How will I remind myself that each student deserves an honest grade? And how will I give honest grades without destroying the students confidence?
It may be tempting for some teachers to give everyone an A for effort. Giving a student a high score who did not earn it, is unfair to them, as well as the students who worked for and earned the higher grade. If the A student notices that the teacher gives high scores to lower papers, they might get the idea that the teacher will give anyone an A. If I gave an A to anyone who turned something in, then how would my students know what grade their paper really deserves? They might think that their paper was not as good as they thought if a poor writer can receive the same grade as them. Furthermore,
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In order to do this well, I will have to understand that I am leading each student to the next step in their writing. I have to understand that not everyone will be at the same level, so my comments will look different for every student. Bean’s idea of mitigated criticism is helpful for me, because I don’t want to destroy any my students confidences with harsh sounding comments. Mitigated comments are just as important for the lower level students as they are for the higher level students. Young adults, especially high school students, are easily discouraged by negative comments: I can’t expect them to be motivated by harsh criticism. Ultimately, I want all of my students to feel comfortable taking on the task of revision, as I believe it is an important tool in …show more content…
Bean talks about his method in which he gives a holistic grade on the first reading, and then does a closer reading following the rubric. The two grades are then balanced to reflect one overall grade. This would be my ideal method because I want my students to meet the assignment requirement, but I also don’t want them to be confined by it. Using a rubric, even partially this way, is beneficial for the students to understand what I expect, what they accomplished, and what they need to work on. Giving a holistic grade could be confusing for some students, or not enough in terms of feedback. I want my students to understand why they got the grade they did, and more importantly what they can do to improve that grade. I don’t want my students to be held back by the rubric because I know they can accomplish wonderful papers that don’t always meet all of the rubric requirements. They will be learning, through revision, how to formulate a good paper. My hope is that my assessment of their paper will show them where they need to go, not where they are. Learning and writing are ongoing processes, and I want them to understand that they can and will improve. Their education is a journey, although they may not see that for years after they are in my class, I hope that my assessment methods will encourage them to keep moving
I read an interesting article by Alicia Shepard called, A's for Everyone! Shepard has written for many exclusive magazines including the New York times and People magazine. Her expertise mainly involves media. She has also received a masters in journalism and a honors in English (Women's Media Center). The essay's main point of interest is talking about of students and parents expecting the highest possible grade for everyone. This is a perfect time to discuss an article like this as us college students move into our first semester of classes.
In “What is a Grade” by Pat Belanoff, she explains the pros and cons of the grading system. In Pats ' essay she states “Perhaps the solution would to abandon grading altogether in writing class. I confess that this a solution that appeals to me greatly.” (151). Grades should not be present in the way we test students’ learning ability. School seems to be more about learning the material for a brief moment just to get a good grade rather then to actually learn and think about the information being presented.
However, these techniques that I fostered as a child proved lacking when I entered middle school. It turns out that in comparison to my previous writing, I was no longer writing for my own self-improvement or joy; I was now writing to please someone who was grading the work. After many dissatisfying remarks about my writing, the self-conscious feelings I had as a child crept up on me once again. I felt the need to impress and be perfect. For every paper I wrote from then on, there was that little voice in the back of my head telling me that I had to try twice as hard because English was my second language. For a very long time, I was not able to write a paper without scrutinizing it harshly. “The oppressor,” as Anne Lammot states in “Bird by Bird,” kept me from what I truly wanted to write and made me focus on the unattainable goal of being perfect. Perfection is something that “… limit[s] us…[and] keep[s] us from experiencing life” (Lammott 30). The purpose was not to write for me, but for others, and that was my flaw; I was just writing to please. Technicality was my only worry and I did not worry if what I was writing actually had
While assessment can give students, parents, and administrators a view of where a student stands in terms of achievement, one must always remember that the grade is subjective. There is no right or wrong answer in English, as there is in math or other quantitative areas of study. The basis of “a grade” depends upon a student’s ability to choose a course of thought and convey it accurately and convincingly in written form. The subjectivity falls in how the teacher interprets or responds to the ideas and supporting information. For example, during my first venture as a student teacher, I was given the task of grading “free choice” essays. The students were given free range of the subject matter, and were told to write an insightful and poignant essay on the topic of their choice. After grading the papers, my mentor sat with me and we discussed some of the grades I had given for several of the students’ papers. Upon glancing briefly at the comments I had made and the grades I had given, my mentor began asking direct questions as to why I would grade certain papers one way, but would assign a different grade to others that were quite similar. As she went on to read through other papers, she would agree with some of my grades, but strongly disagree with others. I found this interesting because, while we were both reading the same essays, we were focusing on different points or concepts, which shaded our perception of the piece as a whole.
