FIAE Chapter 9

FIAE Ch 9
Grades must be accurate to mastery. This chapter talked about 10 different approaches you should use to avoid
1 Don’t include nonacademic factors in the final grade. These factors may include behavior, attendance, and effort.
2. Don’t penalize students when it takes multiple attempts to prove mastery but providing feedback is very important. If a student shows mastery in the end then they should receive the grade reflecting it.
3. Don’t grade practice because these are a method to reach mastery, not to prove mastery. This practice gives students time to reflect and revise their work and understanding of the subject matter.
4. Don’t withhold assistance when it is needed. Include differentiation to clarify information. This may not seem equal but it is what needs to be done for some students to gain mastery.
5. Only assess in ways that accurately indicate mastery.
6. Don’t give extra credit and bonus points. These do not usually show mastery of a subject.
7. Avoid group grades. They do not reflect each student’s understanding of the subject and may create an unhealthy atmosphere within the group due to peer pressure.
8. Don’t grade on a curve. You need to compare students to themselves not each other the way curve grading does.
9. Don’t record zeros for work not done because it significantly distorts the grade.
10. Don’t use compare students to each other but to their own past work.

It seems that the further we get into grading the more complicated it becomes. There was some question about grading for homework. If you are not going to grade homework what is the incentive for students to hand it in or take it seriously? On the other hand, students need to be able to try and get it wrong without being afraid that it will bring their grades down. One student commented on scaling and that students should continue on in their education because they have mastered the basics not because the grades were scaled. The principle about avoiding penalizing student’s attempts to try to master the subject was really useful. There were thoughts on number six. Sometimes bonus points can be useful and, more importantly, fun. Sometimes bonus questions can be used to assess higher levels of learning. We have all seen some (or most) of these practices in high school but we have also seen this in college, used in both positive and negative ways.

FIAE Chapter 8

Abstract
Many teachers view grading as something that they have to do instead of something they do to benefit the students. The chapter breaks up different ways and reasons that teachers grade work.
To document student and teacher progress
To provide feedback to the student, family and teacher
To inform instructional decisions
To motivate students
To punish students
To sort students
The first three reasons are ones that are understandable and don't produce much controversy, however the second three are ones that get much discussion over. Some other discussions are about whether or not participation and effort.

Reflection
Grading is something that really needs to happen. Maybe not always using actual grades to do it but by using some sort of assessment piece that will be kept to give you a record of how well a student is doing. We all agreed that grade affect our lives dramatically whether it be that we are always trying to get good grades or say when we do get a grade and it doesn't seem to fit what we thought we would get then it becomes more frustration than anything. Most of us agreed also on grading students for their participation inside the classroom and that is because it get the students to be involved with a discussion and perhaps gets them to learn more about the topic being discussed.

FIAE Chapter 10

Chapter 10 dealt entirely with the concept of making up late work. The chapter goes in to some detail concerning certain instances where late work might occur, and how to deal with them in the form of some sort of policy. Generally, the book says it is best to give students who were showing effort on a piece the opportunity to revise their work for a better grade. It was highly recommended that there be some sort of system that will ensure late work is not just blown off work. One suggestion was for the teacher to rewrite the assignment so students have to show effort in the work. Other recommendations included parents signing notes as well. At the very least this would encourage parent involvement and therefore diminish the chances of a student using the full credit make up system for "blow-off" purposes. It is also strongly recommended that a time limit be instated for late work, as well as not allowing any make up work for the last week of a grading period. This is mostly for teacher purposes, seeing as cramming make-up grades in to the gradebook at such a late time would be very stressful for the teachers.

Basically everyone agreed with the ideas introduced in the book. Students should certainly be allowed full credit makeups and revisions, but there are definite limitations that need to be addressed in order to maintain some sort of classroom sanity. Many people exclaimed in the definite line given for the do's and don'ts of makeup and revision work.

Chapter 10

This chapter gives us ways to get students to do things outside of the classroom that has them use the knowledge they learned. Things like internships, have projects that involve experts, have them look toward summer and enrichment programs and support their learning on their own. Making this connection to the outside world with students will help them appreciate and value school more than they did before. Students are simply looking to be intrigued and inspired with the work they do and if they never get that then there is no motivation for them to be in school.

