In modeling, it’s called “student mode”
i’m kinda bummed because i coulda sworn i took a picture of the more recent version of this whiteboard, where the entire bottom left quadrant was blocked off with the words “AD SPACE AVAILABLE”
In modeling, it’s called “student mode”
i’m kinda bummed because i coulda sworn i took a picture of the more recent version of this whiteboard, where the entire bottom left quadrant was blocked off with the words “AD SPACE AVAILABLE”
Many people seem to do SBG just slightly differently from each other, so I figure I’d throw my flavor into the mix.
(This post is primarily for those familiar with SBG, Standards-Based Grading. If you’d like to learn more, I suggest these fantastic resources.)
Instead of telling you the whole system, I’ll go over just one piece that as far as I know, I do differently from most others – How the grade for each unit is calculated.
The old system
Last last year and the beginning of last year, I determined a student’s grade on a unit based on a tiered A/B/C system that I believe many other SBGers use, or something similar. Here’s how it worked (see grade tracking sheet below for reference): To get a C on the unit, get a 4 on all “C” objectives. To get a B on the unit, get a 4 on all “B” and “C” objectives. To get an A? Yep, 4s on “A”, “B”, and “C” objectives. What if you did that, except got a 3 on one “C” objective? Then you didn’t even get a C. D for you. The idea behind that was if you’re in that situation, a “C” objective should be pretty easy for you, and since it has such a huge impact on your grade, you should be very motivated to get that one objective done, which would then skyrocket your grade.
Below is the grade tracking sheet for last last year’s unit on waves and sound.
Several things weren’t working for me…
Problems:
I had to remind myself that the purpose of a grade is to measure, not motivate. I was using the wrong tool for the wrong job.
So… to make my students hate me even more, I switched up the already-confusing grading system on them mid-semester! :oD Oh, the things you can get away with in this district. Sorry, teachers-who-aren’t-even-allowed-to-implement-SBG-at-their-schools :o(.
The new, current system
Instead of putting each objective at a different A/B/C level, I assign that objective a number of points. Yeah, I said it. There are points, which is like the dirty word in SBG, but I believe this still follows the spirit of SBG. “Big” objectives are worth 10 points. “Small” objectives are worth 5 points.
Below is the grade tracking sheet for this past year’s unit on waves and sound.
Short version, if the student gets a 4 on that objective, they get those points. Their percentage grade on that unit is simply the number of points earned, over the number of points possible. (More details in the embedded document at the end of this post.)
So, what about the idea that you must get all the “important” stuff first to get a decent grade? Still works with this system. From the teacher standpoint, a student who gets all the “big” objectives and some “small” objectives does represent more mastery than a student who somehow gets most “small” objectives and few or no “big” objectives. From a student standpoint, the points tell them to go for the “big” objectives first. To get a high grade, the student still has to knock out the “big” objectives and most or all of the “small” objectives, just like before.
Improvements:
Ever since switching to points, I haven’t missed the old system. The new system is still about evaluating students based on their mastery of content and skills.
Of course, this is not to say any system is better than the other, but like almost everything in teaching, what works in one class may not work as well in another. I’ve found my system so far works better for my students.
I’ll probably switch things up again this upcoming year, haha.
Below are other details of my grading system that may compliment what I’ve explained above, or just provide unnecessary or confusing detail:
For the past few years, I’ve asked my students to do two assignments.
There is no credit or grading for these assignments. I just ask them to do it and hope they’re not jerks about it. Pretty much everyone’s cooperative. The jerks are absent. (Unfortunately, this does make the data a bit self-selective. Although, I’m kidding about jerks. I don’t think of any of my students as jerks, but the data is self-selective depending on attendance.)
First, a little background on the letter to next year’s students. It’s what it sounds like. There are no strict requirements, but some suggestions on what to put. Students mostly end up putting what to expect, and some advice based on their own experience in my class. I stole this from someone else. Sorry, I forgot who.
What I found most boring, then annoying, then interesting this year was how common students advised others to “pay attention“. “Make sure you pay attention.” “I should have paid more attention.” “All you have to do is pay attention.”
