Ch. 8:Why do we Grade and What About Effort, Attendance, and Behavior?

Wormeli made us believe that grading occurs to encourage students. It is important to look at all the factors such as effort, attendance, and behavior but we do not have to place them on the report card. I find it odd that in most schools attendance is required. I mean, shouldn’t we all acknowledge that things come up people get sick, family members die, etc.? Although I think attendance is unimportant, but the learning is what matters. If they learn than their grade should be higher, but I do agree with Wormeli that school is the child’s job. We do not get breaks in the real world. But how do we determine the break that we should give out? We also have to acknowledge that laziness does not exist, if a child is lacking than we must find out what is going on. We need to get to know our students. So, in marking off on effort we see the fluctuation and can figure out where they need help and how we can indeed help. Looking at all these factors make us better teachers, yet if it has nothing to do with the project than why include it in the final grade? Through this chapter, Wormeli gave us a lot to look at and decipher through when we actually become teachers. I will take his advice to heart