Chapter 9

This chapter is about trying to make any rough edges smooth before you even get to them. Like when a student feels discouraged with school it usually means that something went wrong with the grades they are getting or got. It could also be that the student isn't secure or lacks the confidence needed to be appreciated. The students created a list of questions that teachers should ask before grades a posted and after they are. One student said that a new teacher should be sure to maintain control and or of his or her classroom environment. There is another important section that deals with what to do when things go wrong. In it Cushman says don't be afraid to apologize, reexamine your teaching approach, don't take a bad day too hard, your success shouldn't be based on whether or not your students like you and don't try to be a superhero.

Chapter 8

This was a very important chapter in this book. It is so important because we as teacher need to know what to expect in any situation and this may very well be a situation that many of us face. When you have an English learning student in your class they will feel uncomfortable to answer questions or share work for fear of messing up their English. But what we as teachers need to do is ensure that their grammar skills, accents and other differences they may have don't get made fun of. Getting them to take risks is an essential part of them learning the language so look past spelling errors and grammar mistakes, ask them if they are understanding the content that we are teaching to them and make sure that we give them alternate ways to present the knowledge on the subject.

Chatper 7

There is some material that will come difficult to some students, I actually experienced this when I was in the classroom. This chapter tries to help us as teacher create ways that will get the student to better understand and learn those harder materials. Ways such as breaking down the material, linking the material to something that they already know or can do, make connections to things they already do and use different approaches when teaching the material. Getting students to think about the subject will get them to better understand and get them to remember it better when it is time to take the test than when they are just trying to cram knowledge in their brain for the test.

Chapter 6

This chapter is talks about the reasons why students go to school and why they would stay in school. It is also about what motivates the students as well as what makes them bored. Andres tells us that a reason he attends school because he wants to reach his full potential even though some of the classes he doesn't like. By connecting the lessons and activities that a teacher is doing you will create a classroom that is going to be less boring to all of you students. Basically keep the students actively thinking about what is being taught and how they can use it.

Chapter 5

This chapter has two parts. First Cushman presents concepts of how each individual student works in the classroom. The second part is about the same ideas but instead of individuals it is about groups. Cushman has different types of student classifications on the individual basis. When doing things with groups, the groups need to be set up with a purpose (the students should get something out of it).

Chapter 4

Inform students of the high expectations you have of them. This will help create a culture of success. No human is perfect, so 2nd chances should be given to students who do try to complete their work on time. It's only fair that students get rewarded for the work they attempt. DON'T FAVOR ANY STUDENTS. Allow students to have an opinion on something and ensure that their opinion doesn't get made fun of or disregarded. All of these are ways to create a successful class culture.

Chapter 3

The chapter describes how to create, keep and identify ways and problems that arise when making an orderly and purposeful classroom. When creating this classroom a teacher needs to inform the students indirectly that he or she truly wants the them to learn and succeed in the classroom. To keep an orderly and purposeful classroom one must get the entire class involved in making class rule and having class discussion throughout the year. Identifying disruptions and dealing with them in a respectful and proper (for the situation) manner.

FIAE: Chapter 7

Grading practices are a big concern for teachers and schools but it is often ignored. Even though teachers and administrators do not really want to talk about them, there should be discussions about grades. There are so many different interpretations of what a certain grade stands for, yet it would take a lot of energy to sit down and agree on one meaning. How can a student, a parent, or a fellow teacher tell if a student understands what they should about the subjects taught that quarter when all they get to see is one letter grade? They can’t. Grades mean too much, and yet are not explained enough. Everyone needs to remember that grades are not always a clear message of understanding. A student can do all the work required, but still not understanding the material. Every teacher grades differently. We are different people, so the fact that our grades will be based on whom we are will never change. The concept of a C being average is long gone. Many parents who expect their children to go to college after high school would not be pleased to see a C on their child’s report card. In most cases C equals something bad, not an average score to be content with. Do not say that everyone has an A and then they lose points as the quarter goes on. That is not a good way to encourage students; it just makes them sad to see the number going down. Do not use unhappy faces on papers, it doesn’t do anything good for the student, it just makes them feel bad. Grades do not always motivate students. Many students need something more worth while than a report card to learn. There is no one set way to grade. Teachers should find a way that works for them, their class, and most importantly their students.

