There are a lot of questions on the moreTPRS list regarding various participation systems. This is what I do in my classroom.
For me, participation cannot be a graded item. What I mean by that is, that participation, effort, behavior, cannot be calculated into the letter grade of the student. At my school, like many, we have a citizenship grade, and that’s where I believe participation, effort, and behavior grades should be placed.
For us, the citizenship grade is broken down into the following marks: O(utstanding), S(atisfactory), N(eeds improvement), and U(unsatisfactory). I believe that a student should earn a satisfactory mark, not be given one. I also believe that, not unlike a citizen of a country, a good classroom citizen not only follows the rules, but also contributes to the overall progress of the class. For that reason, my citizenship grade is broken down into five subcategories: participation, homework, behavior, unexcused absences, and unexcused tardies.
For the participation segment, each student starts with 70 points (needs improvement). They need to have a net balance of 80-89 points at the end of the quarter to receive a satisfactory mark, and 90 or more to receive an outstanding. Students earn points for asking good questions, answering questions, using the target language in and out of the classroom, as prizes for games, etc. I hand these points out in the form of various currencies from Hispanic countries cut out on little slips of paper. It’s the student’s responsibility to keep track of these and turn them in at the end of the quarter.
Students lose points for various activities that take away from their personal learning or the learning of the class as a whole. I start with minus 2 points for bathroom passes, 3 points for hall passes or talking, 5 points for behavior issues, absences, tardies, 10 points for repeated behavior issues, and 15 points if the student has to receive a referral for their behavior. All of these points can be made up by writing a 100-word essay in the target language using the current vocabulary. I give back 5 points for each essay.
At the end of the quarter, I enter how many points the students turn in into the gradebook. The gradebook then adds these to the 70 they automatically receive at the beginning of each quarter and subtracts any negative points the students received and gives a net total. That net total determines their participation grade which is then averaged with the other 4 components of my citizenship grade to give an overall citizenship grade that appears on their report card.
I like this system because it puts the responsibility of being a good citizen in the hands of the students and it takes the subjectivity out of determining these very subjective grades. If ever questioned, I can tell the student/parents exactly how that grade was calculated and what the student can do to improve it for next time.
If you have a system that works for you, please share it in the comments below!
When you subtract points do you have them pay you the currency back or you keep a note and go in the gradebook and change it later?
Hi, Naimah!
I just subtract the points from the computer. I start them all with 70 pts and I use those to subtract. They get points back for writing essays (starting in quarter 2 for level 1) or participating in class. They need a minimum of 80 by the end of the quarter.
For my level 1s, in first quarter, as they cannot write, they are to pick 10 vocab words and write them 3 times each to get their points back. Then in second quarter it becomes an essay.
This is a very interesting idea. My system, invented before I discovered TPRS, is ok but needs honing and I think I’ll see how I can combine the two. I use points too but to earn squares on a passport. Each passport has 30 squares worth 20 points each. At the end of each row, they get one point added to whatever grade they need a boost in (we have communal block exams so I am obligated to test them “traditionally” at least once per trimester)… Anyway, this is what I do:
Every time a student is a good citizen they get a point. This can be helping me carry heavy material, pushing chairs under the table at the end of class, erasing the board, helping a fellow student, picking up papers that have fallen on the floor, being polite (many of my students aren’t culturally trained at home to say thank you, please, excuse me and sorry, many don’t even live with their parents but distant relatives that don’t nuture at all). For every 20 points (I’m thinking of doing it after 15) they earn a square. Any really big brother/sister act of kindness earns them a square right away.
I check off that homework is completed and after 3 checks they earn a square. If they have participated well that day I give a big plus and for 3 plusses, they get a square. They get a square if they earn a C (10/20) or more on the block exams. I collect the passports right before the end of every term and bring them up to date so the points are added on.
I take off 5 points for ‘minor’ offenses such as talking, for pretending to throw away chewing gum that they just instead hid in the mouth, for getting up without permission, etc. If the student has less 5 three times they earn a detention. I found that this works for 6th graders but not for 8th graders in my classes. They just don’t give a hoot about anything! For those that are expelled from class I remove 15 points.
The down side:
-This system is a little bothersome for the teacher the first term
-students can lose their passports and lose whatever extra squares they have earned
-strong students and usually the really weak are very willing and the rest could care less.
I think a currency system is better since the kids can tangibly see how much they are losing. Would you please explain more about how you make currency? DO you use units of 1, 5 or 10? How do you do it? Thank you!
Hi, Carol!
I look on Google to find an image of the different currencies. The denomination isn’t important, just a clear picture. I then shrink the picture so that I can get at least 15 per page in a 3×5 grid. I cut these out and have a stack of them with me at all times. No matter what the denomination is, they are only worth one point. They earn points one at a time and lose points 5 at a time (there has to be a sharp penalty).
The students are responsible for keeping track of their currency for the whole quarter. I explain that I’m not responsible for lost, stolen, or washed-in-pants currency. Most kids put their currency in the transparent slip-in section of their binders (where you were supposed to put in a title page to decorate the binder).
I have since adapted this system a little since the writing of this post. Participation points count for 25% of the overall citizenship grade. I now also dedicate 25% to UNEXCUSED absences, UNEXCUSED tardies, and behavior. This has worked very well for calculating citizenship. For unexcused tardies and absences, they receive an A for 0, a C for 1, a D for 2, and an F for 3 or more. There is no B because an UNEXCUSED absence or tardy is never acceptable in my classroom, just like not showing up for work and not calling in is unacceptable in the real world. Their behavior grade is determined by the number of behavior infractions they received and the gravity of those infractions. Talking, not being prepared, etc, are minor infractions and only pull down the behavior grade a little bit each time, talking back, insubordination, habitual disruptions/talking, pull down the grade a lot each time.
Scott, I’m interested in your response to Carol’s note…Also, how do you manage the constant /- of points? Do you walk around with your paper “coins” in hand, and award or take them away for the different pos/neg behavior? Does every single good question and answer get a coin? From your description, it sounds like YOU keep track of the negative points, since their intial 70 pts are given to them, and they turn in their coins to add to that. How do you prevent them from giving them away to others, or even selling them to each other?
Hello all! Has anyone received university credit for Scott’s Webinars? If so, can you please post how the Webinar is coded as a class on your transcript? I need 500 level Foreign Language or Spanish credits, so they cannot be listed as EDU prefixes, but instead must indicate the language or Foreign Language methodologies. Help!