Friday, March 11, 2011

I Hate Grades!

The end of the nine weeks is here.  Work has been turned in and graded.  But what if a student's average doesn't fit what they have accomplished?  Should a teacher adjust it to reflect what the student has earned?  Or should it be the result of vocabulary quizzes on Quia, Study Island, and objective scores on writing assignments?

Student #1
He has given everything he can possibly give to be successful.  He started the year hating to read.  Now, he reads almost every night at home.  He pays attention in class and does his best on every assignment.  He asks for help if he doesn't understand.  He has turned in every assignment.  Low Study Island scores have been a big detriment to his grade.  Although his grades reflect his ability, his growth should earn him an A+.

Student #2
She is the model for all students.  Her attitude and work ethic is unbelievable.  She has always struggled finishing books.  This nine weeks she has finished three of the last four she started.  The book she quit was a bad selection, she recognized that, and found a better book.  Her writing has consistently improved all year.  Her blog posts have become more detailed and cleaner.  Poor vocabulary quiz grades have lowered her score.

Student #3
The work he turns in is not close to his best.  He completes assignments quickly, with the main idea being just to get them done.  He is a pretty good student so his grades are good.  He has not shown much growth, but does OK because school comes fairly easy to him.

Student #4
His attitude stinks.  He has turned in most assignments, but not all.  His grade is poor and does not reflect his ability at all.  He should be on the honor roll but isn't due to lack of effort.  As a reader, he is able to do high quality work.  Even though he has a low grade, his ability is in the B range.

What grades did these students earn?  What grades do they deserve?  Are they the same?

Should grades be solely based on achievement?  Or should a student's effort and attitude be part of the grade?  Should improvement matter?   Should missing assignments count even if a students has mastered the objective?  Or should all grades be based on results of classwork and quizzes? Should students receive a class participation grade that reflects their in class involvement and work ethic?

What if the teacher knows with absolute certainty that a grade does not reflect a student's output for the grading period?  Should the teacher adjust the grade accordingly?

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40 comments:

Jessica W. said...

My teachers are in a tough situation, they don't know if the students attitude should reflect. There are both positives on my theory.

I think that if a student has a good attitude, good class participation,good behaver and a bad grade they should get like 3 extra credit points.

If the student had tried their hardiest and pay attention that should reflect on their grade. Paying attention helps you understand the lesson and helps you when doing an assignment. I don't think it should be all about Study Island and Quia.

If you have a bad attitude and your class precipitation stinks, then you don't deserve 3 extra point. So, it won't hurt or improve your grade.If you don't precipitate you don't learn. They won't yell at you if you get it wrong, so why not precipitate.

Seth V. said...

I think that if a kid has a bad attitude I think that it should lower his grade a little bit. Say if he has negative attitude and doesn't pay attention it should affect his grade. But if he works hard and has a positive attitude it should help his grade.

In Mr. McGuire's post Student #1 should get a better grade because he works hard and has a positive attitude all the time. Student #2 should also get a good grade for attitude because she has a good attitude and works hard. Student #4 should get a bad grade for attitude because he has a negative attitude and doesn't get his work turned in on time and doesn't pay attention.

Micah Hines said...

I think that students should be graded on their attitude and their effort. I also think you should get graded on improvement.

I think this because if you don't understand something but you still try your best you should get a good grade.Some people don't even try because they don't think they will get a good grade.

I think people should get graded on their attitude. I think this because if you have a great attitude every day but you don't understand your work you will still get a good grade because you will have a good attitude.

I think that you should get graded on improvement because if you start off the year with a bad grade and finish off the year with a good grade then you should get graded for it.

Lindsey H said...

I think it should be extra credit, I don't think it should hurt your grade just for your attitude.

I think if you get a good grade and your attitude sucks you should be the score you got on a test stay not for lower for your attitude.

But I think you should always have a good attitude, Because this is what the teachers want to do they don't have to be your teacher.

But I think you should always have a positive attitude to make a good day even better.

My point is that is you got a 100% on study island and you have a horrible attitude. It brings you score down to a 75% that's not far you earned that for what you know not to change your attitude.

Ashlee J said...

