the five stages of grading

By dr. b ⋅ October 9, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
Filed Under grades, humour, lists, marking, students

Reblogged from: http://notthatkindofdoctor.com/2010/10/the-five-stages-of-grading/


Everyone is familiar with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and her stage model of coping with grief popularly known as the five stages of grief. What you may not know is that Kübler-Ross actually developed her theory as a graduate student, basing her conception of the process of loss on the experiences one goes through over a grading weekend.



In coping with grading, it’s important for graduate students and young professors to know that they are not alone and that this process takes time. Not everyone goes through every stage or processes the reality of grading in this order, but everyone experiences some version of at least two of these steps.

1. Denial. At this stage, the instructor is unwilling to acknowledge the size of the task ahead of him or her. An instructor in denial may be heard to say things like, “It’s not really that many essays, when you think about it.” An instructor in denial will grossly overestimate his or her potential assignment-per-hour output. Denial at the syllabus-creation stage of course development can lead to tears. Denial can also manifest itself as avoidance, where grading is put aside in favour of vastly more important activities like cleaning the fridge, baking, working out, or writing elaborate blog posts about the stages of grading.
2. Anger. Usually anger begins once the instructor starts grading. The first few papers are likely to excite the grader, but as a steady stream of errors trickles in, the instructor may become disillusioned. Commonly heard at this stage: “But we covered this in class! A lot!” “Wait, what does this even mean?” “Redundant! This is redundant!” Instructors at this stage of the process are likely to have unnecessarily large reactions to relatively small frustrations; for example, in one case an instructor screamed into a pillow upon discovering that every student in the class was still using “they” as a singular pronoun.
3. Bargaining. This stage usually begins as an earnest attempt to buckle down and grade. The instructor might say, “If I grade five papers, I can watch one episode of House,” or, “For every page I grade, I get to eat a piece of candy.” This process starts well, but as the instructor progresses the amount of work required to achieve the reward generally becomes smaller and smaller, until the instructor is checking Facebook after every sentence he or she grades.
4. Depression. At some point in a marking weekend, the instructor will come to realize that in spite of his or her best intentions, the papers won’t be marked in time for the next class. For the idealistic young instructor, this is also usually the moment he or she realizes that the assignments themselves are not particularly strong. These realizations can lead to feelings of failure, spiralling into reality TV watchathons or video game blitzes instead of grading. Ultimately, though, recognizing one’s limitations is a healthy part of the process that leads directly to the final stage.
5. Acceptance/Resignation. At some point, the instructor comes to term with the reality that the papers must be graded. This reality is usually acknowledged the afternoon before the instructor wishes to return the papers, leading to an all-night grading blitz. At some point and by some miracle, however, it all gets done, and the instructor is primed and ready to start to the process over again when the next major assignment comes in.

21st Century Perspectives of e-Learning

An academic colleague and good friend, Ms. Kiran Budhrani, has always been a topnotch as far excellent presentations will be topic. Her recent slides 21st Century Perspectives of e-Learning - http://www.slideshare.net/kiranb/elearning-21st-century-perspectives-on-teaching-learning-and-technology is now about to hit 60,000 views. Very good work Kiran!

But I think Kiran is not just making exceptionally wonderful presentations. She is trying to get reactions on her ideas. Please allow me to retell the very same comments I gave to Kiran, shared together with her other academic friends last Sep. 2, 2010, 12.39am --
----------------

Congratulations Kiran! Nice work. I like the shift of the TV, the smiling guy looking on the screen & the catchy title.

Here are my thoughts--
If we are talking about informal, social learning as the present direction, why insist of having teachers, anyway, particularly at the HE. No teacher will be able to cope if you talk of media, technology, comm. & web literacy. So let's DECONSTRUCT education! Move away from having a traditional teacher. Better, NO TEACHER, NO CLASSROOM!

