I think I've decided what to do with my ever-constant homework grading issue. My problem is that I hate to just give completion credit, but I don't want to grade it because of (1) time and (2) the possibility that it may take the students more practice to get the skills down.
I've finally settled on a hybrid of the two, at least in my Algebra 1 classes. I have a total of 32 students in my two classes (which I'm pretty happy about!). While they're working on a warm-up each day or checking their answers, I'll walk around the room and give a stamp for completion. I just bought those cute little guys at Staples (except they don't say Office Depot, obviously). Then after we go over questions I'll collect their assignments and pick 2 - 3 problems to grade. I'll give 3 points for completion and 2 points per graded problem for a total of 7 - 9 points.
Does that sound reasonable?
In precalc I'm not going to give any completion points, but I'll collect some of the class every day and grade 3 - 4 problems. I have the kids sitting in groups of 4 and have numbered the groups 1 - 7 so I'll either randomly generate 4 numbers of tables to turn in or pick odds or evens. That way not every kid is turning in an assignment every day but it's always a possibility (and it's different from class to class; that's important to me so my 6th period doesn't assume theirs will be collected/not).
I know I'm rambling a bit, but I wanted to get this down for my own benefit... while I still remembered and had a plan!
Does that sound reasonable?
In precalc I'm not going to give any completion points, but I'll collect some of the class every day and grade 3 - 4 problems. I have the kids sitting in groups of 4 and have numbered the groups 1 - 7 so I'll either randomly generate 4 numbers of tables to turn in or pick odds or evens. That way not every kid is turning in an assignment every day but it's always a possibility (and it's different from class to class; that's important to me so my 6th period doesn't assume theirs will be collected/not).
I know I'm rambling a bit, but I wanted to get this down for my own benefit... while I still remembered and had a plan!
Something I used to do when I had a classroom with six rows (and about six students per row), was to roll a die at the beginning of class. I collected the homework from the students in the corresponding row. All other students in the class got automatic credit for the assignment. The students in "winning" row got credit if they completed their homework, BUT the students that didn't do the assignment were penalized five homeworks. (The math works out so that in the long run, the students' hw grade reflected the work they had done.)
ReplyDeleteI was assigning HW every night to 170 students, so I had to do something this drastic to maintain a manageable workload.
I will add that I DO NOT recommend this idea! Students were not receiving regular feedback, and too many students were taking their chances and not doing HW in hopes of a favorable die roll.
Your idea is much better! Thanks for sharing. Let us know how it goes!
At my school we're required to only give completion credit for math homework. Late assignments must be accepted with no penalty, assuming it's in the same grading period. Once the grading period is over, any homework not done is a zero.
ReplyDeleteI bought a stamp and stamp pad and I just walk around the room and stamp the page in their notebooks where the homework was done. Other than the fact that I really need to switch to a self-inking stamp, it's working well. I have a little notebook that I write down the date and anyone who didn't have acceptable homework. I can finish my homework rounds before the kids can finish a short bell work assignment.
My biggest unhappiness with this is that I can't really see their work without taking too much time. I might assign a loose worksheet this week so I can collect them and then I'll have them tape the worksheets into their notebooks later. I just need to get a sense of their work before we get into anything major.
I do 6 point scale in Alg II....3 points for completion and then pick 3 to grade like you do! I think it's a great idea!
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