I think grades shouldn't be all be based on achievement because some people don't do very well on study island,Quia or quiz's so their grade will be lower. But if the students are graded on their attitude because the people who don't do very well on study island,Quia or quiz's will get a higher grade.But the people who don't really have a good attitude and get low scores on study island,Quia and quiz's then their grade will still be low.

Blaize R. said...

I think that really shy people should be pulled into a small group. I think this because this way you might even get something out of them and actually find out what's really going on through there heads. Maybe they have great ideas but there not sure if it's right or not so they don't want to raise their hand and embarrass them selfs.

Some people should be should be graded on there attitude. I think this because some peoples attitude may be how much effort they put into their work.

I think improvement should matter when it comes to when students being graded. I think this because maybe in the beginning some of us might of been doing terrible but then towards the end they have really made a HUGE improvement in their work, attitude, participation,and much much more.

Sara A. said...

I think that how you act and wheather you have a bad attitude or not should reflect on your grade.

I think this because if you have a bad attitude then that means you wont get a good grade and you don't deserve a good grade.

I think that if you work as hard as you can and then you end up getting a C then on the other hand you have a good attitude and you actually try then I think that you should get an A.

I think this because I think that you should get graded on your attitude. Because sometimes it hard to get good grades but if you pay attention and you try your hardest you should get a good grade.

She is the model for all students. Her attitude and work ethic is unbelievable. She has always struggled finishing books. This nine weeks she has finished three of the last four she started. The book she quit was a bad selection, she recognized that, and found a better book. Her writing has consistently improved all year. Her blog posts have become more detailed and cleaner. Poor vocabulary quiz grades have lowered her score

This is why I think that we should always be graded on our attitude also.

Brooklyn E. said...

I believe that kids should be graded on their achievements for 25% of their grade. 25% of their quizzes and 50% of their attitude for school.

The reason I think the grading system should be like this is because some kids have a great attitude and is probably getting weak grades cause they don't use their positive attitude.

Austin P. said...

I think that the grade cards should be based on their ability.

Say that your good at reading and writing then your reading and writing grade will be good and you will get an A+.Then if you are not good at reading and writing then that will reflect your grade in reading and writing. Then your grade will go from an A+ to an F.

This go's for all the class's that you are in and if you keep it up then you will have an A+ in every class.

Anonymous said...

I can see your struggle because you are supporting these students socially and emotionally as well as academically. However, work habits such as attitude and effort should be reflected in work habits marks not grades. Be like a traffic cop. There is a posted speed limit and if you go over, you issue a ticket. It's not personal. In the same way, work on having clear criteria and standards (rubrics) so that it is not personal but you are comparing work to the criteria and exemplars. I also don't think that you should give grades on potential. Evidence needs to be seen or heard not imagined. I think that these case studies you raise pinpoint why assessment and evaluation are such thorny issues. However, our professional responsibility is to be fair, free of bias and report the current ability level of students as accurately as we can. (Also, report cards are only one way to share the picture of how kids are doing at school.)
@mmeveilleux

Mr. McGuire said...

@mmeveilleux Your point our professional responsibility is to be fair, free of bias and report the current ability level of students as accurately as we can. is well taken. Isn't part of ability the improvement? And can't teachers measure this through visual observation?

Thanks for joining in on the conversation.

Shala.S. said...

I think if a student has an attitude then their grade should get lowered. I say this because, if we are working in groups and one person is not helping, and coping answers off the other kids then that isn't fair. They just don't want to do their work.

I believe that we should be graded on achievement for 50% of our grade, quizzes25% of our grade , and attitude 25% of our grade. I think this because, achievement and quizzes are more important than attitude, but you have to have a good attitude to do your work.

Alan said...

I think that the grade cards should be based on their attitude and results like Student #1 and Student #2.
He has given everything he can possibly give to be successful. She is the model for all students.

He gives results. She gives a positive attitude. Students like them can make life a whole lot easier. Don`t you think so too?

Chase W. said...

I think if a kid has a bad attitude I think it should lower his grade a little bit. I also think that we should be graded on attitude and grades on study island and Quia. I also think if a kid has a good attitude it should help their grades a little bit.

I think that quizzes should be half are grade and the other half would be participate and attitude. The reason why I think this is because if you participate in class then you should get a better grade then the kids that don't do their work.

