Let’s update gradebook

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

Another ES teacher here. Most of the feedback my students receive about their writing occurs as I circulate or meet with students in writing conferences. They receive the grades and some notes on the FCPS writing rubrics once it has been published, but the most important feedback occurs during the writing process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

+1 this exactly.

So as a teacher, what is your solution?
The problem is, something has to give.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would honestly settle for decent teaching. YouTube videos and TeachersPayTeachers, is not it. Tests are a joke. DD has a 99.5 for the year, and has learned nothing. Worse, she hates a subject she used to love.

The grades are posted very promptly. There is that.

So she would have gotten a 100 on an extensive comprehensive final at the beginning of the year? If she learned NOTHING after 40 weeks, then she may be a genius who needs private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

Yes, it is a disservice. It absolutely is. Is the solution 15 hours of middle school and high school grading each weekend? That’s how comments on papers happen. That’s what I’ll be doing again this weekend. That’s what I did for 3 hours last night.

I have to sacrifice my own family for those comments. I grade before dinner. I grade after dinner. I grade at my kids’ sporting events. I grade in the car if someone else is driving. I miss family events. I missed a family outing to PA last weekend so I could stay home and work.

Is this acceptable to you? I hear that kids need comments. What I don’t hear is an acknowledgment that those comments take major sacrifice.

Listen, I have no issue with respecting family time, in theory. But, if you're not giving the comments and feedback, you are NOT doing your job and teaching the kids. You're not. So, maybe teaching isn't for you. Leave it to the ones who are able to do both. And by our gradebooks over the years, there are those that seem to be able to do that, and those that cannot.

And, BTW, do you think you're the only profession or person who has work eat into their personal time? You're not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time my DD teacher updated the grade book was December 9th….

Students have been doing assignments since then, semester end soon and nothing graded. I’m not telling you how to do your job, but you should update your grade book kids need to know if they are missing anything. Please

The horror. Imagine what it must have been like for our parents, who couldn't check on our day-to-day gradebook progress back in the day! How did they EVER survive their anxiety?

Stop. The bigger problem is that STUDENTS do not have feedback on their work. SIS happens to allow parents to see work, bc it is a web based system. In the old days, graded assignments were returned to students in a timely manner. You could see what you did wrong so you didn’t repeat the mistake going forward. Not so today. School policy complicates things more by making deadlines for student homework meaningless. So if Larlo turns in his homework late (if at all) it may not be in the batch that a teacher is currently grading. It is a friggin’ mess.

You had a very different experience than I did in high school. Most of my work was never returned, and when it was it just said "A" or "B" on it, there was no feedback.

Very different then. Marked up essays with RED pen with suggestions/notes/comments on the side. Weekly essays / stories through middle school and we also had to read them out loud. This was public school (went to private HS). Math graded with 1/2 points awarded if you missed one step but the rest was right. Today’s classrooms are not even comparable. Some things are better but a lot of useful skills (eg, how to take notes) have been replaced with something inferior (eg, gluing notes in a notebook). Even our notes were reviewed on occasion — this was 4th, 5th and 6th grade. AAP is a joke. It is what everyone was expected to do (eg, Latin/Greek roots). We learned to hand write in print, cursive … and calligraphy (thank you, Mrs. Zink our 3rd grade teacher).

Today teachers are called into too many meetings. There is not enough time in a day. It stinks for everyone.

Back then Mrs Zink wasn’t planning and managing Morning Meeting, phonics small groups, phonological awareness small groups, an intervention block, math stations, math groups, Writers’ Worskhop, writing conferences, word study, along with science and social studies. Mrs. Zink wasn’t trying to figure out which students need a follow-up DSA and/or PRF and find a time to do the assessments while also squeezing in the previously mentioned groups. Mrs. Zink wasn’t completing report cards that contain 1,000+ marks at the end of each quarter.

