Where to begin? I suppose with the most annoying question which can ever be uttered in my classroom. One I was asked too many times today, "Is this for a grade?"
No, kids, no it's not for a grade... not today anyway. Sometimes I ask you to complete an assignment simply for knowledge. Yes, as insane as that may sound, sometimes, I just want you to learn something without having to assign a numerical value to it. Honestly, there is information I want you to know which just does not justify a number. That information is going to help you later. That information is valuable. And eventually, that information, is going to help you earn a "grade." Your eventual grade will be exactly what you gained from the assignment that was "not for a grade." Today.
Seriously. I hope that question is never uttered in my classroom again this year. Seriously.
Another unquestionably annoying occurrence encountered too many times today was the misuse of collaborative learning time. I defined it last week. I asked you to define today. Yet, time and time again, the rules were not followed. It's exhausting really. The entire purpose for collaborative learning is to .... collaborate! Work together to gain knowledge and insight into a situation. Work. Together.
I'm done ranting for now. What do you guys have to add? What is your perspective into these situations?
Haha well I remember that discusion in class today. It was really funny. I do agree that you should still hard on assignments that aren't a grade because eventually they will be for a grade. Sometimes that knowledge is on a test which is a big part of your grade so you probably don't even need to ask that because you know it will happen eventually.
ReplyDeleteLA PERIOD 2
Lauren Adler
For me, collaboration doesn't exist. I do all the work because I choose to. I can't trust anyone else's work, especially since normally the delinquent kids would want to pair with me BECAUSE I do all the work. From your "collaborative" assignments to one particular incident with science fair, working alone is the only way to do things right. Working together? Impossible. Students pair up with their friends and start talking and never get any work done. All "group project" means is more homework for only one person and no homework for the rest. The most one can work with a group is having others peer-edit one's work. However, one person still does a lot more than the other. End of rant.
ReplyDeleteLA PERIOD 0
Kevin Kang
LA Period 1
ReplyDeleteLeah P.
I completely agree. Not everything has to be a "grade", because it will end up helping you anyways. People should still work just as hard and try their best on an "un-graded" assignment (if that is even a word...) as if it were being graded. They should count it as a grade in their minds...atleast I do. Honestly, if another student asks you that question, you should just completely ignore it...they should know better.
Personally, I don't think grades matter... as long as you are learning something and trying your best on the assignment.
One thing I don't believe in though is busy work...but that's is a whole diff. story, especially because luckily, you don't give any(:
So...that's really all I have to say!
l like this conversation. I feel that not everything you do in school should be a grade. There is a problem to this. When an assignment isn't a grade, kids (students) tend to relax and not try. Also kids/students wont feel like they accomplished anything if they don't get a grade on it
ReplyDeleteLA Period 2
ReplyDeleteDavid G.
I agree. Everyone should try their best no matter what they do. That might sound cheesy, but it's true, you should try to fill out what you know, and do it even if it isn't for a grade. Mrs. Powers, you actually should give a grade to the people who ask "Is it for a grade" in class. And even when you explained the assignment you made it pretty clear that it was for our knowledge because we were going to go over it, and we were supposed to collaborate on it with our classmates.
I agree that we shouldn't always have to get a grade to actually do work. We go to school to learn, not to have a number entered in on the computer. Yes, grades are important but at the same time I rather know that at the end of the day that I learned something that I can carry with me for the rest of my life. In my opinion, I think that everyone should work just as hard whether we're taking a massive test or doing something so simple like sending the teacher an email. School is important and I think that we should try hard to succeed in it.
ReplyDeleteLA Period 1
Victoria Novie
I absolutely agree. It doesn't matter if things are for a grade, as long as you did your best. Now my classmates know how to prepare for another quiz that may be just like the one we took over the weekend. If you tell my classmates that the work isn't for a grade, they will not care about it and may not even do it.