Nicholas k said...

I think grades should be based on effort and assignment. Like lets say that the teacher tells us to do a assignment and there is a student that does not put much effort or work and the other student does. Who do you think will get the better grade?

Attitude is very important to because what if you come to school with a bad attitude you going to have a bad day.

Katie R. said...

I think that grades should reflect on attitude and how hard your trying. Peoples attitude make a big difference because when some people have bad attitudes they refuse to do their work and that effects their grade.

How hard people are trying also effect their grades. If people are trying hard then, they will have a good grade. If people aren't putting all their effort into their work that will hurt their grade.

So in reading and writing people need to have a good attitude and put all of their effort into their work to have a good grade.

Vanessa Vining said...

I think it depends on what a student gets for a grade like in the subjects a student is struggling in then maybe the teacher could probably do something to boost their grade up a little. That is what I would do if I were a teacher but that could depend because if a student has really worked hard to pull their grade up I would give them some credit.

Mark S. said...

I think grades should not be graded on participation, because some students are very shy or they don't know if they're right. I used to never do anything in class but when my attitude changed my grades did also.

I think that when teachers grade it should on the work the student done cause some people are listening in class but don't raise their hand. I think that maybe when someone has poor grades it might bring them up but the majority of the class grades will probably go down.

Tiffany C. said...

I think that we need graded on our attitude because there are a lot of students that have bad attitudes. I am saying that because there are students that don't ever watch what they say. What I mean is that the student don't care about what they say.

One day a student is going to say something and they are not going to know that they will be heard by somebody or caught by a teacher. A student is going to be talking to one of there friends and talking bad about someone and that person or a teacher will here them.

Tyler H. said...

I think if a student isn't putting effort into a subject then that student have good grades. I think when someone was doing that then a teacher should grade on the student's effort. I think this because when someone puts weak effort into something then that will effect the assignments. So they will probably have a good grade.

I think a student should get graded on Quia and Study Island because it's a assignment. If a student isn't putting strong effort into their assignments on Quia and Study Island then the grade would probably go down.

I'm trying to say that if someone isn't putting effort toward their assignments then it should effect their grade. Putting strong effort into a assignment then he or she would get a better grade and if someone isn't putting strong effort into their assignment then they have a poor grade.

I think effort reflects to someones grade.

Austin D said...

I think that you grades should be based on what you do in class. Like if a student has a bad attitude then they should have the same grade.

When a student get all assignments turned in and gets scores then that is when they have a good grade. I think just because you may have a bad attitude doesn't make you grade go down because that wouldn't be fair.

Reflecting your grade off of your attitude could be a good thing for some people and it could be a bad thing for some people.

I think that you should also be graded off of read at home because then a lot more people will have better grades. I think that read at home will make the best grade because a lot of people like to read in 6th grade.

Belle H. said...

I think that your participation, and how much you have improved should be graded. I think that a lot of kids really try their hardest but get stuck with a grade that they're not proud of.

Some kids in the beginning of the school year are nervous to talk in front of there classmates. Not talking might harm your grade, because if you don't get something you won't say anything.

So what do you think your grades should be based on and why?

Cassie D. said...

I believe that using the student's attitude and putting their effort into their grade is a great thing to do. I think this way because it could help grades if you made it extra credit. I think doing this would really help people's grades.

At the same time I think that it would be a bad thing to do that because if you were really quite and don't talk during class discussions and you have a good grade that would also be unfair to them,so what I think you should do is give extra credit for attitude and good grades to only the people that would fit the category.

Alison G said...

I don't think it is fair that a kid that try his or her best gets bad grades and then a kid that just knows everything is getting everything right with out even hardly trying and getting good grades
I don't think that is fair because other kids are getting good grades without even trying the kids trying their hardest and getting bad grades. It isn't the kids fault that he or she can't do something good but he or she is still try to do their best. They are working hard to get good grades not just putting down answers and getting good grades.

Tylerw222 said...

I think the grading should be on class participation. Because some people pay attention in class and some people do not. If the grading was participation more people would pay attention and they might pay more attention wile the teacher is talking.

Jared B. said...