I mean, then you aren't adequately teaching them how to write. I had to step in and do it, finally, in MS when it was clear my honors student with straight A's couldn't identify parts of speech or string more than 2 sentences together. It's unacceptable.

I have taught parts of speech all year and some kids still don’t have it mastered. I have taught writing and some kids refuse to write in complete sentences. It isn’t always that it is not taught. Many students don’t apply it.

10000% fair. But this is not the case across the board. Certainly it was not the case with my own child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time my DD teacher updated the grade book was December 9th….

Students have been doing assignments since then, semester end soon and nothing graded. I’m not telling you how to do your job, but you should update your grade book kids need to know if they are missing anything. Please

The horror. Imagine what it must have been like for our parents, who couldn't check on our day-to-day gradebook progress back in the day! How did they EVER survive their anxiety?

Stop. The bigger problem is that STUDENTS do not have feedback on their work. SIS happens to allow parents to see work, bc it is a web based system. In the old days, graded assignments were returned to students in a timely manner. You could see what you did wrong so you didn’t repeat the mistake going forward. Not so today. School policy complicates things more by making deadlines for student homework meaningless. So if Larlo turns in his homework late (if at all) it may not be in the batch that a teacher is currently grading. It is a friggin’ mess.

You had a very different experience than I did in high school. Most of my work was never returned, and when it was it just said "A" or "B" on it, there was no feedback.

Very different then. Marked up essays with RED pen with suggestions/notes/comments on the side. Weekly essays / stories through middle school and we also had to read them out loud. This was public school (went to private HS). Math graded with 1/2 points awarded if you missed one step but the rest was right. Today’s classrooms are not even comparable. Some things are better but a lot of useful skills (eg, how to take notes) have been replaced with something inferior (eg, gluing notes in a notebook). Even our notes were reviewed on occasion — this was 4th, 5th and 6th grade. AAP is a joke. It is what everyone was expected to do (eg, Latin/Greek roots). We learned to hand write in print, cursive … and calligraphy (thank you, Mrs. Zink our 3rd grade teacher).

Today teachers are called into too many meetings. There is not enough time in a day. It stinks for everyone.

Back then Mrs Zink wasn’t planning and managing Morning Meeting, phonics small groups, phonological awareness small groups, an intervention block, math stations, math groups, Writers’ Worskhop, writing conferences, word study, along with science and social studies. Mrs. Zink wasn’t trying to figure out which students need a follow-up DSA and/or PRF and find a time to do the assessments while also squeezing in the previously mentioned groups. Mrs. Zink wasn’t completing report cards that contain 1,000+ marks at the end of each quarter.

I mean, then you aren't adequately teaching them how to write. I had to step in and do it, finally, in MS when it was clear my honors student with straight A's couldn't identify parts of speech or string more than 2 sentences together. It's unacceptable.

Well, there are plenty of open positions. Try managing a caseload of 150 kids with little planning time and tons of crap work to do to satisfy administrators.

Well, I manage my own child and stepped in over COVID and since to make sure DC has what is needed. I taught the grammar, the writing. We made sure DC had ability to do all the math needed, despite it not being taught. We continue this now, as needed. So, I'm doing your job as it relates to my own kid on a regular basis as is. And this is on MY OWN TIME (since you're so concerned with personal time) after my own workday is finished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

+1 this exactly.

X a million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's your job. Do it.

It’s your job to send a healthy, well cared-for, non-sociopath student to school but half of y’all ain’t done that lately. The grade book can wait.

Mine is healthy, well-cared for and the teachers generally like DC. Yet, some can't offer any sort of timely grade or helpful feedback.

News flash: your kid isn’t the only one in the class.

Newsflash: the PP made a generalization that HALF of the kids send sociopaths to school. Her anecdote isn't more valid than mine. And it doesn't excuse her from doing her job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time my DD teacher updated the grade book was December 9th….

