amanda beth online

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Friday, 22 November 2013

Grading Vs. Noticing

Posted on 03:30 by the great khali
My post today is going to be about something that hit me several years ago, and it is very timely because these days schools are hounded about assessments, teachers are hounded about assessments, students are hounded about assessments, and parents are hounded about assessments. I agree that we over-assess our students, but I do feel that assessments have a special place in the classroom. Used the right way, assessments can allow teachers to see what students are or are not understanding……but only if we take the time to NOTICE.

When I began my teaching career, I would tote home loads of papers to grade. Grade, grade, grade. My time away from the classroom was not spent doing things I wanted to do because I had ALL.THESE.PAPERS.TO.GRADE. What was I grading? Daily work, homework, tests, quizzes. Then after I graded the papers, I would record the grade (back then it was numerical, now it is either a 1, 2, 3, or 4…which a 4 means perfect. Something I have  huge beef with, but that's for another post…I mean, who is perfect? I have mastered subtraction with regrouping, but I still make errors in my checkbook. So does that mean I shouldn't earn a 4?) Anyways, I record the grade, sent the papers home, students returned them, and I stuck them in their portfolios. I did look at the grades. I saw who had failed, who barely passed, and who obviously didn't need to spend anymore time on that skill. And I used the grades to make small groups: those who needed a lot of help, those who needed some help, and those who could learn new skills.

Flash forward a few years, and I was in my master's program taking an assessment course. And in this course, the professor said why give your students a whole page of addition with regrouping to see if they know how to do it? Give them 5 problems. That is enough to see if they have learned it. And as I thought back, I felt so dumb. Why didn't I realize that myself? Probably because my schooling had consisted of a whole page of addition with regrouping problems as a test. And some teachers say, "Well, if you only give 5 problems, it will be hard for them to make an A if they miss one. They need more problems so they can make a couple of mistakes and still get a higher grade." GRADE. Assessments shouldn't be for grades, they should be for understanding what a student doesn't get. They should be for figuring out the mistakes a student is making. I began to realize that I needed to take the time to NOTICE my students' work, NOTICE my students' thinking, NOTICE what they can and can't do. And, for those students who don't know how to add with regrouping, they are getting an entire page of problems that they will do wrong, and it will just further cement the wrong way in their minds, making a much harder habit to break and replace with a correct method (notice how I said A a correct method and not THE correct method….many ways to solve math problems besides using the standard algorithm). And for those students who already know how to do it, how bored out of their minds are they going to be to do an entire page of problems they already know how to do? Talk about busy work.

I vowed from that moment on to change the way I assess. Now some assessments you can't change, no matter how much you want. But you do have control over the assessments you create and give your students. Namely those formative assessments. Those quick checks to see if a student gets it or not, to see if they are ready to move on to a harder skill or if they need reteaching. My quick checks (as I called them) were going to be just that: quick.

Let's look at the difference between grading and noticing. Grade each row of problems. How did this student do?

1st row- Zero correct. Now notice what this student did. Quickly we go from thinking that this student can't add to realizing this student knows basic facts, but does not understand place value when adding.

2nd row- Two correct. Not too bad, but still failing. Now notice what this student did. We realize that this student knows basic facts including those that require regrouping as indicated by getting 17-9 = 8 correct, but this students doesn't understand how to extend using place value to subtract larger numbers.

3rd row- Two correct. Again, not great but not horrible. Now notice what this student did. This one may be a little trickier. If you teach a grade when student begin to learn multiplication, you probably know exactly what this student is doing. If we grade this row, we will think that the student needs more practice with subtraction and addition. But if we notice, we see that we just need to spend a few extra minutes with this students to straighten out the difference between adding and subtracting with zero versus multiplying with zero. This student has generalized the zero property of multiplication with addition and subtraction. Reteaching this student addition and subtraction would do him no good. However, doing a quick lesson or reminder about how adding or subtracting with zero does not equal zero would be a far better use of time.

