Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe,...
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Transcript of Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe,...
![Page 1: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Tales of Horror and Non-Congruence
A Highly Personal Take
on
Grades and Homework
Steve Unruhe, [email protected]
![Page 2: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
We need great teachers
More importantly,
we need good schools.
![Page 3: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Horror Story #1: Una lección de baile en Ecuador
• Salsa for two left feet?
• 6-count? 8-count?• Dancing towards the
exit
![Page 4: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Horror Story #2: Lily
• Single mom, often working two jobs• Mom’s ex-partner intermittently involved• Unmotivated, easily frustrated, but not
hostile• Frequently missed school• Failing math due to zeroes for
homework and projects
![Page 5: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Should Lily Repeat Algebra I?
![Page 6: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Part I: Grades
• What are we trying to accomplish through our grading practices?
![Page 7: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Goal for Grading: A fair assessment
of content knowledge
• Should student advance?
• Into which course?
![Page 8: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Congruence Problem #1
• Do grades accurately reflect content knowledge?
• Scenario - student does B work on three assignments; fails to turn in fourth assignment
![Page 9: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Three Grading Schemes - Three Grades
![Page 10: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Which grading scheme accurately reflects
content knowledge?
![Page 11: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Horror Story #3: How Estelle Failed
Lunch Duty
• What if teachers were evaluated the way students are evaluated?
![Page 12: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Congruence Problem #2
• What does a student learn by repeating a course?
• What does a student learn from a zero?
• Why do we put a kid in another teacher’s classroom who already knows enough material to pass the class?
![Page 13: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
My grading practice
• Use A-F scale, translated into numerical points (60-100)
• Students fail for not passing assessments (tests, quizzes)
• Students do NOT fail for missing work; they fail for not knowing content (or, more to the point, pass if they know enough content)
![Page 14: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Part II: Homework
• What are we trying to accomplish through our homework practice?
![Page 15: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Goals for Homework
• Practice
• Learn new material
• Learn responsibility
![Page 16: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Congruence Problem #3 - Homework Reality
• Copied• Scribbled• Wrong• Time-consuming to
grade
![Page 17: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Solution
• Give more, harder, homework
• Grade all homework, every night
• (Just kidding)
![Page 18: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Horror Story #4
• “Calculate the lateral area of an octagonal prism lying on its side…”
![Page 19: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
My homework practice
• All homework problems have answers
• Homework is practice
• Homework counts for a grade only to help a student
![Page 20: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Data Imperviousness
• Teachers (all humans?) resist data• Teachers (all humans?) learn by
anecdote• Math teachers live for the counter-
example (“What about…?)• Data “slides off” when it hits anecdotal
counter-example
![Page 21: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Still, here’s the data….
• Retention: “In summary, the research indicates that grade retention provides limited or no
academic/social advantages to students” (Retention: The Balanced View: Social Promotion & Retention; Prepared by Westchester Institute For Human Services Research. Available at http://www.sharingsuccess.org/code/socprom.html. Undated)
• Homework: “No research has shown that homework is necessary to help students learn….Nor is there a shred of evidence to back up the folk wisdom that homework builds character, promotes self-discipline, or teaches good work habits.” (Homework: “The Tougher Standards Fad Hits
Home” Alfie Kohn in Rethinking Schools, Vol 21, No.1; Fall 2006)
![Page 22: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
In search of congruence
• Teachers are heroes - we will go to almost any length to help a student succeed
• Teachers are martyrs - and this is not a good idea
• We must connect homework and grading practices to realistic goals
![Page 23: Tales of Horror and Non- Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062421/56649e045503460f94af01da/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
We need great teachers, and we need good schools