The semester is over for us and I’m thinking about last semester, strangely simultaneously too much and not enough. The thing that got me thinking was the general decline in the number of Fs earned this semester. I’m usually right around a twnety-five percent F rate and this year it’s at about fifteen percent. When I looked at what I did differently to try and account for that change,... read more

The (First Semester) End Is Nigh

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Nov
  • 22
  • 2010

We have about fourteen school days left and I am drowning. I’ve got two sets of essays from my three sections of English 3. We are only about a quarter of the way into Lord of the Flies in English 2 and I have to move at breakneck speed to make it through before the day of the final. My Read Journals are backed up to two weeks ago. Vocabulary has not been as prominent as it should be. We... read more

From Rubric To Percentage

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Sep
  • 21
  • 2008

How can I take the scores from my assessment on a six-point rubric and turn them into a percentage? 3, 3, 4, 4: that doesn’t convert very well to a score out of one hundred. I have this problem every year, with varying and inconsistent solutions. This time, I’ve set Excel in place to keep my evaluations constant.

... read more

Moving Through Some Changes

In a stack of papers called Reform.

  • Sep
  • 12
  • 2008

I hate doing the same thing every year. It’s boring and implies, “Yup, that was perfect; no need to change that one!” I’m still looking for those lesson plans. There are a few I have that are pretty close to “good,” but “perfect” is a long way off.

Some of these are small but... read more

Writing Assessment By Numbers?

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Sep
  • 01
  • 2008

Having just finished grading a small writing sample from my English 1 Support students (those students who we’ve identified through test scores and grades as in need of a little extra for them to make it through English 1), I figured I’d share how I did this first one and welcome any evaluation of my method.

I struggled with how to grade this. Since this class counts as an elective... read more

After Day Two Of Finals

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Jan
  • 17
  • 2008

Two functions of grades came up in a discussion today. One is to accurately reflect a student’s ability. A second is to help students understand their ability. Initially, I said in no uncertain terms that the first trumps the second, all day, every day. It’s much more important that the grade be an accurate reflection of skill than a student be able to understand how he got that grade.... read more

After Day One Of Finals

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Jan
  • 16
  • 2008

Grades are on my mind and weighing heavily.

My school uses School loop and I’ve been using their gradebook faithfully all semester long. I just realized that things aren’t organized in a way that lets me see patterns. Assignments are arranged by date and not by category. There’s no convenient report showing the percentage of students earning each grade. Even the breakdown of... read more

The Shrinking Educational Middle Class

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • May
  • 07
  • 2007

After a conversation with a colleague today, I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized that I’m not the only one. I wonder if you’re like me too, reader.

Several tangents later, our conversation veered onto the subject of grades. This colleague visits different... read more

Why You Should Change Grades

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Feb
  • 01
  • 2007

A student who earns a D or an F first semester can change that grade by earning a C the second semester.

Why?

Regularly, poor performance in my class equates to not doing the work assigned. A student earning an F usually can change that with a little effort. Attempting to do the writing, reading, speaking, or thinking I’m asking gives me ideas of what a student needs in order to do... read more