The first few times I read the advice, I thought “woop dee doo, great generic advice everyone…” Then I realized most didn’t offer any advice beyond that. When almost every letter that offered advice only offered that advice, I started getting annoyed. “Is that all they learned in my class??? I thought I was doing inquiry-ish stuff. They make it sound like this class is one giant lecture! What about learning from mistakes? Doing test retakes? Collaborating with other students? Doing the homework because the practice is helpful? Participating in small group discussions? Thinking until your brain hurts? Asking questions???” Apparently none of that mattered. Well, a small handful did suggest retaking tests, keeping notes and handouts, and a couple suggested doing the homework despite it not being worth credit.
I remembered that the reason I did these assignments was partially as feedback for myself, so instead of getting defensive, what does this all mean? Based on this evidence, I might infer several things:
These are the things that I could come up with. Could be a combo.
Some of these I can address by altering my directions and questions (“What advice would you give that’s different from what you’d give for your other classes?”), but my intution tells me their responses represent more than lousy communication. I’d say a large responsibility that is within my immediate control goes to #1 and #4, that students didn’t think success in my class depended on anything other than paying attention, and I just plain sucked at communicating and fostering the factors for success I have in my head. In fact, can I even express, specifically, what a student needs to do to be successful in my class?
So… to do: Come up with 3-7 concrete things that will play the biggest factors in a student’s success in my class. Concrete means specific. No broad shit like “try hard”. Also, these should be non-obvious, so not like “show up to class”. Although some students probably don’t understand the connection between attendance and success, so I’ll have to fiddle with my definiton of “non-obvious”. Next, decide how I will communicate these expectations to students and how to most effectively ingrain these through the year in the curriculum and activities.
Let’s take an example. One thing I believe is a key to success in my class: Do the homework. How do I communicate this to students? Tell them. Remind them. Stick it on a poster titled “How to succeed in this class”. Possibly the most important thing I have to do: Make sure this is true. Does doing the homework actually help you succeed in this class? I better damn well make sure it does. Assuming my homework assignments are meaningful and helpful, I may need to get students to reflect on the correlation between their homework completion and their performance in my class. Just because students do things that lead to success doesn’t mean they realize that’s what’s happening.
Mm, sounds like lots of work. I’ll really have to take a look at whether students need to think and ask questions in my class. I’d like my class to be like that (all inquiry-ish and whatnot), but their feedback seems to indicate otherwise.
If you asked your students to give advice to next year’s students on how to succeed in your class, what do you think your students would say? What would you hope they say? What do you do to increase the chances of that happening?
(The class survey and instruction for the letter to next year’s students are posted below.)
(Reposted from my Posterous account)
For the past few years, I’ve asked my students to do two assignments.
There is no credit or grading for these assignments. I just ask them to do it and hope they’re not jerks about it. Pretty much everyone’s cooperative. The jerks are absent. (Unfortunately, this does make the data a bit self-selective. Although, I’m kidding about jerks. I don’t think of any of my students as jerks, but the data is self-selective depending on attendance.)
First, a little background on the letter to next year’s students. It’s what it sounds like. There are no strict requirements, but some suggestions on what to put. Students mostly end up putting what to expect, and some advice based on their own experience in my class. I stole this from someone else. Sorry, I forgot who.
What I found most boring, then annoying, then interesting this year was how common students advised others to “pay attention“. “Make sure you pay attention.” “I should have paid more attention.” “All you have to do is pay attention.”
The first few times I read the advice, I thought “woop dee doo, great generic advice everyone…” Then I realized most didn’t offer any advice beyond that. When almost every letter that offered advice only offered that advice, I started getting annoyed. “Is that all they learned in my class??? I thought I was doing inquiry-ish stuff. They make it sound like this class is one giant lecture! What about learning from mistakes? Doing test retakes? Collaborating with other students? Doing the homework because the practice is helpful? Participating in small group discussions? Thinking until your brain hurts? Asking questions???” Apparently none of that mattered. Well, a small handful did suggest retaking tests, keeping notes and handouts, and a couple suggested doing the homework despite it not being worth credit.
I remembered that the reason I did these assignments was partially as feedback for myself, so instead of getting defensive, what does this all mean? Based on this evidence, I might infer several things:
These are the things that I could come up with. Could be a combo.
Some of these I can address by altering my directions and questions (“What advice would you give that’s different from what you’d give for your other classes?”), but my intution tells me their responses represent more than lousy communication. I’d say a large responsibility that is within my immediate control goes to #1 and #4, that students didn’t think success in my class depended on anything other than paying attention, and I just plain sucked at communicating and fostering the factors for success I have in my head. In fact, can I even express, specifically, what a student needs to do to be successful in my class?
