Data Set A- marked up
Teacher A: Fifth Grade
TF: What kind of writing assignments do you give your
students?
A: Ummm, there are two types of
writing that we do in 5th grade. One is called a speculative which
is a story and the other is an expository which is umm like expos, like
explaining something, so you give details about something without a narrative.
And the two assignments, because they are focused on non-fiction text, so
everything…in 5th grade you learn about the history, the wars, and
everything in the United States. And the NJASK is on
the nonfiction text so we try to have them write mostly about things that are
relevant to them. For instance, we were writing a biography last week, or two
weeks ago, and they had to interview someone and write about them. So every
couple of week we change the assignments.
TF:When you sit down to grade their work, do you do it at
school? At home? A combination of both?
A: Mostly home because you really
don’t have time during the day to grade and during our prep time, we’re
prepping for our next lesson or we have meetings of something.
TF: Specific place at home where you do your grading?
A: Ummm I have a little office set
up but honestly I just sit on the couch. I have a great desk, its beautiful,
but never do I sit on it. I usually have the t.v. or music on.
TF: Does it happen during the week or during the weekends?
A: It happens everyday because if I let it accumulate but
the weekend I have no life. And I do have a life outside of school. So I try to grade something every day. And the difference between 5th grade and every grade
I’ve taught, or 3rd grade and other grades, you’re less hand on with
the kids and more hands on when you’re outside of the classroom like grading
piles and piles of papers.
TF: Do you find it helpful to break up reading the papers to
give yourself a break and clear your mind?
A: Ummm…it depends, I mean, when I
get burned out I just stop. There is a point where I just can’t read
anymore kid writing (laughs)…I just, I can’t so I will put it down and pick it
up the next day. Because if you’re burned out, there is no way anything good is
going to come from it. Its not fair to them because then you’re just rushing
through the work and you’re not giving it the time in needs.
TF: Can you walk me
through the process of when you’re about to start grading a paper?
A: Okay if I’m at home, or if I’m here, which rarely
happens, I’ll sit at the back instead of here (her desk) and I’ll just read the
papers through. Especially if its writing. That’s what you’re asking right?
TF: yeah yeah
A: but if I am at home, I’ll make myself comfortable, make
myself a cup of coffee or tea, turn the tv on because I always need to have
background noise on, I grew up in a very urban area so there is always
background noise. Tv will be on and then what I do is, I
don’t look at the child’s name. I turn the page
over or I tell them not to write their name on the first page, because I
usually grade their rough draft. So I’ll tell them, I don’t want to see who it is, because we naturally tend to
judge their writing by who they are. Especially if I know a child has
potential to do better. Or if a child who is very low does a really good job or
does their best job you kinda tend to so you kinda tend to give them the
benefit of the doubt , a child who is low, because you’re like, omg look how
good he is doing, this is great! Even though its not what another child who is
not average would achieve so what I do is, I will cover
the name, I will read the story without knowing who it is and give them a grade
that way. And I have a rubric, a writing rubric that I can give you a copy of,
its very specific and then you average out the grade. The numbers and you give
them a score. I also have a student rubric that they created. And I have them
grade their work. A couple ago we got together, the students, and I told
them that we needed to create a classroom rubric that they could use on their
work. It’s a guidline so they can, because something I
can say something until I’m green in the face, it doesn’t matter, they have to
do it, they have to know, they have to take ownership of their work. So
I have them, they created the rubric, they are the ones that came up with
everything on the rubric. I just wrote it up. And they’re
supposed to give themselves a score. And they do, they give themselves a
number. One, two, there, four, five or
six. And then an average. And its worked out really well because now they are
taking ownership…they’re like oh, she’s gonna read
this, this is what we all decided what. How we’re gonna grade this. So I
take that and average it with my score, or I take their score into
consideration and then I give them the grade. That’s it.
TF: Do you follow the same process for all papers?
A: Ummm…I do. Well, writing is a
very complicated process for kids. They need structure so we do things the same
way all the time, to keep them, because then the NJASK comes in May, they need
know how to do this and it has to be (snapping fingers) immediate. They
have 30 minutes to write a five paragraph essay, adults can’t do that, and they
are expected to d o it.
11:19 TF: has you method of grading papers evolved
A: Absolutely, when you starts
(laughs), everything they give you in textbooks looks beautiful. And they make
everything sound soooooo perfect and that’s never that way it works. You have
students that are great thinkers. They have all this stuff they want to
express, they just can’t write it down. Or if they do write it down, its all
choppy so you, at the beginning I’d look at something and think, ugh, that’s
failure failure fail and now I take a
look at what the ideas are, what their thought process is, now I can read them,
I know what they’re trying to say, even if they didn’t write it so, it
definitely has evolved since I first started. And that comes with experience.
TF: So do you focus more on whats on the paper and the good
that is there than what might not be on the paper?
A: ummm…it depends on the student. For the most part, I tend
to look at whats on the paper and then cuz what happens with writing, is that
we have conferences, when we start writing they will
write their rough draft and we will conference. We
will talk about their writing, they will read it to me, we’ll edit it. Anything
they think is, you know, repetitive or any grammatical errors that they have or
you know if something doesn’t sound right or if a period is missing in a place.
If a sentence doesn’t flow than you know we will conference about it. What
that does, that gives me an idea where they are in
terms of their writing and their editing skills. Which are two totally different skills. And so from there then they go on their own and do their final copy,
their final and that what they hand it but what I grade them on is their rough
draft because that is actually what has been, that’s their thoughts and their,
you know
TF: So you don’t grade their final?
