Being a teacher in the high school setting I do not give out letter grades. My students are graded based out of the total number of points an assignment or assessment is worth and the students earn so many points based on whether they answer a question correctly. Grades can range from 100 to a 50. Typically any student who earns less than a 50 will have their grade raised to a 50 unless they have not showed any signs of trying to improve themselves in regards to school work.
Step 1:
100-90
89-80
79-70
69-60
59- below
Step 2:
100-90: a student has an extremely high level of understanding of the subject matter. Student assessment scores surpass the average score received. Students rarely receive anything in this grading range.
89-80: Students have a high level of understanding about the subject area. Students cannot always make accurate connections and applications when working with material taught. Students have about average scores on assessments and assignments.
79-70: Students have a basic level of understanding of the material taught. Students have a moderate level of difficulty adapting learned materials to daily life and class work. Students perform on an average level on assessments.
69-60: Students have a very basic level of understanding of the material taught. Students have low abilities of applying information to real life experiences and assessments.
59-below: Students gave a minimum level of understanding. Students have the maximum level of difficulty in connecting information to real life experiences and applying the information they did learn to assessment or assignment questions.
Step 3:
As a whole the grading system I practice fulfills the needs of my students, parents, school administrators, and the others who may request, with permission, students’ grades. Students and even parents appear to be most concerned with the basic question, "did they pass?". Any grade below a 65 is considered failing and every grade above or below that grade reflects the degree to which the student is passing or failing the course. The grades I provide give students and parents an accurate representation of students’ earned points through the marking period as well as the level of effort one put into his or her learning.
In regards to school administrators and others who require my students’ grades, my grades fulfill those needs. Administrators require grades in order to determine weekly ineligibility lists, athletic availability and placement for further placements. Being a special education teacher grades, as well as other things, are essential to determining IEP and 504 plans. Grades may determine the type of classroom setting one will be in the following semester as well as which courses best fit his or her abilities. A school counselor will not (should not) assign a student whose grades range from 79 to failing in English to Advanced Placement English. Just as one will not assign a 100-90 level to student to an intermediate level course.
Post secondary and Employers will also find my grades accessible because he or she can easily see the pattern of students work levels, consistency, as well as the degree to which someone passed or failed a particular course. Not only is consistency something one would consider, but whether or not a student’s grades increased or decreased as the year progressed. One who increases may be a better candidate than one whose scores decreased.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
My Personal Belief
Alisha Eaton
There are several responsibilities that Nitko and Brookhart provide that I strongly agree with. In fact there were not any selections that I completely disagreed with. One particular responsibility that I fully agree with is providing students with special needs the appropriate accommodations and modifications. Being dual – certified in English and students with disabilities, I have a great passion for helping those with extra needs lean along side general education students. I understand first hand that it is imperative to provide the support recommended on a student's IEP or 504 plan. Another responsibility I agree with is that of checking assessments over for errors, mechanical or factional. Assessments that contain errors can negatively impact students’ results. A simple misplacement of a comma can change the entire meaning of a question, leading to wrong answers. Also, the simplest error in facts can confuse a student, leading to an incorrect answer, which may effect the results of further questions. There are two responsibilities I do not completely agree with. One is that of providing students with certain information about the assessment. The second is that of scoring students fairly. In particular I do not agree with removing student names and having a college score papers, even a sample.
It is extremely important and a "legal responsibility" that teachers provide all test accommodations and modifications provided on a student’s IEP or 504 plan (Nitko 89). Providing accommodations and or modifications can be a difficult task because not only do these needs need to be fulfilled, but it needs to be done discreetly. Many students with disabilities are in general education classrooms where they may feel uncomfortable or embarrassed for receiving different treatment or special services that the other do not have. General education students may feel that students receiving such assistance are given an advantage. What many students do not realize is that the accommodations and modifications are providing lover achieving students a "more fair and more valid" playing field by "leveling the field" (Nitko 89). With this said it is important to remember that these accommodations and modifications will not "lead to a higher test score" when really such accommodations and modifications will help students to earn average grades, even grades that are still substantially lower than their peers. IEPs and 504 plans may be a good start but teachers should also watch students and begin to figure out if there are any other accommodations he or she could benefit from. For example, a student may only have test directions, questions, answers read, but could really benefit from taking an assessment in a separate location for fewer distractions.
