Personal Reflection on On-Line Grading

Wow; gradesource was so awesome!!

I actually just spent some time using simliar technology in my cooperating teacher's classroom. A few weeks ago, she asked me to grade some papers for her and then post the student's grades in her on-line gradebook. She talked about some of the pro's and con's of having the students' grades regularly up-dated and posted for both the students and parents to see:

Pros:
1) Parents and students are not constantly calling in/emailing/asking to see grades; she just refers them to the database.
2) Helps her to stay organized and on-top of things: extra motivation to keep grading up to date.
3) Provides motivation for those students who are striving for a higher grade

Cons:
1) For those parents and students who are hyper-grade conscious, it becomes difficult to hone them away from on-line grading. In other words, the basis of classroom learning is for the student's personal growth, which may or may not be defined by an A. Knowing this, posting grades encourages those parents or students who are totally grade focused to forget the primary purpose of education.
2) Discourages motivation for those students who are already doing well in the class to continue pressing forward when they are already doing great grade-wise.

It was great to hear both sides of the story as far as on-line grading, and also to get some experience into how the system works. I love my cooperating teacher!!