ReplyDelete@Kevin
ReplyDeleteDude, I know that smart kids tend to have problems like that, especially those that take their work seriously and try to do the best thing possible for their grade. Honestly though, if (like you mentioned in your hw scenario) one student is doing all the work, that student is to blame for not handling the situation for either A) taking the role of a leader and delegating parts, or B)not talking to a teacher if they could not succeed in A. However, you have to be kind of threatening to achieve A, but whatever, that's the things you have to deal with when you are above average. :P
Group assignments are supposed to make things easier on everyone, not the other way around, but when you can't manage to work together while talking, you end up hurting yourself.
Caterina Golner
Period Awesome
@KevinK (and others) - What if the assignment is truly collaborative (in the way it's intended)? Do you see value in that? And Cat has a point, why not handle the situation so that you are not stuck with all the work. I would WANT to know.
ReplyDeletela period 2
ReplyDeleteAlyson J
Although things might not be a grade at the moment, it would help our grade in the future/ the long run. The work we are given might just be notes, which we can later study, which will help us get a good grade on a test or quiz. When things aren't a grade, then there is less pressure for some people to do great on it, and they might joke around on it. But on the other hand, un-graded work makes school less stressful.
I agree that not everything has to be for a grade but I do think that a lot of kids don't try if they know it won't show up on Pinnacle. This shouldn't be the way it is but so many of us check it everyday and like to see the good grades. I agree that you can learn something that will help you get those good grades even if it doesn't show up on Pinnacle.
ReplyDeleteI also think that some people that ask if it's going to be for a grade are relieved when it's not and actually do better because they're not worried about it.
LA Period 4, Trace Wolf
la period 2
ReplyDeleteMax C
I do enjoy working collaboratively, but Kevin does have a point. Even though every once in a while it's nice to get feedback from others, I usually end up doing most of the work. If it's classwork, sure. But for projects I would only trust my best friend to work with me. I've had to end up filling in for someone in a presentation, or picking up where they left off, or struggling to finish their half of the project at the last minute, and I do not want that to happen at this school too.
LA period 3
ReplyDeleteMitchell M
I think that not everything has to be for a grade and thats good, but when you tell students that this isn't going to be graded they won't try as hard. When kids know that the assignment won't be grade and will relax and not care if any of the answers are wrong.
P.5
ReplyDeleteJared S
To add to the question, " Will this be graded?" I can say that the only reason this question is being asked is so the student knows whether or not to give effort on this assignment. Therefore, all assignments, in my opinion, should be graded to ensure that students will try each challenge given to them. Even though ungraded assignments still contain useful knowledge, most students will not accept the fact that they are helpful.
To most of the comments I say, if you don't think the work will be collected for a grade, there is a good chance that the work will be gone over in class. Out loud. That means that there is a possibility that you will be called on to share your answer. If you don't try to answer it correctly, you're going to sound like an idiot in front of the entire class. Behold, the moral of the deprecating story.
ReplyDelete@Jared S. --- That's sad. The point is that it should NOT matter whether or not the assignment is given a numerical value. What should matter is gaining knowledge to apply later.
ReplyDeleteP.5
ReplyDeleteJordan Press
When students know things are going to be graded, they tend to not try their hardest on the assignment, although the assignment could be useful in studying for a test or quiz. If we don't know whether or not something will be graded, we always try our best, and therefore have good notes to study with, or a good grade in class if the assignment is collected and taken for a grade. The same goes for being told if assignments are for a completion grade. If we know an assignment is for a completion grade, then we might just try to get it done, instead of trying to put forth our best work.
In my mind, everything should be graded. No matter what activity, because it will force us to work harder. Maybe it's an Asian thing, (pardon the stereotype), but I work hard just to get credit. It annoys me when I spend so much effort on something because I know it's the right thing to do and watch others slack off and goof around because the assignment isn't graded. In other words, I believe we should get what we worked for, and pay the consequences when we don't work hard. It is good training to get us into the study mode and to make it a habit to take tasks seriously.
ReplyDeleteAs for the collaboration activity, it's nice training because we will be needing to work in teams in the future. We should be allowed to goof around because it's our grade, in the end. That ties back to my first point: whatever we do must be taken seriously or our grades will suffer. The looming threat of grades will make many students grow up and focus. Call me boring, but remember that the larger threat of making a living looms over us. Especially now that many countries are studying harder than we are.
