This is awesome, thank you. Love your re-testing =/= re-assessment. I will direct my department head here when she shakes her finger at me like she did last year! Also helps that I got the District department head to say today at a district-wide PD today that yes, re-assessments are good!!
Thanks for blogging your journey. I’m a lurker. You have made SBG do-able and I’m spreading the word!
Are you grading out of 10 still on standards? Or moving toward something more binary? (Or was the note an old example that I shouldn’t read much into?)
I’m definitely more in love with binary grading, but depending on the students and parents and the course, sometimes I break out the ol’ 5-10 points scale. My school is also considering moving to a more elementary-style character-based reporting system, like n=no understanding, d=developing, p=proficient, a=advanced proficient.
In the end, I don’t think any of the specifics matter all too much, the fact that we’re all thinking about how to use grading to get kids to learn more is all that matters.
Matt:
August 20th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
Fan, lurker, and…choral director! I apply what I learn from you to Music Technology. With love, I resent your jab at the music department :)
Thank you for reiterating the BASICS of SBG. Simple, succinct, and to the point. I’m diving in full-hog this year in my AP classes after a fairly successful pilot last year in one section. Looking forward to it!
Amy Hammill:
August 25th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Couple questions on your “love notes:” How long is one of your classes? How much of your Thursday class does this take up? How short are you able to make these reassessments so that two or three of them can be reassessed in one period yet thorough enough to count as evidence for an entire target? I would love to see an example of a typical Thursday’s reassessment (if there is such thing as typical). Thanks so much; I appreciate your time and blog.
I’m on 90 minute blocks, assessments can take anywhere from 20-90 minutes depending on what I’m trying to assess or how into it the kids are. Traditional quizzes make up about 50% of the assessments I give, the rest are a mix of oral, engineering problems, journal-type writing, and students presenting projects to each other.
As I’m new at this, I am still firming up how I feel about the numerical grade. I’m doing binary grading, and give tons of comments about how the students are doing, but am trying as long as I can to not give a numerical score (even in comments) if I can get away with it. If they ask, I’ll give it to them, but I think I’m pretty clear in my comments on whether I think they get it or not. So far, so good. We’ll see how it goes as I assess longer term.
Hm… after tackling SBG starting this year I wish I would have read this post sooner! Multiple opportunities to show they’ve learned is important. I realize I have quizzes, but there are far too spread out and there isn’t much accountability to know and relearn after the first assessment.
So let me understand, since we don’t have enough computers to go around, maybe I could make a quick quiz every Thursday (that’s relatively short) that covers a couple learning targets (standards)? For me it wouldn’t encompass everything that is within the standard. Do you have a workaround for this? Or maybe my standards are a bit too general…
This is my first year using a full-blown SBG system, and I have found the exact same thing to be true. Its very rsireehfng and much less stressful.I also have found myself able to give harsher and more helpful feedback on assessments. Before SBG, giving a kid a D on a mid-unit assessment was a shot to the kneecaps. Now I feel free to give a 10/100, and tell the kid whoa, something happened there. Now you know what to work on.’
Erin:
January 14th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
When you are giving your Thursday assessments, are you mostly focused on the unit you are currently working on or do you put in things from previous units too, to show that they still know it? And you vary the length of the assessments, so that some would be more of what I think of a quiz length and some what I would think of to be more of a end of unit test length? I’m starting to write curriculum for a new conceptual physics class for next year and I am really wanting to start it with SGB so I am gleaning what I can for others who are doing it before I start. Thanks!
[...] I started thinking “students should only be allowed to improve their standard, because otherwise they won’t reassess”. But then I read this post. [...]
Andrea:
August 14th, 2012 at 2:31 pm
This is awesome, thank you. Love your re-testing =/= re-assessment. I will direct my department head here when she shakes her finger at me like she did last year! Also helps that I got the District department head to say today at a district-wide PD today that yes, re-assessments are good!!
Thanks for blogging your journey. I’m a lurker. You have made SBG do-able and I’m spreading the word!
Kelly O'Shea:
August 15th, 2012 at 7:44 am
Are you grading out of 10 still on standards? Or moving toward something more binary? (Or was the note an old example that I shouldn’t read much into?)
