It seems like there is never enough time to teach. Between planning lessons and worrying about issuing progress reports to over one hundred combined seventh and eighth graders, I had little time to do anything else last week. On top of the traditional letter grades, I was also expected to grade the eighth graders on their conduct and effort in my class. The students are graded on a scale from 1 to 4 with 1 being the best based on how they behave in a specific class. Most of the students at my school have never received anything less than a 1 on these grades. That was about to change.
Although I was under a strict deadline to issue conduct and effort grades, I was able to quickly go down my list of students and enter in a score based on what I had seen and perhaps more importantly, heard during my short time as a teacher. Out of two classes full of eighth graders, none of my students would get higher than a 2 in conduct. Very few received a 1 in effort. Most hovered somewhere in the 3 range.
When I returned to the eighth grade classes on Wednesday, I took time out of my lesson to talk with my students about the conduct and effort scores. As soon as they'd gotten wind of what their scores would be, some had started to panic. I even received a few e-mails from parents asking if their kids were acting up in class and assuming the worst. Instead of explaining why each student got the score they did, I decided to ask the class as a whole why they thought they got their respective scores, starting with conduct.
"Why do you think I gave you the score I did?" I asked. "Because we don't pay attention in class," said one student. "Because we're always talking," said another. We came up with a few more reasons, such as not turning in homework on time and not participating. I clearly told them that I expect everyone to participate in my class. When learning a language, participating is not a choice. It's an obligation. I then explained that the student who receives a 1 in my class will always come in on time, have their book out and be ready to work, and always make an effort. More than three weeks in and some were still struggling to take our their books.
This past week was also cut short by two days due to parent-teacher conferences at which the students were also expected to attend. A few parents wanted to meet with me so I showed up to talk about their students' performance. Most parents were worried about the conduct and effort scores. I assured them that no one got great scores this time and that since this was only a progress report, their kids had a lot of time to improve.
In many ways, the conferences benefited me as well as the students and parents. For example, I made allies with parents by finally meeting them and setting goals with them and their kids. I also made it clear to my students that they need to step it up if they want me to notice them. I told one of my students, Peter, that he needs to find a way to stand out among the other 100 students if he wants to ensure future 1s in both conduct and effort.
I'm glad that I could teach my students that nothing is certain. You can never assume that your conduct and effort will be perfect. You may think you're perfect until the teacher says otherwise. The more important lesson I hope they take away is that life is unpredictable. It will only get more difficult as they go on to high school, college and especially the real world. I don't foresee any problems for these students as far as staying in school, but it always helps to know the worst case scenario.
At least now I know how to get their attention!
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2 comments:
I do want to commend you for taking the time to give your students meaningful feedback. As a tutor I so often see teachers who slack in one of the most important ways, giving their students a prompt and meaningful assessment of how they are doing in class. It is my personal opinion that students should pretty much always know their grades up to the day. Obviously, large assignments take longer to grade but that is not really a reason for students to be able to float through a semester without knowing they aren’t performing adequately. In any case, you have kudos from me!
Grading (and assessing in general) is one of the most tedious and difficult things a teacher has to do, but in some ways it's also the most important. For one, grades hold students accountable better than almost anything else. For another, grades have a very real effect on students' lives. The grades that students earn will dictate which doors are open to them in the future. That's a hefty responsibility for teachers, one that should be given due thought and effort.
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