Writing 1: December 2019

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Grades, Percentages, and Scores!

Greetings!

In addition to my earlier comments about grades in general, I want to clarify how I have scored and graded my students this semester. Firstly, I've divided the work done in the class into categories: Assignments, Writing, Grammar, and Literature. Each category is somewhat self-explanatory, except for perhaps the "Assignments" section. This is where I put our Quick Writes, vocabulary work, and any other class participation scores.

For the past two years I've been using My GradeBook, an online grade book. With this program, I can assign a category to each assignment, for example, Writing, Literature, Grammar, Assignments (in-class work.) My GradeBook figures percentages for total scores and for scores within each of these categories.

However, the four categories used for Writing 1 did not have the same number of assignments, so a straight averaging of the scores does not give an accurate total percentage/grade. For example, the Assignments category had 16 scores, and 15 of them were small, 5-point Quick Writes. Writing section had fewer assignments, but the scores were higher per assignment.

Though the categories are not exactly even, I feel that dividing the scores like this is helpful because it helps parent, students, and teacher have a better picture of the work done in the semester. For example, if a student scores 100% on this Assignments section, I know that he showed up and participated well in class. A low score in the Literature section is most likely a sign of a significant number of missing assignments. Likewise, a low score in grammar could be because assignments were not handed in, or it could be a lack of knowledge in this area. As it is with all homework assignments for any subject area, the scores reflect a mix of quantity and quality.

When you get the grades, you should see a small table like this:

Assignments		Grammar		Literature		Writing		Combined
Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%

I hope I haven't further confused the grading for this class. Working with students to help them develop into first-rate thinkers and writers is my primary goal. Points, scores, percentages, and grades are only small parts in the learning process.

Blessings to all of you,
Tammy Prichard

Writing 1 -- Grades are Coming for Fall 2019!

Dear CHAT Writing 1 Students & Parents,

I've just finished calculating the grades for the Fall semester, and you will be finding them in your inbox tomorrow. As tutors, these are suggested grades for you as homeschooling families to consider.

For those who are new to my classes, let me share my thoughts on grades. As I homeschooled, I didn't give my children grades. I felt that grades were far too subjective. I taught my own children for mastery. We didn't proceed with a topic until they were ready no matter how long that took. In a class setting, knowing where each student is with regards to his/her understanding of a topic is not possible, so any grade given is not a complete representation of what the student learned or accomplished this year.

Letter grades are a funny thing. For some students, it becomes the only motivation for doing well. For some, it becomes a measure of their worth as a person or as an academic learner. I personally don't like these "side effects" of the grading system. On the other hand, grades can be a valid reflection and reward for working hard, being diligent, and understanding the materials.

When teaching students to be good writers, I give a lot of consideration for growth and improvement. Each student has a starting place; over time I look for him or her to learn the mechanics of grammar, good writing techniques, and analytical thinking skills.

For this class, I gave points for attendance, participation, short assignments, literature assignments, grammar exercises, and longer essays. (I tend to be an "easy grader" and like to see my students encouraged to do their best.) For these essay assignments, the final drafts were graded using a rubric that divided the papers into the following categories: focus, content, organization, and mechanics. The grades will be divided into the following categories: Assignments (Quick Writes and in class activities), Literature, and Writing. A student may have been strong in one area and not in another, and this will be reflected in these categories. The categories are not evenly weighted; in other words, 100% in Assignments, which were almost all Quick Writes, does not have the same value as 100% in Grammar, which included lots of worksheets and new material to learn.

Each student (and parents) will receive an e-mail with percentages and suggested grades for this semester. I’ve seen each student improve with each paper. Good Work!

Blessings,

Tammy Prichard

Links:
Writing 1 -- Grades are coming!
Grades, Percentages, and Scores Clarification

Friday, December 13, 2019

Writing 1B Class Nores -- Week 15 (December 12)

Greetings!

We began our final class with a short Quick Write to reflect on the class and on the past semester. Research shows that reflecting on what and how you have learned enhanced meaning and encourages insight and complex understanding. (Here's a good article on learning through reflection.) For that reason, I have students take time to think back on the semester. I asked them to briefly write about something they learned academically and something they learned about themselves.

We celebrated our final class with a Christmas party that included an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Design" contest and a Jeopardy game. They were pretty intent on their designing and coloring. The Jeopardy game included the following topics: Characters, Ghosts, Vocabulary, Scrooge, and Jokes. By the way, research also indicates that using game-based learning strategies increases recall, retention, and cognitive growth. So while we were having fun, we were still intellectually engaged in our topics. The students numbered off and competed in teams.

Students handed in their final drafts of their History Essays. I will go over the essays and any other homework that was handed in yesterday; my goal is to have final grades out by the end of next week. If students are missing any work, I will take it until next Thursday. In class we cleared up some questions about missing work and My GradeBook. If parents or students have any more questions, feel free to contact me.

This has been a good class, and the students worked hard on their reading assignments and their essays. A small class has advantages and disadvantages. This means students have plenty opportunities to be involved in discussions, and I've used literature circles more often with this class because of the smaller size. On the other hand, small classes means that there's nowhere to hide if you come to class unprepared or just not up to engaging in conversation. All of the students have been good sports during class discussions.

Links for this week:

Class Notes (with pictures & videos)

Learning and Reflection article

Jeopardy Game for Writing 1

Game-Based Learning

My GradeBook

My GradeBook instructions

I've enjoyed this group of students. Each one is uniquely gifted for the plans that God has for him/her. Feel free to keep in touch.

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 1A Class Notes -- Week 15 (December 15)

Greetings!

We began our final class with a short Quick Write to reflect on the class and on the past semester. Research shows that reflecting on what and how you have learned enhanced meaning and encourages insight and complex understanding. (Here's a good article on learning through reflection.) For that reason, I have students take time to think back on the semester. I asked them to briefly write about what worked well, what didn't work, and what one "thing" they learned (from any class) that they found amazing. I especially value their comments about the structure of the class because these comments help me make adjustments and improvements.