We believe that it is important that students should not be compared to other students. Students should be provided with good rubrics, so that they understand what is expected but to also help teacher’s grade effectively. There should be no unhappy faces on assignments. Teachers should focus on the positive things a student accomplishes. They should define the grades a student earns, because parents and students alike want to know what a grade actually stands for. The DNA essay question made most of us think. We had to stop and think about how we would grade it. Then to think of the paper in the mind frame of the different situations was difficult at times. Thinking about that made a very good point in how we grade students. We all know that it is challenging to define what grades are, yet that does not stop us from trying. The grade should not be the number one priority, but how can we say that, when at times, grades were important to us and probably still our. Some people felt that is was hard to grade or judge someone’s work. They wanted to be sure they were fair in their grades and were fair to all the students. The biggest surprise was that C’s would be thought of as average, because many of us did not feel that way in school. Many of us felt that a C was just getting by, not actually excelling. Many of us were expected to earn at least B’s in our classes. Yet in the end, many of us felt that this chapter was actually useful.

FIAE Chapter 5

The general consensus concerning this chapter is a big emphasis on teachers using tiering as a method to reach all students. Tiering is, simply put, "how teachers adjust assignments and assessments depending on student's readiness levels, interests, and learner profiles,". With that in mind, though, it is important to remember never to expect your students as a whole to understand more than the standard. Asking for more or less then the base standard can potentially confuse your students, making them unsure of what to expect, and unsure of what the teacher expects. Also, it is important to keep in mind that tiering should only be used when it is obvious to the teacher that students are learning at different levels and speeds. There is no need to tier a classroom that is learning at the same pace. After introducing the concept of tiering, the chapter goes on to give several examples of it, split up by grade level. Going on off of tiering, the chapter introduces Tomlinson's equalizer, which is a nine category system to use while building lessons. Beyond the equalizer were other methods of tiering a classroom, such as Learning Contracts, which allow students to work at their own pace -- giving them the opportunity to move faster or slower depending on their personal preference and interest level. There is also the RAFT(S) method, which is an acronym giving the student a Role, Audience, Format and Topic (much like GRASPS). The RAFT(S) method gives them a chance to be independently creative.

Overall, the class was pleased with the option of tiering in a classroom. There were some minor concerns about how to manage such a multitude of things happening at one time, as well as the idea of making things too challenging or too simple for a student. In the long run, though, it seems that everyone would be interested in using the tiering system in their own classroom. The examples given were incredibly helpful, namely the tic-tac-toe and summarization pyramid. There was little to no disagreement with the idea of tiering, save for the extra work that it creates, as well as the difficulty that it may pose for new teachers. Many students also seemed drawn to the RAFT(S) method, probably because it is so close to the GRASPS method that we are learning to use already.

FIAE Chapter 6

This chapter was about creating good and fair test questions. It contained a lot of tips that teachers could use in creating tests for their students. Questions should be clear and easy to understand. This chapter suggests that teachers should use a variety of test questions, more traditional such as matching and true/false but teachers should also use diagrams or analogies. Using this mix of test question will provide teachers of a better understanding of what their students know and what they do not know. Some good tips to create better tests that are not as confusing to students are to put all parts of a matching question on one page with the questions on the left and words on the right. To make it so that you do not have the problem of trying to decipher between T’s and F’s print them right on the test so that students only have to circle them. Writing prompts for essays should be very clear so that students know exactly what is expected of them. A great tip is to have the students create a double of the answer sheet so after the test the students can compare answers. Just make sure that you change the answer sheet for different classes. Try to avoid confusing negatives and try to keep the questions short and simple. One way of proving mastery is to include some tricky question, but make sure that the students know they may be included on the test so that they are not tricked. It is a good idea to make the questions in the same format that they learned the material. Make sure that students are showing what they know, not guessing at what you want them to answer. Try to make tests fun by including the names of students and their interesting into the questions. Make sure that the test is long enough to evaluate the material but not too long that it cannot be done in the time allotted. At the very end of the exam ask the students a couple of question about the test itself, “such as what would you have included on this test.” By asking these questions you will gain insight on how to improve future tests.

