FIAE+B2+Chapter+10

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Abstract-Mike Lawson
This chapter delves into the subject that we all have experienced, redoing work. One of the most important things we have to know about redoing work is that it must be done at the[| teacher’s discretion]. This is not something that students should be taking for granted. They shouldn’t assume because they got a bad grade on something that they can simply redo it ten times until they get a 100. Wormeli suggests that as teachers we should go over the protocol for redoing work. This way neither students nor parents can complain that “his or her child wasn’t allowed to redo work”. Wormeli suggests that teachers use their own hints when deciding upon giving a student a chance to redo work. If you think a student has blown off a project and they assume that they can redo it, they’re in for a big surprise. We also need to think about the student who is asking to redo an assignment. If they are what Wormeli calls “chronic redoers” then we may have to not allow them to redo an assignment so they may need to take that low grade in order for them to understand that they can’t use the redo every time they have a low grade. We also need to understand that allowing students to do work allows them to not be stressed. It is refreshing when your teacher understands that you need to redo work or have a little extra time to finish it. As teachers we should also have the right to change how we grade redone work. Maybe we want to just sit and talk with the student about the assignment and check for understanding that way. It won’t always be possible to have them do another assignment and the grade it. Wormeli suggests that when allowing students to redo work we should create a schedule with them that is reasonable and allows them to do quality work. As teachers we should make a deadline for redoing work. Wormeli suggests that we should not allow any work to be redone during the last week of the grading period. Students should also staple the first version of the work to the new version. This allows for teachers to see any improvement from the first version. By doing this we can see growth and just how much work the student put into the redone work.

Synthesis-Mike Lawson
Everyone agreed that allowing students to redo work is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. However, we all also realized that it must be looked over by the teacher. Many of the times each student will bring a different situation to the table. This means that the teacher must look at each situation, each student, and each assignment before deciding whether or not to allow a student to redo the work. Many of us think that only hard working students should be given the change to redo work. We would have to [|assess] how well students participate in class. It is true that fair isn't always equal. If a student doesn't participate then it is not fair for them to always redo assignments that they don't even try to complete. Some of us decided that some assignments given out will have to be redone until non of the information is wrong. Usually this would only apply during presentations given to the class or anything that is shared information that will affect other learners. We all also agreed that it is important to not average the two grades together when allowing them to redo that particular assignment.

Sarah McGinley
Fair Isn’t Always Equal Chapter 10: Conditions for Redoing Work for Full Credit 2/25/10

This chapter gives some advice about when it is ok to let students redo their work for full credit. Allowing students to redo their work gives them the opportunity to assess themselves to improve their work and understanding. I agree with this idea but I also have to question if the student will take advantage of this option by not doing the work the first time. This is one of the reasons why I will allow students to redo their work for full credit only if they come to talk to me first. Some assignments I give may not count for any credit and some assignments might be a one time deal because we are going to be going over the answers that day in class. There will be some assignments where I will want the students to redo until everything is correct, like for a project to be presented. I do not believe in giving student partial credit for work that they are getting the option to redo but I am going to keep track of what assignments students have redone and what assignments students did not redo for my own knowledge. Redoing homework will be done when the assignment is active and not at the end of the year just to get it done so the student is able to receive credit to pass the year. In my opinion, that is not learning that is busy work and it is not worth it to anyone to just get it done at the end of the year.

This entire book has said that it is necessary to allow students to redo or make up work for 100% credit. I have been skeptical about this practice because I know that there are students who will abuse this privilege. I was very relieved to read in this chapter that all redone work is at the teacher’s discretion. Only students who try hard during class or have extenuating circumstances deserve the chance to make up work for full credit. When I do allow students to redo their work though I want to make sure their parents are kept up to date on what is going on, so I will require parents to sign the original assignment. Also before allowing students to make up an assignment I will require them to meet with me and discuss what can be done differently to achieve a better grade.

