Another Look At Grading.

I am taking another look at grading because of yesterday's column. After thinking about it a lot, I realized that I had a few college professors who offered options to students or had a different way of grading that offered the student more.

In one class, the professor made a list of the minimum required work needed to get a "C", what else was needed to get a "B", and what one could do in addition to the "B" work to get an "A"

In another class, the professor who was European, made appointments with each one of us at test time.  He'd have us come to his office where he gave us a problem or two to do. He'd watch us work it, ask questions, before assigning a grade of A which meant you did a fantastic job, a B for an above average grade or a C because you did an OK job.  Otherwise it was an F because you didn't even try.

I keep thinking my students have gotten to high school with the idea of they should only do work if it counts for a grade and once they get the grade, there is no reason to look back at mistakes or make corrections.  Once my students get their papers back, they throw them out so I've been trying to figure out a way for them to look back, make corrections so they learn the material better.

I stumbled across something that looks like it has the potential to require students to revisit their work until it reaches a certain standard and its based on the idea of highlighting mistakes.  Its a Grade - Revise - Replace idea where you "grade" the assignment but only highlight the mistakes without putting a grade on the paper.  The student goes through to check out all work with anything highlighted until they've "corrected" the mistakes and turn it in.  The teacher checks over all "corrections" before assigning a final grade which is the one that gets recorded in the grade book.

I like this particular idea because in the end, the students get the numerical grades my district requires for their records but I've had a chance to get them to redo work and make corrections to improve their understanding of the topic instead of listening to their "Its done, I don't need to do anything more." comments. 

In addition, it gives my students who freak out over anything less than an A a chance to get the corrections made before the lower grade appears in Power School.  Furthermore, if I ask them to write a few words on what the mistake was before they make the correction, it helps them verbalize their mistakes which I hope will make it easier to find their own.

I think I'll use this new grading idea in my class filled with students who struggle with completing assignments to turn in.  If I assign fewer problems overall, it means they have fewer to do at first but if they go over the same problems, it will take less time and they should be able to finish the corrections.

I'd love to get feedback on this idea.  Do you think it would work?  Do you have ideas for making it better?  Please let me know what you think, I really want to hear.  Have a great day.