AF: Your First Semester Grade and the 3P System

For directions for the 3P First Semester Self-Evaluation Letter click HERE.

Next, read this: 

The 3P Grading System supports and rewards those habits of mind that create success in college and in professional life: a spirit of collaboration and independence, personal responsibility, diligence, consistency and the production of strong work. The 3 P’s stand for Participation, Progress and Performance.

Participation is 50% of your grade 
The idea behind the Participation grade and the reason why it counts so heavily is because when we take care of the little daily things, the big things seem to take care of themselves. This includes not only things like class conduct, which is observational, but also daily work like writing in the notebook (freewrites, writing to prompts), collaboration at the tables (pairs, groups of 4, groups of 6, etc.), collaboration in a larger group (whole class discussion), homework, class work, annotation of text, reading silently when that is what the class is doing, reflecting on your learning through exit passes and one-pagers, blogging -- in other words, the dozens of small things that we do in class that are designed to build literacy and understanding. There is no activity or practice that we utilize in class that has not been identified by research and practice as effective in strengthening and supporting your developing literacy skills.

So, everything matters. Everything counts.
 
How this works on a practical level: Sitting with people with whom you work well can operate in your favor and support your learning and understanding; on the other hand, if you do not have the maturity or self-control to regulate your side conversations, it will work against you. We expect cooperation from seniors. We expect seniors to be able to control themselves and to work with us. You’ve been in the classroom for a long time. By now, you know what works and what doesn’t in a large group setting. At this time next year, you will be starting over in a completely new environment, and the expectations are real. If you are still acting like a middle school student and we have to wait for you to notice that it’s time to get started, to stop talking, to begin writing, to stay on task -- these behaviors stand out, and come into play when we evaluate you as a student.

Those of you who are working or are involved in athletics know how this works already. Your boss or your coach does not evaluate every single thing you do, every single day. Your boss or your coach lays out the expectations, and then watches for trends and daily habits to form an overall impression of you. Are you bright? Talented? Are you disciplined? Responsible? Do you contribute positively to the goals of the group? Do your actions embody the values that are shared by the community?

So, when it is time to write, write; when it’s time to read, read. These practices do not flourish in a disruptive environment. It is harder and harder to find quiet places in which to read, think, and write -- our work spaces outside of the classroom are noisy with family life, beeping digital devices, social networks that demand our attention. The classroom may be among the last bastions of peace and quiet. We can find quiet moments if we actively seek them out, and of course, we encourage you to do that, but Monday through Friday, when we’re in the middle of the whirlwind of the work week, the classroom may be the only quiet space we can find. Respect that.

Finally, do your work, and offer no excuses. If you don’t do the work, recognize -- as we do -- that this was a decision that you made and accept the consequences of that decision with maturity and aplomb. Shake it off, resolve to do better, and begin again. By working in this way, we replicate the way life works outside of the high school classroom.

Progress is 20% of your grade

"If you don't want to learn, nobody can help you.

But if you do want to learn, nobody can stop you."

We have worked hard to create an environment in which students can develop and grow. We can measure progress in several ways:

• How well will you achieve the literacy goals that you establish for yourself?
• How many words can you get on paper in a ten minute period?
• How are your essays developing over time?
• How seriously do you take revision? Do you actually revise? Or do you “tweak”?
• Do you follow the advice we give you?
• How many errors can you eliminate from your writing?
• Can you stay with a text without being tossed off by distraction? Does your tenacity and focus improve?
• How many books will you independently read in a 10-week period?
• How well can you explain what you are reading?
• How well do you utilize academic register in speaking and writing?
• How well are you able to incorporate digital tools into your literacy practice?
• How effectively can you search online for what you need to know?
• And of course, we measure your skills through formal and informal assessments, and look for progress.

 Where you begin is where you begin. What counts in this category is the progress you make from that point. You need to honestly evaluate yourself, set some meaningful and measurable goals, and work toward surpassing those goals.

Performance is 30% of your grade
Your performance scores are the usual evaluations that we are most accustomed to using to measure learning: quizzes, tests, on-demand essays, and portfolio reflections. They are designed to see how well you have achieved a specific learning goal, and are tied to a standard (or two, three, or even more!), and to learning objectives that have been articulated in class. They are in place to ensure that you continue to build strong content knowledge and skill in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Remember, it never hurts to be smart. What you learn and the skills you master can never be taken away from you. 

You should have a sense of how you are doing by reflecting on your work habits and whether or not you are improving: getting more words down on paper in the 10 minutes given to write (or better words, if your fluency is already good), reading for longer stretches of time without distraction, offering more thoughtful contributions during class discussion, and gaining a better sense of what you are doing as you annotate or fill out your exit-passes.
 
3P Grading is Preparation for College and Career
The 3P Grading System encourages you to be a more independent, reflective learner, and less dependent on a teacher to judge your work.
 
When we look at some college syllabi a little later in the first quarter, you will see how just a few things count toward the final grade. This system will help you transition to your college lives and your professional work life by requiring you to start thinking about yourself as a participant in a learning community (how am I doing? Am I doing what I need to do to succeed), by measuring your success and noticing where you still need to step up (am I making progress toward my learning goals?), and by noting your performance scores on a variety of assessments.
 
A simple search on Google will point you to more resources on 3P Grading. It does live up to its reputation as being fast, fair and flexible, and once you get used to it, you will see that it works in your favor if you are willing to work towards a goal. It does not privilege the slacker who is a good test taker. It rewards work, effort and cooperation -- just like “real life”!