Assessments should be free of error and be accurate in content. Students experience enough hardships with performing successfully on exams and other assessments; they do not need errors to hang them up. Spelling, punctuation and syntax can influence the way a questions or answers are read. A question that does not read smoothly can lead to confusion for the reader. There was one unit exam that I gave for The Giver and while taking the exam a student raised his hand saying he did not understand the question. After rereading it for myself I realized that I had left a word out therefore making the questions almost impossible for him to answer it. Immediately I stopped the class to fix the error. I should have waited until everyone was done with the test but I did not want 15 hands to go up asking me the same question.
Grading an assessment can have errors as well. After grading several assessments, one may begin to rethink the answer to a short answer or essay question therefore grading differently on the remaining assessments. This is where having an answer key or sample responses comes in handy, for it limits the rethinking because one goes off of their original thought. These, along with rubrics, allow for grades to be accurate and consistent. It is possible that the rubrics and keys being used may contain error so it is important to check over keys to make sure that the answers that are present are the ones that the teacher wants. Readministering a test, in my opinion, will not always benefit a student. Many students may become frustrated and randomly answer questions or just try to remember what they had put the first time and focus on it so much, even if in a different order, that they do not focus on the question and answer selections. In my opinion the best choices a teacher has is to omit a question in grading or after making then correction, retype the question/questions and use them as an anticipatory set and then include the grade onto the assessment.
The section I agreed the least with is having to provide "sufficient information" about the assessment (Nitko 88). It seems natural to me that students should know when the assessment. In fact a timeline that shows important dates and assessments coming up, like a syllabus. The rest provided by Nitko and Brookhardt, I do not completely agree with. In regards to the content, students should know the topic of the unit therefore know what will be on the assessment. Other than that the content should just be the material covered in class. A teacher should not come out and say what specifics will be on a test. I believe that being too specific will lead to a narrow the studying field therefore not studying all of the information taught. The point of teaching is for students to learn all of the material not just a small chunk of what is covered in class. For the performance level expected, isn’t any teacher’s expectation that students do their best? Who does not want students to earn a 100 on the assessment? When it comes to informing students about how their teacher will use their results, I do not think it is necessary. Not all students care, its an assessment, they pretty much know what the teacher will use the results for. Let them complete the assessment and one you have their results solidify how you will use their results. Telling a student too much may make them more nervous. Overall, there is a lot of information that students do not need to know.
The second responsibility that I do not completely agree with is under the "To score students fairly" (Nitko 90). I believe in scoring students fairly, but I do not agree with everything Nitko and Brookhardt have included within the description. As a teacher, I would use an accurate scoring key or rubric when appropriate. I am unsure of how I feel about students putting their names on the back of their essays or any assessments. I really feel like there are some students who work really hard and may deserve a little boost of confidence. It has been my experience that when students try very had, but never see the improvement, they become frustrated and eventually may give up. Another part of the responsibility or suggestion was to have a colleague rescore or score all/some assessments. I completely disagree with this. I feel as though another teacher would be too blind to do this, meaning he or she does not know what was taught in the classroom and does know the style of the students’ work. I do not feel as though another teacher would be able to accurately score or "judge" one of my students’ assessments. The only time I would consider this is when students are preparing for the regents so that they can get a feel for how their essays will be evaluated.
Nitko and Brookhardt’s list of responsibilities are interesting. Two of the responsibilities that I most agreed with are providing accommodations and modifications for students with special needs along with ensuring that assessments are free of error and that the facts are accurate. Providing a student with special needs is a legal duty of the teacher. A teacher should also always make sure that his or her materials, especially assessments are accurate a free of mistakes. I do not completely agree with their views of what I should inform students about the assessment before they take it. Students should be aware of when the test is, after that they should just know what the overall topic of the assessment is and that’s it. They do not really need to know what I am going to use the results for, because I do not think that any teacher really knows until after the assessment has been given. Another responsibility that I am not completely convinced of is what they consider to be fair evaluating of assessments. To me, the scoring of an assessment is fair as long as each students is given the same advantages and scoring is not more lenient or harsh than another student. Teaching is a career heavy with responsibility and although we may not agree with all of them, it is out duty to given each student the best learning environment and learning opportunity possible.
There are several responsibilities that Nitko and Brookhart provide that I strongly agree with. In fact there were not any selections that I completely disagreed with. One particular responsibility that I fully agree with is providing students with special needs the appropriate accommodations and modifications. Being dual – certified in English and students with disabilities, I have a great passion for helping those with extra needs lean along side general education students. I understand first hand that it is imperative to provide the support recommended on a student's IEP or 504 plan. Another responsibility I agree with is that of checking assessments over for errors, mechanical or factional. Assessments that contain errors can negatively impact students’ results. A simple misplacement of a comma can change the entire meaning of a question, leading to wrong answers. Also, the simplest error in facts can confuse a student, leading to an incorrect answer, which may effect the results of further questions. There are two responsibilities I do not completely agree with. One is that of providing students with certain information about the assessment. The second is that of scoring students fairly. In particular I do not agree with removing student names and having a college score papers, even a sample.
