On 11/02/09, curiositycat wrote:
> Here are a couple of tricks I use to cut down on the number of
> entries I actually make in the gradebook:
>
> 1) Collect similar types of short assignments together as a single
> package at the end of a unit of study. Give a small amount of
> completion points for having each assignment in the packet. Even
> better: if you have a teacher's assistant, have him or her check each
> packet for completeness.
>
> 2) For certain types of categories/assignments, create a single entry
> for it in the gradebook, and immediately start everyone with 50 or
> 100 points for that assignment. Throughout the grading period, deduct
> points from the total only when something is missing/is not complete.
> This works well for me once a week when I walk around and check
> outside reading books. They start each quarter with 50 points. For
> each occasion on which a student doesn't have his or her book, I
> simply deduct five points. For everyone who has his or her book in
> class, I do nothing--the 50 points remain as they are. This strategy
> has been a great time saver for me. I also use it for their
> participation/conduct score.
>
> On 11/02/09, Wondering wrote:
>> On 11/01/09, curiositycat wrote:
>>> I definitely see keeping formative assessments out of the
>>> gradebook, but what has the rationale for not recording the
>>> other items? Like you pointed out, it's just not
>>> developmentally appropriate for many students to be
>>> intrinsically motivated. Doing the work just for the sake of
>>> personal improvement is simply not something that applies to
>>> the majority of students. What was the topic of the workshop,
>>> and who was the presenter?
>>>
>>
>> I agree. It is nice to be reminded that this is true everywhere
>> and not just at our school. The topic of the workshop was
>> standards-based grading and the presenter was simply a working
>> teacher, not someone famous in the field. The rationale is that
>> you should only focus on whether or not the student has met the
>> standard, not their behavior, or extra credit, or what have you.
>> I can see that, but the problem remains. The presenter bases 90%
>> of his grades on tests, and has a system for allowing retakes to
>> pass. One thing I do is to simply give credit (say, 2 pts) for
>> assignments that are practice and that we grade in class. Still,
>> some students catch on and do sloppy work. Sometimes I pass it
>> back and tell them to try again. It is still a lot to keep track
>> of. Sometimes we might do three different assignments in a class
>> and that is a lot to record.

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