I think that kids who work the hardest should get at least a little credit for their work. I don't think it's fair though that kids who work the hardest, end up with a bad grade and the kids who lack and guess get good grades.

Kids can improve their grades by participating and doing their assignment. At the beginning of the year most kids are lacking, guessing and struggling, but toward the end of the year kids are not lacking, paying attention and doing well.

If you wanted your grades to go up what would you do to accomplish that?

Ridge Y said...

If I were a teacher I would be in a very tough situation. They have to decide whether students grades should be based on ability in class or work ethic and improvement.

I am feeling torn on the situation because I feel a really smart student that does not work hard should still get their high grade they deserve. I feel this way because if a person is really smart and slacks of and still gets a very good grade, how can you punish them? If you did punish them it would be completely unfair.

But I feel if a student that has gave it everything they have and can barley maintain a C that they deserve a few extra credit points. I feel this way because if you truly worked your butt off and showed good improvement that a teacher could give you a few extra credit points to resemble more of what your grade should be based on work ethic.

Also you have to remember this is a ability class. That is where I am torn. I think a student who works really hard should get a better grade than a slacker. But then I think that would be unfair to a smart, slackers. Thats why I said you could just give the workers a few extra credit points.

Hayley said...

I think that grading should be on class participation . If you are shy you are getting a bad grade because you are choosing not to participate is class therefore you should get a bad grade. When you choose not to participate you would be getting a bad grade and if you are shy you should because you are choosing your grade.If you choose your grade then it would better then if you are not shy you would not get a bad grade. In the beginning of the school year there was people that would not even talk to their friends because they were shy. If grading was based on participation there would be a lot more talking.

I also think that it should be on attitude because if your attitude is bad you get a bad grade. If the person with really bad with attitude then if grading was based on attitude I think that the attitude would be a lot better. Grading can not be both ways so The one that I would choose grading on class participation.

Kyra S. said...

I feel that participation should be a part of your grade because you are the one that decides whether or not you want to participate so that would be your fault whether or not you get a good grade on participation. I also feel that Quiz's, reading and our blogs should be apart of your grade so those could be the four grades you could depend on to help out your grade. Now for the extra credit. For our extra credit it could be singing. That is how I feel about Grades.

DawnB said...

I think it is unfair because if somebody works really hard to get the answer and they get a D or a C,then there is a really smart kid and he/she just slops an answer down because they are really smart and know almost anything.

The ability grouping is fine with me.But sometimes it is really unfair to other kids because they really work hard and then get a horrible grade, like when student four works hard but doesn't try his hardest and that he should be on the honor role and he is not.

It is also unfair because giving extra credit for participating for talking in a group is really unfair. Because some people are really shy and they would get a bad grade for not participating and people that do get a good grade for participating get a good grade.That would be really unfair for a lot of people!!!

Andrew M. said...

I don't think that students should be graded for stuff like their attitude. I think this because you could have a student with a really good attitude but at the same time, not be able to read very good. Then they would get a good grade and not have gotten better at reading, go on to the next grade which would be even harder, and still not be a good reader. Or you could have someone who has a horrible attitude but be an excellent reader. In that case they wouldn't get the grade that they've been trying very hard to receive.

If you did get graded for things like class participation you could have someone who is not afraid to answer something but not get the right answer. Then they would get a grade that they didn't deserve. Or you could have someone who's really shy but very smart. Then they would get a horrible grade even though they should have gotten a really good grade.

That is my opinion on whether or not you should get extra credit for class participation, attitude, etc.

Jakob S. said...

I think we should get graded on how hard we work and the efforts we make. A lot of kids probably get stuck with a bad grade then they try to get they're grade up but they can't. They try there hardest but they can't get there bad grade which there not happy about.

I think we should just keep the way were putting our grades now. It would be a lot easer than switching the way we do our grades. At the end of the year I get nervous thinking that I will not pass but I did.

I have one question. What do you think about this.

Megan B. said...

I think that how students act in class should reflect their grades.

Students that have a posited attitude, are working as hard as they can, and have good behavior they should get like 5% of extra credit added to their grade.

