Grading

What Does Your Grade Mean to You?

Is it a means to a certain GPA? Is it a ticket into nursing school or university? Does it hold additional value to you? What would you do for an A?  Do you see your grade as fair indication of how much you achieved in a certain class?

I encourage you think about these questions and explore your answers.  

What Your Grade Means to Me

I see grades as a measure of where a student is in the process of mastering (fully learning) the course content of Nutrition 10 

Something along the lines of....... 

In short, your course grade is my assessment of how thoroughly and completely you learned the course content of the Nutrition 10 material.  That assessment is determined through assessment tools, like tests and the diet assignment.

What Your Grade DOES NOT Means to Me (and shouldn't mean to you)

Your grade is NOT a judgement of who you are as a person, or as a student.

A low grade is NOT indicative of lack of drive, dedication or commitment.  

A low grade does NOT mean a student is stupid, dumb, or has no potential. A LOT of factors goes into a student's "performance" on an assessment.

Assessments are Flawed

Here's the thing: Assessment tools are not a perfect way to measure a student's mastery of the material. Far from it. 

Exams/Tests, quizzes, assignments -- these are all ways an instructor ascertains how well students have mastered a course's learning tasks. Some are better than others.  Essay exams might be more revealing than multiple choice exams, for example.

And there are alternative methods, like having a conversation with a student and from that, identifying the level of comprehension a student has acquired.  

Unfortunately, a teacher like myself who has ~150-200 students combined in single quarter has limited resources--time and energy! With no teacher's assistant, it is impossible for me to give assessments that take a lot of time and effort to evaluate.

So, I am forced to settle for traditional Tests-- true/false questions, multiple choice and short answer.

I try VERY hard to make my tests fair, clear and reasonable. They reflect the course content. The good news is you will have a Study Guide for each Test.

Do This!

To help reduce that stress and improve the likelihood of getting the grade you want, PLAN to give yourself the time and space you need to do your best work. Don't procrastinate. 

If you're a procrastinator, find strategies that have been shown to help people break that tendency. They exist and some might work for you.  To get started, you can read 6 great tips for stopping procrastination in this LifeHack article

And use the resources I give you.  I offer many.

If you find yourself confused, lost, frustrated, feeling like you want to give up, reach out to me.  I might be able to give you concrete ideas for ways you can change the way things are going for you in Nutrition 10.

                                                    Points Earned

 

                                               Tasks #1 & 2  (5 pts each)               10

    Orientation Quiz                                        10

    Pronto Participation   5

                                                 3 Feedback Surveys (5 pts each)           15 

                                                 2 Discussions (5 pts each)                       10

                                                 6 Tests*                                                        150

                                                 Diet Assignment                                         50

                                                 Total Possible Points                              250

 

*7 Tests are given. The lowest score gets dropped from your cumulative score

 Course Grading Scale 


97       –    100%    =     A+                          

93       –    96           =     A                                

89       –    92           =     A-                                  

87        –   88           =     B+ 

82        –   86           =     B

78        –   81           =     B-

75        –   77           =     C+

64        –    74          =     C

                  There is no C-

62        –    63         =    D+

57        –    61         =    D

50        –    56         =     D- 

<50                           =    F  

There are "Easy" Points to Earn -- Earn Them!

There are 50 points in this class that are super easy to earn:

Takeaway Message

Don't overlook the small tasks that are tied to these "easy points" opportunities

Be Totally Clear on This

These points are NOT Bonus or Extra Credit Points. They are points that are included in the 250 points. 

So if you don't do the tasks to earn these points, your score would be 0/50 or 0% . Submitting some but not all might leave you with 50% of those points.

Not earning these points will skew your grade downward and have an undesirable effect on your course grade. 

Strive for earning all 50/50 or 100% of the easy points. This will help skew your grade upward.

There will be extra credit points

Up to 10 Extra Credit Points can be earned in this class.

In the last week of the quarter there will be 2 short Extra Credit Reflections, each is worth 5 points. 

To earn 5 points you will watch one of the TED talks and write a reflection (answer some questions about it). You can do 1 or both Extra Credit Reflections, for a maximum of 10 points. 

These points can significantly improve your grade!