MS Sunday Funday--Grading Policies

Before I get into all of the policies, this is the system that I came into at my new school. We have been trying to figure out a better system all year, but as I am sure we all know, it is hard to do when you have certain restrictions set in place already. So here we go...

Categories

• 90% assessments
• 10% daily/homework

Assessments

Our assessments are called "quizzes" not tests. I am not 100% sure why we do use the word test, but out of habit, I still say tests and so do my kiddos. The are usually 10-25 questions depending on what learning targets we have covered during the week.  We have 45 minute classes, so we can't really put much more than that on the quizzes of the kids would never finish. They have trouble finishing the quizzes each week, so I usually have a bunch of kids coming in before/after school to finish.  I really don't like the system that we have because I feel like the kids really are not required to retain the information and don't really pay attention to what learning targets they have mastered and the ones they still need work on. We do not do mid-terms or finals at the end of the semester/year. 

Re-do's

Our district requires that we allow re-takes of assessments. Our 7th grade math department built in re-do's of assessments into class time.  They are usually a couple of weeks after the initial quiz, but in some cases, it is a couple days after depending on where we are in the six weeks.  We started the year having our retakes mandatory for all students no matter what they scored on the initial quiz.  This was how they were held accountable for retaining information. We would completely replace their initial quiz grade with the final quiz grade if they did better on the retake. (I have never felt comfortable completely replacing the initial grade.  I don't disagree that students should have the opportunity to do better, but I think they should still be displayed in their grades, even if it does not "count".) If they did worse, their initial quiz grade stayed and the retake was also put into the grade book. The students are expected to come into tutorials to get more help/practice on the quizzes if they did bad, which rarely happened. So, we started making the retake quizzes optional if they scored an 80 or higher. I don't like this because of how short our quizzes are. I we only put one question over a certain learning target and they miss it, but still score an 80 or higher, they really are not required to go back and learn how to correct their mistakes, because they don't have to take the final quiz. 

In Conclusion

A student's grade should show mastery of subject matter, but I really don't think that the grades in this system do at all.  The kids know how to manipulate it because they know that they will can totally slack off initially and replace the grade later. It works for the kids that really do need the extra time to learn and come in for help, but that is a small percentage of kids. I know that my team would be willing for change if there was something presented to them that could work, so that is what I have been working on over the past semester. I really want to move to the grading by objective and point system rather than a total percentage grade on each assessment. I'm really looking forward to seeing everybody's systems and gathering ideas to bring to my team!! Any suggestions?!!

Check out my Think Through Math post that stems off of this topic: Grading Policies w/ Think Through Math

Grading Policies w/ Think Through Math

So this weeks MS Sunday Funday is over grading policies so I thought this would be a great time to incorporate Think Through Math, because I have become totally obsessed with it. So this blog will be about my grading policies with Think Through Math.  If you have not heard about it you can watch this video: TTM Student Video and this one too: Teacher/Parent Video. I know that the state of Texas purchased the program so it is free of charge for us, but it is a national program available in all states--not sure if there is a fee. 

TTM is the best RTI and enrichment online program that I have come across in a long time!! It is super awesome because it can be used with the lowest of low and the kids that need that extra challenge.

Here are some things that I love about it:

• Student created avatar
• Students can donate to charities 
• Can make class motivators/incentives to work towards
• Remediates gaps in education
• Real life teachers available to help via chat
• Parents can create accounts
• Collects data for RTI
• Students LIKE doing it!
• Super awesome customer service 

Advanced Classes

I started requiring my PACE classes (advanced) to do 3 hours a week of TTM. I have enrolled them in the "algebra readiness" pathway to get them on working on solidifying their foundation for algebra since they will be taking it next year.  It's really cool to see how into the program that the kids get. They can see their classmates on there and can compete for points. The really cool thing is that they can "donate" their points to real life charities as actual $$. I'm not sure of the logistics or where the real money comes from, but the kids love it.

RTI

I feel like no one has really come up with a good, solid RTI program that is consistent from district to district, let alone nationally. I really think because of budget cuts our kids in the middle suffer the most. So much more should be focused on RTI programs for middle school than I have seen from the 2 districts that I have been in. We all have those kiddos that come to us from out of district or state that have been moved around so many times that they have never really had the chance to learn consistently from one teacher or even one curriculum so they have SOOOO many gaps. What normally happens with these less fortune kids is that they sink in our classes and never really have the chance to catch up, they become behavior problems, or they totally shut down. With TTM I have come up with a "grading system" that is specific to TTM and these students. I have 3 of these students this year that I have put on the program instead of having them do on level stuff they have clearly shown they are not quite yet capable of doing.  I'm so excited to give them the chance to be successful and feel good/confident about math. Their faces light up when they earn a certificate and see their points adding up. These kids have NEVER passed math or earned grades to feel proud of and this is giving them the chance. Without TTM I wouldn't have the opportunity to do get them working on straight remediation.