Imagine open structures as you described it, not just on the content that the students collect or manipulate. Students in peer groups coaching other peer groups. Peers making a thumbs up (or down) to say 'this is correct for me', 'this is what I need', or 'this is the best answer so far'!

late good night.. early good morning..
tweet..tweet..tweet.. :-)

The Role of the Classroom

When the new secretary of the Department of Education sat on his position, Sec. Armin Luistro received the first assignment from the new president of the country, Pres. Noynoy Aquino, and that is, to increase the number of classrooms in the country for the next two years (http://www.malaya.com.ph/07122010/metro5.html ). Increasing the number of classrooms did not sound to be a direct education problem. It is more of infrastructure issue. But classrooms seem to be a glaring issue for a poverty-stricken country giving high premium to education. What is the role of the classroom (aside from the fact it serves as an evacuation center when there is a calamity or disaster).

While I follow some academics in their cry for stronger and empowered social learning and with our college dean emphasizing the need "to develop a culture of innovation in the College in relation to these new tools (Teaching 2.0)", a huge portion of the archipelago and the leaders of the country lobby for better classrooms. Do we really need a classroom? What for? And would classroom really provide conducive environment for learning to take place? Will the desire to learn remain unaffected even if our Filipino students do not have complete books, some do not have shoes to wear, some do not have food to keep their attention? These are fundamental realities our local situation has to deal with.

The classroom in my opinion, has still the primary role of being a second home. This is the second home of the primary students. This is the second home of the high school students. The classroom is the second home where young minds get their inspiration and drive to learn, striving to study even with absence of the mind-nurturing supplements. The classroom is where the young students find their identities, where they start to discover who they are or what they want to become.

But how will these things happen? This is where the big role of the Filipino teacher comes in. The Pinoy teacher gives hope and motivation on how learning will help our lives. The Pinoy teacher strikes the balance of family and friends, the hard and soft skills to equip the students in their quest for knowledge. The Pinoy teacher is also strong on correcting misbehaviors with the hope she is molding good citizens of the country. She is making the classroom a true second home for the young minds. And because of this, we need inspirational, high-moral teachers as much as we need classrooms.

Practicing ICT among Filipino Teachers

To teach a subject matter is one thing. To use ICT to enhance teaching of a subject matter is another thing. To use ICT to allow enjoyable, authentic and empowered learning would be another challenging thing for our Filipino teachers.

So it is fundamental that a Filipino teacher to use ICT in teaching and for learning to take place requires her to practice ICT. Practice means regular use of ICT. This means she should take time from her busy schedule to-- read and respond to her e-mails everyday; use the computer (maybe the school computer or her netbook computer) in making her lessons and grades, read relevant news sites and blogs related to her subject area everyday. For a Filipino teacher to be able to apply ICT effectively requires deliberate practice. Here's a very good example of deliberate practice, how Benjamin Franklin developed his writing skills -- http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/2010/08/benjamin-frankl.html .

What happens after practice? The teacher becomes comfortable on the use of the technology-- the computer, the internet, the e-mail, maybe even some games, thesaurus or translation program. But it does not end here. Comfort and confidence she has gained would allow her now to incorporate various ICT tools in teaching and learning. And with the resilient character of technology, experimentation on how technology will deliver better teaching and encourage progressive learning can be done by the teacher.

So practice, constant use, experimentation and whole lot of exposure to various technologies will make our Filipino teacher a confident ICT practitioner.

The curriculum - MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz | The Philippine Star Other STAR Sections Education and Home

The curriculum - MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz | The Philippine Star Other STAR Sections Education and Home

1st in Teaching Evaluation SY 2009-2010-Grand Slam and the 2010 Metrobank Outstanding Teacher Awards

For the 3rd consecutive school year, the Information Technology Department placed 1st among the departments of De La Salle University in Manila in terms of ITEO teaching evaluation.

Congratulations to the IT Department to this Grand Slam!!! Congratulations too, to Mr. Oliver Malabanan, department head.

I think our chairperson, Mr. Oliver Malabanan, should call for a big celebration! Imagine we defeated the different departments in the College of Education. It's not a contest I know. But it just shows that we have effective teaching strategies!

I'm proud to be part of this department! Cheers!!! :-)
___________________________

I would also want to congratulate a very respectable and very dedicated professor and university fellow in our college, Dr. Raymund Sison, likewise a National Scientist, as a recipient of the prestigious Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award this 2010. I salute you Dr. Sison! Cheers!!! :-)

For the Filipino Teacher

I spent a brief time in Camelot Hotel yesterday afternoon in Quezon City giving a lecture on Communities of Practice (COPs). I was moved by the simplicity of the delegates and the warm hospitality of the professors from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. And one of the questions thrown to me really struck me (not exactly to this statement but to this effect)-- Given my exposure on various uses of technology in education, what is the topmost problem we have locally and how can this be addressed?

