grades – Page 2 – Pernille Ripp

assessment, assumptions, Be the change, being a teacher, grades, ideas

7 Simple Things that Make Feedback and Assessment About the Students Again

September 28, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I think we all are always looking for ways to ease the assessment and feedback process in our classrooms, I know I am! And I get it, giving feedback and doing great assessment with 120 students, or even just 20 students, can seem like an unwieldy beast at times. So while I wrote about lessons I have learned while trying to limit grades, I thought I would also offer up the practical things that have made my day-to-day better. Behold, a few things to maybe make your feedback and assessment process easier.

Background: I now work in a district that is doing Standards Based Grades and moving away from letter grades. We also believe that formative work is practice work and can therefore not count toward a summative score, and finally, that students have the right to re-take work. At my middle school, we have a 2 week automatic re-take policy that we encourage students to use in case they need extra help with a concept.

They have a notebook that stays in the room. I have learned the hard way that when students leave with their notebooks, they sometimes do not come back with them. So this year, I instead created a readers notebook for them to keep in the classroom. Yes, it was a lot of paper, but it means that my students always know where to write their thoughts, it means that all writing about reading only happens in the classroom, and it also means that I have access to them at all time. This means that not only do we have a routine established for responding to reading, which frees up time, but also that student scan see their thoughts develop over time along with the feedback I give them. Each class has a bin on my shelf for easy access every day and they grab them when they come in before they start their independent reading time.

They have a manila folder with their names on it in real life or electronically. Each class is separated into 5 different groups and each group has a folder. All work that students do that is not in their readers notebook go in these folder. This year, the students will even file it themselves to save time. Why collect the work? Because my students write way more than I can assess, so this allows them a gathering place for all of their work. When a unit is nearing its end, I ask them to pick the one piece that they want me to assess. I also do this for anything we do electronically (but I respect the fact that some of my students want to hand write rather than type). The discussion that happens based on what they select for me to look at are richer because I know they had to think about it and not just hand me the last thing they wrote. This also signals to them that they are not working to get through things, but to learn, and that every piece of work they create has value eve if it does not get assessed

I have pre-printed labels with comments. Not for everything, but when I give feedback in their readers notebooks there are certain things that crop up again and again. That is what the pre-printed labels are for. These change throughout the year and I do not reuse the same ones from unit to unit. It is always catered to what we are working on what I am noticing with the students, and are explained before they are put on their work.

The students self-assess before I assess. At the end of unit, before anything is handed back by me, the students will then set goals and reflect on their work. This involves them scoring themselves as far as where they are with their proficiency in the chosen standard. The score is based on a standard they have deconstructed to put into student-friendly language, and also based on a rubric they have built with me or we have discussed. I want my students’ to have a chance to reflect before their confidence is skewed by my words.

Standards are assessed twice at least. We have 7 standards to cover in English this year and all of them will be assessed for a summative score at least twice in separate quarters. It is a chance for students to truly see that mastery may come at a different time for them than their peers and that that is ok. It also allows us to establish a baseline score and then see how they grow. When a standard is only assessed once, we assume that all students grow at the same rate, which we know is not true. So instead, make it a point to show students that knowledge is something we gain at all times and that they are the masters of their growth.

They have a chance to disagree. Once students have self-assessed, it is my turn. I will either handwrite their assessment or speak to them about it. But even then it is not final, it is a conversation, and students know that this is their chance to speak up. Too often we gloss over the assessment piece by handing things back at the end of class and forget that this is one of the largest opportunities we have for meaningful conversations about their learning journey. Don’t rush through it but take the time to discuss, reflect, and set new goals.

All work is kept in the classroom, pretty much. I need to know what my students know. Not what others know, not what they later figured out, but what they know right now. So any kind of summative work is done in the classroom, not at home, so that I can see how they work on a product with time management and the need for them to think deeper. This also fits into my policy of limited homework. And it forced me to evaluate what I am asking them to do, since I can see how much time something takes. ( I also do all of the work my students have to do, which has definitely been an eye-opening experience).