When I finally began noticing my students' quick checks and not just grading them, I became a much more effective teacher, and my students began to progress and excel like they never had before. Why? Because I was noticing their errors. Instead of looking to see if they got it right, I began looking to see if they got it wrong, and, more importantly, WHY they got it wrong. I began noticing and stopped grading. I began giving no more than 4-5 problems during a quick check. Four or five problems is plenty to see a pattern in errors or to make sure they understand. I didn't spend time reteaching a skill when they didn't need reteaching. Sometimes all they needed was a quick one-on-one meeting with me to discuss their mistake.

What do you think about noticing versus grading? I would love to hear your thoughts and stories!

Until next time!

Heather
2 Brainy Apples
Blog
TpT Store
TN Store
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter- @2brainyapples

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook
Posted in 2 Brainy Apples, assessment, grading versus noticing | No comments
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Popular Posts

  • Dream House: An Additive Area Project (3rd Grade Common Core)
    The 3rd grade Common Core standards are pushing us to reach a deeper understanding of many topics. For example, area is covered in much more...
  • What's the Big Deal Anyway?...Engaging Students in the Classroom
    Teachers spend countless hours writing lesson plans and tailoring activities to meet the needs of their students. They modify, accommodate, ...
  • Making the connection between literature and math (part 1)
    The school year is winding down, next year’s teaching assignments are being handed out, and teachers are being asked to use up what little b...
  • 5 Ways to Use a Hundreds Chart in the Upper Grades
    Hi there, upper elementary teachers! It's Blair from One Lesson at a Time , here to bring you some tips for using hundreds charts in the...
  • Remediation Groups Made Easy!
    Today I thought I would share a quick "tip" that has helped me keep myself organized when planning remediation groups.  I must pre...
  • Interactive Bulletin/White Boards
    Every student teacher's dream is to have his/her own classroom and spend hours...days...weeks during the summer setting it up.  Desk arr...
  • Problem Solving Doesn't Have to Mean "Word Problems"!
    So if you are like most teachers who have ever taught math, you know that "problem solving" is critical.  When you study the Commo...
  • Teaching Them How to Think By Asking the Right Questions!
    Hello!  I hope everyone is ready for spring!  If you are like me, you are back in the trenches after a little break and are ready to hit the...
  • Standardized Test Prep: Where's the Hook?
    This time of year leading up to standardized testing can drain the life and motivation out of both students and teachers. There is so much t...
  • The Power of Podcasting!
    **PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL BE POSTING ON MONDAY'S MOVING FORWARD!** Greetings Friends! I hope that this finds you enjoying your holiday.....