Jason Malbon
Stipulations on redo work and updating grades are fair as long as it’s consistent. I like the idea of a general redo work philosophy show at the beginning of the year and taken home for parent signatures. Teacher discretion is a fair marker for deciding to allow re-work. Most teachers get to know their students fairly well. Teachers can tell who is blowing off assignments or trying to game the system. The real world can be fairer than we give it credit for. Most fair-minded people know about life’s often unpredictable nature. It is not impossible to forget a report or answer a message from someone we work with or for. Students should also be given flexibility. I can’t think of a faster way to turn a student off of learning than to be Draconian in grading policy. If we do allow a redo for an assignment or test, take the latest higher grade. Averaging a lower grade only skews the mastery result. It also further alienates the student.

Jared Merrifield
Chapter 10: Conditions for Redoing Work for Full Credit

In some cases, student work is unsatisfactory or nonexistent, so teachers should give students second chances to do better. But, based on what terms? Right away, I related to the anecdote at the beginning of this chapter, for many of my high school teachers required us to cite the changes we made to revised work and what we learned from the experience. It is a given that teachers cannot allow students to redo work willy-nilly, for the lesson would never progress. I think I will only allow students to redo work if the revisions they must make are few but essential; that way, they could pass in their revised draft in a relatively short period. This stress for time is elaborated in the ability to change the format of makeup work. If I am pressed for time, I will be sure to think of alternate, less time-consuming ways a student can effectively demonstrate his or her mastery. The student calendar/study plan also helps to alleviate this problem, and my high school math teacher did this on several occasions. These time-management options would benefit both me and the students considerably. I will also give students extensions if they are unable to pass in work. I //hate// teachers who never accept late work, for I do not think they understand how hectic adolescent life can be. If my student has an appropriate excuse, and it is proven to be true, I will grant a brief extension. It is nightmarish for a student and especially to a teacher if a student does even worse on a redo assignment, but the author hints that the only option is to enter the higher grade into the final grade. I am all for giving each student no more than two chances on an assignment, but still I wonder if there are other options.

Mike Lawson
Allowing students to redo work will always be integrated in my classroom. However, I worry, as every other teacher should, that my students will abuse this generosity. I will go over my policy of redoing work at the beginning of the year and make it very obvious that I will think about the situation every time my students as to redo work (unless I ask them to redo it). I think it is very important to talk with the student about what they may have not understood about the assignment and let them know when I expect it by. This conversation will be very useful to both student and teacher. It allows for the teacher to see how the student is learning and what they may be missing. It also allows for a better student/teacher relationship. Being able to sit down comfortably with a student and go over what their understanding is. In my own experience it makes it much easier on the student for a teacher to understand that there are conflicting elements in a young person’s life that sometimes makes it very hard to produce quality work. As mentioned in chapter ten it is refreshing to see a teacher understand where you are coming from. If a student seems to be redoing a lot of work I will sit down with them and go over how to manage time in order to give them more time to work on the product. I also liked how Wormeli suggests that the original work is stapled to the new work in order to compare the work, and see how much effort they put into the redo.

Sarah Robinson
I believe in second chances, and this chapter was very refreshing to read because it shows that students should be able to redo work with some guidelines involved. This chapter teaches that it should be understood that life does sometimes get in the way, and teachers should be understanding to the emergencies and life problems. This chapter gives the idea to have parents sign a paper understand what the redo policy is for your classroom. Teachers should also pay attention to how many times students use the redo policy because students should not abuse the policy. What also may be helpful from this chapter is the concept of having students create a calendar of how they could and would have completed this assignment on time and better. This chapter also gives me the great idea that teachers might have to re-teach the lesson to some students who did not understand it the first time before the student redoes the assignment or work. In my future classroom I know I will give my students to redo their work, test, and assignments because its not about how much the students know at the time of the assignment, it is about the students complete and learning the assignment and subject.