PS: For the how-to for eliminating or limiting grades, please consider reading my book Passionate Learners. There is a whole chapter dedicated to not just the why, but the actual how.

aha moment, assessment, Be the change, feedback, grades

Some Helpful Realizations for More Meaningful Assessments

September 28, 2015September 27, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have been trying to create more meaningful assessment for the past 5 years. Not a small feat if you would, especially now when I am teaching more than 120 students. Yet, a few things I have realized over the years may help others as they try to move away from grades as an end point, and instead move into better assessment and feedback, where students actually feel like they are in charge of their own learning journey.

Let me preface that this move from giving grades to giving feedback has not always been easy. I find it is much easier to simply assign a grade to something, yet it has definitely been worth it. By the end of the year my students are much better at evaluating, reflecting, and goal setting than they are when we start. And that is worth it all in itself. So a few things that I had to realize to make this shift was…

I am not the only one assessing. Students self-assess on almost every assignment once we get started. This is important, because they should not always be looking to me for how they did. They need to know themselves well enough to reflect on their own performance.

It is an ongoing conversation. We take the time to deconstruct the standards and rewrite them in student language. We take the time to go through what an assignment is actually asking them to do. We take the time to plan together so students can get ownership over what they are doing. Assessment is not something that only happens once in a while so it should not just be discussed once in a while.

I cannot assume. Too often we assume as teachers that we know what a child is doing or thinking. It is not accurate most of the time. So instead, I ask a child what they meant, I ask them to explain it to me as if I was not in the room. I ask them to make sure that I can understand their thinking at all times. We seem to focus too much on brevity, I would rather have a child be able to explain the full extent of their thinking than assume I know what they mean.

They need to produce more than I can assess. Our job is not to assess every single thing that a child produces, but instead to assess the pieces they feel are worth others looking at. Asking students to evaluate their work and only submit the one piece from a unit that they feel will show off their knowledge the best? That is an assessment in itself.

They need to assess each other, but not until they trust each other. We love using students as peer editors, as peer reviewers, and even as peer assessors. However this can be incredibly hard for students who do not trust one another. So wait. Let them build community first. Let them choose the people who will see their work. Do not force them into vulnerability, it is not worth it in the end.

Assessment needs to happen in class. They need to take ownership of the whole process, not just the end result, so that means that we are constantly evaluating our work, we are constantly engaged with our work, and we are doing it in class, not at home, not with parents. But here, now, this day, so that the conversations can happen as a group, as a partnership and as a self-reflection. And so the conversation can mean something and not just be homework or something else to get through.

Finally, assessment is a point in the journey, not the end of the journey. And students don’t often understand that. We have to have these conversations with them in order to change their mindset. If students think that grades are something being done to them, that grades are out of their control and do not happen until the end when it is too late to do anything about it, then we are missing the whole point of assessment. Assessment is for bettering yourself, for deepening your understanding, for helping you set goals. Not for completing something so you can cross it off the to-do list. Once again, I am reminded of the saying; We do not teach standards, we teach kids. And that is painfully apparent in the way we use assessment, feedback, and grades in our classrooms.

PS: For the how-to for eliminating or limiting grades, please consider reading my book Passionate Learners. There is a whole chapter dedicated to not just the why, but the actual how.

assessment, being a teacher, grades, MIEExpert15, Personalized Learning, student voice

“What Are You Proud Of?” – Using Letter Grades For Good

January 24, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I was exhausted to say the least. Voice raw, thoughts muddled, and a lead brain. I felt like I had worked days without sleep as I dragged myself home. All day Thursday, I conferred with almost all of my students. 100+ kids and I sat down, one on one, and spoke about scores, grades, goals, growth and most importantly what they are proud of. And I was exhausted.

I hadn’t intended to have a day of conferring. I had thought we would have a read-in party, I would hand them back their grade slips with my grades for them, the ones they had first decided and I then had added my input to. After all, most of us agreed on the letter grade that somehow would define their progress in English. Yet, as I looked at the slips of paper in my hand, I realized that this was not a paper conversation. That every child deserved to have a moment, even if only for a few minutes, to discuss why that grade somehow represented them and more importantly a moment to carve their own path forward.

So one by one I called them up, showed them their slip of paper and then we talked. What did I notice, what did they know? How had they been doing? How had they felt about being in English? What could change? What were my hopes as we moved forward? What did they hope for? What did they need? The conversations changed depending on the student, yet every single one ended with; what are you proud of?

