Grades and Assessment in Elementary Classrooms

Grades were the hardest thing for me when I started teaching. I thought that I had to record every paper; I thought I needed to give every assessment provided. I had stacks and stacks of papers that never meant anything to me because I never took the time to analyze the information.

I was a mess.

What I have come to realize is that a few really well thought-out assessments per grading period, some good portfolio materials and teacher observations are all you really need to guide your instruction and calculate report cards.

Once you gather the information, look at it and see where the children need to go from here. I like to make graphs or spreadsheets of data so I can tell who “missed it” and who “got it” easily. These are also good for when you conference with administration or parents.

The most important part isn't just having a lot of them, but really looking at what the assessment tells you and using that to guide your teaching.

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