Crisis Grading

1. What do or should grades represent or measure? In other words, when a grade is given what does that really stand for? Have we moved into a "crisis of artificial grading" during the pandemic or even before that?

   1. I believe that grades can measure what a student does or does not know. But it can also measure whether a student turns in assignments or doesn’t. My first hand experience is that grading is both a measure of how well a student understands a material and if they submitted an assignment or not. I believe that the pandemic only helped us see that there are a lot of more things going on in students' lives and it in turn has moved us to a “crisis of artificial grading '' because we are taking into consideration people’s lives. But even before that, I believe that teachers did take into consideration the struggles of a student and did give some leeway into their grading. I have personally talked to my professors about needing extensions because of my illness and situations going on at the moment and they have understood and taken compassion. But I never believed that was a crisis of artificial grading since I was still turning in my work and it was graded for what it was regardless of my situation. When hurricane Harvey hit Houston, it destroyed a lot of the city. During that time, professors gave us long extensions because so many of us had lost our homes, vehicles, loved ones, etc. The same situation I believe is happening now, teachers are giving extensions due to situations that are out of their control and still grading on the content and the student’s ability. There are some extreme situations where teachers are having to just pass students regardless if they turned in materials or not, but I believe that was at the beginning of the pandemic and not so much now.

2. Has this helped you think more about grading?

   1. This has helped me think about grading because there are so many different situations that teachers will face on this. This really made me think how many different ways we can grade without it being something that had to be written and formal and more informal but still showed that the student understands material.

3. Have you thought of anything you would like to add?

   1. This really made me think where the future of standardized testing will go in the future. The pandemic eased the stress of having to really force material down students throats that was deemed essential for one grade of testing and now since there is no pressure of having to take those tests, it has eased up on what teachers actually teach and grade.

4. Personal research and/or experience?

   1. I have gone through several hurricanes living in Houston and every time it happened, we had to go into a “crisis grading” in school because so many things were going on. A lot of our assignments had really shifted into other things and they were extended based on how much time you needed. I also remember our assignments changing, so for example instead of turning in a paper on the beginning stages of adolescence, my professor made us turn in a volunteer sheet that said we helped in the cleanup of the hurricane.

5. Can we take a crisis and turn it into an opportunity?

   1. “In the midst of every crisis lies a great opportunity” -Albert Einstein

   2. This quote is what I thought about when I read this question because it forces us to reconsider or reevaluate our circumstances and change what is at play. In our situation, teachers are having the power to really change the way a classroom is set up. We aren’t under the pressure of having to teach rapidly and to force things to students because there is a big test coming in and determining if they pass grades or not. The change of education is now because it is in crisis and was already in crisis and now is the time that we can change it.

6. How do we turn effort into excellence?

   1. Effort is very different when it comes to different subjects but when it comes down to a science classroom, effort shows on how personal you can get with content. Bloom’s taxonomy and critical thinking is an excellent way to ensure that students are striving to take content into a higher level of thinking and understanding. For example, I have created several lesson plans revolving around waste reduction and recycling. But as the lesson continues, they become more centered around student participation and innovation on how to change simple things from daily tasks to problems that are faced in Northampton county and Pennsylvania. Most of my lessons go from simple to more complex and more effort to help students become problem solvers and become personal with their subject. I believe that the more personal a student becomes with their project the more effort they will show, and which will lead to excellence. Effort in the science classroom is how personal you can make it for students so they will dedicate more time and research etc. I believe that this model can be used in other subjects as well, branching off and making it personally enticing for students.