It is extremely important and a "legal responsibility" that teachers provide all test accommodations and modifications provided on a student’s IEP or 504 plan (Nitko 89). Providing accommodations and or modifications can be a difficult task because not only do these needs need to be fulfilled, but it needs to be done discreetly. Many students with disabilities are in general education classrooms where they may feel uncomfortable or embarrassed for receiving different treatment or special services that the other do not have. General education students may feel that students receiving such assistance are given an advantage. What many students do not realize is that the accommodations and modifications are providing lover achieving students a "more fair and more valid" playing field by "leveling the field" (Nitko 89). With this said it is important to remember that these accommodations and modifications will not "lead to a higher test score" when really such accommodations and modifications will help students to earn average grades, even grades that are still substantially lower than their peers. IEPs and 504 plans may be a good start but teachers should also watch students and begin to figure out if there are any other accommodations he or she could benefit from. For example, a student may only have test directions, questions, answers read, but could really benefit from taking an assessment in a separate location for fewer distractions.
Assessments should be free of error and be accurate in content. Students experience enough hardships with performing successfully on exams and other assessments; they do not need errors to hang them up. Spelling, punctuation and syntax can influence the way a questions or answers are read. A question that does not read smoothly can lead to confusion for the reader. There was one unit exam that I gave for The Giver and while taking the exam a student raised his hand saying he did not understand the question. After rereading it for myself I realized that I had left a word out therefore making the questions almost impossible for him to answer it. Immediately I stopped the class to fix the error. I should have waited until everyone was done with the test but I did not want 15 hands to go up asking me the same question.
Grading an assessment can have errors as well. After grading several assessments, one may begin to rethink the answer to a short answer or essay question therefore grading differently on the remaining assessments. This is where having an answer key or sample responses comes in handy, for it limits the rethinking because one goes off of their original thought. These, along with rubrics, allow for grades to be accurate and consistent. It is possible that the rubrics and keys being used may contain error so it is important to check over keys to make sure that the answers that are present are the ones that the teacher wants. Readministering a test, in my opinion, will not always benefit a student. Many students may become frustrated and randomly answer questions or just try to remember what they had put the first time and focus on it so much, even if in a different order, that they do not focus on the question and answer selections. In my opinion the best choices a teacher has is to omit a question in grading or after making then correction, retype the question/questions and use them as an anticipatory set and then include the grade onto the assessment.
The section I agreed the least with is having to provide "sufficient information" about the assessment (Nitko 88). It seems natural to me that students should know when the assessment. In fact a timeline that shows important dates and assessments coming up, like a syllabus. The rest provided by Nitko and Brookhardt, I do not completely agree with. In regards to the content, students should know the topic of the unit therefore know what will be on the assessment. Other than that the content should just be the material covered in class. A teacher should not come out and say what specifics will be on a test. I believe that being too specific will lead to a narrow the studying field therefore not studying all of the information taught. The point of teaching is for students to learn all of the material not just a small chunk of what is covered in class. For the performance level expected, isn’t any teacher’s expectation that students do their best? Who does not want students to earn a 100 on the assessment? When it comes to informing students about how their teacher will use their results, I do not think it is necessary. Not all students care, its an assessment, they pretty much know what the teacher will use the results for. Let them complete the assessment and one you have their results solidify how you will use their results. Telling a student too much may make them more nervous. Overall, there is a lot of information that students do not need to know.
The second responsibility that I do not completely agree with is under the "To score students fairly" (Nitko 90). I believe in scoring students fairly, but I do not agree with everything Nitko and Brookhardt have included within the description. As a teacher, I would use an accurate scoring key or rubric when appropriate. I am unsure of how I feel about students putting their names on the back of their essays or any assessments. I really feel like there are some students who work really hard and may deserve a little boost of confidence. It has been my experience that when students try very had, but never see the improvement, they become frustrated and eventually may give up. Another part of the responsibility or suggestion was to have a colleague rescore or score all/some assessments. I completely disagree with this. I feel as though another teacher would be too blind to do this, meaning he or she does not know what was taught in the classroom and does know the style of the students’ work. I do not feel as though another teacher would be able to accurately score or "judge" one of my students’ assessments. The only time I would consider this is when students are preparing for the regents so that they can get a feel for how their essays will be evaluated.