So… to do: Come up with 3-7 concrete things that will play the biggest factors in a student’s success in my class. Concrete means specific. No broad shit like “try hard”. Also, these should be non-obvious, so not like “show up to class”. Although some students probably don’t understand the connection between attendance and success, so I’ll have to fiddle with my definiton of “non-obvious”. Next, decide how I will communicate these expectations to students and how to most effectively ingrain these through the year in the curriculum and activities.
Let’s take an example. One thing I believe is a key to success in my class: Do the homework. How do I communicate this to students? Tell them. Remind them. Stick it on a poster titled “How to succeed in this class”. Possibly the most important thing I have to do: Make sure this is true. Does doing the homework actually help you succeed in this class? I better damn well make sure it does. Assuming my homework assignments are meaningful and helpful, I may need to get students to reflect on the correlation between their homework completion and their performance in my class. Just because students do things that lead to success doesn’t mean they realize that’s what’s happening.
Mm, sounds like lots of work. I’ll really have to take a look at whether students need to think and ask questions in my class. I’d like my class to be like that (all inquiry-ish and whatnot), but their feedback seems to indicate otherwise.
If you asked your students to give advice to next year’s students on how to succeed in your class, what do you think your students would say? What would you hope they say? What do you do to increase the chances of that happening?
(The class survey and instruction for the letter to next year’s students are posted below.)
Many people seem to do SBG just slightly differently from each other, so I figure I’d throw my flavor into the mix.
(This post is primarily for those familiar with SBG, Standards-Based Grading. If you’d like to learn more, I suggest these fantastic resources.)
Instead of telling you the whole system, I’ll go over just one piece that as far as I know, I do differently from most others – How the grade for each unit is calculated.
The old system
Last last year and the beginning of last year, I determined a student’s grade on a unit based on a tiered A/B/C system that I believe many other SBGers use, or something similar. Here’s how it worked (see grade tracking sheet below for reference): To get a C on the unit, get a 4 on all “C” objectives. To get a B on the unit, get a 4 on all “B” and “C” objectives. To get an A? Yep, 4s on “A”, “B”, and “C” objectives. What if you did that, except got a 3 on one “C” objective? Then you didn’t even get a C. D for you. The idea behind that was if you’re in that situation, a “C” objective should be pretty easy for you, and since it has such a huge impact on your grade, you should be very motivated to get that one objective done, which would then skyrocket your grade.
Below is the grade tracking sheet for last last year’s unit on waves and sound.
Waves – ! Study Guideline
Several things weren’t working for me…
Problems:
I had to remind myself that the purpose of a grade is to measure, not motivate. I was using the wrong tool for the wrong job.
So… to make my students hate me even more, I switched up the already-confusing grading system on them mid-semester! :oD Oh, the things you can get away with in this district. Sorry, teachers-who-aren’t-even-allowed-to-implement-SBG-at-their-schools :o(.
The new, current system
Instead of putting each objective at a different A/B/C level, I assign that objective a number of points. Yeah, I said it. There are points, which is like the dirty word in SBG, but I believe this still follows the spirit of SBG. “Big” objectives are worth 10 points. “Small” objectives are worth 5 points.
Below is the grade tracking sheet for this past year’s unit on waves and sound.
Short version, if the student gets a 4 on that objective, they get those points. Their percentage grade on that unit is simply the number of points earned, over the number of points possible. (More details in the embedded document at the end of this post.)
So, what about the idea that you must get all the “important” stuff first to get a decent grade? Still works with this system. From the teacher standpoint, a student who gets all the “big” objectives and some “small” objectives does represent more mastery than a student who somehow gets most “small” objectives and few or no “big” objectives. From a student standpoint, the points tell them to go for the “big” objectives first. To get a high grade, the student still has to knock out the “big” objectives and most or all of the “small” objectives, just like before.
Improvements:
Ever since switching to points, I haven’t missed the old system. The new system is still about evaluating students based on their mastery of content and skills.
Of course, this is not to say any system is better than the other, but like almost everything in teaching, what works in one class may not work as well in another. I’ve found my system so far works better for my students.
I’ll probably switch things up again this upcoming year, haha.
Below are other details of my grading system that may compliment what I’ve explained above, or just provide unnecessary or confusing detail: