Chapter 11 touches on a topic
that I have been very interested in hearing a case for, the grade book zero. I must
admit that I was quite surprised to read the justification of why this practice
should be avoided; I had already prepared my debate, which hit on the topic of
student accountability and proper grade representation. Surprisingly I found
math at the center of the argument, an argument that worked well with my
planned points, to convince me that zeros have no place in the grade book. Emma
L. Davis, a Virginia Beach school board member who is quoted on page 138, compares
the situation to that of recording an average temperature over a period of
days. This metaphor does well to capture the flaw of recording zeros in the
absence of work. Of the methods described, I think I am most likely to
implement in my classroom the one that suggests entering “I” for incomplete into
my grade book and then calculating more of a median or mode in grade trends
apposed to the mean. I found the topic of weighting grades an interesting one
to return to from my youth, this was a highly debated topic at my high and due
to the fact that I was student body president and enrolled in many of the AP
classes that were at the heart of the discussion, so I found myself too. Having
looked at this topic as a student it is interesting to now come at it from a teacher’s
point of view. I now have a better understanding of why the administration and
staff were so unmotivated on the matter while the student body (those enrolled
in higher tiered classes at least) was really the voice behind the matter. In
conclusion to the argument, GPAs and their significance are really minute
matters and I love how the chapter makes a point to express this while
discussing this topic. My high school GPA does little to reflect me as a
student or a person; the added efforts of weighting would only further
manipulate this expression.
The topic of what grades mean
has been adequately discussed in this book, Chapter 12 was a nice review on how
we can better express these meanings. By the end of this chapter I was
convinced of the benefits of using a 5.0 scale in my grading. I prefer this
system opposed to the more common 4.0 scale as it deviates from the even more
common A, B, C, D scale. The 5.0 scale in addition offers teachers an
opportunity of being less objective thanks to the pairing and implementation of
rubrics with graded work. Additionally I noted the comments on the use of “+”
and “−” and while I
had previously thought they could be great tools and of benefit to express
students mastery I agree with the comments made on page 156 that note their
lack to motivate and their at time destructive nature. In sync with topic of
grades is how we enter them into the grade book and what does this system look
like. I have to admit this is a topic that was completely off my radar, not
once have I thought about what system I might use or even what my options are.
I think Chapter 13 did well to enlighten me on the topic. I felt of the options
gone over in the chapter I would be most likely to use the one depicted in
image 13.3 on page 166, grouping by weight or category. I appreciate the
ability to differentiate with how I multiply the categories, and I think it
also allows for the benefit of tracking assignments by date. I will say that I
still have many questions about this topic and wonder if most schools even
allow teacher choice or if a particular program is purchased by the schools and
enforced for teacher use? This same question I found myself asking while
reading Chapter 14 in reference to report cards. I found this chapter
intriguing as well but doubt whether my opinion on the matter will be of much
weight. I do find the discussion on student comparison in reference to paternal
concerns a concerning one. I feel the most important discussion between a
parent and teacher should be what the grades mean and how the report card
expresses it.
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