Grading piles of papers and averaging columns of numbers was one of the aspects of teaching I enjoyed the least. To alleviate this drudgery, I instituted a grading procedure for evaluating daily papers. It was this.

This procedure lessens the worry of cheating. The children knew that they would get a check whether they got one wrong or five wrong. This placed the focus on the content of the material we were covering rather than on their score. 

When it was time to make up grades for the report card, I tallied the daily grades by assigning 2 points to each check, 3 points for a check-plus and 1 point for a check-minus. For tests, I used the standard method of counting a point for every correct answer.

At first, I was afraid that my check plus/minus system would not be fair so, just to be sure, I used both methods for a marking period. I added the points that they could have received giving every question a point and also used the "check plus/minus" system. At the end of the marking period, I found that there was no difference in the grades. My new system was a fair way of grading and much easier on me.

I urge you to involve the parents from the very first week. They are your greatest allies. Invite them to come visit your classroom whenever they wish. Not only is this reassuring to them, it will keep you on your toes. Ask them to be guest speakers. This will create an understanding and empathy that nothing else can. I have seen high level executives who handle large companies quake before a room of ten and eleven year olds.

Don’t worry that the parents will be critical of you. You both have the same goal in mind – the best education for their child. Let’s face it, they are the children’s first teachers, and should be respected in that role. Ask for their input. They can often give you clues that will help you help the child and they will appreciate your attitude.

Many teachers resist having parents "interfering" in their classroom. They resent parents visiting without prior notice. This is not a good attitude to adopt. I believe that the more you try to distance yourselves from the child’s parents, the more suspicious and critical they become. Conversely, I found that if you welcome and involve them from the beginning, they are eager to help you and will be your staunchest supporters.

Call them early if you see a problem developing with their child. I have had parents complain, "Why didn’t you let us know earlier when we could have done something to help?" I had no answer to that question. Try not to let it arise in your classroom. Set aside some time each week to go over in your mind whether any child needs parental intervention in their school work or study habits.

Don’t forget to use positive reinforcement with the parents. Catch their child doing something good and write a note or make a call about it. Brag about them to the parent. You will have a staunch ally for the rest of the year! Just watch the reactions you get by calling the parent of a child who has a history of getting in trouble, just to tell them something nice about their child. It will make your day!

Be sure to keep track of the parents you have written notes to or called. You might even want to set a schedule for contacting a certain number of parents a month. You won’t want to miss anyone!

One of the first questions a parent will ask a teacher is "What is your homework policy?" My answer was "Consistency!" It is extremely important to schedule a specific time and place, Monday through Thursday, for your child to work on homework. This time should be a scheduled appointment and given the highest priority." On open house night I gave out schedules to the parents and suggested that they be filled out together with their children. These schedules should be posted in a conspicuous place and adhered to. 

There are several reasons that this is a good idea. First, it endows homework time with a special importance, Second, it gets the child in the habit of doing his homework every day. Third, it eliminates the problem of children telling their parents that they already finished their homework, then realizing late at night or the next morning that some work had not been finished. If the child knows that he is going to have to be at his desk for 30 to 45 minutes anyway, it is more likely that he will use the time to do his homework.

This brings us to the kind of homework to give. I believe that there are two effective kinds of homework. One kind is to practice skills already learned in school. If you have taught a skill, there is seldom time to practice it sufficiently in the classroom. Bear in mind, though, that the skill must be well learned before the child can practice it as homework. Just because the children can do math problems correctly in class, for example, does not mean that they have learned the process. They may have learned it for the moment, but they may not remember how to do it 15 minutes later. This is why children so often have trouble doing homework. They think that they know how to do something, but when they get home to do the work, they have forgotten how to do part or all of it. If you are teaching a new concept, it is wise not to send home very many problems to finish. It would be better for the children to do them in class where you are available to help them. Send home some related practice instead. For example, if you are introducing two-place multiplication, give multiplication facts as homework, not more problems in the two-place multiplication or else they could do all their homework incorrectly and will have to "unlearn" all that they have practiced.

The other kind of homework is the "ongoing homework." This consists of assignments such as, practicing spelling words, vocabulary words, writing letters, and writing diary or journal entries. It can also include working on a project. It can even be simply reading a book. There is always this kind of homework to be done.

Reiterate to parents the importance of a quiet place for the child to work that has all the required materials, such as pencils, erasers, paper, good light, etc. Remind them that the homework should reflect what the child knows, not what the parent knows. They should insist, however, that the child’s work be neatly and carefully done.