And so I answered that I still consider economic problem as the primary issue. It was concurred by Dr. Lorenzo of PUP. But I guess economic issue should not hurdle us from building a COP for that matter. I also would like to dedicate extra time starting this week to post something to support the idea of ICT use in teaching--for my dedicated teaching colleagues in the country.

I will share different creative ways of using ICT in teaching as I have done them.

The 3rd Annual Conference The Philippine Association for Business Educators, (PAFBE) Inc

My supervisor was one of the speakers in the 3rd Annual Conference The Philippine Association for Business Educators, (PAFBE) Inc held last July 30 and 31. Unfortunately, he had a sudden important engagement and I agreed to pitch for him. Dr. Lorenzo of PUP, the convenors, the officers, the teachers and delegates of PAFBE gave a warm response to my presentation.

Here are the excerpts of my presentation---

"Even with late notice, I tried my best to prepare something that you will bring home as part of a solution instead of posting many issues and concerns that may drag your weekend of pondering whether there is an answer to the never ending question of how do we implement technology.

For this afternoon, I am bringing to you a not very young idea. This is an idea typically used in business organizations in the light of sustaining the use and application of technology. And I will put this in the context of education. The title of my presentation is Creating Communities of Practice (COPs) through Practical ICT and Web 2.0."

"Context is putting and using technology on the right perspective of the subject matter. And the knowledge and skills of the business educators or even the teachers will be very important in this situation. Context is not using technology as suggested in the software tutorial. Context is making the students realize to use or apply the right technology as prescribed by the situation, the problem to be solved or the project to be done. And this is one of the creative challenges among teachers".


I hope I was able to inspire them of the idea of Communities of Practice. I have shared with them the concept, the characteristics as posted by Etienne Wenger, the proponent of the COP and I gave my own examples situating it to the local setting. I also hope that introducing Web 2.0 gave informative insights of various alternatives on how to use them in teaching. Some of these are--

Web 2.0 Teaching & Learning Tools
These are some of the common examples. There are still many tools and solutions.

Youtube – to showcase student experiences; to reuse good howto videos
An anthropological introduction to Youtube by Michael Wesch -- http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/08/04/1462/
An ethical behavior and social responsibility video by Louie Sioco, James Sy & Johann Go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EJW89mUagA
Blogs – to extend class discussions; to extend student interactions
http://whymanagetech.blogspot.com/2007/05/notes-on-external-business-environment.html
Forums, e-groups & social network sites – to post announcements; to share files; & to encourage healthy dialogues and responsible online behavior among students
Google maps – to visually enhance geography concepts
Online News – to know what is happening in the world
Wikis – to encourage collaborative writing and research
Photos – to encourage artistic expression and develop digital art skills
http://mobilemartha.multiply.com/photos/album/12/EM-TECH_Technology_Exhibit
Skype & yahoo messenger – to facilitate online discussions
Second life – to enhance remote role-playing activities

I also mentioned to them that mobile phones and music players are useful ICT tools--
o To capture proof of data gathering (e.g. interview)
o To capture procedures of the experiments
o To capture board notes
o To listen about the lessons or to produce outputs through podcasts
Podcasts are audio files in MP3 format that is used to hold various content like discussions, interviews, opinions or meetings.
Of course, PRACTICE makes PERFECT or EFFECTIVE OUTCOMES.

Very important hindsights to bring home---
1. Don’t get immersed in the technology, context is more important!
2. Make it a rule of thumb to apply your teaching techniques and styles.
3. Discuss your methods openly to your colleagues. It encourages “shared practice”.
4. Encourage student participation and collaboration.
5. Institutionalize “best practices” and build a “Community of Practice”! 

A Good FAQs for Teachers

More Questions from Teachers
by Dr. Isagani Cruz
http://criticplaywright.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-questions-from-teachers.html

Lines from Son of Man, sang by Phil Collins

“In learning you will teach

And in teaching you will learn..

