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Math
Posts: 108
Location: Henry Clay | I mentioned in a previous post that our grading policies were being changed. We finally got the low down on this yesterday. Please respond with your opinions, thoughts, whatever.....
We have been told that EVERYTHING MUST be graded and comments written. So concerning homework....No, you can't randomly select 2 or 3 problems from 10. No you can't have them submit it via Navigator and graded instantly. One of our teachers individually conferences with each student each day about their homework while she walks around....no that doesn't cut it either. We are also required to give an exit slip {"quiz"} at the end of each class to assess their understanding of that day's content. The exit slip must graded and comments written as well. Okay so at the current state of affairs my paperwork work just went from huge to very overwhelming. Besides the fact that...I feel homework is learning and mistakes are okay. This is saying you've got to get it NOW, and mistakes are not okay.....blah, blah, blah.... Please comment!!!!
The administration says that since we currently do not "grade" homework that the kids say they don't have to try on it, there's no value to it, etc..... So the administration seems to think that we give them credit for slopping anything down on a piece of paper. It is OBVIOUS who is doing homework and who is just writing anything down and that person is not getting credit. We were also told that we should not be spending time going over homework. I agree that we need to do something different overall to improve scores. BUT, grading and commenting on every single problem seems like an impossibility to me. We don't get any student aides or any help at all. If I did not have 3 children, I would have resigned this job last night. Anyway after a sleepless night and the realization that I no choice but to determine how to deal with this, I think I have come to an understanding of this philosphy and our philosphy.
Philosophy 1
We present new material in class, do practice as we go along, and give you homework. We expect you to go home, look at your book and notes and practice. You come back with your homework and we talk about it. This is how we guide our reteaching.
Philosophy 2...is this how we're supposed to do it now???
We present new material in class, do practice as we go along, and give you an exit quiz at the end of class. We grade that exit quiz before you come back. For those people that "got it"...what good would homework do them? They know it already. For those people that "didn't get it"....what good would homework do them? They don't know how to do it anyway. So we reteach those that don't get it and let the others work ahead.
Comments please??!!! The only way I can see surviving this is by not giving homework. If I assign it, I have to GRADE it, ALL OF IT. I should be able to say "If you need extra practice, then look at these....but you won't be getting a grade for it...you'll be doing it for yourself"
I apologize for rambling and any English errors as I'm sure there are some.....
Edited by mdmdavis 10/25/2006 2:35 PM
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Location: Retired FCPS, Current UK and Transy | Just curious. What are your class sizes this year?
Also, I noticed on the school website that you guys have a scholastic audit this week. What does that involve?
Edited by rtallent 10/29/2006 11:22 AM
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Location: IAKSS | Melissa,
There are no simple answers to your questions or issues.
I have thought long and hard about your email and have decided to reply in various perspectives (thus the 1 of 5).
What I know is this: your math staff consists of 5 (of 10) emergency certified math teachers. Knowing this and without speaking to any members of your administration, I will create and comment in the next emails scenarios for you to consider.
Natalee |
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Location: IAKSS | There is the belief that "what gets graded is what gets valued".
....and I'm thinking on a teacher perspective - so that assignments may become meaningful. What value comes from assignments of "odds 1-31" or "evens 2-40" or "multiples of 3 from 3-60"...???
Perhaps having to grade the homework will make new teachers think about what problems are assigned.
One purpose of grading the homework (or exit slip) might be to see which students know how to solve the homework problems. Sounds silly or sounds simple enough; but not every teacher can actually tell you which students have mastered the material.
Finally, once teachers have feedback from the students homework, teachers need to decide whether to review, to reteach, to rework problems or to proceed. Great teachers can get this kind of feedback through effective teaching/questioning, but not all teachers have this level of expertise. |
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Location: IAKSS | Perhaps your administration has noticed a lot of teachers spending too much time going over homework.
Great teachers do not waste valuable class time going over homework. Great teachers know the most important portion of the period is, of course, devoted to actual teaching of new material. I repeat: teaching the new material is the most important part of any math class.
