I promise...
I promise to be better at keeping up with blogging.
As far as the grading discussion went, I was motivated to examine what I am doing. I know I probably talked too much during his presentation and our subsequent discussion, but I was fighting to process the philosophy with the practical how to as we went. My initial thought was that Tony's method does what I have been trying to do, but in a much more usable manner. I knew that I intended parents to see my Homewrok category as the "responsibility" category Tony has. But parents didn't see it unless we discussed it at conferences. I knew my Homewrok Check and Test categories were directed at content mastery, but... And my participation category was more of a "good kid" category as points were lost for not bring =ing materials to class rather than awarded for truly participating. I don't think Tony's method is a radical change (although I hear that some of the articles he has shared to the other groups push the envelope!). I think Tony's is a practical change that will, more or less, be a different way of inputting my grades as opposed to a philosphical change. I will struggle some with the appropriate % for categories, a bit with what to label the categories, and very little with why I am doing it.
As far as the grading discussion went, I was motivated to examine what I am doing. I know I probably talked too much during his presentation and our subsequent discussion, but I was fighting to process the philosophy with the practical how to as we went. My initial thought was that Tony's method does what I have been trying to do, but in a much more usable manner. I knew that I intended parents to see my Homewrok category as the "responsibility" category Tony has. But parents didn't see it unless we discussed it at conferences. I knew my Homewrok Check and Test categories were directed at content mastery, but... And my participation category was more of a "good kid" category as points were lost for not bring =ing materials to class rather than awarded for truly participating. I don't think Tony's method is a radical change (although I hear that some of the articles he has shared to the other groups push the envelope!). I think Tony's is a practical change that will, more or less, be a different way of inputting my grades as opposed to a philosphical change. I will struggle some with the appropriate % for categories, a bit with what to label the categories, and very little with why I am doing it.
posted by Meyer at 1:01 PM
5 Comments:
I would suggest that you share your "struggles" with the rest of our class. Post what you are thinking about doing regarding grades (category names, weighting, etc.) and what you are struggling with, and then I bet a bunch of us will chime in with suggestions and thoughts (given that we're not a very shy bunch!).
And remember one thing Tony said - this is a process. You don't have to get it perfect the first time. Hopefully what you come up with for next semester is an improvement over this semester, and then the next one after that is even better. In the end, I think it's almost inevitable that your students will benefit from the thought you are putting into this.
I agree with karl wholeheartedly (he'll pay me later). Would it be helpful to have him back with working examples of what he has done,then play with your own system to see where one gets bogged down? I like the heavy lifting you're doing Brad. Keep up the good work.
I agree with karl wholeheartedly (he'll pay me later). Would it be helpful to have him back with working examples of what he has done,then play with your own system to see where one gets bogged down? I like the heavy lifting you're doing Brad. Keep up the good work.
I agree - I think that the key to all of this is to not get too detailed with the categories. I have seen some examples from the grading pilot in which people had categories worth 2 and 3%. What is the point? I think that the idea of skill categories is useful (although very difficult in Social Studies!)
Hey, you promised to be better at blogging and the Supremes are now done, so where are the posts? November 19th was a while ago . . .
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