A teacher may have too many grades or too few. I try to have just enough by assessing first, which means certain marks don't count, and then recording only the grades that are true reflections of the students' abilities.
The other day I had my class do a drawing to illustrate their understanding of key vocabulary in an article they had read. Most did a wonderful job with the drawing, but few included vocabulary from the article. They simply put in their own vocabulary! Since my goal was to reinforce new vocabulary from the article, I had to make a decision. Should I deduct marks and record the results or simply use this as another assessment tool? Then it occurred to me that if most students did not follow the instructions, then perhaps I did not make them clear. (Part of the challenge is giving instructions in French in and FSL class with varied comprehension levels).
I have decided not to record these grades. I will explain that they did not follow the instructions and that my instructions may not have been clear.
When do you assess only ( not for grades ) and when do you evaluate and record grades for reporting?
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It is true that one of the factors influencing a student’s ability to successfully complete an assignment is their understanding of the teacher’s instructions. I agree that the assignment you mentioned may not have been representative of your student’s abilities because of the confusion about the vocabulary requirements, so I probably would not have recorded the marks either. When evaluating and recording grades, a teacher should ensure that they are doing everything possible to set students up for success. This means giving clear instructions and making sure students understand the requirements, as well as creating assignments that cover a wide variety of learning styles so that students who learn in different ways can demonstrate their understanding. A teacher knows their students, and if the grades collected for an assignment do not accurately reflect what the class is capable of, the teacher could either choose not to record those grades or clarify expectations and allow students to correct their work.
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