Eric Cole
This last chapter deals with the idea of letting kids redo work that they did not do well on in the first place. Now this idea of redoing work raises the idea of whether or not students should be allowed to redo work in the first place. If you are the type of teacher who cares only about the initial effort, and you believe that students should just get things right the first time because it shows that you taught them well, then redos are a bad idea for you. I happen to disagree with those teachers though. School should never ever be about the grade. School should be about the act of learning, and getting the student to understand the material. Even if it does take the student several attempts before they end up understanding what you want them to know. I just happen to think that the more times it takes the student to get it, the sweeter the feeling it will be when that lightbulb finally goes off in their head. That to me is the reason why I want to teach. I want to be the one to turn on that light-switch.

Alicia Kenison
Redo-work should always be allowed, but there must be stipulations. Wormeli suggested not having redo-work due the week before a grading period ends. This will keep us sane. He also urged us to stay away from bonus work and extra credit. I always hated that teachers would not allow this because I wanted to achieve higher grades, but I understand. Teachers want learning to be met at their digression so that we know standards are met properly. I would stay away from the parents signing redo assignments because it should be the student’s responsibility. Some of Wormeli’s stipulations will travel with me, but I will also end up making my own over time.

Amanda Fitzpatrick
Although short, this chapter gave a lot of reassuring information on how to allow students to redo work but still allow them to learn from the experience as well. It seems to me that many students [without the guidelines highlighted in this chapter] would just create another project on the same information, make it "better" and pass it in for a better grade. However, I especially liked the part of this chapter where Wormeli suggests changing the format of the assessment so that students are unable to take such an approach. The second part of this chapter that really stood out to me was the contract between the student, parent and teacher. This basically cuts out the students that would just push off really knowing the material until later because they know that they can retake assessments, because with this contract in place they simply did not know whether or not they will be able to, which means that they will have to try their hardest; however if their hardest is not good enough, that will be when they can retake a test or redo a project.

Jared Boghosian
I believe in redoing work. I also believe that it isn't something that should be offered consistently to the same student. Therefore I agree with the author in the ability to withhold the option to redo work. In some cases, like an objective test, I believe it is entirely okay to completely change the format for a redone test. This ensures the student is not simply memorizing the old answers and truly demonstrating mastery. And just like essays and papers, have the old task stapled to the new task, find the growth, how did the student's grade change? I like this chapter a lot and will probably refer back to it every now and then.

Scott A. Bowden
This chapter was about how to assess redone work. I feel that students should have the right to try again if they messed something up. With the fact that I as the teacher will give them feedback and assist them in redoing the assignment so it is done well and up to my standards. I don't like the teacher who averages the first and second grade because it is not beneficial to student learning. If they can show me they earn a 100 on the material, regardless of how many times it takes, it's good enough for me to say "I feel they KNOW it, not just are doing it." I feel that repeated averagings just upsets the student and the teacher for the student is never really satisfied by the grade he or she earns by averaging. It just seems to sit there and not be useful and always be one step away from perfection. A student cannot earn a 100 percent using averaging grades, as in order for that to happen, the total of the two has to be 200, a feat only achieved by two perfect scores. It is stupid to do that for it sets the student up to fail, and that's not right.

Susanna Cooper
It was interesting to read the quote about a teacher who gives retakes. I can see the point the teacher made about how she may have more papers to grade at first, but overtime there are few and fewer. I think that is when a teacher know they are making a difference. To have the opportunity to retake a test many times, but for students not to need to shows that by giving students more chances they really do try to learn the material. Perhaps we rush students too often. Maybe if we followed the concept of a inch wide mile thick more often, we wouldn’t need to give so many retakes to begin with. One thing that has always bugged me though was the students who would just not try hard the first time knowing they had a back-up plan. I am glad the chapter mentioned for us to keep an eye open for these students and speak to them if we feel they aren’t truly trying hard the first time. I don’t think it is fair to us as teachers to grade papers twice because the students don’t want to try hard the first time.