Grading Policies

I had to read this article for my class and I thought it was a intriguing. It was about giving out zeros as a grade? We have to start thinking about the way we want to grade our students. That is one thing I do not think we cover enough of in our classes for education. Grading is very important and we need to learn what kind of teacher we want to be. Are you going to be the teacher that only gives grades based on class participation? Are you going to be the teacher that only has a few tests and based on the grades you get is your overall grade? Are you going to be the teacher that has many tests, quizzes, homework's, participation and uses all these to grade your student? Or are you going to be the teacher that does not believe in grades?

This article gave many good reasons why teachers should not give students zeros because they missed class, turned in an assignment late, or turned in an incomplete assignment. I agree with the article. Grades are suppose to represent how much and how well the students understand and learned the material. A test, paper or project shows the teacher, parent and student their academic performances. Giving a student a zero does not measure how much a student has learned. It also can discourage them from recieving a higher grade in that class because once they get a zero it will be very hard to get all high grades. Some students may think its an easy way out. If they don't do their work and still get some kind of grade on it they won't care.

The article made a good suggestion about giving zeros. The article has the students if they do not finish their work or do not do it at all or missed class they will have to make it up after school or on Saturdays. This will allow the teacher to measure how much a student actually learned in class rather than just giving them a zero and saying they didn't learn anything. I think this is fair because it won't ruin a student's grade just because an assignment is late and it makes the student's do their work.

I hate them teachers that use grades as a punishment. Especially in College with the absences. For example we are allowed six absences on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Thursdays, and some teachers may tell their students if they miss more they will lower their grade. I also hate them teachers that use grades against behavioral problems. I do not think this is fair at all to students. I think grades are suppose to help the students see how much they really learned and understand in their class. Read this article and what do you think about grading policies?

I am sorry but for some reason I can not get the website on here right now. I am going to see where my teacher got this article so I can post it. As soon as I get it I will post it.