This chapter had a lot of test tips that we can use in our classes. Some of us felt that this chapter was a contradiction to what the author had been talking about before. Some others felt that this chapter generally contained common sense. That it should be obvious that it is annoying and confusing to have to flip pages when matching. Many of us felt that the best suggestion was having an answer sheet that was split down the middle so that the students could put each of their answer down twice, tear the paper in half when they completed the test, and then they would be able to easily compare answers with their classmates. This gives a little more time for the teacher to grade the test without students bugging them as to what they received for a grade. Yet, the main point was that the moment student’s step out of the classroom they are chatting about what the answers to each of the questions are anyway, so why fight it. A lot of us felt that we had had bad experiences with tests in the past. Some of the common issues were essay questions that were too vague and you did not know what was expected to be in your answer, matching sections that were on two different pages, and multiple choice questions that were too tricky. As teachers we are not suppose to try and trick our students, we are supposed to be able to evaluate their knowledge on the subject. Another issue we had with tests is having a time limit. I feel as if it makes taking a test more stressful than it was before. If students are stressed out than they might not be as successful on the test. Some people did not understand why matching should not be used that often. I had that same question because the most common type of question on foreign language exams were matching long lists of vocabulary. It probably is not the best way to demonstrate a students knowledge of the words and there meanings. Overall I think we thought that the chapter was helpful in giving tips on how to effectively test our students.

Chapter 10: Multiple Intelligence

Abstract
The beginning of chapter ten in the Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom there is a double message that teachers have with their students. This message is that we try to teacher our students all eight of the multiple intelligences, but we only test through two of them (logic and verbal). So this chapter helps teachers to create different and more fitting ways of assessing the students that they teach. The main components of assessments are observation and Documentation. Using journal entries to record thoughts and ideas that a student has, keeping work samples, making videos, non-standardized tests, student interviews and checklists are all ways to get your students to work hard and document their progress. All of these can be assessed and graded. Having students make a portfolio and ensuring that they display the five “C’s” of portfolio development: celebration, cognition, communication, cooperation and competency, is another import tool to teach the students.

Reflection
This chapter really tries to get teacher to broaden their assessment practices. Simply using standardized tests isn’t an effective assessment strategy. There are many students that are scared of standardized tests so why make them uncomfortable? We shouldn’t but we do. For example having students answer questions about the story of Huck Fin only will show if the student had the same or similar perceptions as the teacher. But say you allow the student to create a poster, a movie or even a song will give them a chance to express there understanding of the Huck Fin story. Their activity should have some sort of rubric or guidelines to follow but give students more than one chance to get it right. They are humans just like we are and they aren’t perfect just like us.

Chapter 4: Three Important Types of Assessment

This chapter focuses on three types of assessments that are available to differentiated teachers for authentic assessment. They are the portfolio, the rubric, and the student self assessment. A portfolio is a collection of the student’s best works over time. They can be used successfully in every subject area. This makes it easy for the teacher, student, and parents to assess the progress that has been made. Students can reflect on their own work which helps them in goal setting for future assignments. Teachers are able to see learning style, strengths, and weaknesses so they can differentiate better. A portfolio can be either the student’s, the teacher’s, or a shared responsibility. Also, a portfolio does not have to be just a binder of paper work. It can contain non paper artifacts like digital stories, electronic/digital artifacts, among other types. It can even be completely digital! Rubrics are tools that can really help the assessment be more objectivity and consistency. There are two types, analytical and holistic. The analytical type is more detailed and gives more feedback than the holistic type. They can help the student be more focused, but are harder to design that you might think. The book recommends designing one in order to understand them better. They need to be clear and they need to assess everything you want it to. The chapter contains detailed instructions that can help with this. A rubric can be changed, adapted, or personalized which really helps when teaching with differentiation. A good way to help students focus on the tasks in an assignment is to have them develop their own rubric. Student self assessments are a good way for students to be part of the assessment process. The information can be used to set goals. Some types of self assessments include self check lists, self rubrics, videotaping performances and analyzing, portfolio analysis. Reading notations, journals, and interactive notebooks are also good for self reflection and provide good feedback to the student and the teacher.
This chapter introduced useful strategies for assessment but they are not the ONLY assessment types. The idea of teachers and students working together on portfolios is great and allowing parent’s access to it to see progress is great. A multi-year portfolio is interesting, it would give you a better understanding of a students learning style to allow better differentiation. Teachers’ making sure that the portfolios are organized was mentions as a worry. An artifact as big as a portfolio must be worth something to the student, do not have them work all year on it and not weigh it very strongly at the end of the year. The information on rubrics was helpful but they are not that appealing to some of us. Are student assessments that accurate because of being too biased or to harsh? Reading notations look like a good way of making sure the students understand the text. The interactive journals look like a great idea and the websites for student journals are intriguing.