Category: grades

assessment, being a teacher, grades, Student

Do Our Students Understand Our Standards?

Pernille Ripp

I-want-my-students-to

I could see the disappointment creep through the room like a fog enveloping us all.  Those kids who had been bright and cheery when they entered our room now sat there sullen, shoulders dropped, barely meeting my eye.  I tried to explain again; I thought you needed some honest feedback…I know I have high expectations…it is not too late…

My students had done halfway through the quarter reflections and some of them had really missed the mark on their own engagement and work quality. Or maybe I had missed the mark as a teacher, but something was not lining up between their perception and reality, something was not right.  Thus Tuesday’s conversation; a quick “If grades were handed out today” sheet and now lots of broken hearts.  Sometimes being a teacher just sucks.

That night, when I couldn’t sleep, I realized what we needed to do, ashamed that I hadn’t thought of it before; we needed to deconstruct the standards.  Tear them apart, put them in our own language, but most importantly discuss ways of showing mastery, so that they could be in control of their 7th grade learning journey

So today we started with our very first standard.  The students and I reworded it, spoke about what it meant, and also spoke about my ideas for second quarter; show me mastery in your own way.  Tell me when you are ready to give me evidence that you can do these things.  Yes, you can choose to do a written assignment, and yes there will still be certain milestones that we have to reach,  but you can also show me in another way; sculptures, videos, conversations, blogs, whatever we can work out, whatever you can dream up.

After today, I feel like it finally makes sense.  Not just to my students who function under the scope of these standards; but to myself, the wielder of the assessment.  I hadn’t thought to do this because I made the assumption my students had figured it out themselves.  That they had figured out the standards.  That they knew how they would be assessed and how to show me their growth.  Why I would assume this I am not sure, but I know I cannot be the only one.  I know others like me must have assumed that students know what they are supposed to learn, know what they will be assessed on.  That’s a mistake I will not make again.

After the day was done and the new standard hung on our bulletin board, I have hope.  Hope that my students will start to understand what I take for granted in their learning journey.  Hope that my students will see that they there is room for all of their abilities and not just the ones determined by me.  Hope that my students will embrace the push for personalization, hope that it will make them understand more where they need to go and how they need to grow.  I should have done this day one, I am glad it is not too late.

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I am a passionate  teacher in 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 from Powerful Learning Press.   Second book“Empowered Schools, Empowered Students – Creating Connected and Invested Learners” is out now from Corwin Press.  Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

assessment, grades, students

Why Do I Ask My Students to Grade Themselves?

Pernille Ripp
Keep Learning, Keep Growing- 11x17 typography print, inspirational quote, teacher gift, university, dorm decor, modern wall decor, christmas
image from etsy

I first gave up on percentages the day I found myself overriding a student’s average and changing their grade to something else.  Mind you that average was calculated by me on worksheets I had assigned.  I remember erasing the letter I had written, so meticulously calculated, and then arguing with myself over whether I had the right to do so.  Would anyone know that I had changed the grade to more accurately reflect what they knew and that it was no longer based on an average?  Would I get busted for this?  I felt like such  a fraud.

Today I asked my students to once again assess themselves.  Assign 4 through 1 to their learning in all subjects and then hand it in to me.  The numbers are not my invention but rather my district’s take on standards based grading and so that portion is out of my hands, it is the end of the trimester so report cards must be written.  I gave them their previous report card, also filled out by them.  I gave them an explanation of what the categories meant and then I gave them time to evaluate.  They thought, they asked questions. and then they handed them in.  Yet some people may wonder why I bother?

I don’t have them write their own grades because I’m lazy.  It is not because I don’t know how I would assess them.  It is not to give them a fake sense of control.  Or a fake sense of ownership.

I do it so it is their voice that is heard when they are judged.  So that their input determines where they are and where they need to go.  I do it because every time there is a surprise.   A child always evaluates themselves differently than I would, and it is in that difference that some of our most revealing discussions take place.   This is where a child reveals their broken self esteem, this is where a child reveals their confusion, their lack of belief in their own capabilities.  This is where a child shows that they perhaps are less clued in then they have led me to believe.  Or where they prove to me how much they know but were too afraid to share.  It is within these conversations that my students truly take control of their learning journey and set the goals.  It is where they find their mistakes and take ownership.  It is where they realize what they have mastered, how far they have grown.  It is where we celebrate their successes and think about our failures.