Students have been doing assignments since then, semester end soon and nothing graded. I’m not telling you how to do your job, but you should update your grade book kids need to know if they are missing anything. Please

The horror. Imagine what it must have been like for our parents, who couldn't check on our day-to-day gradebook progress back in the day! How did they EVER survive their anxiety?

Stop. The bigger problem is that STUDENTS do not have feedback on their work. SIS happens to allow parents to see work, bc it is a web based system. In the old days, graded assignments were returned to students in a timely manner. You could see what you did wrong so you didn’t repeat the mistake going forward. Not so today. School policy complicates things more by making deadlines for student homework meaningless. So if Larlo turns in his homework late (if at all) it may not be in the batch that a teacher is currently grading. It is a friggin’ mess.

You had a very different experience than I did in high school. Most of my work was never returned, and when it was it just said "A" or "B" on it, there was no feedback.

Very different then. Marked up essays with RED pen with suggestions/notes/comments on the side. Weekly essays / stories through middle school and we also had to read them out loud. This was public school (went to private HS). Math graded with 1/2 points awarded if you missed one step but the rest was right. Today’s classrooms are not even comparable. Some things are better but a lot of useful skills (eg, how to take notes) have been replaced with something inferior (eg, gluing notes in a notebook). Even our notes were reviewed on occasion — this was 4th, 5th and 6th grade. AAP is a joke. It is what everyone was expected to do (eg, Latin/Greek roots). We learned to hand write in print, cursive … and calligraphy (thank you, Mrs. Zink our 3rd grade teacher).

Today teachers are called into too many meetings. There is not enough time in a day. It stinks for everyone.

Back then Mrs Zink wasn’t planning and managing Morning Meeting, phonics small groups, phonological awareness small groups, an intervention block, math stations, math groups, Writers’ Worskhop, writing conferences, word study, along with science and social studies. Mrs. Zink wasn’t trying to figure out which students need a follow-up DSA and/or PRF and find a time to do the assessments while also squeezing in the previously mentioned groups. Mrs. Zink wasn’t completing report cards that contain 1,000+ marks at the end of each quarter.

I mean, then you aren't adequately teaching them how to write. I had to step in and do it, finally, in MS when it was clear my honors student with straight A's couldn't identify parts of speech or string more than 2 sentences together. It's unacceptable.

Well, there are plenty of open positions. Try managing a caseload of 150 kids with little planning time and tons of crap work to do to satisfy administrators.

Well, I manage my own child and stepped in over COVID and since to make sure DC has what is needed. I taught the grammar, the writing. We made sure DC had ability to do all the math needed, despite it not being taught. We continue this now, as needed. So, I'm doing your job as it relates to my own kid on a regular basis as is. And this is on MY OWN TIME (since you're so concerned with personal time) after my own workday is finished.

You are parenting. You are doing YOUR job.

[Anonymous]

When teachers read these posts, they don’t run over to the grading pile and start grading. They delay it for another day, making it worse for you and your student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

Yes, it is a disservice. It absolutely is. Is the solution 15 hours of middle school and high school grading each weekend? That’s how comments on papers happen. That’s what I’ll be doing again this weekend. That’s what I did for 3 hours last night.

I have to sacrifice my own family for those comments. I grade before dinner. I grade after dinner. I grade at my kids’ sporting events. I grade in the car if someone else is driving. I miss family events. I missed a family outing to PA last weekend so I could stay home and work.

Is this acceptable to you? I hear that kids need comments. What I don’t hear is an acknowledgment that those comments take major sacrifice.

Listen, I have no issue with respecting family time, in theory. But, if you're not giving the comments and feedback, you are NOT doing your job and teaching the kids. You're not. So, maybe teaching isn't for you. Leave it to the ones who are able to do both. And by our gradebooks over the years, there are those that seem to be able to do that, and those that cannot.

And, BTW, do you think you're the only profession or person who has work eat into their personal time? You're not.