Poor results on homework and lots of student questions about homework are strong indicators that the previous lesson was not taught appropriately or as effectively as it could have been.
Having the teacher grade homework will save wasted class time going over homework. Can you see this now:
"Are there any questions on the homework?"
"Sara's hand goes up instantly. She wants to see the solutions to 2,3,6,9, and 13.
The teacher spends time going over the problems and no one even listens! Not even Sara!
Sending 4 or 5 students to the board and letting them explain is not much better.
Why? Watching and listening to fellow students explain homework solutions does NOT enhance my understanding of the math.
Correcting homework by calling on students is NOT teaching.
Copying down the homework solutions from the board is a totally ineffective way for students to learn math skills and concepts.
Afterall, there is no guarantee that after watching the solution of ten homework problems that a student will be able to do the 11th.
Is there an effective way to promote total student involvement during the "going -over-the-homework" portion of the class? Yes!
Great teachers ask questions and give directions rather than telling the steps to take. I learned this best from Leslie Reynolds, Lafayette. She was the BEST at questioning. She always replaced statements with questions:
"What theorem justifies my next step?"
"What is the measure of this angle?"
"What error have I made in this step?
"How did I know this expression is undefined?"
"What step do I do next?".............. |
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Location: IAKSS | Like you, I personally believe (and can find research to support) that teachers should never record homework grades based on correctness.
But wait! Didn't someone say, "what gets graded, gets valued?"
Well, there is a difference between giving an informative score for homework and assigning a grade.
Converting 4 out of 5 to 80%, or 3 out of 4 to a grade of C, can destroy the entire purpose of assessment.
To give students feedback you could use something as simple as a 4 point rubric or even a 3 point rubric.
However, the grades you actually put in your gradebook would be only that the homework was or was not completed. |
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Location: IAKSS | I know that you teach Advanced Geometry and the correction of proofs poses some special problems.
There is no easy solution to this dilemma, but these ideas might help:
1) Use transparencies or use the document camera
Plan ahead to use one of the homework proofs in your lesson for group discussion.
Or before class, prepare a homework proof including the steps but giving no reasons (or occasionally reasons with no steps). Ask all the students to write a reason on paper as you circle around, checking the results.
2) Spot check.
If the results are good, make no comments. If the results are poor, use the approach above to teach the class at least one proof.
3) Limit your assignments.
4) Involve the students.
Try to involve as many students as possible in your teaching of the explanations of proofs by calling on several students to supply reasons. One student or the teacher would never explain the entire proof. This would give you an idea of ongoing assessment.
5) Limit time for homework discussions and teach, teach, teach more new lessons.
Hope this helps a bit!! You are not alone Hang in there! |
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| I cannot imagine grading and commenting on every single homework problem everyday. I agree with you that homework needs to be a learning experience, I think grading for correctness may be discouraging for a lot of students.
On a good note, I am sure that it will cause teachers to stop and think about their assignments - which is good (I relooked at one of mine today and took out a couple problems).
I actually like the idea of an exit quiz - more for me than the kids. It would give good feedback as to how well the ideas got across, what I need to reteach, etc.
I treat homework in a variety of ways. The only time I grade for correctness is using homework quizzes, after we have discussed any problems.
Hang in there!! |
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Posts: 119
Location: Henry Clay | Have you ever used "The Communicator"? Talk about being able to quickly assess what the kids know and what they need work on! I used it today in PreCal. We were reviewing for their test tomorrow. Their homework was a review sheet over the Chapter. At the beginning I asked them to record their answers to some questions that I asked off the top of my head. Like...." Is it possible for a cubic polynomial to have one complex solution and 2 Real solutions?" They wrote a big 'F(false) or T(true)' on the communicator and held up their answer. In a second I knew that they knew it and moved on to another question. I asked them simply to write their answer from a review problem and hold it up. If it was right, there was no reason to go over the problem. If too many got it wrong, we discussed the correct answer. The kids asked if we could use this again. They loved it. But more importantly, I was quickly able to assess (in a non-intimdating way) what we needed to go over again. I feel very confident that their scores on the test tomorrow will reflect the high level of involvement that occured today in class. |
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Posts: 58
Location: PL Dunbar | Melissa~
If you HAVE to grade EVERY problem and make comments on EVERY problem...then I'm with you...why even bother to assign HW. Who is it helping? Is it really helping the students if it makes you a more tired and cranky person because you were up all night grading his/her HW? Is it really helping the students if it now takes you 2 weeks to return any HW to the students?