Categories

  • #ATUE
  • 100s Day
  • 2 Brainy Apples
  • 2 Fulbright Hugs
  • 2brainyapples
  • 2peasandadog
  • 3.nbt.1
  • 3.nf.1
  • 4.nf.1
  • 4mulaFun
  • 4th grade
  • 4th grade math
  • 5th grade
  • 5th grade math
  • 5th grade Reading Review
  • 6th grade
  • A Cat Named Haiku
  • Abstract Nouns
  • activity
  • Address Labels
  • adverbs
  • Air Fronts
  • Alexander rich last sunday
  • algebra
  • All Things Upper Elementary
  • Amber Thomas
  • Amber Thomas's Classroom Favorites
  • Amy Alvis
  • Amy Satterfield
  • and Share
  • Andrea M. Bentley
  • anglegs
  • angles
  • ANSWER method
  • AppleSlices
  • April Poetry Month
  • area
  • Artistry of Education
  • Aspire to Inspire
  • assessment
  • attributes
  • atue
  • ATUE takes on!
  • Augmented Reality
  • authentic performance tasks
  • back to school
  • Back to School Bargains
  • Back to School to do List
  • backward timing
  • Bar Modeling
  • Bar Models
  • behavior
  • Behavior Chart Template
  • Beyond Traditional Math
  • bingo
  • biographies
  • Blair Turner
  • Blockhead the story of Fibonaccie
  • Book Bloggin' Buddies
  • book blogging buddies
  • Book Clubs
  • Book Creator
  • Book Share
  • book talks
  • book trailers
  • books
  • boring
  • bucket filler
  • bucket fillers
  • bullying
  • bundle
  • caricature
  • CCS Math
  • CCSS
  • CCSS Math
  • Chapter 3
  • character traits
  • cheap present
  • Cheat Sheet Ring
  • christmas
  • circuits
  • class dojo
  • Class Themes
  • classdojo
  • Classifying Animals
  • classroom community
  • Classroom Decor
  • Classroom Game Nook
  • classroom library
  • classroom management
  • classroom organization
  • Classroom Stationery
  • Classroom Teacher Report Sheet
  • Classroom Twitter Board
  • clickers
  • close reading
  • Close Reads
  • Cloud Types
  • Co-teaching
  • Collaboration
  • collaboration cuties
  • colonies
  • Coloring Page
  • comics
  • commercials
  • Common Core
  • Common Core and So Much More
  • common core writing
  • communication
  • Competition
  • Comprehension
  • computers
  • concept mapping
  • Concrete Nouns
  • conferences
  • connect writing to reading
  • connection to math
  • constructed response
  • Constructed Response Assessments
  • cooperation
  • cooperative learning
  • Corrina Allen
  • Crafting Connections
  • Craftivity
  • Create
  • Created by MrHughes
  • Creating Classroom Rules
  • creative writing
  • creativity
  • cross-curricular
  • cross-curriculum
  • cue cards
  • cute valentines
  • Daily Dose
  • Data collection
  • Deb
  • decimal form of fractions
  • Decimal Numbers
  • decimals
  • deck of cards
  • dialogue
  • dice
  • dictionary skills
  • differentiation
  • Dinosaur Deals
  • discovering activity
  • division
  • DocsTeach
  • download
  • Earth
  • Earth Day
  • easter
  • easy
  • eBooks
  • Eclectic Educating
  • Edmodo
  • educational technology
  • educents
  • Educreations
  • ELA
  • electricity
  • elementary math
  • Elizabeth Stavis
  • emotions
  • end of the school year
  • engagement
  • engineering
  • English Language Arts
  • ESL
  • Estimating
  • Every Day Counts Math
  • every pupil response
  • Exit Slips
  • experiment
  • extended response
  • fact fluency
  • first days of school
  • five senses
  • flapjack
  • flashcards
  • flippable
  • Flipped Classrooms
  • foldable
  • Formative Assessment
  • Fourth Grade
  • Fourth Grade Studio
  • Fourth Grade Test Prep
  • fraction equivalents
  • Fraction of a set
  • fractions
  • free
  • Free for All
  • FREEBIE
  • freebies
  • Friday Free Writing
  • fun
  • Fun 4 All
  • Gabrielle Dixon
  • game
  • Games
  • GCF
  • Genius Hour
  • genre
  • geography
  • Giveaway
  • goal setting
  • Goals
  • grading versus noticing
  • Grading with Labels
  • grammar
  • GRASPS
  • greedy triangle
  • groups
  • Guest Contributor Form
  • guest post
  • Guest Poster badge
  • Guest Posters
  • Guided Reading
  • Haiku
  • hands-on
  • hands-on learning
  • Heather LeBlanc
  • Historian
  • holidays
  • How to Clean Your Desk
  • hundreds charts
  • Hunter's Teaching Tales
  • I Love My Classroom
  • idioms
  • IEP Cheat Sheet
  • If you hopped like a frog
  • INB
  • incentives
  • Independence day
  • inexpensive
  • informational texts
  • informational writing
  • integrating content
  • integration
  • Interactive Learning
  • Interactive Notebook
  • intro
  • Inverted Classrooms
  • iPad
  • iPad apps
  • iTeach 1:1
  • Jamie Riggs
  • Jennifer Findley
  • Jennifer Smith-Sloane
  • Joey Udovich
  • Journey Through the Text
  • Kate's Classroom Cafe
  • Katie Lately
  • Keith Geswein
  • Kelly Anne
  • Kimberlee Fulbright
  • kindness
  • Kristen Stull
  • Kristin Kennedy
  • Labels- Learn With Leah
  • Ladybug's Lounge
  • Language Arts
  • Last Day of School
  • LCM
  • leadership
  • Leah Fullenkamp
  • Leanne Baur
  • Leanne Baur's Creative Classroom
  • learning goals
  • learning styles
  • Lesson of a Story
  • Letters to Incoming Class
  • life science
  • line plots
  • linky
  • linky party
  • literacy
  • Literacy Center
  • literary devices
  • literature
  • literature circles
  • logic
  • Long Division