I may not be a believer in grades, but I will always believe in the power of a good conversation.  These conversations shape the next trimester, the next month, the next day.  These shape the journey my students continue to take.  My students know that I am not the only one assessing them, they have someone else that is much tougher than me; themselves.  And they don’t want to let that person down.

Be the change, grades, reflection

My 5 Year Old Schools Me on Grades

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

Thea ignores me.

“Here it says that you don’t know your letters, numbers, or shapes.”

Thea continues to ignore me.

“What letter is this?  (As I point to a big D).

Thea glances up.  “A?”  My heart drops.  “It’s not A, it’s D.  D for daddy.  We have to practice this!”

Thea walks away then yells, “I don’t want to learn my letters!” and leaves the room.  She told me.

Welcome to my biggest parenting fail to date.

You wouldn’t think that I cared about report cards.  You wouldn’t think that I would skip right over the “3’s” and “4’s.”  Hurriedly read the positive comments her teacher meticulously typed.  Skim down until my eyes found what my heart knew would be on there, the “2’s” – the ones that means that she is not where she should be, the ones that means she is not as good as the other kids.  Yet that is exactly what happened on Friday afternoon.  Never mind the great things Thea has accomplished, never mind all that she can do.  My parenting eyes went straight for what she doesn’t know and then got stuck on a tangent until my darling 5 year old left the room.  End of conversation, mom.

So why do I share this story?  Because this is exactly what happens in most homes when we send home a report card.  Parents eagerly skim until they see the negative, the mark that isn’t as good as the others.  We skim over the great remarks, we notice the good, but we really focus on the “needs to improve,” the area of supposed deficit.  We hone in on that, it appears to be instinctual,  and that becomes the topic of conversation, that becomes the point of contention. Then we harp on our kids until they wither leave in protest or defeat,  Mission accomplished, we have parented them well.  But it shouldn’t be this way.  The numbers or letters that tell us what our child still needs to work on should be the biggest point, bring the other stuff into the conversation but don’t make it the main event.

I know this and yet I fell right into the pattern.  I know that a 2 does not define Thea.  I know that a 2 just means she has to work on something.  And yet that afternoon I couldn’t help but feel that she was not doing enough, that she was not good enough as compared to the other kids.  That  I haven’t pushed her enough to learn something so simple.  That I shouldn’t give up when she refuses to learn, that I haven’t set high enough expectations.  That I have failed my 5 year old already as a parent.  That she will never learn her letters, that she is now forever doomed.  Yes, all this from a progress report from 4K.

And then the teacher in me that hates grades kicks in.  The teacher that sees what grades do to warp learning conversations in the home.  The teacher that sees the damage that happens when we try to quantify and compare our students.  My rational side catches up to me and reminds me that a “2” means something to work on.  That Thea is quite capable, yet stubborn as a mule.  That Thea is a quick learner when she is ready for it.  That a report card from 4K is not setting the path for her future.  That this is not the whole story of my little girl and it should not be allowed to be.  And I breathe and I go back and I notice the “3s” and then the “4s” and then finally the comment that says that she cares about others and is a great friend.  And I smile and I know she will be ok.  That I will be ok.  That there are bigger things to focus on than numbers.  That there is more to my little girl than a report card.  Even if I forgot about it for a moment.  She is ok, I am ok, and the piece of paper is just a snapshot, not her whole story, not her future path determined.

Why do we forget that?  Why do we give grades so much power?  Why do we think a grade can define our child?  I know better, we know better, yet how do we change grades and what they mean?   How do we shift the focus from the number to the learning?  From the deficit to the potential?  Or do we all need a 5 year old to leave the room and refuse to learn until we see the harm report cards can do?

I am a passionate (female) 5th grade teacher in Wisconsin, USA, 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 Classroom Back to Our Students Starting Today” will be released this March from Powerful Learning Press.   Follow me on Twitter @PernilleRipp.

