I have thoroughly communicated my grading plan to my students and the parents who came to open house. Students took their first concept quiz and recorded their results on their record sheet. They got their folders and decided whether or not they should store their quizzes in their new folders that stay in the classroom or take them home to help them study. A lot of them took them home.
I am recalling a post from someone on my reader called "SBG and Trust" and I realize that the students are trusting me more now than last year even though I've only had them a few weeks. Maybe I'll track that post down and put in a link later.
I am a bit nervous about the requirement I have made that every student has to get a score of at least 7 on every concept in order to pass the class. Their score is always the sum of the last two scores on any concept/skill. Their grades go up and down unless they achieve mastery, which is 2 fives in a row. What's going to happen here? Am I going to be inundated with reassessments? Chasing kids down, calling parents? I teach six classes total and have four different preps, so I am not sure that my plan is even reasonable. I like the plan because it really holds them responsible.
The other thing I like about my new plan is how everything is cumulative. Concept scores transfer to the next trimester, so they can still improve on older concepts. My midterms and finals are cumulative too. They get longer and longer. I am allowing notes on those and directing the students to take notes as we cover them in class. If they get a 1 or 2 on any concept on a midterm or final with notes, I am requiring them to reassess on that even they have previously mastered it. This requirement may also be overwhelming.
I made a Math Intervention Pass that I got from three geometry teachers at MCTM last spring. I'll post that later when I have my computer.
I'd love it if any of you people reading this would comment. Is my plan feasible, I came up with this after a period of reflection and sometimes it's hard to see the forest.
Hey Anna Maria,
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like an ambitious plan, especially with four preps. But if you truly believe that it will help your students to become successful learners then I say commit to it wholeheartedly.
If it turns out to be more than you can realistically handle, then you'll know that it wasn't realistic and you'll have a better sense of how to "tweek" it to make it workable.
There's no reason why you can't decide to change things around after the mid-term, provided that you give enough advance warning and that your revised system is still fair to those students who were thriving under the old system.
Just my two cents!
Paul Hawking
Blog: The Challenge of Teaching Math
http://challenge-of-teaching-math.blogspot.com/