Post #5

ETA: Sorry, you are probably reading this post well after the fact...I guess I typed it up and hit save as draft instead of publish post... :(

GRADES ARE OUT! Oh man, are those words chaos in Mr. Roush's class....He is pretty flexible about turning in papers and as long as they are in by the end of the six weeks, he seems ok with that. It would seem that makes for a very busy week though! The last minute rush of papers coming in and students inquiring about what they havent turned in has really made me start thinking about Marzano and the chapter on feedback. The most important part of the homework and grading process is the feedback it provides to the students. Mr. Roush has a policy that he never gives homework papers back, he just publishes the grade on EDLINE and then keeps all the papers until the end of the year. He said he has had problems with students in the past saying they turned something in that they didnt, and by keeping the papers...he knows who turned in and who didn't. I don't think this policy is very helpful, especially in a classroom where they dont take home their textbooks (there are not enough for the entire 10th grade class). They need those papers for future homework and studying. I also think the feedback provided on those papers is key for the student to improve and know what they did right vs just a number on a computer screen. I talked with Mr. Roush about it and he said I could play around in EDLINE to see if there was anywhere I could find to post feedback about particular assignments (he doesnt seem to want to budge on actually giving them back their handed in assignments). After poking around in EDLINE, I figured out a way to do it! I showed him how to do it and he seemed excited about it too. The past two assignments the students have turned in, I posted their scores in edline and what I agreed with/ what they missed or where lacking. I told the students to check their EDLINE that night and the next morning they were excited too! They were very happy to know not just their score, but the feedback provided as well. From what I gathered from the students, this doesnt seem to happen often in their other classes. I can understand why, because it is somewhat time consuming...but I think the benefit could be well worth the time! I hope Mr. Roush keeps it up after I leave...