Grade the Work, Not the Behavior
"You can't give a student a zero for cheating. You have to separate behavior from academics." That's what my principal said. Still early in my career, I looked at him as though he'd lost his mind. Memories danced in my head: teachers ripping papers in half or wadding up a student's test and aiming for the trash can.
How could I, as a teacher, ever give a student credit after a stunt like cheating? I took that kind of thing personally. That student needed to be punished . And the best way to punish most students is by giving a bad grade, right?
But I respected my principal. And, after some reflection, I realized that I really do want grades to reflect what my students know , not what behavioral choices they make. So I began to change...
This article is available to registered guests only.
Register free, or login below, to continue reading.
|
Register FREE To Access Teacher and Education Week Articles, FREE E-Newsletters, and More! |
|---|
| FREE! (limited access) |
Access selected articles, e-newsletters and more!
Viewed
Emailed
Recommended
Commented
Sponsored Whitepapers
• Best Practices in Information Management, Reporting and Analytics for Education
• Smart infrastructure report to get your district ready for future IT needs.
• Integrating Social and Emotional RTI to Improve Student Performance
• Taming the wild west: How America’s third largest school district manages PCs, Macs, and iPads
• Overcoming the Odds: Getting Every Student to College YES Prep Shares Its Success Story
- Substitutes
- West Orange School District, West Orange, NJ
- Principal
- Amargosa Valley Elementary School, Amargosa Valley, NV
- Principal
- Roaring Fork School District, Carbondale, CO
- Charter School Director (Head of School)
- International Preparatory Academy, Detroit, MI
- Part-Time Teachers (Certified)
- Hartford Public Schools, Hartford, CT