Chapter 12

Summary: This chapter is mostly concerned with grading scales, and explains the advantages and disadvantages to the two major systems. The first, and most common, is the 100 point scale, and the other most prevalent system is the four point scale. The general consensus is that neither system is actually better than the other, just that each teacher will prefer one to the other. One key idea to consider is the emotions that grades can bring up in one's students. Getting a fifty, for example, seems quite different from getting a two. A teacher should be aware of not only their own comfort, but also the feelings of their students.

Key Thought: Other than concerns with the 0-60 failure range, the 100 point scale seems to me to have the greater range of versatility, allowing for much more specificity than the four point system. Also, students will more often have an easier time understanding the 100 point grades, as they've been conditioned to expect the 100 point scale grades.

Chapter 9 Reflection

This chapter talks about things not to do when differentiating assessment and grading. They talk about ten things to avoid when it comes to grading. some of the tips include, avoid penalizing students' multiple attempts at mastery, avoid grading practice assignments, avoid assessing students in a ways that do not accurately indicate their mastery.

We thought that it was a good idea to not grade homework on the answers they got wrong if it is practice homework, but instead to grade on effort, as long as you can see that the student tried then they should get credit for the assignment.
We also think that a better way for students to get good grades is to give them the opportunity to revise their work to get full credit, this way you don't have to grade twice as much work and they don't have to do more work for your class

This chapter discussed grades and grading in depth. Every aspect of grading that must be considered was touched on. An example essay was provided and asked to be graded. Grades ranged from A-D. This showed that there are no universal set criteria for assessing a student's work. Another key point was that you need to know who your students are, and how they tend to perform on work. An eye opening point was that there are actually teachers who will give a student a D on an assignment rather than give them the F that they deserve.

This Chapter was very repeatative and similar to DI/UbD chapter 8. Many of teh suggestions were discussed were common sense things. Every teacher is going to establish thier own personal grading policy and there is not much that can be done to alter or influence that. A teacher's grading ideas are going to be based on what works for them. However we feel that every student should be treated and graded equally.

Chapter 13 Reflection

This chapter explains different format styles for your grade book in a differentiated classroom. The following formats were introduced and discussed; grouping assignments by standards, objective, or benchmark, grouping assignments by weight or category, listing assignments by date, and having a topics based grade book.

We would most likely use the listing assignments by date approach for our grade books. That seems like the most organized and helpful way to find grades. We also might consider using the grouping assignments by weight method. This way it might be easier to calculate grades because assignments would already be in groups. Now that many grades can be entered in the computer in online grade books it will make our lives even easier and more efficient.Even though they have grade books on the computer we think it's still a good idea to have an up dated hard copy on hand

Chapter 14

This chapter discussed formats for report cards that are responsive. Ways that were presented to format report cards are the following; personal progress and achievement, standards, continuous progress report, and multiple categories within one subject. Report cards are important to keep clear and concise since they are seen by many different people. Communicating students' grades is one of the most important and ultimate outcomes of a class.

There really isn't any input allowed for teachers to give concerning the format of report cards, unless maybe in the lower grade levels. If we were able to choose the format of our report card, however, we would most likely choose the multiple categories within one subject approach. We feel that breaking down subjects to show different areas and how certain things are met is important and ideal to explain and express, especially in a report card. We also feel that continuous progress reports are a really good idea because they are always recent and display current status.

Chapter 11

Summary: This chapter presents the reader with some of the philosophical conflicts resultant from grading, for example whether recording a zero as a grade is ethical, the grading of students either gifted or special education in a regular class, and weighting grades. The book presents both schools of thought in each argument, with an intent to remain neutral on what decision is 'better.' However, it often seems that the text favors the newer schools of thought; not recording zeros, grading late work normally, not weighting grades, etc. However, this is hardly an overwhelming sentiment, and the chapter mostly exists to generate thought on the issues.

Key Thought: Personally, I felt that this chapter overlooked a rather obvious solution to the ethical dilemmas of grading; to take things on an individual basis. The chapter often referred to these ideas as though a teacher had to make a single choice and stay with it, which I disagree with. While obviously some potential for abuse exists, with teachers favoring or punishing specific students, this is a concern with almost any educational issue.

Chapter 10

This chapter touches solely on allowing students to redo work for full credit. Getting parents involved in this matter is discussed, and having students create a calendar towards success is a thoughtful idea that is presented. How to grade redos is touched on because it is very important to consider when grading somethings for ultimately the second time.