Nitko and Brookhardt’s list of responsibilities are interesting. Two of the responsibilities that I most agreed with are providing accommodations and modifications for students with special needs along with ensuring that assessments are free of error and that the facts are accurate. Providing a student with special needs is a legal duty of the teacher. A teacher should also always make sure that his or her materials, especially assessments are accurate a free of mistakes. I do not completely agree with their views of what I should inform students about the assessment before they take it. Students should be aware of when the test is, after that they should just know what the overall topic of the assessment is and that’s it. They do not really need to know what I am going to use the results for, because I do not think that any teacher really knows until after the assessment has been given. Another responsibility that I am not completely convinced of is what they consider to be fair evaluating of assessments. To me, the scoring of an assessment is fair as long as each students is given the same advantages and scoring is not more lenient or harsh than another student. Teaching is a career heavy with responsibility and although we may not agree with all of them, it is out duty to given each student the best learning environment and learning opportunity possible.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Pretest for *Of Mice and Men*
The unit assessment is created around John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. This pretest touches on the foundation of the novel, things that need to be understood before further discussion can be continued. The pretest assessment will be graded out of 5 points, only .5 points per question, basically this will be used as a bonus grade. However, even though this will be used as a bonus grade the students will not know this until after it has been collected.
Name ________________________________________ Period ______
Of Mice and Men Pretest
Directions: Circle the selection that best answers the question.
Which time period is occurring during the setting of Of Mice and Men?
Boston Tea Party
The Great Depression
Industrial Revolution
Which selection best describes Lennie and George’s relationship?
George takes on a father like role for Lennie
Lennie is father like towards George
Each man takes care of themselves
Curley’s wife’s behavior in seeking attention from the men on the ranch is directly related to her feelings of
Confusion
Stardom
Loneliness
Which best explains Steinbeck’s point of view about dreams within the novel? (This is demonstrated through the characters).
People should not dream because they rarely come true
Dreams give people hope to keep going
Dreams are a big disappointment
What is Lennie and George’s dream?
Own a farm with rabbits
Run a factory
Be a ranch hand and work for Candy
What does Lennie do that causes him to run from the ranch?
Kills a puppy and Crooks
Kills a puppy and Curley’s Wife
Kills a rabbit and steals Carlson’s gun
What does Candy offer George and Lennie to help them with their dream?
Money and cooking
Money and directions
Dogs and rabbits
What was life like for a migrant worker?
No stability
Constant moving
Both A and B
Who is well respected on the ranch and the one George trusts enough to tell him that George and Lennie were run out of their last job?
Candy
Carlson
Slim
What happened in Weed that caused George and Lennie to run away?
George stole money from his boss
Lennie touched a girl’s dress, she thought he was going to rape her
George and Lennie were involved in a bar fight and took a girl hostage
Answer Key:
1) B
2) A
3) C
4) A
5) A
6) B
7) A
8) C
9) C
10) B
Name ________________________________________ Period ______
Of Mice and Men Pretest
Directions: Circle the selection that best answers the question.
Which time period is occurring during the setting of Of Mice and Men?
Boston Tea Party
The Great Depression
Industrial Revolution
Which selection best describes Lennie and George’s relationship?
George takes on a father like role for Lennie
Lennie is father like towards George
Each man takes care of themselves
Curley’s wife’s behavior in seeking attention from the men on the ranch is directly related to her feelings of
Confusion
Stardom
Loneliness
Which best explains Steinbeck’s point of view about dreams within the novel? (This is demonstrated through the characters).
People should not dream because they rarely come true
Dreams give people hope to keep going
Dreams are a big disappointment
What is Lennie and George’s dream?
Own a farm with rabbits
Run a factory
Be a ranch hand and work for Candy
What does Lennie do that causes him to run from the ranch?
Kills a puppy and Crooks
Kills a puppy and Curley’s Wife
Kills a rabbit and steals Carlson’s gun
What does Candy offer George and Lennie to help them with their dream?
Money and cooking
Money and directions
Dogs and rabbits
What was life like for a migrant worker?
No stability
Constant moving
Both A and B
Who is well respected on the ranch and the one George trusts enough to tell him that George and Lennie were run out of their last job?
Candy
Carlson
Slim
What happened in Weed that caused George and Lennie to run away?
George stole money from his boss
Lennie touched a girl’s dress, she thought he was going to rape her
George and Lennie were involved in a bar fight and took a girl hostage
Answer Key:
1) B
2) A
3) C
4) A
5) A
6) B
7) A
8) C
9) C
10) B
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