Well...the school year is over and I survived.
One of my required duties is to post grades on report cards, I don't like this part of my job.
I think if my students are trying and showing progress, that's great! Give them a great grade. But is that actually helping or hurting them?
With the grades my students get, they could get into Ivy League schools, well except the whole diploma thing, but you get what I'm saying, right?
Some of my students are graded on standards based report cards, I thought that was a great idea, until I had to grade one of my students with it. The operative words being, Grade Level. Ummm....no, they are not at grade level, but we're working on the basics, that should count for something!
Imagine being the parent who reads that report card, that's a bit discouraging, don't ya' think? Not progressing, not progressing, not progressing....
Parents of students with special needs are reminded over and over about what their child can't do, and now we put it on paper every term as a reminder.
If we grade students at grade level, my students would all get F's. Is that fair? Is it fair to give them all straight A's and B's? What about the parent who questions the report card grades, and questions their progress?
"My son/daughter got an A or B in reading, but is still learning to read in middle school, how is this possible?"
We aren't allowed to write it was modified work, or that it was received in a substantially separate setting. So if you didn't know the student, picked up their report card off a desk, you would think they are brilliant! And they are! But what if you compared them to their typical peers?
At the end of this school year, I said good bye to three students I had since 6th grade and one student I've had since 5th grade. They will be going to the high school next year, and they are ready.
In the time they were with me, they have become so independent, caring and respectful, self advocates, and hard workers.
In my class that means they no longer swear, they hold the door open for others, use please and thank you, they can get their breakfast and lunch independently, they can get out what they need to do their work, they can sit quietly and do their work, attend some classes and after school activities by themselves, prepare a snack by themselves, know what to do in an emergency, have a conversation with others, show respect to others, and help others.
Many of these things they can do better than their typical peers.
These are all skills we have worked on every day throughout the years, they are ready to be contributing members to their community, and I am so very proud of them.
How do you grade that?
