Abstract and Synthesis FIAE Chapter 10

Abstract 

This chapter explained several ideas behind allowing students to redo work for credit. It explains some of the criteria teachers should taken into consideration when determining whether to allows students to redo work or not. One such criteria is to require parents to sign off on allowing the student to redo work, that way the parent is involved and can help to hold the student accountable. Another suggestion or criterion is to have students create a calendar or plan of completion. Don't allow students to have as much time as they want, but instead hold them responsible for creating a deadline to turn the revised work in by. Having students attach the original assignment to the revised assignment allows the teacher to see the progress made or changes made and helps the teacher to determine whether the student revised it themselves or had assistance. Something that goes along with this is to have students fill out the self-assessment again or to include a detailed list of what they changed/fixed/revised. This not only saves time on the teacher's end, but also requires that the student be able to determine for themselves what they changed. If they can't figure it out, then they didn't make a significant enough change. If a student's revised grade is lower than the original grade then the higher grade should be the one put into the gradebook. As Wormeli argues, "In most of life, we're given credit for the highest score we've earned," (134). Possibly one of the most important suggestions from this chapter is to stop accepting revised work during the last week of the grading period. This is done for the teacher's benefit. Having even more work to grade is not worth the loss of sanity that one would suffer if he were to accept additional revised work.

Synthesis

The general consensus is that allowing students to redo work is okay, as long as students have a valid reason to do so. If a student were to waste time and turn in an incomplete draft just because he or she knew that the option to redo it would be given, then we generally would not be likely to accept the redo. Students who always try and work hard in class would be given more opportunities to revise work, while students who never show up to class would not be. Creating a clear policy and sticking to it was also favored; no one wants to be the teacher who is walked all over because of their redo policy. Having students create a calendar/plan of completion seemed like a good idea because it keeps the student and teacher on the same page during the revision process. It also holds the students accountable, just as having parents sign the original task or assignment before the student is able to redo it.. Attaching the original task will be helpful because we all want to see the first attempt or any successive attempts.

Abstract and Synthesis FIAE Chapter 10

Abstract 

This chapter explained several ideas behind allowing students to redo work for credit. It explains some of the criteria teachers should taken into consideration when determining whether to allows students to redo work or not. One such criteria is to require parents to sign off on allowing the student to redo work, that way the parent is involved and can help to hold the student accountable. Another suggestion or criterion is to have students create a calendar or plan of completion. Don't allow students to have as much time as they want, but instead hold them responsible for creating a deadline to turn the revised work in by. Having students attach the original assignment to the revised assignment allows the teacher to see the progress made or changes made and helps the teacher to determine whether the student revised it themselves or had assistance. Something that goes along with this is to have students fill out the self-assessment again or to include a detailed list of what they changed/fixed/revised. This not only saves time on the teacher's end, but also requires that the student be able to determine for themselves what they changed. If they can't figure it out, then they didn't make a significant enough change. If a student's revised grade is lower than the original grade then the higher grade should be the one put into the gradebook. As Wormeli argues, "In most of life, we're given credit for the highest score we've earned," (134). Possibly one of the most important suggestions from this chapter is to stop accepting revised work during the last week of the grading period. This is done for the teacher's benefit. Having even more work to grade is not worth the loss of sanity that one would suffer if he were to accept additional revised work.

Synthesis
The general consensus is that allowing students to redo work is okay, as long as students have a valid reason to do so. If a student were to waste time and turn in an incomplete draft just because he or she knew that the option to redo it would be given, then we generally would not be likely to accept the redo. Students who always try and work hard in class would be given more opportunities to revise work, while students who never show up to class would not be. Creating a clear policy and sticking to it was also favored; no one wants to be the teacher who is walked all over because of their redo policy. Having students create a calendar/plan of completion seemed like a good idea because it keeps the student and teacher on the same page during the revision process. It also holds the students accountable, just as having parents sign the original task or assignment before the student is able to redo it.. Attaching the original task will be helpful because we all want to see the first attempt or any successive attempts.

Synthesis and Abstract for FIAE Chapter 4

Abstract
Chapter four of Fair Isn’t Always Equal focuses on using thee different types of assessments in the classroom: portfolios, rubrics, and self-assessments. Portfolios are useful for taking a comprehensive look at a student’s progress because they allow multiple pieces of evidences to be collected in one location. Rubrics are good for showing students what you expect from them before their product is turned in, as well as showing them how you evaluated their work. Self-assessments help students to make sure that they included everything they need in their product. Each type of assessment not only allows the teacher to evaluate the student, but also the student can evaluate his or her learning as well. Assessing students is important to understand what concepts, skills, and ideas students are acquiring through the lessons you are teaching, and these three methods are excellent ways to assess students. Having students assess their own works gives the teacher an idea of how the students feel they are doing. Teachers can then use these assessments to modify and adapt their teaching strategies to assist any students who are not meeting the understandings that the teacher created.