When it comes to checking the child’s paper, suggest they look the papers over if they wish, and indicate the parts that needed work, but the child should do all the work himself. This way the teacher can gage how well the child understands what he was doing.

Report Cards

Report card time is always a very emotional time for everyone. The children feel that their worth as human beings is being evaluated, parents feel that their parenting skills are being judged, and you have to make decisions that distill the learning and behavior of several months into a single letter. It’s not easy! Your school will dictate the way you will be evaluating your students. There are some things you can do to help make this time less stressful, however.

Avoid sticker shock. Your conferences and phone calls to parents well ahead of time about any incipient problem will defuse the effect of a poor report card. Be sure that the parent can’t say, "Why didn’t you tell me?"

Talk with the children about what grades really mean. Emphasize that the report cards are not grading them as people but merely their progress during a certain time period.

Show the children their grades before report card time. If they have any questions, be ready to show why you graded them as you did. If you do it early enough, maybe they can do something to raise their grades if they really want to.

Pass out report cards the last thing in the day. Remind them that report cards grades are between them, the teacher, and their parents. They should not be shared on the bus or after school.

Portfolios

In my school we were expected to choose a professional growth project every year or two and work toward it. I had read something about portfolios in the teaching magazines and was intrigued. I chose it as my project and began reading more about it.

The whole subject was very confusing. In fact, the more I read, the more confused I became. In one book portfolios were boxes and crates of children’s work, while in another article they were files kept by the teacher. Sometimes the work was chosen by the children while other times the teacher assigned papers to be included. One consistent thread ran through all the definitions though. The portfolios consisted of samples of work done by children throughout the year.

I decided to give it a try. I made up files for every child in every subject. It didn’t take me long to realize that that was going to be unworkable. There was no way that I could plan lessons, teach, correct papers and keep track of all those files, to say nothing of having portfolio conferences with the children.

I was not ready to give up yet. I visited a school where they used portfolio assessment and saw how proud the children were of their work and began to see how it could actually work. I began thinking of what I could do and still stay sane. I decided to keep a master file in my desk file drawer and collect some samples each month. I gave each child a colorful file folder and asked that they choose a writing paper to include in their "portfolio."

So far so good. The next day I had them pick a math paper, the next day a science paper, and so on. At the end of the month, the children took their folders home with a parent response form for their parents to fill out. The form asked the parents what they liked about the portfolio and left a space for any questions or comments that they might have. Their children were to return the parent response form and 2 of their papers. They were to keep the rest of the papers at home. I put the parent response form and the two papers that they brought back in a master file I had in my desk for each child.

I was not prepared for the responses that I got. Every portfolio was returned with some kind of positive comment! The enthusiasm that the parents had for the program was dazzling. This response encouraged me.

I decided to add goal-setting cards. I had the children choose one of their papers and gave them 5 by 7 cards. I told them to write on the top off the card what the paper shows that they can do well and under that they were to write how the paper could be improved. These directions were met with blank stares. They had not the least idea what the paper showed that they could do well. I could see that this was a lesson that I needed to teach.

I took one of the papers that the children had chosen. We talked about what kind of learning a sample paper showed. The children were delighted that their paper actually showed that they had learned something. They had the idea that doing the paper was simply an exercise that was expected of them. They did not make the connection between doing the paper and learning or improving their skills. We began talking about what kinds of skills they wanted to improve upon. I suggested some goals that they might want to work toward and they began adding more. At first the goals were not very ambitious. "I want to improve my handwriting" or "I will try to get 100 on my spelling test" were common and I accepted them. As time went on, we talked about other goals they could work towards. When a student came up with a thoughtful goal, I would use it as an example of a good goal. Soon the students began really thinking about what they wanted to accomplish and where they had improved.

The parents were also expected to participate in this project. In the form that they were to fill out, I asked them to tell what they liked the most about the samples and encouraged them to talk to the children about their goals. I discovered that if I used a different colored sheet for the parent response each month when I sent the portfolio home, it made it easier to see at a glance whether I had received all the parent response form that month.

There were several advantages to doing portfolios. The most important was the insight that the children themselves got from analyzing their papers. Another very important advantage was that the parents felt that they were being included in their child’s education and that their input was valued. It also eliminated surprises at report card time. This created a very positive atmosphere that spilled over into parent-teacher conferences, volunteering, etc. I also felt as if I was getting a better handle on the children’s work. It made filling out the report cards easier. It also helped the children keep more order in their work and was a good way to end the day.