Tag Archives: grades
What Would You Do? – The Awkward Parent-Teacher Conference
Ryan was a student in my English 10 class. He was a nice kid – kind of goofy, kind of awkward, not very motivated, but nice and very smiley. He wasn’t doing well in my class and we both knew the reason was that he didn’t do his homework and he resisted coming in for help before or after school.
I called home one night and spoke with Ryan’s mom about Ryan’s grades. She was pleasant, but asked me to just speak to her and not her husband. I thought it was troublesome, but I made a note of it. The next day, Ryan approached me and said he’d do anything if I didn’t call home. Again, troublesome. Continue reading
Grading and Student Engagement
The personal connection between student and teacher is vital to student achievement. When that personal connection exists, the student is more likely to be engaged in the learning and willing to perform the tasks the teacher sets to achieve lesson objectives.
Look around your classroom at the students who have habitual behavior problems. Are they engaged? Do they complete assignments? Do you think they look forward to class? Do you have a personal connection with the student? Continue reading
I Am Thankful for My Challenging Students
Dr. Allen Mendler recently visited Inside the School to record some online professional development seminars. During one of his seminars, Mendler said something that I couldn’t help but write down. Mendler said that he witnessed this kind of conversation between a teacher and a challenging student:
TEACHER: I just want to tell you that I’m really glad you’re in my class. I know that it’s not your favorite place to be, but I’m trying hard to make sure that I’m the right teacher for you. I’ve tried many strategies to teach you, but so far they haven’t been working very well. I’ll keep trying more so that you can learn. I want to thank you for being a part of my class. You are making me a better teacher.
Let’s be honest: you are making me a better teacher isn’t what I would say when talking to a challenging student.
But it should be, because it’s true. Continue reading
How Much Teacher Help Is too Much?
I have always been perplexed by the term spoon feeding. I know that it means that the teacher gives his students too much help, but I’ve never been clear on how much is too much. I’ll give you five possible … Continue reading
How to Encourage Challenging Students to Turn in Homework
Alicia was a student of mine. She was a smart girl with a giant chip on her shoulder. The kid could write, though. Once you got past the angsty teen stuff, her poetry was inventive and full of symbolism. Despite her best bluster, we became reluctant allies. She liked that I read her work and I liked that she worked.
We still had trouble when it came to Alicia turning in assignments. She wasn’t a fan of the day-to-day reading and writing expectations I had for my sophomore English students. She had no interest in reading nonfiction and less interest in creating plot diagrams. Continue reading
The Exit Slip as an Informal Assessment Tool
In my class, I often gave out an exit the last five minutes of class. It’s a simple half-sheet of paper with four questions on it for students to answer. I used the exit slip as an informal assessment of what my students learned and what I still needed to teach. The exit slips are quick for students to complete and quick to grade, too. When the bell rang, I stood by the door and asked students to hand them to me on their way out.
As for grading, I looked at three things: 1) complete answers, 2) thoughtful answers, 3) knowledge of the lesson. It’s not a quiz, so I didn’t look for correct answers; I looked for the correct vocabulary and concepts. It’s O.K. for a student not to understand, but my goal was for the student to explain what he didn’t understand using the language from the lesson.
Continue reading
How Do You Handle Extra Credit?
I’ll be honest. I don’t handle extra credit well. In fact, I’m so lousy at it, I offered just two projects each year. If you’ve ever tried offering extra credit, you know the problems it can cause:
- Students might focus all their energy on the extra credit project and neglect their everyday work.
- Students will ask for extra credit projects the night before grades are due.
- Too much extra credit can skew a student’s grade to the point where you’re not sure if she mastered the material or just knew how to play the game.
- You get slammed with extra credit projects in addition to your end-of-quarter grading and have no time to sleep.
Group Work: Do You Require It or Offer an Alternative?
In a recent Teaching Professor Blog post from education professor Maryellen Weimer, Weimer wrote about a group of higher education professors who had been discussing the merits of students working in groups and by themselves.
Weimer wrote about the usual dilemma that teachers face: shouldn’t teachers require students to complete at least some group work? After all, most professions require at least some group work. Isn’t it a disservice to students not to prepare them to work well with others? Continue reading
Online Student Records Help Parents Monitor Student Progress
In my last year of teaching, it was a budget year with teacher pay and benefits, school spending for buses, theater, sports, and maintenance all up for review. Our superintendent had budgeted a sizable amount of money to online student record access for parents. At the time, it seemed to me like a frivolous use of taxpayer dollars. It’s not like we didn’t send out progress and grade reports. How many parents had I called because their son or daughter had been missing class and hadn’t turned in work? Countless. Continue reading
How to Address Classroom Cheating
The other day, my daughter’s middle school teacher caught my kid cheating. My daughter was finishing up a test, had moved to the classroom’s back tables, and was working when the next class entered the room. The bell rang and teacher began to teach. My kid quietly returned to her stack of books, removed the top layer, and took out a piece of paper that had writing on it. Continue reading