Synthesis

The common consensus is that these methods of assessment are necessary for an effective classroom. Portfolios were popular because they can be used to show how students are making progress throughout a unit, a year, or even their entire high school career. The ability to organize them was also a popular feature and reason for using portfolios. Rubrics also had a popular response because they show the teacher's expectations and it allows teachers to give feedback to the students. The important part of rubrics is making sure that they explain the requirements clearly, so that students will not have any problems interpreting the requirements. Personal experience with rubrics makes it easier for us to understand the importance of using them in our own classrooms. The same can be said for self-assessments, which most of us have experienced using in at least one class. It seems that these three types of assessments will find their way into each of our classrooms in some format.

FIAE Chapter 14

The main point this chapter is trying to get across is that most report cards, as they are used currently, are ineffective.  Report cards should be more than just a printout of the final grades for a term.  Parents and students need to see what is really going on in the classroom and since most parents are unable to or choose not to be involved in their child’s academic life, they only see the report card two to four times a year.  The information presented on the standard report card are not accurate indicators of the rest of the year.  I hope that the school(s) I teach at does not use the basic report card and/or allows me to include an additional sheet that gives more information on the student’s progress through the standards or whatever method is being used. What I need to keep in mind is that parents do not fully understand the way the classroom is run, so they need as much information as frequently as possible that will help them to see their student’s progress. I think finding a way to incorporate as many different methods for presenting the information is probably the best way to construct a report card, but it is also the most time consuming, and teachers and other administration just do not have the time to put into a report such as that. Starting a process that would present all of the information is daunting, but if you are able to keep up with it, especially using an online gradebook would be incredibly beneficial for all parties.

FIAE Chapter 13

Color coding the gradebook is a fantastic way to organize student assessment scores. Selecting different colors for different topics or standards or whatever is being assessed is really helpful in making sure that there is a balance in the way you are assessing students. Making sure that you provide students with plenty of opportunities to demonstrate mastery in one area is good, but you want to make sure that you allow enough time for other areas as well.  I also like the idea of setting up the gradebook by content or topic. This doesn’t affect the way grades are weighted or anything, although it could easily be set up to, but it allows the teacher a comprehensive look at how a student is performing in each of the assessment areas. I don’t think it matters how a gradebook is set up, but how the teacher uses the gradebook. If it is only used to store or hold grades until the end of the marking period, then it is not useful. If it is a tool that allows a teacher to see how a student is doing and what the teacher needs to do to help students make progress, then it is an effective use of the gradebook.  Because online gradebooks are so much easier to work with, they tend to be favored, and I know that I would prefer an online gradebook. You can make changes and then make more changes and then revert to the previous setup without having to worry about rewriting every single grade.

FIAE Chapter 12

It seems unfortunate that grades have the reputation and significance that they do. Not only does it make it difficult to fairly and adequately assess students, it also makes it difficult to change the method for assessing students. As the chapter suggests, students and parents are often opposed to teachers switching to rubrics because they don’t see how a teacher could give a student an A or a B using a rubric, when that isn’t the point. I personally experienced a transition in grading while in high school. My school went from using a 100-point scale to using what they called standards-based grading, which was for the most part a rubric 4-point scale. At first it was a confusing transition, but once teachers posted what the new grades meant somewhere so we could see that a 3/4 was a 90 in the book, we were able to better see how it worked. I think this transition has been successful in the long term picture. It requires teachers to take a close look at the concepts and skills a student needs to be successful and show mastery in a content area. I think that no matter what the grading system is, it is important that the teacher take a close look at how the student performed in reference to the concepts and skills, not the aesthetics of the assessment. I also think that an entire school should use the same grading system, to make it easier not only on the teachers, but the students as well. Uniformity and consistency is key to students understanding their assessments and feedback, and it makes it less difficult for teachers to team teach, co-teach, and to compile data on student progress.

FIAE Chapter 10

The conditions for allowing students to redo work for full credit were addressed in this chapter. I think the most useful piece of advice in this chapter is to create a policy that allows you to withhold the right for students to redo work depending on certain circumstances. If a student purposefully blows off a test, then he or she really shouldn’t be given a second opportunity when they did not take advantage of the first opportunity. With this policy, however, will come parents who disagree, so I also think it is important to inform parents at the beginning of the year that that is how you will be handling make up work throughout the year. I also don’t think that the redo assignment needs to be the exact same as the original assignment, especially if it was something that the student put a lot of time and effort into creating. In that case, I would find alternate assessments that will still show that the student has mastered the concept. I had a teacher who allowed us to revise essays after we turned them in, which was fairly easy to do, but when we revised projects, sometimes all we had to do was write an explanation of what we would change and why. Writing the explanations caused us to consider the content and material again and gave us another opportunity to show that we do understand what we learned. I think these conditions will certainly be a part of my classroom policy on redoing work.