On-Level Classes

This year, I have some of my on-level 7th grade students doing this because they finish their work quickly or I want them to be able to get some extra challenge. Next year, I will do the same 3 hour requirement as I do for my PACE students.  You can create pathways that align to what you are covering in class so the kids that needs the lesson covered in a different way that you may have done is available.

Grading

As far as grading goes, it is different depending on what type of class they are in and whether they are RTI.  Currently, I am counting it in a 15% category in the gradebook for a weekly 100 if they obtain at least 3 hours.  I want to find a way to give extra credit to those who go above and beyond the 3 hours. I have had some students do like 10-12 hours. If you assign a pathway, then you can just require them to complete the pathway that is assigned each week. That may be a better way of grading, but since I am doing the algebra readiness for my advanced class, I haven't tried the pathway/wk thing yet. This will be something I can try next year or with my on level classes. 

Categories for PACE (class that I am using TTM for):

• 5% homework/classwork
• 15% TTM
• 80% assessments

Rubric for my RTI students:

Total lessons + Total questions answered + Certificates (10 points) + Attitude + Effort = Daily Grade

I add Monday-Friday daily grades to come up with a "major" grade based on how many points they have earned.  (I will put a link to a PDF version of the rubric I have when I get back to school)

There are averages for each objective they complete in the pathway that can be used as grades too, but I have been basing the grade more so off of their completion. Once I become more familiarized with the program, I think I will start using the averages on their post-quizzes for the grades somehow. 

All in all...

TTM's development team is constantly working on ways to improve it.  They have superior customer service representatives that are available to chat with whenever you have a question that you need answered. I use the live chat option almost daily. They always offer to pass on suggestions to their development team. I hope that you guys get a chance to look into it because it is AWESOME!!!!!!!! 

HERE IS ANOTHER VIDEO RIGHT FROM THE MOUTHS OF REAL MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS. 

MS Sunday Funday--Grading Math HW

***1st official MS Sunday Funday blog of the school year!! Better late than never!!***

This is my first year teaching in 45 minute classes versus the 90 minute block classes I started out my first two years with so I'm still trying to find a better way to tackle homework. Here is what I got for ya! 

I'll start with what I used to do which was pretty simple and typical--
90 minute block classes:

• Go over HW in depth together each day
• Students graded as we went over 
• I collected grades afterwards
• HW was 15% of the grade
• I always accepted late work up until the end of the six weeks, but for partial credit depending on whether it was acceptable work or "crap" work :) 

I totally could have done so much more with my 90 minutes, but didn't know as much back then. Oh how you miss what you had when it's gone! :)

45 minute classes:So this is how my year has gone with homework:

I started the year off doing the typical homework at home type set up and would go over HW in class the next day. Students either get a 100 for completing the HW with their work shown or an "M" for not having it the day we went over it or not having it complete. I haven't taken HW grades on actual performance because there is just not enough time for me to really grade everything. I let the students turn in their HW late up until the last day of the six weeks for full credit--hoping that this will give them more motivation in actually doing the practice.  I don't accept the work if it is not done to the students full potential and my expectations. The kids struggle with these expectations at the beginning of the year, but learn to give their best the first time as the year goes on. 

I started flipping my classroom about a month ago and absolutely LOVE IT! I still grade HW (now in class practice) based on completion, but I am able to actually give my kids feedback and really monitor that they are doing the assignment correctly w/ correct work. I'm able to quickly look through and circle items they need to go back and look at, etc. It's awesome and I am not talking/lecturing the entire time. BORING! Their HW is now what I call "Flip Notes" and I grade that based on completion in a 0% category--more so for their parents to see whether or not they are doing what they are suppose to at home. I give a 100 for doing the flip notes at home and bringing them to class on the assigned date and a 90 for doing them after they were due, just so I can keep track of who is doing them at home v. in class. 

So that is what I currently do, but I am always changing/looking for better ways to improve my class system and structure. Any feedback would be awesome. I can't wait to read what everybody else has going on in their rooms. There are some 8th grade math teachers at my school that use a point system for grading HW, but I haven't really got a clear view of how it works. I will see if I can get them to blog about it! 

Happy Spring Break!  :)