How to record grades after fixing mistakes...

[Stillwood]

My son is going through the review section of TT Pre-Algebra. He's making careless mistakes. For example, today he had 8 out of 30 problems wrong (usually addition and subtraction). I send the paper back and he corrects his mistakes without incident. This changes his grade from a 73% to 98-100%. This happens on a daily basis. I don't why this keeps occuring. Perhaps he is bored. He is 14, but he started school late because of a medical condition (nearly resolved). TT Pre-Algebra's pace will pick up to a more challenging level in about 10 more lessons.

 

Which grade should I record? Should i I average each score between the orignal and corrected?

 

 

In homeschool, we can rework problems until he gets 100% but in a public school he would be up a creek. He's doing fine with the rest of his work. Still wondering if we should skip ahead to more challenging sections and perhaps the math-boredom (hopefully) mistakes will resolve on their own.

[~Tara~]

I never would have thought to average the grades.

 

I record the grade 'as is'. The first thing they turn into me is checked, graded, entered, done. They are then expected to correct those mistakes, but I do not modify their grade at all. I figure if they have then learned the material, it will show in the next day's lesson and everything will 'average out in the end'.

[Riverland]

My son is going through the review section of TT Pre-Algebra. He's making careless mistakes. For example, today he had 8 out of 30 problems wrong (usually addition and subtraction). I send the paper back and he corrects his mistakes without incident. This changes his grade from a 73% to 98-100%. This happens on a daily basis. I don't why this keeps occuring. Perhaps he is bored. He is 14, but he started school late because of a medical condition (nearly resolved). TT Pre-Algebra's pace will pick up to a more challenging level in about 10 more lessons.

 

Which grade should I record? Should i I average each score between the orignal and corrected?

 

 

In homeschool, we can rework problems until he gets 100% but in a public school he would be up a creek. He's doing fine with the rest of his work. Still wondering if we should skip ahead to more challenging sections and perhaps the math-boredom (hopefully) mistakes will resolve on their own.

 

He's probably bored. I wouldn't hold that against him. I have limited experience with TT, but I did notice how easy some of the early lessons were. The first thing I would try is skipping ahead a few lessons. If that doesn't help, I would either average the grades, or give him the re-worked grade. The most important part of math is that he understands how to solve the problems, and it sounds like that is the case. Don't worry about how he would be scored in public school.....that's not relevant. He's homeschooled! You can do what you think is best.

[Stillwood]

Skip ahead. See if that resolves things.

 

I've never averaged grades with my older daughter. I rarely have her re-do something. But this, with my son is a constant, of late.

[Sun]

How old is he? If he's young for the math he's doing, then I'd be inclined to record both grades (effectively averaging them if they're weighted the same). If he's middle-school age, then I'd probably average them both for a set period of time (e.g. two months) and then switch to just using the first score (while still requiring corrections). Regardless of what I do, I'd be sure to show him the first percentage and its equivalent letter grade, so he gets a good grasp of exactly what his careless mistakes are costing him.

[Daisy]

I never would have thought to average the grades.

 

I record the grade 'as is'. The first thing they turn into me is checked, graded, entered, done. They are then expected to correct those mistakes, but I do not modify their grade at all. I figure if they have then learned the material, it will show in the next day's lesson and everything will 'average out in the end'.

 

:iagree: If it is just a case of being sloppy or careless then the lower grade ought to help him be more careful with the next lesson.

[Lara in Colo]

I don't do grades here but when I was in school (A hundred years ago), the corrections were worth 1/3-1/2 of the original.

So if I missed 10 problems, worth 1 point each, I could earn back 5 points with 10 corrected problems.

[Photo Ninja]

I don't grade daily math work. The goal is to learn the new material, then practice it. I don't want to grade lower just because a student makes a mistake while learning and mastering a new concept. I do require that daily work be done, and all mistakes must be corrected. That is also part of the learning process. The math grade is based on quizzes and tests and completion of daily work, but not graded daily work.

 

It would help your ds if he figured out that he needs to do all the daily work correctly, whether by doing it accurately the first time or spending time to do it over again. My dc figured out that they save time by doing it correctly first. That helped them lower the number of mistakes made by rushing through the assignments.

[Jann in TX]

I do not give a percentage grade on daily work. This is practice.

I DO expect all problems to be worked out correctly--eventually... if a problem is missed it is to corrected (worked out correctly) as soon as possible. This helps the student to identify the types of errors they will tend to make-- and (hopefully) prevent future mistakes of the same nature.

 

If a grade MUST be given (like when I taught in PS) I give a completion grade-- again homework is not complete until all problems have been worked out correctly or they have asked the teacher (me) for help. At times I have averaged 'attitude' into the completion grade. The completing grade is never more than 10% of the final grade.

 

The majority of the grade comes from the tests.

 

--

Also note that the MAJORITY of errors in high school math and beyond are due to 'careless' mistakes. It may not be as simple as the student being bored or 'rushing'... in MOST cases it is actually a VISUAL PROCESSING error-- simply put they were 'speed reading' the problem... this is why 2 X 3 is often written by an Algebra 1 student as '5'... they know perfectly well that 2x3 = 6 and they DO NOT need to practice their multiplication... they need to practice reading for detail-- their brain keyed in on the 2 and the 3 and immediately assumed the most common answer (due to prior years of experience) which is a 2 and a 3 make a 5. Their brain skipped the process sign completely.

