Comments on: Treating Students “Fairly” is UnFair http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/2008/06/04/treating-students-fairly-is-unfair/ Moving Education Forward, One Step at a Time Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:15:19 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Cory Plough http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/2008/06/04/treating-students-fairly-is-unfair/comment-page-1/#comment-95 Cory Plough Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:13:31 +0000 http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/?p=62#comment-95 Thank you for sharing your story. The due dates thing really is debatable, I see more positives of having due dates if could just figure out a way to get students to turn in their assignments on time. And, when they cant, not to penalize them for turning in late. At-risk kids who cant get on track dont need anymore roadblocks, however, having no due dates really has not helped our failure rates go down. Thank you for sharing your story. The due dates thing really is debatable, I see more positives of having due dates if could just figure out a way to get students to turn in their assignments on time. And, when they cant, not to penalize them for turning in late.
At-risk kids who cant get on track dont need anymore roadblocks, however, having no due dates really has not helped our failure rates go down.

]]> By: Beth Still http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/2008/06/04/treating-students-fairly-is-unfair/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Beth Still Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:47:24 +0000 http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/?p=62#comment-94 Cory- I read this entry nearly two months ago when you posted it, but apparently I never commented on it! This was the post that caught my attention and was the catalyst that sparked my paradigm shift. During my first year of teaching I thought I had to treat all students the same no matter what. When I started teaching at an alternative high school 3 years ago I found myself in an environment where it was the rule to not treat all students the same. The principal stressed the need to take each students' circumstances into consideration. Each year since then I have moved further and further away from my original "treat 'em all the same" philosophy. I still have due dates because the majority of the assignments for my classes are interdependent. Discussion forums and collaborative projects require that all students keep approximately the same pace. However, for the first time ever, I will allow students to redo assignments if they want to earn a better grade. They will even be allowed to make changes to their assessment projects if they wish. I am trying to create a fair, student-centered classroom that encourages interaction, collaboration, and creativity. It is not perfect, but it does allow for flexibility and individualized learning. It allows me to hold my students to a very high standard and it forces them to take responsibility for their grades. Cory-
I read this entry nearly two months ago when you posted it, but apparently I never commented on it! This was the post that caught my attention and was the catalyst that sparked my paradigm shift.

During my first year of teaching I thought I had to treat all students the same no matter what. When I started teaching at an alternative high school 3 years ago I found myself in an environment where it was the rule to not treat all students the same. The principal stressed the need to take each students’ circumstances into consideration. Each year since then I have moved further and further away from my original “treat ‘em all the same” philosophy.

I still have due dates because the majority of the assignments for my classes are interdependent. Discussion forums and collaborative projects require that all students keep approximately the same pace. However, for the first time ever, I will allow students to redo assignments if they want to earn a better grade. They will even be allowed to make changes to their assessment projects if they wish.

I am trying to create a fair, student-centered classroom that encourages interaction, collaboration, and creativity. It is not perfect, but it does allow for flexibility and individualized learning. It allows me to hold my students to a very high standard and it forces them to take responsibility for their grades.

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