It’s time to finalize preparations for the new school year. Sad that I am doing that and it is still July, but, oh well. That’s the way it goes.
Tonight I have been pondering my grading scheme and how to tweak it for class this year. I have done some hybrid versions of SBG in the past, but last year I felt like I drifted too far back into the world of traditional grading. Here are my thoughts for this year:
[I teach Algebra 2 on a trimester schedule. Algebra 2 is a 3 trimester course, but students move from teacher to teacher during the year. I may have a student for 1, 2, or all 3 terms.]
A student’s final grade will be portioned as follows:
5% ACT warm-up questions M-Th students will get 5 questions to work on. Grades will not be taken. Friday students will have a “quiz” consisting of 10 questions similar (but not identical) to those completed during the week.
20% Cumulative Common Assessments These tests will be given every 4 weeks (so there will be a total of 3 during each term); exams will last 2 days. I am either going to split the 2 days into multiple choice & free response OR calculator & no calculator. These exams are cumulative for the entire year and the grades are final. No reassessments are permitted. Obviously, this is the nonSBG portion of the course.
70% Learning Target Assessments These will be given every Friday (?) and each LT will be assessed twice and reassessment will be encouraged (and required for scores below a 3 on a 4 point scale). I am struggling between whether or not I should average the two scores, count the highest score, or count the most recent. I know the reasons for using each method…averaging should make each assessment “count” so they actually study and prepare for it…counting the last score is a better indication of what they really know…counting the highest gives them credit for having learned the material at some point.
5% Soft Skills This will incorporate tardiness, timely completion of assignments, classroom participation, etc.
Well, that’s the brain dump for now. I’m not sure I worked through anything, but at least I have a plan on paper and that’s a start. Sometimes that’s just what it takes to get the ball rolling.
Purple Pronto Pups (My World of Teaching) 
glad to hear I am not the only one planning right now!
My only feedback is to avoid Friday assessments, this way you don’t need to grade papers every weekend.
For my class, I am moving assessments to Monday’s and Wednesday’s because it gives me time to grade and give feedback before the week ends. It also gives kids the chance to study on the weekend and come in prepared for an assessment.
Also, I wouldn’t worry too much about the exact percent breakdown. Your system will work if students know how they are doing and know the steps they need to take to improve.
Hmm…I hadn’t thought of Monday assessments, but I think I like that idea. Mostly I just feel like I need a set day of the week so there’s no surprises for the students. I’m not a fan of pop quizzes, but sometimes I forget to tell them its time for one.
I’ll consider the Monday or Wednesday option more before school starts.
Thanks for sharing and offering suggestions.
Best wishes to you for a successful school year!