Chapter 7: The Relative Nature of Grades and Their Definitions

Chapter 7 discusses grades and the importance of laying out expectations clearly to the students. After the expectations have been clearly identified a teacher must fairly administer the grades to all students the same way. While there are different levels of learning it does not do the students any good to accept low quality work and give a good grade. This will only show the student that you don’t expect anything from them and they will not strive to grow. This is important in a math class because students need to try in math. It is not a subject that you can fake your way through, either you know the steps or you don’t. It will be my challenge to find a system that allows all levels of students to succeed at their own rate. That is why I like the point system. A student that is a “good” math student can get 50 points on one assignment while a “low” math student might do an assignment and a redo, or two assignments that combine for 50 points. They are not competing against each other; they are both simply trying to learn the material. It is such an absurd concept to me that some teachers will let socioeconomic status influence the grades they give. It will not matter in my classroom how much money your family has or doesn’t have, what color of skin you have, or what religion you are, the only things that will play into grades are effort and math.