Son of man, look to the sky

Lift your spirit, set it free

Some day you’ll walk tall with pride

Son of Man, a man in time you’ll be.”

Son of Man was played and written for the Disney movie Tarzan.

What do you think of this song?

A Perspective from the Guru

The Korean e-Learning Experience From the Eyes of a Filipino Teacher

by Mavic Pineda

Government e-Learning Initiatives


The e-Learning practices of Korea will be very much attributed to strong leadership and existence of national policies[1] geared towards the high utilization and fusion of ICT in all sectors of life in Korea. Policies on e-commerce, e-cluster, e-community, e-Learning collaborative system are few of the recent agenda.

The Ministry of Education is very vital in the current success of Korea’s e-Learning endeavors. While the MOE is getting only around 15% of the national budget, it is able to establish strong partnership with big private companies like Samsung and LG to support the ICT infrastructure needed in schools and state universities. The MOE also takes time to send their teachers to various training outside the country for effective ICT fusion in teaching and learning. [2]

Generally, the e-Learning applications and the learning management systems developed are in Korean language. Presently, MOE is finding ways to translate or convert these programs and other learning materials to English.


Model Schools and Infrastructures


With the broadband internet available in all sectors of the society, e-Learning broadcasting like web casting, video on demand and video-conferencing; and home computing which they call as “cyber home learning service” are the common tools in Korean teaching. Screen casting, holographic simulation and animation tools are also available.

Korea has also established and sustained a dynamic, huge, online teachers’ community in the presence of ALCOB, the APEC Learning Community Builders. This is a good campaign of e-learning practices and a form of empowerment among the teachers. Because of the ALCOB Teacher’s Community, the teachers are able to form their groups, showcase their teaching style, and communicate with teachers around the world.


Below is a table of some of the schools/centers that I visited together with the other participants.

The Busan Information Center may be commended with its model of uniform curriculum and centralized development of lesson materials. I find the development of lessons in forms of video clips to be very effective in several ways. Video clips come very handy because it’s CD based, and consumes short time that allows students to enjoy what is viewed while absorb what is being conveyed in the video. Both teachers and students can easily review the lesson again and again. The language used is in the vernacular which makes it highly understandable.



The Center of Teaching and Learning is an ideal institute. It is able to support teachers and students with interests to improve their learning abilities.



Some Interesting Instructional Techniques

While a lot of teaching strategies and methods were discussed, there were some techniques that caught my attention. Aside from e-mail and chat, the use of videoke to learn a second language is very effective.

Student exhibits and competitions harness the best among the students. Competitions are very common in all the schools. Competitions get the best not only from the students but even from the teachers who coach the students.

Online and/or computerized exams push students to prepare and study well for exams.


The Kimchi Wrap Concept

The kimchi[3] is a staple healthy food in Korea. The kimchi comes in different varieties using different vegetables like raddish, cucumber, turnip and others. The kimchi is commonly served with a bunch of other side dishes, sometimes with bean curd and other vegetables.

What is interesting that most Korean food websites do no tell is the special way of eating kimchi. That is, you get a vegetable leaf, put the kimchi on top, wrap it, and eat it like you place butter inside a dinner roll. Personally, I call this as the kimchi wrap concept. You can replace or mix the kimchi with meat or another side dish suited to your taste, put it on the leaf, and enjoyably eat it.

This is how e-learning is fused in the Korean educational system, it is the same as the Kimchi wrap. While the base food will be kimchi, there will be over a dozen of different ways to eat or relish the kimchi. Education has a high premium in Korea and there are various methods and ways, as well as ICT tools to use to improve teaching and learning.

Not all cities or schools will have excessive funding but the government ensures the schools have uniform curriculum and lesson materials to be used. The structure allows different methods of eliciting creativity and versatility in teaching while students find learning in and outside the school as an inevitable fun and work. And the teachers are empowered, exhibits a lot of confidence.


Conclusion


While my stay in Korea had only been two weeks in November of 2006, the wisdom of the kimchi wrap extends to how the Filipinos can pick up from the Korean practices.

1. The Filipino educational system may want to follow the model of uniform curriculum and lesson materials. The development of video clips can be adopted. Lessons in video are cost-effective and simple to develop than having a courseware made in Flash or a presentation made in Powerpoint. DVD or CD players and televisions are very affordable equipment and are present in leading public schools in the Philippines.