LA 2
ReplyDeleteErin Yoo
I think that really, the question is only asked when people don't feel like they "need" to know the information or because they don't really "feel" like doing the work. Obviously, not all work at school will be fun and exciting, but it's definitely worth trying to learn. Considering the fact that teachers will try to apply the knowledge later on for like a review, it helps to try and pay attention and maybe even learn a few things.
Also, most people take collaborative work time and take it for granted. They use it to try and copy off of the smart kid's paper and just get a good grade. Most of the time, my thinking is to get the work done with your partner, talk a bit about it and then finish with something educational.
LA 4
ReplyDeleteKayleigh Wilson
I completely agree with Guo, whenever I'm trying to work in class or I work SO hard on something at home and I do what I think was a fantastic job, I get to class and want to scream. People always say "homework? Oh, I didn't do that, oh well." and I sit there thinking "IT'S HOMEWORK! Why didn't you do it? I tried so hard and you just ignored it!" That has to be the worst thing to ever happen in class. I just don't understand how people can ignore their homework... I understand it takes away your own time but it'll definitely be worth it in the long run.
Also, I noticed you have a poster in the classroom on the same wall ask the bookshelf that says "Ten Mistakes You Need to Stop Making" and I just want to say, I love it! I hate when people say "your" instead of "you're", it's my biggest pet peeve.
I'm done. :)
Jake levy
ReplyDeleteP.5
I think it is good to do assignments that are not for a grade because it helps our background knowledge of the topic. The downside of doing assignments that are not for a grade and telling the students that it's not for a grade is that the students think they don't have to try as hard. For example, the quia quiz we just completed. Everyone had to work really hard to get a good grade on that assignment to find out that it was for a completion grade the next day in school. This was very helpful to the students because of the effort we had to put in to get a good grade. If Mrs. Powers told us it wasn't for a grade , I'm sure everyone would have took the test for granted and not tried their hadest.
LA 1
ReplyDeleteVeronica P
Not everything has to be for a grade because everything you do in school has a purpose, even if you dont see it right away. It's good to think outside of the box or textbook because if not then everything would be boring. Some kids just ask if its for a grade so they dont have to try there hardest. I like working in groups as long as the people in my group don't expect me to do all the work because thats never gonna happen.NEVER. When you work in groups the assignment seems a lot easier because your using two or three brains instead of just one and you can see it from the other persons point of view. You get more from it.
Brett Andjich
ReplyDeletePeriod 3
I think some assignments should be graded and some should not be graded.Even though an assignment is not a grade, you should still try your hardest no matter what it is.If the teacher is giving an assignment in class or even for homework they are giving it for a reason, either because you will use it in class or even further down the road in your education.Yes, everyone says that students don't try as hard if it isn't for a grade, but you should put the maximum effort in everything that you do.Your're in school and whatever work is given you should try your hardest, that's what school is for.On group work, I do like to work in groups under certain circumstances even if it gets a little loud.If I pick my own group and am in a group with people I know will actually do work, then I like groups.If the teacher picks the groups and you are in a group with students who don't work, then I would rather work alone.
LA1
ReplyDeleteRaquel B
As many of the comments above have stated, when we know that an assignment isn't for a grade we don't always try as hard as usual. Even though it's definitely rude to ask if something is for a grade or not, we've all done it at least once. Although, sometimes my reasoning for asking such a question is because I find the assignment particularly difficult, and I want to know if it will ultimately lower my grade in the class. I think part of the problem too is that we're all very worried about our grades. Sometimes I think we're so worried about them that we're not learning properly because we just cram for the test the night before. It's good to have a balance between the assignments being for a grade and not being one. It's good to have work count as a grade because then you know we're giving it our all. However, it's also helpful to have some things not count as anything because then we can just focus on the material.
LA 5
ReplyDeleteJessica L
Okay im my opinion this is one of the easiest blog posts to say "Well, I think that not trying you're hardest all the time is wrong, blah blah blah." So for most of the kids who posted that, you are just telling Mrs. Powers exctly what you think she wants to hear, that isn't the point of this blog. I feel that because we are kids, we don't always want to try our hardest. Sometimes we need to just be lazy and do the minimum to get by. I'm not saying that we should do this all the time, but sometimes you just have one of those days. While some of the information on the "not for a grade" assignment may be useful later on a test or a quiz the kids who don't want to do it will learn from their mistakes. So, in the end I think that if we decide to be lazy that is our decision, but in the end we may pay the consequences.