I think this because if students had a bad attitude and weren't working hard last nine weeks and had a C and this nine weeks they have a posited attitude and are working hard and have a B they should get an increase in their grade. Or if they had bad behavior the first nine weeks but this nine weeks they have a good behavior they should get an increase in their grade.

If students have a bad attitude, aren't working hard, and have bad behavior
you should lose 5% from your grade.

I think this because students are supposed to do their best in class. If they don't pay attention then they can't learn. If they don't learn then they fail a grade. So yes I do think that how students act in class should reflect their grade.

Cade V. said...

I think grades should count on what they earn. Say a student gets a C on a test, but the teacher watched him take the test and watched him try really hard. Say another student got an A but didn't really try. It not like I get a D but I tried really hard so I get a B.

I think we should get graded on participation. A student might not participate when we have a discussion about something and he doesn't raise his hand. If you don't have an opinion about something then you don't understand the subject or the topic.

I also think that if you improve then your grade will go up. Thats how you know if someone has improved their grade will shoot up. If someone's grade slowly goes down they should get some help.

I think that missing assignments should count against you, even if you master the topic. I think it should because if you don't get it turned in then it's a missing grade. Grades Count on what you earn.

Caitlin W. said...

I think the grade should be on ability 80% of it, and on their attitude should get 20%, because some student have great attitude and other don't have great attitude, she is the model for all students. Her attitude and work ethic is unbelievable.

The reason why I think ability should 80%, because student get what the teacher saying and understand the that they are learning and it make easy for them.Her writing has consistently improved all year. Her blog posts have become more detailed and cleaner.

Nick U. said...

I think that a student works his hardest. He or she should get the grade that they earn Not the grade they deserve. I think that he/she should work for their grade. All students should work 110% because they should wake up and smell the coffee and get their grades up.

Students these days are not caring about their grades. They are not paying any attention. Like when Mr.McGuire said in his, His attitude stinks. He has turned in most assignments, but not all. His grade is poor and does not reflect his ability at all. He should be on the honor roll but isn't due to lack of effort. As a reader, he is able to do high quality work. Even though he has a low grade, his ability is in the B range.

Rhianna L. said...

I think that a student should be graded on there hard work and how much they pay attention in class. I think that a teacher should give a student a few extra credit points if they are working hard. I also think that if a student doesen't put half as much effert into something than the other kid then that student shouldn't be getting any extra points at all.

There are some students that do fall behind and don't understand somethings that we are learning. But if they are giving a 110% in every paper that they turn in then at the end of the nine weeks the teacher should give him/her some extra credit points.

I think that Student #1 deserves an A+. If he has changed from a slacker to a kid that is paying way more attention in class then he diffently gets an A, if he was my student. There is a big different in Student #4 and #1. Student #4, in my opinion, deserves no extra credit points at all. If this child is goofing off in class and not paying attention then shouldn't get anything to help his grade.

Blaize R. said...

Depending on weather your a straight A student or anything below, grade cards can be the SCARIEST thing to EVER appear in life!!!

Emily said...

My teachers are in a tough situation, they don't know if the students attitude should reflect. There are both positives on my theory.I think it should be extra credit, I don't think it should hurt your grade just for your attitude. I think if you have a really good grade lets say a A+++++++++++ like Ridge Young and you have a bad attitude like a framer after fighting a snake then you grade should go down. If you have a really bad grade like a F+++++++ and you have a really good attitude then your grade should go higher.

If the student had tried their hardiest and pay attention that should reflect on their grade. Paying attention helps you understand the lesson and helps you when doing an assignment. I don't think it should be all about Study Island and Quia.If you have a bad attitude and your class participate stinks, then you don't deserve 3 extra point. So, it won't hurt or improve your grade.If you don't participate you don't learn. They won't yell at you if you get it wrong, so why not participate.

Alex H. said...

be in groups and in their group there is their own way of scoring.I think the extra credit is a good idea but only certain kids who need it should be able to have it.

Like for in the group that have a struggle in reading class could have it as extra credit. Just a enough to raise their grade a little.If we raised their grade a lot they would think oh since I have a good grade I don't have to do my work.

For people who good in reading I think they should not get to have the extra credit.If we let them have it then they would always have a A+. I think we should not give it to them because then they will think now I can slop something down then they will never do their work.They will participate and get the extra credit.