  • Looking From Third to Fourth
  • Love that Dog
  • lowest terms
  • making inferences
  • Maneuvering the Middle
  • manipulatives
  • Martin Luther King
  • Mary Bauer
  • matching
  • math
  • math and writing
  • math fact fluency
  • Math in Focus
  • math is real life
  • Math Learning Center Stations
  • math love
  • Math Manipulatives organization
  • Math MCAS Review
  • Math multistep word problems
  • Math Science Social Studies...Oh my
  • math valentines
  • math vocabulary
  • Math Workshop
  • MCAS
  • measure to the nearest quarter inch
  • measurement
  • media
  • Meg Anderson
  • Melissa Mazur
  • Melissa O'Bryan
  • Memories
  • mental health
  • mentor sentence
  • mentor text
  • Mentor Texts
  • mentoring
  • Messy Desks
  • Middle School Math Moments
  • MissMathDork
  • Mobile
  • MobyMax
  • MOOD
  • More Time 2 Teach
  • Morning Meeting
  • Morning Meeting Greeting
  • Motivation
  • Mr. Magician
  • MrHughes
  • Mrs. Thomas's Classroom Favorites
  • multiplication
  • music in the classroom
  • national archives
  • National Poetry Month
  • nerdy valentines
  • New Student Preparation
  • New Year's
  • notebooking
  • Noun Hunt
  • nouns
  • novel discussion groups
  • Number Lines
  • number of the week
  • observation
  • on-line learning tool
  • One Lesson at a Time
  • Open Response
  • opinion writing
  • Order Up!
  • organization
  • ornaments
  • parent's night
  • parents
  • partner work
  • Patriot Day
  • performance assessments
  • performance tasks
  • perimeter
  • perseverance
  • persuade
  • persuasive writing
  • pi
  • pi day
  • Pigs in the Pantry
  • pinterest
  • Plan B
  • Planner Labels
  • podcasting
  • Poetry
  • Poetry Elements
  • Poetry Unit
  • Point of View
  • positive
  • positive points
  • pre assessment
  • Precipitation
  • presents for your students
  • prime factorization
  • Printable Forms
  • Printable Packet
  • problem solving
  • professional development
  • Prose
  • punctuation
  • Puppet Pals
  • puzzles
  • Pythogoras and the rations
  • QR Code Labels
  • QR Codes
  • quadrilaterals
  • questioning
  • quotations
  • Rachael Parlett
  • RAFT writing tasks
  • read-aloud round-up
  • Reader's Theater
  • Reading
  • reading across the curriculum
  • reading across the curriculum G is for Google
  • reading resources
  • reading response
  • reading social studies integration
  • Reading Workshop
  • real world
  • real world application
  • RebeccaHallock
  • rebus
  • recording
  • Recruiting Guest Bloggers
  • rectangles
  • reference sources
  • Reflection
  • Regions
  • relays
  • remediation
  • research project
  • Response to Reading
  • Review Game
  • revision
  • Revision Tips
  • rhombus
  • Right Down the Middle
  • rigor
  • risk taking
  • rounding
  • roundup
  • Rubric Labels
  • ruler
  • Sale
  • salt dough
  • salt ornaments
  • save fred
  • school projects
  • science
  • science and writing
  • science labs
  • science notebooking
  • Science writing integration
  • Seating Charts
  • Secrets Revealed
  • Sentence Fragments
  • September 11th
  • SET
  • shearerlysadler4thgrade
  • Short Stories
  • Shut the Door and Teach
  • sight words
  • Sign Up Board
  • Singapore Math
  • snow removal
  • Social skills
  • social studies
  • social studies and writing
  • solar system
  • sorting
  • spaghetti and meatballs for all
  • Spain
  • Special Education
  • Spring Fever Sale
  • Square Numbers
  • squares
  • St. Patrick's Day
  • Standardized Testing
  • Standards for Mathematical Practice
  • standards-based
  • State Float Project
  • States
  • states and capitals
  • States and Regions Unit
  • STEM
  • storytelling
  • stressed
  • student engagement
  • student engagment
  • Student Materials Shelf
  • Student Organization
  • student portfolios
  • Students share news
  • study
  • Successful 50 Minute Classes
  • summer
  • summer learning
  • Summer Project Series
  • Summer Reads
  • Symmetry
  • synonyms
  • tabitha carro
  • take time to write
  • Tammi Booth
  • task cards
  • Teach
  • Teacher Appreciation Week
  • teachers
  • Teachers working together
  • TeachesThirdinGeorgia
  • teaching
  • Teaching Abroad
  • Teaching Books
  • teaching elementary math
  • Teaching Special Thinkers
  • Teaching To Inspire in 5th
  • team building
  • Team Planning Form
  • technology
  • TEFL
  • Ten Marks
  • test prep
  • testing
  • testing brain breaks
  • thank you
  • thankful
  • thanksgiving
  • the balanced classroom
  • The Brown Bag Teacher
  • The Peanut Gallery
  • The Teacher Studio
  • Theme
  • TheRoomMom
  • thesaurus
  • Timesavers
  • TPT
  • TpT Sale
  • Upcycling Craft Project
  • valentines
  • valentines day
  • Vertebrates
  • video
  • videos
  • Vista Print
  • vocabulary
  • Warm Ups
  • Water Cycle
  • Weather Unit
  • White Boards
  • Whole class game
  • Whst's your angle Pythagras
  • Wild About Fifth Grade
  • word problems
  • Word Search
  • Wordle
  • writers workshop
  • writing
  • writing connection
  • writing cycle
  • writing in the classroom
  • writing portfolios
  • writing projects
  • Writing Workshop
  • Yearn to Learn
  • YouTube

