Student Accountability

Grading, Lessons, Teacher Chores

After a 3-week or 6-week progress report: I have the failing students fill out a Google form that get’s them thinking about why they failed and how they can succeed. The Google form includes their name and period. It also includes the following questions:

Reasons for failing has them reflecting on the things both in and outside of their control that contributed them to failing the class on that progress report.

Next, asking about their intentions to pass gives me a clear view of where they are at and their willingness to pass.

This last question gives me ideas for how to help these students. After collecting this form I would conference with them to put a success plan in place. If they said they need help with time management then we would sit down and I would help them make a schedule or show them how to use a planner. If they need help with organization than we would sit together and work on that. If they said they need a contract than we would work together to create one. Students are more likely to “buy in” if they have a hand in this process.

I have the settings on this form set to email students a copy of their response. We will conference again later in the semester to see if they are meeting their goals. This helps students reflect on what is not working, and what they need to do to succeed. It allows teachers and students to collaborate on a plan. Students are more likely to follow the plan when they have a part in making it. This also creates a record that is helpful for documentation should you need it.

Grading Made Easy

Grading, Teacher Chores

I am always looking for ways to make grading go quicker. Through Pinterest I discovered an app called ZipGrade. It is fantastic! ZipGrade allows you to create your own answer bubble sheets (similar to Scantrons) and to grade them with your smart phone or tablet! It is great for exit tickets, quizzes, tests, or any multiple choice or True/False (T/F) assignment. You can create answer sheets with up to 100 questions. Free download and 100-scans per month or Unlimited Scanning: $6.99 for 1 year. I purchased the unlimited scanning option and do not regret it. It has saved me so much time!

I use it to instantly show students what they scored and which questions they got wrong. It also gives me the feedback to know quickly if they got the material and we can move in or if they haven’t grasped it yet and we need to slow down. With multiple choice and T/F reading quizzes ZipGrade allows me to see at the beginning of class who read the assignment and who did not. With quizzes or multiple choice / T/F assignments they turn in the answer sheet, I scan and keep it, then we go over the assignment together. They also marked their answers on the actual assignment. It allows me to collect the grade and immediately be able to discuss the answers and why those are the right answers so students can learn from their mistakes while the material is fresh on their mind.

It takes a photo of the answer sheet and saves it so you can pull it up online if you need to see it again. If you use an answer sheet frequently (such as a 5 question exit ticket) you can laminate it and have students use a dry erase marker. Simply have students erase it after it has been scanned and reuse the answer sheets for the next class.

Features:

  • Download and print free answer sheets
  • Install ZipGrade
  • Create new quiz and define key
  • Scan and grade papers
  • Review item analysis and graded papers
  • Export PDF or CSV reports
  • Use with or without student names and ID numbers
  • Internet access not required to create quizzes, scan, and grade.
  • Import student rosters (CSV) via ZipGrade Cloud website
  • Create answer sheet packs with student names and ID numbers pre-filled
  • Multiple marking and scanning options
  • Click through item-analysis to groups of students
  • https://www.zipgrade.com/