College students work hard assuming that they will get the grade they deserve but this is not always the case.
higher than previously assigned for given levels of achievement.” This means that grades are designed to recognize various levels of success, making them an important aspect of the education system in countries across the globe. They help determine not only where students are accepted, but help students earn scholarship dollars to aid students in paying for their education. However, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of A’s awarded to students in America to help those trying to get into and pay for college rather than earning A’s for the content of their work. There is a huge difference between the number of A’s given to students in America and
In the beginning of English 101 I was what you call a novice writer a person who only wrote what they felt was required. However, certain techniques that I learned in English 101 made me realize that writing was not about filling requirements; it’s about speaking out, exploring and proving a point. “Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” (Trimble, 17) In John Trimble’s quote he tries to point out that writing is something that you grow with and learn as you go along. I believe this growth was achieved with a technique that was introduced to me by my professor called repetitive revision. What I found out was that revision of your essays helps in recognizing your mistakes and enhances the flow of your essays. By providing me...
As a mother of three students and me being a student, it is evident that our current grading system is no longer efficient. The grading system that once might have worked is no longer an effective means of measure in the 21st Century. For us to overlook the thoughts of a new improved way of grading or evaluating students, only restrains our ability to put into place something more current and something more efficient. Something that could perhaps empower our students to perform at greater levels, or something that could perhaps embolden our students to want to learn. Relying on the traditional way of grading, can actually be more harmful than helpful when it comes to empowering our students and calculating or measuring their growth.
Some educationists believe that awarding high grades have increased the competition. They think that getting higher grades requires efforts, and it will motivate students to do more hard work to achieve “A” because most of their contemporaries will be getting above average
When many people write, including myself, they get attached to their writing. Although writing can be a personal thing, I’ve learned that it is important to step away from your paper, and take the feedback on an objective level. The first time I got feedback, I had an overwhelming urge to defend myself. I remember reading that my introduction wasn’t complete, and that my evidence wasn’t properly introduced. I wanted to walk up to those who critiqued my paper, and spit right in their faces. ‘How dare they say bad things about my paper?’ I thought to myself. From here, I went back into my essay, and looked at what they had told me were errors. It was then that I realized that they were right. My introduction needed more background information, and my evidence should have had more of an introduction. They weren’t trying to be mean; they were just helping me receive a better grade, by looking at my essay through an objective view. Now, I go out of my way to ask people for feedback, and tell them to be honest. I want my paper to be the very best it can be, so it isn 't helpful when people hold back. I now understand that those giving feedback aren’t insulting me, or the paper; they are just suggesting ways to improve, or enhance my ideas. Giving and receiving feedback is a hard, yet important skill to learn, and hope to continue improving in this
The message in Tasty Baby Belly Buttons is indeed important, but not necessarily Japanese. Not only does the author not acknowledge the effect of her textual changes on the message, but further associates the story to Japan by including certain Japanese phrases in the text. When describing how an old couple found Uriko, she writes “a melon came floating along, tsunbara, tsunbara” (Sierra 4), along with “He was just getting ready to cut it open when he heard a crying noise, boro, boro” (Sierra 4). The sets of repeated words are “Japanese onomatopoeic phrases” that are used to create rhythm in stories. By including these phrases throughout the story, she reinforces the connection of her story to Japanese culture, which further undermines Japanese
Offer specific and detailed feedback. Avoid vague statements and instead provide concrete examples. For instance, rather than saying "Good job," specify what was good, such as "Your essay structure was clear, and your use of examples strengthened your arguments. " Direct feedback on the student's work or behavior, not their personal attributes. This helps separate the action from the individual, reducing defensiveness and encouraging improvement.
By nature, most students are brought up in an academic environment motivated to get A’s and B’s on their report cards. Those grades sometimes don’t thoroughly report how much a student has learned or gained knowledge in each topic. Some instructors throw in factors totally unrelated to learning, when the main objective of academic institutions is to learn. In order to clearly demonstrate how much a student has learned in the classroom, schools should change their current grading system and teach students how to learn.
The public high schools began a grading system as a way of telling an individual how they were performing. There was no interest by the public in reporting the school’s progress at teaching. Teachers, in an effort to recognize outstanding performers, looked for a way of rewarding hard-working students for their efforts The grading structure changed from superior and excellent to A’s and B’s. This placed much of the burden of recognizing academic talent on the high schools.
But is this really helping a student succeed? How are they going to succeed if they have not gained any knowledge? It is not right for someone to give a student a grade they do not deserve. Stuart Rojstaczer in “Grade inflation Gone wild” has an interesting opinion on students. He says, “When students walk into a classroom knowing they can go through the motions and get a B+ or better, that’s what they tend to do, give minimal effort”(75).