Spring Grades Clarification

Greetings!

In addition to my earlier comments about grades in general, I want to clarify how I have scored and graded my students this semester.  Firstly, I've divided the work done in the class into categories:  Assignments, Writing, Grammar, and Literature.  Each category is somewhat self-explanatory, except for perhaps the "Assignments" section.  This is where I put our Quick Writes, vocabulary work, and any other class participation scores.

For the past two years I've been using Engrade, an online grade book.  With this program, I can assign a category to each assignment, for example, Writing, Literature, Grammar, Assignments (in-class work.)  Engrade figures percentages for total scores and for scores within each of these categories. 

However, the four categories used for Writing 1 and Writing 2 did not have the same number of assignments, so a straight averaging of the scores does not give an accurate total percentage/grade.  For example, the Assignments category had 16 scores, and 15 of them were small, 5-point Quick Writes.  Writing section had fewer assignments, but the scores were higher per assignment.

Though the categories are not exactly even, I feel that dividing the scores like this is helpful because it helps parent, students, and teacher have a better picture of the work done in the semester.  For example, if a student scores 100% on this Assignments section, I know that he showed up and participated well in class.  A low score in the Literature section is most likely a sign of a significant number of missing assignments.  Likewise, a low score in grammar could be because assignments were not handed in, or it could be a lack of knowledge in this area. As it is with all homework assignments for any subject area, the scores reflect a mix of quantity and quality. 

I hope I haven't further confused the grading for this class.  Working with students to help them develop into first-rate thinkers and writers is my  primary goal.  Points, scores, percentages, and grades are only small parts in the learning process.

Blessings to all of you,
Tammy Prichard

Spring Grades Comments

Dear CHAT Writing 2 Students & Parents,

I've just finished calculating the grades for the Spring semester, and you will be finding them in your inbox by the end of the week.  As tutors, these are suggested grades for you as homeschooling families to consider.

For those who are new to my classes, let me share my thoughts on grades.  As I homeschooled, I didn't give my children grades.  I felt that grades were far too subjective.  I taught my own children for mastery.  We didn't proceed with a topic until they were ready no matter how long that took. 

Letter grades are a funny thing.  For some students, it becomes the only motivation for doing well.  For some, it becomes a measure of their worth as a person or as an academic learner.  I personally don't like these "side effects" of the grading system.  On the other hand, grades can be a valid reflection and reward for working hard, being diligent, and understanding the materials.

When teaching students to be good writers, I give a lot of consideration for growth and improvement. Each student has a starting place; over time I look for him or her to learn the mechanics of grammar, good writing techniques, and analytical thinking skills.

For this class, I gave points for attendance, participation, short assignments and longer essays.  We also did a few grammar exercises.  I tend to be an "easy grader" and like to see my students encouraged to do their best.  For this class, the final drafts were graded using a rubric that divided the papers into the following categories:  focus, content, organization, and mechanics.

Each student (and parents) will receive an e-mail with percentages and suggested grades for this semester.  I’ve seen each student improve with each paper.  Good Work!

Blessings,

Tammy Prichard

Poetry Jam Play-Offs

Below is Team One's rendition of T. S. Eliot's "Macavity the Mystery Cat."

Below is Team Two's rendition of a Lewis Carroll poem, "A Strange Wild Song."

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 7)

Greetings!

We had another full class for our last week of classes.  After our customary opening prayer, I had the students write their Reflection Papers.  They were to write about what they've learned about grammar, writing, and literature.  Some students had already written one, so they had the opportunity to write an extra credit Quick Write:  what do you see yourself writing in the future?

Following the Quick Writes, we finished the Play-Offs for our Poetry Jam.  I gave the two teams each a poem that I had brought for them.  T. S. Eliot's "Macavity" cat poem and Lewis Carroll's "I saw an Elephant."  The class scored the finalists, and they were within 1/4 of a point.  (I took videos of their performances, but I'm having trouble uploading them.  Once I figure out the technology, I'll post them.)

Finally, we had our Final Exam for the class.  Rather than looking like a Bingo game, it was a Jeopardy game.  The class was divided into 5 teams and answered questions from the following categories:  Grammar Terms, Writing Terms, Animal Farm, Jekyll Hyde, and Other Literature.  (You can go here and see the game .)  They did pretty well, and had some fun in the process.

I'm pretty proud of these kids.  They've written well, engaged well in class discussions, worked hard on homework, and been generally great all-around kids.  We had a marvelous year reading and writing!

I have a few bits and pieces of homework that have come in from students.  (In anyone has anything they haven't handed in, please get it in by Monday.)  Once those have been graded and I have everything entered in Engrade, I will get the grades sent out.  My goal is to have them done by next Thursday.

Assignments for Next Week:

-- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!

This week's links:

Class Notes

Jeopardy Final Exam

Have a great summer!

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 14 (April 30)

Greetings!

We had a very full hour and a half for this, our penultimate class period.  April 30 is National Poem in Your Pocket day, so I gave them a sheet with a pocket shape for them to write their own original poetry on.  (Some students used these poems for our Poetry Jam, later in class.)

Following our Quick Write, the students took their Grammar Final.  Similar to the Mastering the Comma Review that they handed in last week, this was a "commas only" test.  They worked diligently to finish these.  I've graded most of them, and they all did well.  Hopefully, they can confidently consider themselves "Masters of the Comma."

The remainder of the class time was spent on our Poetry Jam.  A cross between a Poetry Slam,for which students write their own original poems, and Poetry Out Loud, for which the choose for a selected list of poems.  Both of these events are competitive poetry presentations.  The students were divided into teams; each student gave an individual presentation.  The other teams then scored the "players" using a rubric that divided the presentation into the following areas: level of difficulty, memorization, physical presence, and dramatic voice and articulation.  Players received an extra 2 points if the poem was an original.  

After we worked out the kinks of the scoring method -- adding & averaging then adding and averaging again -- we had a good solid round of presentations.  We had a mix of serious, light-hearted, and original poetry.  Even those who dislike poetry were good sports and gave good readings.  We have two teams who will participate in the "Play Offs" at the beginning of class this week.  For this round, I will provide the poetry.

This Thursday is our final week of classes for the CHAT school year.  I have 3 items on the agenda for this week:  a short reflection paper as the Quick Write, the Poetry "Play Offs," and a final exam for the students.  This exam looks a lot like a bingo game, complete with prizes.  Students may bring refreshments to share.

Assignments for our last week:

-- Bring in any missing homework

-- For those in presenting poetry, warm up your presenting voice.

Links for this week:

Class Notes

Value of Reflection Papers

National Poetry Month

Poetry Slams

Poetry Out Loud

Blessings,

Mrs. Prichard