Am I the only one who is a little scared about the quarter coming
to an end? I sort of have a good idea about my grade but then again I could be
completely off. My grade changed from a 64 percent to a 100 percent in one day.
This was because Ms Fletcher accidentally graded my test wrong. To me that is a
little unstable, one test should not change my grade 36 percent. I understand
that the class is graded on participation and that is hard to grade, but I
would feel a little better if we got an estimation on our grade a little bit
before the quarter ended so we would be able to try to change it.
Don't get me wrong, I like that the class
is graded mostly on participation. It is a different format than the usual but
I would like to know my grade on a week to week basis. A good idea would maybe
be to collect our notebooks every Friday and check what we have written. That
way Ms. Fletcher can see our progress and participation a lot before the
quarter and we could get an accurate estimate on our grade. I feel like that
would take a lot of stress off of her because she is doing a little bit of work
every week. I personally only want to know my grade a little bit beforehand
because if I get a bad grade on my progress report or quarter or especially the
semester grade, I will not see day light for a long time.
I can see how this stresses you out, Dylan. I log onto my parentportal account frequently to check how my grades are doing and how hard I have to work on a certain class. Of course, one should work hard constantly, but when there are 5 classes demanding onerous work, one is subjected into prioritizing. Choosing what to focus on is where updated grades, like you said, is important. If I think my grade was at a steady 94% in one class and an edgy 89.6% in another, chances are, most of my time would be given to raise the 0.4%. If the grades were inaccurate though, my priorities are completely messed up and I would be concentrating on tasks more than necessary.
ReplyDeleteIn truth, you are supposed to try your hardest at everything you do, but doing that can be extremely hard when you have so many other things going at you and pulling you to and fro. If you want to keep your grades up, you have no choice but to constantly rearrange your priorities.
I agree with you 100%. Usually around the time quarter grades come out, or especially when semester grades are due, I get really uneasy about my grades. But this class has proven to be the one that I get extra anxious about, and I do think its because of the 3P grading. The 3P does usually end up benefitting us a lot, but it worries me because I start questioning myself on whether I have done enough participation, or if my progress even shows and so forth. But Duyen is right, parent portal helps me so much! It'll help you compare your grades so it'll be easier to prioritize.
ReplyDeleteHey, Dylan,
ReplyDeleteGrades are stressful at these times of the year, and since the beginning, I've felt a little iffy on this grading system. All of our work would just be dumped on her rather than paced throughout the quarter. I worry for her.
Don't worry for me, Kalei! And Dylan, it's not iffy. It's MATH, kiddo. Real math. There are huge categories (participation, progress) that aren't even in the equation yet. So your grade is not your grade until I put those numbers in. And I cannot help it if our current computer-based grading system does not accommodate this model; believe me, if I had a choice, I would not use it.
ReplyDeleteBut 3P is the enlightened path. Phinizy and I are piloting this system with the knowledge and support of our administration team; this kind of portfolio based, self-assessment is called for by the new Common Core State Standards.
You kids are the No Child Left Behind generation, and you have been trained to think about your grades like nuts collected in a basket. It's points, points, points. I did it this way for years. The EMPHASIS resides ON THE GRADE -- not on what you are actually DOING in class, what you are actually making and learning. Assessment should be thought of as taking someone's temperature to see what needs to happen next -- it is not the final word. Well, once a year, once a semester, once a quarter -- yes, measure a student to see where they stand relative to others. But otherwise, this is a story that is always unfolding. If your parents were measured in their workplaces the way we measure kids...well, they wouldn't stand for it. "You get a B- on this memo you wrote today. You get a A on this sales call. You get a C+ on this meeting." No way. That's a fragmented way to think about a worker. We are judged by our overall performance, what we offer, day in, and day out.