A: I do grade their final. I’ll read it and make sure that
everything is there but their grade, the grade I put
into the computer, their final grade is their rough draft. Because
that’s, once we conference and I tell them and we talk
about ideas, and what do you think you should do better, that’s not their grade
now, that’s their grade with my help. So that’s not, I don’t think
that’s fair to them. If I help you write and you know, its gonna be beautiful
of course, if you’re ten, you know? I mean but then their writing is…how else are they going to know how to improve if they always
get 5’s or 100’s? They’re gonna say, oh we’re perfect. So what I do,
once I read their rough draft, I ask them what score do you think you’ll get
looking at the rubric. And then from there they give me their score but I
already know, in my mind, what score I am going to give them.
15:00
TF: The rubric that you use in your class, did the school
with you that? The district? Or did you implement that? Or how about their own
rubric?
A: The district gives that ones that
I use. The one we created, Mr. Titlebaum is big on student self assessment and
one of the things he feels is most important in student learning is them to
assess their own work. So its student made, by them, so they take ownership of
it.
TF: Now I am curious, when you do corrections, do you use
side margin feedback or comments, or do you make comments at the end? And does
it change between draft and final?
A: Yes, it does. I usually, during
the conference, I comment to them verbally, I don’t write anything down. Then
when I read the final copy, I will usually write it on
the back because I usually, what happens is that their writing gets hung up so
I don’t want them to be embarrassed or read and others, even though it
may be positive, but this way other students don’t look at it and say, oh this
student got you know, at the top of the
page they get a number 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 and that’s all they have on their
paper.
TF: And you mentioned this before but you conference with
students every time for writing assignments?
A: Yes, every time we meet. I meet
individually with each student its about, doesn’t take more than 5 minutes
because whatever time it takes for them to read their writing.
TF: I found it very interesting that they read their own
writing. Do you feel that it helps them catch their own mistakes?
A: Absolutely, I’ve had students
start reading and they’re like, that doesn’t make any sense, and I look at them
and say, if that doesn’t make sense and you’re reading it imagine how I am
reading it. What it sound like when I am the one who is reading what you wrote that makes no
sense. Its funny. It’s a great way to have them catch
themselves.
TF: What’s you overall goal in providing feedback to your
students?
A: I think its just to have them self
assess their writing and to have them become, know…I guess I don’t even
know if knowledgeable is the right word, but have them become
aware of what they’re writing and how it is affecting their writing. Because if you write something just to write
it and hand it in and that’s it its’ over. You have no attachment or its not
something that is personal to you than that’s not gonna be good writing. But if you, by conferencing with them and by talking to them and
by having them read it, its now personal. Now its something that is directly
affecting them. I can look at it and say , they can look at it and say,
you know, I guess my goals is to have to just be more aware of what they’re
putting down on papers.
TF: Do you feel like your students follow your suggestions?
A: Yes, ummm for the most part they do. The ones that are
less, ummm because in a classroom you have the students
that are high, the students that are low, and then you have your average. For
the most part, the more average to high will follow the suggestions, and I know
that’s a terrible way of looking at it, but that’s reality in a classroom
setting where we have them now, we’re an inclusion class, we have all sorts. So
students who want to learn, who have it in them to learn and to want to you
know, be encouraged, they will follow your suggestions. And all kids have the
capability of learning its just that thing of wanting to learn. And that’s what
our job is.
TF: Do you see an improvement from one draft to another?
From one assignment to the next?
A: oh absolutely, when we’re writing, for example, now we’re focusing on the
introduction, that’s our main goal. Forget about everything else, well
not forget about everything else but that’s our main to make that introduction
something that people want to read. And I have them pick any chapter book that
they want and I have them always read the 1st paragraph to me. I ask
them do you now want to read the rest of this book?......Now we’re focusing on the introduction so as the assignments
progress next month or in the next couple of months, I’ll notice their
introductions are much better, they’re more …instead of one day, first. So…
TF: So giving your feedback now, do you focus more on the
introduction or do you give feedback on the intro but also focus on everything?
A: I do both, if my focus is
introduction then I’ll read over the introduction and give them positive and
definite feedback on that and then rest of the paper we will focus on another
time. So even though I expect that same kind of writing, if I am looking
at the introduction as my main, this is what we’re working on, this is what
we’re focusing on, this is what I really want them to you know, do, and do
well, then I am going to give them feedback
specifically because we take the paper in parts, the essay, but writing is
different. When you interview
someonebody else in a different grade, everyone’s focus is different. So in 5th grade, my focus is getting their writing to
flow, to be more detailed, to have a better opening and closing, to just make
more sense, to align their ideas in order, where they follow through…
25:00
TF: When you said that you conference with them and its all
verbal. Do they make notes on what you said?
A: When they conference and we’re
working together I give them, they are allowed to have pens, they have to write everything in pencil but they can have
pens and they edit everything, they can add everything they want, I don’t touch
anything on the paper, I don’t do anything, on the rough draft. I tell them,
pretend you’re me and edit this paper. And also, what I will do, I will have them swap papers, so
they’ll be reading their peers’ work and so as long as they are respectful, I
have them write comments on another piece of paper not on their writing. It
gives them an insight because they are all so competitive at this age, I
use to my benefit. At this age they want to be better than the other. Even the
ones that aren’t as…or not as good but… (27:35)
