Comments on: Grading Partnerships in the Classroom, Conversation #3

By: Joanie

Joanie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:49:06 +0000

I have had a similar dilemma recently with grading my students. Let me say this first though. Breaking down the parts of the course in weighting the grades has been very helpful with my Fine Arts/Special Areas team. This is the third year that we have sent notes home at the beginning of the year stating that our grading is broken down into 25% Tests, 25% In-class work and homework, and 50% participation. Participation may be based on if the student didn’t bring tennis shoes for the day they have P.E. and therefore, for safety issues, they have to sit out and not participate, or if they didn’t remember to bring their recorder to class, or if they are consistently off task that day and therefore not participating.
This brings me to my initial dilemma. I have been sending practice sheets home with my students with a chart for them to initial when they practice and for a parent or guardian to initial it as well. They return this for a grade. Some students asked, “What if you don’t really practice the amount you said you did and the parent signs it anyway?” Well, I told them that I have had that problem in the past. Based on the criteria that was asked of them and the parent and that it was met, I had to give the student a good grade. However, I knew from their playing that they had NOT practiced and didn’t know their fingering and lied. This grade showed up in their performance grade. I also told the students that they would know in their heart whether they EARNED the grade they received. It’s not about getting an A or B but whether you did your best. I have given an A to those who did not sound the best, but did their best and tried hard. Sometimes that’s the difference between participation grades and written grades. It’s not always the quantity of what the student does but the quality of their learning experience.

By: Course Evaluations « Regan EDUC 685

Course Evaluations « Regan EDUC 685 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:15:39 +0000

[...] In Barbara Ganley’s blog, Good Partnerships in the Classroom, Conversation 3, found at http://bgblogging.com/2008/03/21/grading-partnerships-in-the-classroom-conversation-3/, she discusses how grading should change. Students need to learn in an environment where they [...]

By: Ganley Article: Grading Partnerships in the Classroom: Conversation #3 « Steph's Blog

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:39:39 +0000

[...] am I searched through a few articles by both Ganley and Fisher and found Ganley’s article “Grading Partnerships in the Classroom: Conversation #3″ to be my favorite. The thing that stood out the most to me was what Ganley quoted from a speaker [...]

By: Grading/Evaluation « Dr2's Blog

Grading/Evaluation « Dr2's Blog — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:40:26 +0000

[...] information about evaluation, I came across a March 21, 2008 post by Barbara Ganley titled “Grading Partnerships in the Classroom, Conversation #3.” In this post, Ms. Ganley discusses how she and her creative writing students worked [...]

By: Fisher and Ganley Blogs « My MSU Educational Technology Blog

Fisher and Ganley Blogs « My MSU Educational Technology Blog — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:52:14 +0000

[...] by Ganley was Grading Partnerships in the Classroom, Conversation 3 which you can access at http://bgblogging.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/grading-partnerships-in-the-classroom-conversation-3/. In this particular blog she talks about how allowing students to be the teacher in a way of [...]

By: bgblogging

bgblogging — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:13:11 +0000

Megan,

It’s so good to have you here again! You have been one of the students whose own brave determination to shape her learning experience and to make every moment count has so influenced and guided my teaching.

Don’t despair–make that magic happen yourself, if not in a formal classroom then in the informal ones. Blog about it, start a group on campus, speak to the administration–demand change! I couldn’t make it happen beyond my classroom, but you and your fellow students can!

By: Megan Guiliano

Megan Guiliano — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:02:39 +0000

Barbara,

I have not read your blog in a while, but found myself yearning for inspiration. Reading about the possibility of a course without grades, students concerned with both ‘self-interest’ and ‘group-interest’, genuine accountability, and that last post from the student who mentions “group health” – I am again blown away.

Students caring about group health in the sense of the whole student, in the sense that we are citizens participating in community larger than ourselves and larger than the classroom, is something to believe in.

I wish I wish I wish that this classroom you write about didn’t sound like magic, that that classroom I remember was still as fresh in my memory as it was three years ago. Sometimes it seems so long ago that I can’t remember if what I’m now longing for was ever really there.