Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 13: Gradebook and Formats for the Differentiated Classroom

          Wormeli discusses setting up a grade book based off different formats and how a teacher should find a grade book format that works for them. As a teacher it will be important for me to decide on a grade book format to use. I believe the questions this chapter presents will help me when I need to decide a grading system that deals with differentiation in the classroom. The idea of grouping assignments based on standard is a great way to grade. This is because it takes the guesswork out of deciding weather or not a student has met the standard. It gives the teacher feedback that is helpful in deciding where the student is in the idea of mastery. Grouping assignments by weight or category helps one be organized and see what area students struggle in the most whether that is at home with work, or on tests, or during class. It helps give you a better understanding of what aspects the student struggles in based off the categories the grades are separated into. The only problem with this method to me is the fact that it would hard to keep all the grades accurate when there are so many exceptions. I really enjoyed the idea of classifying assignments by date because it not only keeps all of it neat and organized, but it also helps the teacher know when assignments are due so when students hand them in late it won’t make this process confusing. When doing this it is important to put them in by the right date and look at the trends you observe. This will help teachers see that maybe one week a student wasn’t doing well and did not hand in work. This will be an alert and the teacher will be given the opportunity to check in with their students and see if maybe there is a simple explanation. It keeps the teachers in touch better with the students as well gives them a chance to see how well a student is mastering something based off what they struggled with during the week. This chapter brings forward some very great grade book ideas. It is important for me as a teacher to try more than one and see which one I like best, as well as switch it all up every now and then.