 

being a teacher, grades, reflection

What the Report Card Doesn’t Tell

Pernille Ripp
image from icanread

I am about to start report cards.  Being a teacher that doesn’t believe in grades for assessment but would rather do feedback, I always struggle at this time of year.  How do I put into words all of the things that I have seen my students do in in the last few months?  How do I quantify how they have grown?  There just seems to be so many thing a report card doesn’t tell us.

It doesn’t tell the story of the child that has worked so hard every day yet has made little academic progress.

It doesn’t tell the story of the boy who hated to read and now has read two books already.

Or the story of the child who thinks he is the world’s worst writer but did an assignment all on his own.

It doesn’t tell the story of the girl who struggles with self esteem and thus doesn’t want to shine a light on herself even though she should.

Or the child that reads a book a night but is too shy to discuss it.

Or the child who knows everything there is about DNA but doesn’t know his letter sounds.

It doesn’t tell the story of the child who knows more than their mind lets them show.

Or even the story of a teacher who tries every day to get these kids to believe in themselves and their ability to change the world.  which grade do I assign all of that?

grades, reflection

School Should Not Be About the Report Card so Why Do We Let it Be?

Pernille Ripp
I feel like a fraud.  All week I have been discussing grades with my students as we prepare to release the second trimester report card.  All weeks I have been telling them they are “3’s” or “4’s” and why they are these arbitrary numbers.  I have wished for ownership of their learning.  I have wished for them to understand what that number means and how it looks in their work.  I have wished for them to see that everything they are working towards cannot just be distilled into a number and yet we are going to try.  I have had so many reflective periods in class that I am not sure they even know what they need to reflect on anymore in the hopes that they will buck the numbers.  And yet, when I sat them down, one-by-one, to ask them what their goals were for the final trimester, most answered, “To get more 4’s.”

Argh.

Yet, I know the fault is my own.  I have tried to humanize a report card   To make it mean something to the kids.  I have tried to elevate it to something of importance rather than just add it as another part of their journey.  I have let it take center stage rather than just pointing it out as one more representation of their learning and then moving on.

This is not what school is about.  This is not what school should be about.  I have tried all year to have my students own their learning and own their journey and yet, this week, I set them back so far.  I forgot how much I hate grades.  I forgot how much I do not want to talk about them.  I forgot about how little they truly mean in education.

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grades

Another Failed Report Card

Pernille Ripp
I thought I had dealt with it right; have students grade themselves for the trimester since I have to post grades then.  At least they would be coming from the students rather than just me.  Since we have switched to standards based report cards, I projected and explained what each category meant on this new report card.  Then we discussed what a “3” meant vs a “4” and off they went.  They handed them in, I looked them over and highlighted anything I wanted to discuss.

At conferences I pulled them out and asked the students about the highlighted areas.  Blank stares.  I then prodded a little bit more, why would you give yourself this grade, what was your thought process?  Blank stare, then cleared throats,….”I’m actually not sure what that means so I just put a number there…”

Exactly.

These kids, even after I explain what the things are I am grading them on, they have no clue what it really is.  Perhaps it is due to poorly written report card language, perhaps it is due to not speaking educationalese, perhaps it is due to that what we grade them on most of the time seems to bear little resemblance to what we do in our classrooms, the discussions we have.  Sure, we discuss and use the term comprehension strategies but if they are all lumped together in one box, then how will a child know if they use all of them well or just some of them.  How will they know what that even means, to use them?  And does it really matter?  Parents don’t know what they mean either and they come armed with years of schooling and college degrees.  So we think of attaching explanation sheets to the report cards just so they can have some sort of a clue as to the terms we so flippantly throw around.  Now do you get it, it seems to scream.

We move toward better report cards so that we hope to better tell parents what their child has mastered or not, but in the end, when we create report cards that bear little resemblance to the conversation that happens within the classroom, what does it really matter?  Should I once again change the way I teach to make sure I use terms that will appear on a reportcard, even though those terms do not always fit what we are teaching or even within the understanding of my students?  Should I barge on, use the terms, just so students may know what they mean when they get their grades?  Or should we ask the students what the report card should look like so that they could take ownership of their learning journey?

I dont have the answers, do you?