Yeah! New favorite student!
ReplyDeleteLA5
ReplyDeleteSammi Staropoli
I think that it's a nice break from time to time to learn something without being graded. When something is for a grade it puts more pressure on being perfect, rather than absorbing the material. Unfortunately, some kids will tune out all together when they find out the work is not being graded. In the end they are only hurting themselves. Also, collaborating is a great idea because you get to see your friend's point of view.
Okay, so I agree with just about everybody here, especially kayleigh about the homework thing because sometimes I have a ton to do after school and I feel like if I can find time to do it why can't everyone else?
ReplyDeleteAnyways, back to the annoying things students do. The question "Is this for a grade?" Like Jessica said everybody does it! I myself am guilty of asking, but it doesn't mean I'm not goning toput in as much effort, I am just curious to know! But either way, ideally everyone should try their hardest at everything they do:)
Posting for:
ReplyDeleteKatrina Ragbeer
LA Period 5
Honestly, I have to say that I'm guilty of asking if something was for a grade. The main reason that us students ask that is simple: we want to know if our hard work is worth it. When we ask, it's usually because we would have to apply more effort into something that is graded, whereas something that isn't graded wouldn't require us to inquire deeply. Something that a lot of students don't speculate is that every assignment that we get will benefit us in some way, shape, and/or form.
On group work, I enjoy working in groups because I can work with my friends, but to be 100% honest, I don't get as much work done. I would probably prefer to work with friends, but if it is a serious grade, you choosing our groups would make more sense. If we work with people that we wouldn't necessarily work with primarily, we could get more work done.
Isabella Bishop
ReplyDeleteLA Period 3
I couldn't agree more with Katrina, that is what most people think. If it is to be graded then, they will put forth the effort to make it amazing and if it isn't, then it usually gets lost in people's binders. Group project are normally lots of fun, if you get partnered with the right people. I (more than once) have been stuck with people who don't care if they get an "A" or if they fail. I on the other hand do care, I care a lot. I would like to choose my own groups because I will choose the people that I know will put for the effort so we can finish the project as a group and not just me.
I agree with many of the the other comments in saying that even if an assignment isn't for a grade, it is still beneficial because eventually we will be required to know the material. However, that doesn't always mean that every student is still going to try and put all of their effort into something that isn't for an immediate grade. Students do need to realize though that if something isn't for a grade right now, it eventually will be.
ReplyDeleteAs for the topic of collaboration and working together, I think it can be very helpful to students when not taken advantage of. I feel that it is a students responsibility to choose the right classmate(s) to work with and to know how well they would really work TOGETHER. If a teacher gives us the freedom to choose our groups/partners, it should not be taken advantage of, because in the end we're the ones who get the bad or good grades!
Lauren Shilling
LA1
It is a fact of life that a person will never truly be happy with a collaborative assignment unless they wrote it themselves. (or unless the smart one in the back of the classroom does it all and it's PERFECT) We all will try to take the credit for success, and we all try to blame others on failures. I find (as a student) the point of collaboration assignments is not to get overall less work or work with a friend, but learn communication and management skills.
ReplyDeleteI'll use a reference. In the real world, life throws many people (lemons) who you will have to deal with one way or another (to make lemonade ). The sugar and water that is our labor can turn a usually awfully sour lemonade into a refreshing drink and success.
I find that those kids who ask, "Is this for a grade?" never tend to do as well as someone who just does the work. It's okay to not get the answers straight away, but it is important to strive to get the knowledge and utilize it. We make the final decision of what to do. Doing the work well even it is not collected means that you have gained that vital knowledge.
~I feel I should end this with critiquing a proverb.~
Many people often say, "The road to success is paved with failure." What they don't realize is that so is the road to failure. Make the choice.
Jake Ukleja (Class of 2011)