What came from them were almost never their scores. Nor the grade they were getting. Instead, child upon child told me how they were actually reading now. How they had become better readers. How some didn’t hate writing as much. How English was getting easier for them. How they felt they had something to say. They spoke of insecurities. They spoke of being unsure. They spoke of trying. Of growing. Of wanting to become better people. Every child opened up and spke of their journey and together we spoke of the future.

One child summed up the day perfectly for me when he said; “I am not sure what I am most proud of. I have grown, I don’t know how, but I am now better.” And I thought, so am I. I am better teacher because I know my students better. I am a better teacher because I cannot wait to see what they do next. I am a better teacher because the students are starting to really trust me. I am a better teacher because my students push me forward every day, and I let them.

I did not intend to spend a day speaking to my students and doing nothing else, but now I know; it was the best way I could have spent a day. It was the best way to help my students know that they are more than a grade. More than a score. More than a letter.

I am a passionate teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin, USA, who has taught 4th, 5th, and 7th grade. Proud techy geek, and mass consumer of incredible books. Creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, Co-founder of EdCamp MadWI, and believer in all children. I have no awards or accolades except for the lightbulbs that go off in my students’ heads every day. First book “Passionate Learners – Giving Our Classrooms Back to Our Students” can be purchased now. Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press. Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

grades, Personalized Learning, student choice, student voice

What Does An “A” Mean – Thoughts From My Students

January 20, 2015 Pernille Ripp

We have been deep in grade discussion today as throughout the day I have asked students to define the letter grades that I have to give this semester. I wasn’t surprised at the in-depth discussions this prompted, but more at the harshness with which the students defined certain grades. Each class got a letter to define and then the other classes added their input. Tomorrow, students will select their grade and then provide reasoning on a sheet for why they belong in that category. I will then meet with each student to debate the grade with them and we will set goals for the future.

So how did the students define their letter grades? Behavior seemed to play a large role which lead to many interesting conversations, since we grade behavior separate from part of understanding. These are their thoughts….

To get an “A” in English, a student is:

Participating on topic (large group, small group) even if not called upon
An active listener (engaged, awake, doing what they are supposed to be doing)
Consistently trying to go above and beyond and shows interest in topics
Getting consistent 3’s or 4’s (even with re-takes)
Turning work in on time and completed (95%)
Consistently puts in effort
(Works well with others/respects others/teacher/classroom/materials – nice attitude)
Reads at least 6 out of 7 days 20 minutes or more outside of English
Furthers the understanding in the classroom through written or spoken work
Showing a deep level of understanding of content covered

To get a “B” in English, a student is:

Getting scores that are consistently 3’s with a few 2.5’s mixed in
Reading 5 out of the 7 nights outside of English class
Interested most days, as well as engaged in class
Putting in best effort
Doing required work but not always going for 4
Most of the time working well with others/showing respect and helping the class move forward in learning
Participating
Completing almost all work, as well as handing it in on time
Showing a thorough understanding of content covered

To get a “C” in English, a student is:

Getting mostly 2’s or 2.5’s
Reading 3-4 days a week outside of English class
Mostly turning in work on time and work is mostly completed
Mostly engaged but only some participation (large/small group)
Homework is almost always complete and mostly turned in on time (2 or more lates)
Group effort may depend on students in group
Effort depends on topic/subject
Mostly prepared for class but does forget items at times (book, pencil, notebook etc) leading to inability to complete tasks
Not always spending time in a in productive manner

To get a “D” in English, a student is:

Getting mostly 2’s
Reading 2-3 times a week outside of English class
Not always on topic and often distracts others
Not always prepared for class
Shows little engagement/time not spent productively
Has little participation even in small group
More than 3 missing assignments
Students shows little effort
Does few re-takes
Shows little understanding and does little to improve it
Choices made can harm the learning environment of others

To get a “F” in English, a student is:

Missing more than 5 assignments (summative and formative)
Getting 1.5’s or IE’s
Only reading one night or none outside of English class
Putting in little to no effort in class
Distracting students and teacher resulting in wasted learning time for self and others
Often not on topic
Has little to no participation
Does not do any re-takes
Is never prepared
Has selective listening that results in many misunderstandings

Have you asked your students to define their grades before they are given? If yes, how did it go? If no, why not?

assessment, education reform, grades, Personalized Learning, student voice

Before You Give Letter Grades, Please Ask Your Students

January 18, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have had a problem with letters grades for a few years now. I used to write about it all of the time, and then stopped because I felt like all of the words had been written. But now, I am back facing having to give letter grades for the semester as my district transitions from them to standards based grades. All of those old thoughts of why letter grades say so little about a students knowledge, effort, and accomplishment have been hounding me throughout my days as the deadline for giving them nears. But then I remembered; I need to ask the students what grades they should get.