 

The ability to control these types of errors is a condition of Algebra readiness.

 

Most students can understand the 'logic' behind the process (what you do to one side of the = you do to the other).... it is the mental maturity to SLOW DOWN and pay attention to the little details (like pesky negative signs) that students must have to succeed in Algebra.

[regentrude]

The way I solve the split between requiring mastery and fixing mistakes is to simply not grade daily problems. They have to be worked, and reworked until correct. That's the way to become proficient and I view it as a learning tool.

 

I base the math grade solely on a comprehensive final exam at the end of the semester, which best reflects what I want my kids to achieve: a long-term mastery of the concepts.

[regentrude]

Still wondering if we should skip ahead to more challenging sections and perhaps the math-boredom (hopefully) mistakes will resolve on their own.

 

As Jann already pointed out, this is a maturity issue.

Both my kids had a phase in prealgebra when they made many careless mistakes, usually related to signs. What helped was slowing down, using color for signs and writing on graph paper to better organize the visual aspect of the problem.

Boredom or not, this is something they need to master. It takes time and patience and is very normal at that stage. For us, it took a few weeks of extra practice on these very issues to resolve the problem.

Rushing to the more challenging problems will not solve the issue of lacking attention to detail; maturity will.

[Perry]

If a grade MUST be given (like when I taught in PS) I give a completion grade-- again homework is not complete until all problems have been worked out correctly or they have asked the teacher (me) for help. At times I have averaged 'attitude' into the completion grade. The completing grade is never more than 10% of the final grade.

 

The majority of the grade comes from the tests.

Jann, can you elaborate on your grading system? I will need to start giving my 9th grader grades for the first time this year, and I haven't figured out a good system. If you give 10% for completing hw, is the other 90% quizzes and tests? Does anything else count? How do you handle tests? Do you allow retakes?

[Stillwood]

How do you prepare a student for Algebra readiness? Or is that what we're doing with Pre-Algebra?

 

I think you hit the nail on head about rushing. I've even caught him speeding up his dvd lessons with the teacher sounding like Mickey Mouse.

I don't know how to deal with it since he doesn't care if he gets poor grades. He thinks school is pointless.

[MtnTeaching]

I am curious as to whether you are using the new version of TT Pre-Algebra that came out this year. My dd is using this and it is perfect for her. She is dyslexic and the the massive amount of review at the beginning is good for her.

 

The reason I ask about the version is that my dd does her work online and it actually gives her two chances to get the question right. Then if she gets it wrong, she can still watch a complete explaination of how to do the problem.(I have no idea if this is what the last version was like.) This works great for her and I am usually in the room, too, so she can ask me if she has a problem. As I said, this is the perfect solution for my gal. We can move very slow and gain some of that maturity that Jann was talking about.

 

However, I do have a good friend who is a teacher that used the TT Pre-algebra with her class last year and she told me that the entire class thought the review at the beginning of the class was too slow (mind-numbing was the word I believe she used). They wanted to get to the meat of the class faster. This year, she is speeding the pace up for them.

 

Possibly speeding the pace up, but also being in the same room, might help? Since school doesn't seem to be the motivator, maybe some outside incentive to get more of the problems right the first time?

[justasque]

I don't grade daily math work. The goal is to learn the new material, then practice it. I don't want to grade lower just because a student makes a mistake while learning and mastering a new concept. I do require that daily work be done, and all mistakes must be corrected. That is also part of the learning process. The math grade is based on quizzes and tests and completion of daily work, but not graded daily work.

 

I do not give a percentage grade on daily work. This is practice.

I DO expect all problems to be worked out correctly--eventually... if a problem is missed it is to corrected (worked out correctly) as soon as possible. This helps the student to identify the types of errors they will tend to make-- and (hopefully) prevent future mistakes of the same nature.

 

The way I solve the split between requiring mastery and fixing mistakes is to simply not grade daily problems. They have to be worked, and reworked until correct. That's the way to become proficient and I view it as a learning tool.

 

:iagree: with all of the above. I teach and tutor math. I don't expect perfection the first time a student works with the material. My goal is for them to gain understanding as they work through the practice problems. At the end of a chapter, we review, they take a practice test to "test themselves" on material that is a bit harder than the test will be, and only then do I give them the test. Sometimes I'll give a mid-chapter quiz, if I feel they need the feedback earlier.

 

I often, when going over a test, explain how many points the student lost due to dropping a negative, how many due to copying the problem wrong, and so on, vs. how many they got wrong because they didn't know the underlying material/process. Usually there is a lot more of the former than the latter, and usually different students have different areas they need to work on - one may drop negatives, one may make basic calculation mistakes, etc. Seeing their own area of weakness can help them target that area to improve.

 

I don't know how to deal with it since he doesn't care if he gets poor grades. He thinks school is pointless.

 

The key is to link the math with his personal goals and interests. You need to show them WHY they need to know this stuff. Once they see how they can actually USE it, they begin to care.

[QuirkyKapers]

I use TT. For me, with my daughter, she can also get careless. I can go back into the program and have her look at the problems with me. That doesn't change her score. If I felt she didn't get the concepts, I will have her redo everything.

[extendedforecast]

I give half credit for corrected work.

 

ETA: I do not grade daily work. I do grade quizzes and review pages and allow dd to correct her mistakes after. For tests I do not give half credit for corrected work, but she still has to correct her mistakes.

Edited September 20, 2011 by extendedforecast