Shawn:
August 15th, 2012 at 9:59 am
I’m definitely more in love with binary grading, but depending on the students and parents and the course, sometimes I break out the ol’ 5-10 points scale. My school is also considering moving to a more elementary-style character-based reporting system, like n=no understanding, d=developing, p=proficient, a=advanced proficient.
In the end, I don’t think any of the specifics matter all too much, the fact that we’re all thinking about how to use grading to get kids to learn more is all that matters.
Matt:
August 20th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
Fan, lurker, and…choral director! I apply what I learn from you to Music Technology. With love, I resent your jab at the music department :)
Jason Buell:
August 21st, 2012 at 12:18 am
Laughing at Bower. Loved this whole thing.
Damion Beth:
August 21st, 2012 at 10:22 am
Thank you for reiterating the BASICS of SBG. Simple, succinct, and to the point. I’m diving in full-hog this year in my AP classes after a fairly successful pilot last year in one section. Looking forward to it!
Amy Hammill:
August 25th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Couple questions on your “love notes:” How long is one of your classes? How much of your Thursday class does this take up? How short are you able to make these reassessments so that two or three of them can be reassessed in one period yet thorough enough to count as evidence for an entire target? I would love to see an example of a typical Thursday’s reassessment (if there is such thing as typical). Thanks so much; I appreciate your time and blog.
Shawn:
August 26th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
I’m on 90 minute blocks, assessments can take anywhere from 20-90 minutes depending on what I’m trying to assess or how into it the kids are. Traditional quizzes make up about 50% of the assessments I give, the rest are a mix of oral, engineering problems, journal-type writing, and students presenting projects to each other.
Evan:
September 4th, 2012 at 8:28 pm
As I’m new at this, I am still firming up how I feel about the numerical grade. I’m doing binary grading, and give tons of comments about how the students are doing, but am trying as long as I can to not give a numerical score (even in comments) if I can get away with it. If they ask, I’ll give it to them, but I think I’m pretty clear in my comments on whether I think they get it or not. So far, so good. We’ll see how it goes as I assess longer term.
Chris Mitchell:
November 7th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Hm… after tackling SBG starting this year I wish I would have read this post sooner! Multiple opportunities to show they’ve learned is important. I realize I have quizzes, but there are far too spread out and there isn’t much accountability to know and relearn after the first assessment.
So let me understand, since we don’t have enough computers to go around, maybe I could make a quick quiz every Thursday (that’s relatively short) that covers a couple learning targets (standards)? For me it wouldn’t encompass everything that is within the standard. Do you have a workaround for this? Or maybe my standards are a bit too general…
Mohaned:
January 2nd, 2013 at 5:12 am
This is my first year using a full-blown SBG system, and I have found the exact same thing to be true. Its very rsireehfng and much less stressful.I also have found myself able to give harsher and more helpful feedback on assessments. Before SBG, giving a kid a D on a mid-unit assessment was a shot to the kneecaps. Now I feel free to give a 10/100, and tell the kid whoa, something happened there. Now you know what to work on.’
Erin:
January 14th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
When you are giving your Thursday assessments, are you mostly focused on the unit you are currently working on or do you put in things from previous units too, to show that they still know it? And you vary the length of the assessments, so that some would be more of what I think of a quiz length and some what I would think of to be more of a end of unit test length? I’m starting to write curriculum for a new conceptual physics class for next year and I am really wanting to start it with SGB so I am gleaning what I can for others who are doing it before I start. Thanks!
Shawn Cornally:
January 15th, 2013 at 5:14 am
One new, one stale, one old.
Standards-Based Grading: Misconceptions | ThinkThankThunk:
March 24th, 2013 at 3:04 pm
[...] So, taking time out of the equation is tricky, especially if you’re having to hack a preexisting schedule, but it can be done. [...]
My SBG Adventure | Hilbert's Hotel:
May 22nd, 2013 at 2:57 pm
[...] I started thinking “students should only be allowed to improve their standard, because otherwise they won’t reassess”. But then I read this post. [...]