It is rather simple process. As a class we discuss what makes an “A?” What should a child be able to do in class and out of it to get that elusive top grade? What does “A” thinking, writing, reading, discussion, and doing overall look and sound like? We go through each letter grade this way as a class and determine our definitions. We publish them to our website so parents can see. The standards based scores they have received are also part of it but they are not averaged and they are not the only component.

Once the students have created a group definition, they evaluate themselves. On a small sheet of paper they are asked which grade they feel they deserve and why. The why is important here as I need to see their thinking.

Once they have completed the sheet, we meet. We have to have a face to face discussion of what grade they think they should receive, what my thoughts are, as well as the path forward. Often I find I agree with a child, but if there is disagreement whether the grade should be lower or higher, it is of utmost importance to have a face to face discussion.

For too long students have felt they have little say over how they are assessed. They feel that grades are done to them, rather than something they determine. While we as teachers may think that students understand that their grade is a reflection of their effort, time and time again students have told me they don’t understand the relationship.

So if you have to give letter grades, or even just scores, I implore you to please involve your students. Don’t just rely on an average. Don’t just rely on your gut feeling. Don’t just rely on tests, homework, or whatever other assignment that you have given. Bring the students in. Give them power over their learning, give them voice in how they are assessed. They will thank you for it, or at the very least start to understand how they ended up with that B….

grades

How Do You Assess Without Grades – 5 Tips to Ease the Transition

November 6, 2014 Pernille Ripp

When I transferred my blog from Blogger to WordPress, not only did I run into domain name problems but I also had posts that didn’t transfer. This post is an oldie but still speaks to me.

Two great questions came my way yesterday in regard to assessing without grades and then communicating that information. We are so used to the ease of a letter grade that gets recorded in a book, averaged out and then translated into a letter, that moving away from that can be daunting and just a bit overwhelming. So two years into my process I thought I would share some tips I learned the hard way.

Discover your goal.

Whether they are based on district standards, common core, school outcomes, or even those listed in the curriculum, figure out what the goal is for each thing you teach. These can be large or small (don’t do too many small ones though, trust me) and then figure out what the outcome should be. Everything you do should have a learning goal because without that there is no point to the lesson.

Determine the product. What does it look like when students have accomplished the goal? What is finished? What is just another stepping stone? How will students show that they have mastered the goal? I love to have this discussion with my students, they have amazing ideas for this.
Determine assessment. Will it be written feedback? Will it be a rubric? Will it be a conversation – great tip; record these with a Livescribe pen and you have it for later! Or use Voxer to send it straight to the stduents if they are over 13. Once again, ask the students, what type of assessment will help them? How do they learn best?
Keep a record. This has been my biggest hurdle. I have had charts, Google Docs, grade book notes, relied on my faulty brain, and yikes. This year I am bringing my iPad in and using Evernote to keep track of it all. Students will each have a portfolio in Evernote with conversations, pictures of work, links to blog posts, as well as videotaped events. This way, everything will be at my fingertips when needed.
Communicate! Assessment is not helpful if kept to yourself so have the conversations with students, take the time, write things down, communicate with parents. All of these things need to be taken care of for this to work. The allure of letter grades is just that; the ease of communication, nevermind that they can mean a million different things. So when you step away from those make sure you replace that with communication. Give students ownership of their goals and have them write a status report home, send an email, make a phone call. Something. Everybody should know where they are at and where they are headed throughout the year.

My 5 biggest tips for today and something I continue to work on. Whatever your system is, take the time to reflect upon it, refine it, and make it work for you. Ultimately stepping away from letter grades should lead to a deeper form of assessment, not a larger headache, but for that you have to have systems in place.