Blog Archive

  • ►  2014 (62)
    • ►  April (13)
    • ►  March (16)
    • ►  February (15)
    • ►  January (18)
  • ▼  2013 (241)
    • ►  December (15)
    • ▼  November (18)
      • Guest Post: Collaboration Cuties, How to Use Ment...
      • We Are Thankful!
      • Practicing Long Division with Money
      • Tis' the Season for Freebies!
      • The Power of Popsicle Sticks!
      • Grading Vs. Noticing
      • Interactive Notebooks and the Common Core
      • Free Thanksgiving Parts of Speech Cards!
      • Dabbling With Informational Texts
      • Abstract Noun Poetry- Making It Concrete!
      • Free Educational iPad App: Educreations
      • A discovery discussion to have with your students...
      • Keeping Kids on Track
      • Guest Post Bethany Hunter: Synthesizing
      • Increase Student Engagement
      • Rethinking Literature Circle Roles
      • Pop-Up Flash Card Viewer - My Clever Little Fox Idea!
      • Home/School Communication
    • ►  October (24)
    • ►  September (19)
    • ►  August (15)
    • ►  July (20)
    • ►  June (20)
    • ►  May (25)
    • ►  April (19)
    • ►  March (21)
    • ►  February (18)
    • ►  January (27)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

the great khali
View my complete profile