We do not really think we would single out particular students who did bad just to let them redo their work, we would rather allow a redo when there is a largely noticeable struggle on an assignment or assessment by the class. Since it is a redo, their second chance, we would not allow the students to achieve full credit. The suggestion of not allowing work to be redone during the last week of the grading period is important and great to keep in mind because it would be too much for a teacher. Ultimately, redos should have complete control by the teacher; what they are, when they are given and due, and how the students can go about finishing the redo.

Chapter 6

Summary: This chapter focused entirely on creating tests and quizzes. All aspects of their creation were explored including: using a variety of prompts and questions, types of test forms, making efficient forms, (ex: writing out true/false so that the students can circle one of the answers). The chapter explains the importance of making questions clear and understandable to the test taker. We were told that tests need to be kept as short as possible to avoid testing the student's ability to take tests. It only makes sense that if you can tell if a student understands a concept by asking them one or two questions then you should do that instead of making tons of questions that test the same thing. Basically this chapter talks about creating worth while tests and quizzes.

Key Thoughts: We liked the idea of using smaller tests and quizzes. smaller tests are less intimidating to students allowing them a chance to relax and actually think about what they know about the subject instead of see the test and saying "oh my, I'm never going to finish this." We all agree that the idea of the double test form was neat. It will make grading a much simpler task and provide students with feedback more quickly. I personally liked the idea of asking students to write down a question that they thought would be on the test and then asking them to answer it. It makes the students feel like they didn't study all the wrong stuff.

Chapter 3

This chapter mainly focuses on assessment in an effective classroom. The big idea of a unit beginning with the end in mind was stressed so that there can be constant knowledge of what to expect and anticipate. Giving students a pre-assessment at the beginning of a unit will gage the students' focus and will help the teacher realize what to focus on the most considering the student's knowledge. We should always keep in mind that assessment should be geared more towards advancing education rather than evaluating education. It is important that authentic, real world assessments are given so students can relate to what they are learning and apply it in the future.

We connected to this chapter through the idea of giving students information about the end of the unit from day one, and also the fact that there are many different forms of assessment that can be given. Keeping the multiple intelligences in mind when developing an assessment is always important. The MI's allow teachers to be creative and more effective. Establishing assessments that hit many MI's are ideal and more interesting, engaging, and fun for the students.

Chapter 5

Summary: This is a chapter focused on the technique of tiering assignments, which is a useful Differentiated technique for teaching students of varied skill levels. For the most part, tiering acts as a sliding scale of difficulty; used to add in assessment standards or content requirements for advanced learners, or to simplify the assessment for struggling students. Some specific methods of doing this are brought up, such as Learning Contracts, which allow the student to make their own deadlines, which they then agree to in writing. Other strategies are less concrete, but many can be used to tier the assessment in either direction.

Key Thought: First of all, none of the members of this group had ever heard the term tiering applied to instruction, at the very least not in this detail. We all saw this as an important method for the Differentiated classroom, wherein a little extra time on the teacher's part can result in a dramatic change in the student's experience. The theory behind the tiering method was also expressed in a more poetic manner(which appeals to my MI leanings) in Williams's Taxonomy of Creativity, which being placed towards the end of the chapter provides an alternate perspective on this theory.

Chapter 4

Summary: Three major assessments are described in this chapter; Rubrics, portfolios, and student self assessments. Each assessment was explained. We were shown the benefits of each assessments and when they would best be used.

Connections: We have all used each of the assessments and find that self assessments are great because they allow the student to go over his or her work another time. It also allows the student to tell you something about their piece that they may not feel comfortable asking you in person, or that you might consider when grading their work. It also forces students to be honest with themselves, if students give themselves a grade they then have to justify it. In many cases students will be harder on themselves than the teacher.

Chapter 1

Summary: The chapter introduces the approach of teaching with differentiated instruction. This is the method in which the teacher adapts the lessons to benefit individual students. This type of instruction does not make things easier for students but does make things more fair and effective for all students so that they can learn in an equal manner.

Connections: We all decided that the way in which the method was described was done effectively. We all also liked the number of examples that were given to us to illustrate the chapter's contents. The book seems to be relatively successful in achieving it's explanation of Differentiated instruction by modeling it in the chapter itself.

Chapter 2

This chapter is about mastery. The discussion of this chapter focused on what constitutes mastery, including the different levels of knowledge leading to mastery, and the demonstration and skills that could identify mastery of a topic completely. Also discussed was the selection process for what students will master and the multiple samples of work that can adequately show mastery.

We related to the reading through the examples that were given and also by the overlap of information from understanding by design. We found the section about what is important and what is not important helpful, and the six facets of understanding relevant to mastery. Overall, we agree that mastery can be varied so therefore the way in which we teach, grade, and judge students' mastery should be relevant to the topic.