http://theclassroom.ca/2007/03/report-card-madness/ Thoughts and Resources for Teachers Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:56:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://theclassroom.ca/2007/03/report-card-madness/comment-page-1/#comment-73 Lisa Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:13:18 +0000 http://theclassroom.ca/2007/03/03/report-card-madness/#comment-73 I have a couple thoughts on report cards. First of all, I think they should be useful documents. By that I mean they should inform parents and other teachers "in a nutshell" how the student is doing for that term. I do not think they should be a listing of all the curriculum outcomes - if you want to know those, there are other documents for that! But, I think they should briefly touch on the basics covered in each topic and how the student did on each. I create one basic comment for each subject and change the qualifying words to individualize for each student. I think it is also very important to comment on the "whole student" which is under the personal growth and development section for our school board. This is the chance to personalize the most and look for growth in non-academic abilities which really make each child a stronger learner. I was appalled when I heard that many schools were dropping that comment. The second quandry I have about report cards is how to mark special needs students. I have the same philosophical discussion in my head every time I have to write the reports. Should I mark them according to their program goals, or should I mark them against provincial norms? I feel bad when I have a student that makes amazing growth, yet still only achieves average or below average for their grade level, and then all they get is a "C" on their report card. I feel it doesn't represent them fairly. But then, I don't want to give teachers the wrong impression the following year when they take over my students and don't realize "how" I was grading them. I've come up with giving them grades on provincial norms on their reports, but really being personal and pointing out their growth on their program plans. I, like all other teachers, know how much work report cards can be. We all strive to put as much as possible into them so we can communicate as many things as we can in such a short document. It is so difficult to summarize a student for who they are within the guidelines. I think report cards need to be the best balance between the need for information and the reality of time and effort available. I have a couple thoughts on report cards. First of all, I think they should be useful documents. By that I mean they should inform parents and other teachers “in a nutshell” how the student is doing for that term. I do not think they should be a listing of all the curriculum outcomes – if you want to know those, there are other documents for that! But, I think they should briefly touch on the basics covered in each topic and how the student did on each. I create one basic comment for each subject and change the qualifying words to individualize for each student. I think it is also very important to comment on the “whole student” which is under the personal growth and development section for our school board. This is the chance to personalize the most and look for growth in non-academic abilities which really make each child a stronger learner. I was appalled when I heard that many schools were dropping that comment. The second quandry I have about report cards is how to mark special needs students. I have the same philosophical discussion in my head every time I have to write the reports. Should I mark them according to their program goals, or should I mark them against provincial norms? I feel bad when I have a student that makes amazing growth, yet still only achieves average or below average for their grade level, and then all they get is a “C” on their report card. I feel it doesn’t represent them fairly. But then, I don’t want to give teachers the wrong impression the following year when they take over my students and don’t realize “how” I was grading them. I’ve come up with giving them grades on provincial norms on their reports, but really being personal and pointing out their growth on their program plans. I, like all other teachers, know how much work report cards can be. We all strive to put as much as possible into them so we can communicate as many things as we can in such a short document. It is so difficult to summarize a student for who they are within the guidelines. I think report cards need to be the best balance between the need for information and the reality of time and effort available.

]]> http://theclassroom.ca/2007/03/report-card-madness/comment-page-1/#comment-71 Mr. G Sun, 11 Mar 2007 16:15:47 +0000 http://theclassroom.ca/2007/03/03/report-card-madness/#comment-71 Oh - for the record - for the first time in my teaching career I handed my report cards in 2 1/2 hours early! Granted I was still the second last one in the school - but that's besides the point. Oh – for the record – for the first time in my teaching career I handed my report cards in 2 1/2 hours early! Granted I was still the second last one in the school – but that’s besides the point.

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