Adv. English - sixth grade - Teacher feedback

[Anonymous]

I am observing the grades and comments given by the English teacher. Though I would like him to work independently on his classwork and homework, I am seeing a trend that he is falling short of and loosing points due to some silly mistakes. e,g I saw a feedback on his work "-2pt instead of saying "because everyone else is scared to go out and take images and videos", you should say "due to Margaret Bourke-White's fearlessness with her camera..." Is this fair grading? How can we help at home to improve the quality of his work? Any good resources to help kids improve their writing skills? TIA

[Anonymous]

That's wonderful feedback! And it comes in 6th grade when grades don't really count. What an awesome teacher.

The ability to use larger, more complex language and sentence structure comes from exposure and getting great feedback like the teacher is giving him. Encourage him to read more and he'll begin to develop a sense of language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's wonderful feedback! And it comes in 6th grade when grades don't really count. What an awesome teacher.

The ability to use larger, more complex language and sentence structure comes from exposure and getting great feedback like the teacher is giving him. Encourage him to read more and he'll begin to develop a sense of language.

DP. Agree that a teacher with the expertise to know that and the willingness to take the time to demonstrate it is a treasure.

However, differential adherence to grading policies results in inequities. The teacher should be hewing to grading standards when determining marks, providing the more insightful commentary as an aside. MCPS should be providing those standards in a very clear and open way, accessible to teachers, students and their families. One certainly could encourage the system to be more rigorous, though.

[Anonymous]

I’d have loved for my kids to get valuable feedback in MS English. They get nothing in MCPS. Don’t focus on the grade, focus on the learning.

The biggest thing I noticed over the years is that my public school kids didn’t read feedback. I had to remind them to read the comments. I don’t think that’s unusual.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your inputs everyone!

[Anonymous]

That’s great that you get feedback. Our teacher doesn’t provide any, even when being go asked to do so.

[Anonymous]

I haven't taught MS English, but have taught Eng Comp at the college level. Writing the kind of feedback your child got takes a lot more effort than most teachers make, even at the college level. I'd just say "thank you."

[Anonymous]

I have a 6th grader and a 9th grader. My kids have NEVER gotten that kind of feedback from an English teacher in MCPS and I would love it. That's amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am observing the grades and comments given by the English teacher. Though I would like him to work independently on his classwork and homework, I am seeing a trend that he is falling short of and loosing points due to some silly mistakes. e,g I saw a feedback on his work "-2pt instead of saying "because everyone else is scared to go out and take images and videos", you should say "due to Margaret Bourke-White's fearlessness with her camera..." Is this fair grading? How can we help at home to improve the quality of his work? Any good resources to help kids improve their writing skills? TIA

It sounds like your kid is getting amazing feedback targeted at pushing their skills from good to great. I can’t believe your teacher has time to give this kind of feedback - you’re lucky!

But because I doubt there’s class time to 1:1 go through every students feedback, the way you can help at home is by sitting down and talking through the feedback with your kid: why do you think this is the way your teacher suggests writing? How does rephrasing the sentence to center the photographer, rather than eveyone else, change what you’re saying?, etc.

[Anonymous]

(Same poster above)

Also keep an eye on your kids overall grade — as long as the final grade is still an A, no issues. If it was interims and kid had a B for that type of error, I might say something during the second half of the quarter, but with MCPS grading there is no report card difference between a 89.6% and a 99.9%.

This seems like a perfect opportunity to show your kid where there’s room to grow without penalizing their report card.

[Anonymous]

Kids is getting good feedback. I would review it with them at home and discuss. That said, I would review the grading rubric to ensure they are not being penalized for stretch areas.