Sunday, November 2, 2014

Currently November {Really???}

Here it is a new month which means it's time to link up with Farley for Currently.
Listening:  It's early so the only thing I hear is the ticking of a clock (that I forgot to turn back one hour last night.)

Loving:  I have a slight clip art addiction...OK, maybe not so slight.  This weekend, there is a huge sale at Sweet Shoppe Designs.  Most of these products cannot be used on TPT products, but I love to use them to design cards, posters, etc.  Basically anything I use for myself that I want to be extra pretty.

Thinking:  I heard Christmas was 8 weeks away.  Ughhh...

Wanting:  Nothing says cozy like a fire in the fireplace.  Tonight will be our first!

Needing:  This one is a biggie.  We are in the process of changing over from standard grading (A-F) to standards based grading (0-4).  I am all in favor of this and believe it will be a much more effective way of assessing students, but I need to find a good grade book that won't make this an enormous task.  Any ideas?  I need to figure this out now.

Reading:  I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora.  It's funny and fast moving and my son keeps bugging me to finish it so he can read it.  Winner!
Product Details
What are you currently up to?  Head on over to Farley's blog and share!

9 comments:

  1. Hi Jennifer,
    I saw in another blog that you are in Wisconsin. I grew up in Wisconsin. A small town north of Milwaukee... Whitefish Bay. Have you heard of it? I love the first fire of the season! We were just telling my daughter that if we were back in Seattle right now we'd be snuggled up in front of the fireplace. My team has a gradebook that works really well for us and we use a 1-4 system. Email me if you're interested in learning more. I'd be happy to share. Just hit the email button at the top of my blog. Enjoy that fire!
    Joya
    ~Liveloveserveteach

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  2. We use standards-based grading too, meaning each student has about THIRTY grades on his/her report card. It's completely insane, if you ask me. I color-code my regular gradebook which helps a lot! Good luck and have a great November.

    Kristin
    My Carolina Classroom

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  3. Totally want to check out that book you mentioned!
    As far as grade books are concerned, we are in the process of switching over, too. Well, we're more like in the process of beginning the conversation.Anyways, they showed us this video and it helped our teachers to think about the gradebook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC7ZI8zr_Mk
    Hope that's helpful!
    Michelle
    BigTime Literacy

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing the video. We've been asking admin to help us with this problem, and have been getting no answers. I ended up creating something similar to what he says:) I am emailing this to my principal!

      Mary
      4th Works

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  4. A fire in the fireplace while curled up with a good book sounds like a perfect evening! Enjoy and thanks for stopping by and following my blog!
    Growing Little Learners

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  5. My name is Carla, and I'm addicted to clip art too. Heading over to check out the sale now. ;-) I am in agreement on the cozy fire too, and I believe I may talk my hubby into stoking one up for us too. Have a great week!
    Carla

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  6. Our district has talked about standards based grading too! I'll have to follow to see how you all do it. :) A fire in the fire place sounds FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! :)
    Lori :)
    Mixing it up in Middle

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  7. Hi Jennifer, found you through a comment on Michelle's post. Always looking for new 4th grade teachers to follow:) We are in year 2 of ONLY 1-4 standards-based grading. I've shared a TPT product for free that you can check out that gives an idea of how I've made it work for me. Hope it helps! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/McGraw-Hill-Wonders-4th-Grade-Plan-for-covering-all-RI-RL-and-L-by-Unit-5-1048540

    Mary
    4th Works

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  8. My children's school went to 0-4 grading and then switched back to percentages - too many issues with the community not recognizing the system - not to mention that middle/high schools will never switch to that system because it's not recognized by the college board. So they still do standards-based grading in that each standard gets its own grade but it is measured with a percentage. Once they switched back to percentages and had to re-grade the work, they discovered that kids they thought were on a level 2.5 on a standard actually scored 50% which meant they were really a level 1 or 0. Big eye opener. I wish you all the best!

    -Lisa
    Mrs. Spangler in the Middle

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