Job Discussion Forums

Teababy · Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 514 Location: Wuhan

I suppose you have told your kids not to post Bin Laden pictures on the Arab students' lockers. Do they obey you?

No, I didn't think so.

I suppose you have told your students not to chat in class. Do they obey you to the letter?

No, I didn't think so.

Moot point anyway. We know your job's fictional. No other reason you would be trolling on here, boasting about it. Your posts follow the classic trolling pattern of abuse followed by big-noting yourself.

So, get your hand off your private parts, get some sunshine and do something with your life.

You're a loser now, but I have faith in you. Perhaps you can elevate yourself to the status of "mediocre". Jia you!

And I yam
Sonic the Hedgehog

Super Mario · Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:10 am Post subject:

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Awesome! Awesome fight between two giants - Teababy and Super Mario!

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

Malsol I commend you on sticking to your guns and being strict with discipline and going over rules! I do, however, want to take issue with your grading procedures which may influence the classroom management. I think it's better to break the marks down so that not all the course is based on the final exam. In my classes it goes something like this:

LABS / ACTIVITIES: 15%
TESTS / QUIZZES: 40%
HOMEWORK: 15%
WARM UPS: 10%
TERM EXAM 20%

There's a lot of room to play around with in here. Lateness and absenses are dealt with by the fact that we do warm ups every class which count for marks. If the students miss those, they lose marks.

For routine homework, I do spot checks every now and then which count for marks. If it's an assignment they hand in, there is no penalty if it's 1 day late, but after that the whip cracks: I dock 50% for two days late, and they get a mark of 0 if 3 days late. This system works great because if a student misses one class, they have pressure to get their work done on time without losing marks. If they miss too many classes, they know my grading system works against them.

Not only that, but I've learned the hard way to design test questions and problems that are modelled after the examples done in class. I've tried open-ended questions and 'combination' type problems before only to find that the kids bomb them. It's not that they can't do the critical analysis I want. It's just that it's not fair to expect them to do that on a test if I haven't modeled that in class examples!

While this kind of system works well for the sciences (I teach Math / Physics), the same approach could be used for virtually any class. Chinese students are highly motivated by marks, shall we say obsessed with them. I want them to relate the subject to their lives, have more confidence, and work more diligently so I've found a way to combine these goals and make a grading system that, so far, works well.

Classroom management more or less falls into place if students can see what they'll get out of the course and how they'll be evaluated.

Steve

Super Mario · Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 9:40 am Post subject: