Tackling Grading

     I recently had to read this great article by Rebecca Alber about grading in the classroom. As a future mathematics teacher for high school, before reading this article I never really took the time to think about grading. This article had some great ideas and made me think of a few on my own. If you would like to read this article it is available at: http://www.edutopia.org/grading-dilemma-strategies-tactics. Feel free to read this article and leave comments! I would love to know if there are some other great grading ideas out there!

Peer/Self Assessments
     Students in high school can purposely give a student a bad score just because they do not get along. Even if students do not grade fairly, it may be able to spot. However, if the goal was to ensure that you, as the teacher, has less grading, what would be the point if you have to go through all of them yourself anyway?
The positive with peer assessments is that students can learn from each other about what is acceptable in the classroom. Self assessment is a great tool to use for grading. It gets each student involved in their own success, or sometimes failure. For students in high school, it is important for them to start learning how to be accountable for their own actions.

The One-in-Four Rule
     The one in four rule is to grade one out of every four assignments. I have never heard of this rule before. However, I did have a teacher that explained to me how important it was to grade assignments and get the back as soon as possible. With this rule, I feel that getting the students their graded assignments back quickly will be so much easier. I also feel that this rule can even be added to by including grading just the problems that students are having the most difficulty with. For example, in my future high school math classroom I may give them credit for turning in their homework, but examine closely their word problems and make comments to help them feel more comfortable with these types of problems.

The Stamping Method
     I loved Rebecca Alber's idea with creating your own stamps for the classroom. What a great way to personalize your classroom and encourage your students! Stamping cuts down the grading time. I believe that switching the stamping between a stamp for credit and a stamp that is based on how well the students are doing on the homework. This is important because the students don't know what is the stamp for the day so they have to make sure their homework is done.

Student Journals
     I love the idea for student journals. I feel that students in high school need to learn these important study and note-taking skills so they can use it throughout their college careers. In a high school mathematics classroom with Common Core Standards, the students need to learn to write about how a problem is solved. I feel that this is important because if you can teach it, you know it. This way the students can talk about the problems with each other and help each other succeed.

     As a future teacher, I know that when it comes to rewarding a student, no matter their age, it is not always about the reward, it is about the fact that you took the time to recognize the student for their skills. Some students do not get this kind of attention at home. So, as the teacher, you can provide some motivation, even if it is giving a sticker that you got from the Dollar Store!