One suggestion would be the ever lasting "trade and grade" of course there are always possible problems with this...but perhaps having the students grade another student's work would help them in discovering his/her own errors...you could require the same thing of hte students that is required of you...comments on all wrong answers. It would take some time in teaching them how to properly grade HW but once that was done...it may be beneficial.
You could even assign who grades whom.
The exit slip thing I agree is good...but always takes more time. When I give an exit slip it can only be right or wrong...no partial credit. Students are allowed to work together or ask me for help...heck even use notes...but by god...get the thing right!!!! This deters just answering anything. its actually quite helpful for me more than the students.
I have a hard time getting things graded just with tests and quizzes...I don't know what i would do if I had to actually grade HW too!
Good luck...and I'll keep thinking on this one...maybe we can all come up with something that works for you. |
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Posts: 108
Location: Henry Clay | Sorry it's taken me sooooo long to respond to replies. Been a little swamped lately!
Sarah---I don't think we're supposed to "trade and grade" due to confidentiality with student scores and such. However, WE're supposed to "COMMENT" on their work....so that wouldn't work for that either. I don't think the exit slip is a bad thing. It's the combo of the two things and the combined time load!
DeeDee--I'm not sure what the "Communicator" is.... Problem is, it is not understood what things such as the Navigator can do for us. I thought it would be a great idea for them to enter hmwk answers on the Navigator then I could instantly know where they had trouble. But it doesn't satisfy the "Individual Comments" we're supposed to give. After rereading, I think I just figured out what the "communicator" is! Are you talking about the little whiteboards? Yes, those would be great for assessing....but our requirements are "Individual Comments on papers and Exit Slips." I guess anything/everything else is great too. I do need to find out where my whiteboards are.... We supposedly got them last year, but I've never received mine. I'm also a little leary of what some of them might write to me!!!
Judy---We were talked to in this meeting like we were giving 30-40 problems a night for hmwk. NONE of us give that many, unless some of the freshman teachers do???? We didn't seem to get it across that we don't assign that many anyway! I used to assign 5-10 problems a night. Grading that many stills stresses me! I was told "Oh, just grade them during your planning period." Like I'm not doing anything with that time! Anyway, thanks for listening!
Natalee--"One student or the teacher would never explain the entire proof."--Ooohhhh, I like this idea!! Will have to try this next class!!
"However, the grades you actually put in your gradebook would be only that the homework was or was not completed"--hmmm...don't know waht she would think about that. Apparently some people put checks in their gradebook for completion. I never have done that. But she didn't want to see anymore checkmarks for grades..... 20/20 same thing?
Okay, so here is what I am going to try starting this week. Exit quizzes...I've already given a few last week. Again, I don't think these are so bad. I kinda like the idea. As for homework , I'm going to assign only 2-3 problems and suggest others for extra practice. So we'll see how this goes.....
Ronni.... My class sizes are really nice, low 20's and below. I can't say the same for everyone else though. Some have classes in mid 30's I believe. As far as the audit goes, we were each interviewed and asked a wide variety of questions. We had observers coming in, at least one an hour. However they only stayed a couple of minutes. So I'm not sure what they got out of that. They had a brief faculty meeting on Thursday after the audit was over for preliminary results. I wasn't there for that. Stacey said they didn't say much. Nothing that we didn't already know. It was very short and they said they were still working on the report. I'm not sure when we'll get the full results.
Anyway, Thank you all for listening and replying! |
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PLEASE HELP!