Language used should be in Filipino and not in English. The use of the vernacular language allows students to compose ideas freely and express them without reservations or any form of translation handicap.

2. The Alcob community is a model that the Philippines can also adopt. A Filipino teachers’ community can be a good way to empower teachers across the archipelago and share all their innovative ideas in teaching.

The De La Salle University of the Philippines, the College of Computer Studies as a Center of Excellence in IT, can initiate the formation of an Online Filipino Teachers’ Community that will have the goal of empowering teachers from both the privileged and underprivileged places of the country.

3. While the Filipino local teachers are very dedicated and committed to imparting knowledge to their students, I think the idea of competitions can bring the best out of the students. Both private and public schools should engage in various competitions, inside and outside their own schools. Competition promotes independence, camaraderie, creativity and excellence among students and mentors.


Finally, the vision of shared prosperity of the Apec e-Learning is starting to be realized. It is not only having the chance of having a bird’s eye view of some of the best e-Learning practices of Korea but learning the wisdom from these practices. And as for the kimchi, jal muk ut sup ni da – that was very good.□

[1] The most recent education policy is stated in the National Education Information System 2004. It comprises a timeline of 10 years.
[2] The use of ICT in teaching resulted to very good performance of students in problem-solving, math and reading in high achievement tests conducted in Korea.
[3] The kimchi typically uses soaked, fermented or pickled cabbage with red, ground chili powder and ginger.

Interesting Technology-based Instructional Tools

Instructional Tools

Web-casting

The Cyberboard, the Big Brother and the Library Kiosk

The Screencasting Tool


The Simulated-visual Tool

Student Support Tools

Electronic lockers

Library Reservation system


originally posted on 02/16/07 3:59pm

post time and date adjusted for presentation purposes

Remembering My Korean Teacher

Dear Ms. Kyung Hee Lee,

The short time you spent with us exhibited the kindness, warmth and hospitality of the Koreans. Special mention are the friends from Giam-hae. We had a good museum visit, a nice car ride and a sumptous dinner. :)


The dinner at your home brought us, your guests from China, Vietnam and Indonesia to become in touch even at far distances. I communicate with Dr. Jia of China, Suri of Indonesia, and LeNgoc Bich of Vietnam. I hope to start communicating with you and your friend, Ms. Jo Mi-Hye.

My shopping spree became convenient with the help of your husband assisting me with the things I'm looking for. I think the Korean stainless chopsticks, coffee stirrer and fruit forks are of the best quality.

And of course, the best part and very unforgettable, a very rejuvinating experience is the jimjibang or the Korean sauna. I also think it's one of the best sauna in the world, very wholesome, very warm and spacious saunas with healthy baked eggs and drinks! Aside from the red ginseng tea, I actually brought home some of those healthy red juices for women. :)

I hope I will have the chance to see Busan again, to see all of you. :)

Thank you for the friendship, the hospitality and the cultural experience.

Cheers,
mavic pineda
Manila, Philippines

The Princess of Public Schools: The Dae-shin Elementary School

The Dae-shin Elementary School, a public school in Busan, was made to be an ubiquitous model school. The school has a big campus for a public school, clean and spacious classrooms, and well-designed internet lounge for the students and teachers.


It has a huge cyber board, as big as the usual classroom blackboard. The screen makes it convenient for any teacher to teach. It can change the background-- can become graphical notepad for math subject, a musical note for music or a simple blue-red-blue paper background for teaching hand scripting.


The school also uses smart cards for ID and book borrowing in the library. Students are trained to be independent, self-regulated and honest. Students are free to borrow and return the books in the small library using their IDs to tap in this kiosk.

A health machine is also used to make simple physical health assessments of a person. This is good because you don't need to have a doctor always around. The machine can also finish taking physical make-up of a person at a more efficient speed.


The Big brother system is a must in most schools in South Korea. Bullying incidents are very common. Hence, use of CCTV security cameras are all around. This is something I don't want my child to get accustomed with. It's either a child becomes dependent on sombody watching over him or he is contantly curious whether somebody is watching him while picking his nose.