Respecting family time “in theory” says a lot about you as a human and parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

Yes, it is a disservice. It absolutely is. Is the solution 15 hours of middle school and high school grading each weekend? That’s how comments on papers happen. That’s what I’ll be doing again this weekend. That’s what I did for 3 hours last night.

I have to sacrifice my own family for those comments. I grade before dinner. I grade after dinner. I grade at my kids’ sporting events. I grade in the car if someone else is driving. I miss family events. I missed a family outing to PA last weekend so I could stay home and work.

Is this acceptable to you? I hear that kids need comments. What I don’t hear is an acknowledgment that those comments take major sacrifice.

That’s exactly how it works outside of teaching. I don’t think it should but it does. In consulting the job is done when the job is done, not when you’ve put in your paid salary hours for the week. Having said that schools need to reevaluate its processes and staffing with some work-study data. Then hire some graders who can handle the bulk of the grading. Kids are on the critical path to sustaining a functional nation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would honestly settle for decent teaching. YouTube videos and TeachersPayTeachers, is not it. Tests are a joke. DD has a 99.5 for the year, and has learned nothing. Worse, she hates a subject she used to love.

The grades are posted very promptly. There is that.

So she would have gotten a 100 on an extensive comprehensive final at the beginning of the year? If she learned NOTHING after 40 weeks, then she may be a genius who needs private school.

Of course not. There is next to no teaching. She has learned nothing. All tests are open notes, so they don’t have to learn anything to pass tests with high grades. This material will end up on next year’s SOL, so I will be spending the summer teaching her what she should have learned in class.

[Anonymous]

You are complaining about teachers when many of you really just dislike the curriculum. The curriculum hasn’t included spelling tests, handwriting and grammar in many, many years. This isn’t a teacher level decision. Those curriculum decisions are made much higher up the chain. Complain to them about what’s missing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s less about not putting the grades into SIS than not grading the work at all. When teachers don’t grade and return assignments, how are kids supposed to learn and do better the next time?

This is my main concern. I know how overworked teachers are (I teach ES). Actually, I can't even imagine MS teachers that have to grade assignments from 4-5 sections of 25+ students each. BUT, I do think my kid needs more than a grade in a computer system, particularly for non-math subjects. In all of 7th grade and so far in 8th my kid has not receive a single word of feedback on any writing assignment, be it for History, Science, or English. Only the number/letter grade and sometimes circled items on a rubric. No redline markups, not even form comments like "needs more evidence, watch your grammar, source?", etc. Even for assignments that hit the mark, some positive words would go a long way to boost confidence and enthusiasm for the topics.

I don't know what the answer is, because truly a dedicated MS teacher is already doing more (unpaid!) overtime than we can probably imagine. But I do know that this inadequate level of feedback is a disservice to my kid who could be using that feedback to improve.

Yes, it is a disservice. It absolutely is. Is the solution 15 hours of middle school and high school grading each weekend? That’s how comments on papers happen. That’s what I’ll be doing again this weekend. That’s what I did for 3 hours last night.

I have to sacrifice my own family for those comments. I grade before dinner. I grade after dinner. I grade at my kids’ sporting events. I grade in the car if someone else is driving. I miss family events. I missed a family outing to PA last weekend so I could stay home and work.

Is this acceptable to you? I hear that kids need comments. What I don’t hear is an acknowledgment that those comments take major sacrifice.

Listen, I have no issue with respecting family time, in theory. But, if you're not giving the comments and feedback, you are NOT doing your job and teaching the kids. You're not. So, maybe teaching isn't for you. Leave it to the ones who are able to do both. And by our gradebooks over the years, there are those that seem to be able to do that, and those that cannot.

And, BTW, do you think you're the only profession or person who has work eat into their personal time? You're not.

It seems you don’t need a teacher. You need a martyr. You have no problem when a teacher says they are in front of students 35 hours a week and still have 30 hours of work to do. “Get it done.”

Hence… a teacher shortage. People aren’t willing to work 65 hour weeks for $75K and a ton of disrespect.