Late addition:

Response by 110984
 
 

 I am writing in response to
the midterm grade sitiuation.  Even though I was absent from class that
day, I feel that writing a paper on what we feel we have learned and
accomplished throughout this course would be a wise decision.  It would
give us alla chance to reflect on what is happening and give Dani a
chance to see how the groups are doing in their progress.  In erms of
peer evaluations, I don't think they should happen unless they are within
your group.  Throughout class time, we have been mostly spending time
with our groups and I feel as though those are the people that can
evaluate my work progress the best and give me the most honest opinion of
my work.  However, some people have switched groups over the course and
so this would be unfair to the people that have changed.  Other than
that, everything else seems to be good.
 

Summary for midterm evaluations:
Evaluation dates:  Monday Wednesday March 2nd:
1.  Students prepare a paper (1-2) pages of what they learned in the course.  They can include
Parts of Journal, Log book, Role in group project etc.
2. They must include attendance (based on the computer log that will be checked by the Parnter and Dani)
3. The evaluators write a report that includes both pluses and minuses (suggestions to imrpove) and hand it to each other.  It DOES NOT include a grade.
4. Each person gives the report plus evreything else (including the material they did not want to share with the partner and goals for second block) to Dani on Wednesday.
 

Here is the summary of what students discussed:

Response by MIDTERM GRADING

What Is Math Class:

1-Self Evaluation should be included as part of the grading process.
2-Attendance should be considered as part of the grade (log book taken
into consideration, sickness, etc.).
3-Allow a situation where some students can share their ideas and work,
but not for being evaluated (since some students may not feel comfortable  to share everything they have with the whole class but only with the teacher, which is ok since the teacher has the final word and has to acually submit the grade)
4-Have one-to-one paired evaluations (pair-peer evaluation).  Will
include parts of the above (doesn't have to be an extensive log book),
including self evalution, and a discussion of group work (including the
ROLE in the group).  This was agreed to happen on Wednesday March 2nd.
After consulting with students we realized that it will not work if students actually give a letter grade to other students but rather have a written evaluation that will include constructive criticism
 
 

Math Fun Class:
Response by Math Fun Class

 1.  Self evaluation
part of grade, 1-2 page paper
Also can include art, can attach journal and log book
2.  Attendance (allow 2-3 abscenses after which grade is being effected)
3.  Studest meet in pairs and share what they learned and write
evaluation but not include a grade.  The purpose is to help Dani and to
learn what others learn but Dani decided on midterm grade
4. How the student hopes to change or improve his/her outlook and
perception of math in pracitcal ways next Block.
 

Individual response Ehat Is Math Class

Other ideas (not necessarily related to grading):
-Sharing on how the class is going (possibly sharing entries from log
book, suggestions, etc.)
 

Detailed comments follow
 

Response by Nixon

 I think the idea of giving
the group an entire grade would be good. However, I don't really believe
in other students giving other students grades, this is due to
competition and conflict of interest. It isn't right having to rely on a
peer to give you a grade and then receive that grade. Personally, I don't
even think a teacher can accurately gage your performance, as you can.
Because only you can know how hard you worked and how much you learned
and if you are being honest with yourself, you are able to give yourself
a deserving grade. I think somewhere in our journals we should be able to
give ourselves a grade for the term.
 
 

Response by amanda, monica, mike

 We think that
those that come everyday should get an A, those that miss 2 or more
classes by the midterm should get a B+, and anyone else after 3 misses
should get a B.  We think this is fair.
 
 

Response by group

 Our group came to the
consensus that it would probably be best for students to evaluate
themselves based on their activity in class (i.e., group project, log
book, attendance, willingness to keep an open mind and participate,
helping others, etc.).  Perhaps they can write a short narrative
explaining their own evaluation.  As another idea, we could pass around
our log books to show each other and use that as a tool in part to
evaluate each other.
 
 

Response by Midterm grade idea

 Our group
believes that each person should grade themselves for midterm. This way,
if you realize you have not been putting forth all your possible effort,
you can take it upon yourself to improve in the second half of the
semester.
 
 

Response by dubimaxsami1

 I think that we should
ask students to write a paper that will express what they think they
learned so far in the course.  In addition they should submit the log
book and/or journal in which they have been writing what they learned and
if they made already a start up web page should include the address on
the web page.  I think that the work should be put with a "secret number"
on the table on Wednesday two days before we leave to Spring break and
then be taken randomely by other people which will be divided into teams
to evaluate the results and decide on the mid term grade that will be
given back on the table with an explanation and a written evaluation.
Then each person will give the grade to Dani with all the material by
Thursday at 1:00 before break.  Dani will have the right to decide ont he
final midterm grade
 
 

Response by Nicholas

 I think mid-term grades
should be based on the progress of our group projects.  I think this
could be a combination of factors that include a self assessment, a group
assessment and a coach assessment.  These assessments could be based on
creativity and effectiveness of project (i.e. math concepts taught, is it
fun? does it teach something?)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Math Fun Class

Response by katie, marietta, melissa

 our group
decided that a self evaluation, attendance, a short paper on what we have
learned and how we've grown in the class would be one possible way to
decide the grade.
 
 

Response by katie, marietta, melissa

 In order
to be fair, the self evaluation would only be one part of what determines
the grade. The attendance and paper also factor in to even out what the
person really earned.
 
 

Response by Kelvin, shane, Alyssa

 1-self
evaluation paper(1 page)personal refelction on what was learned in class
2-Attendace(allowed 3 absents before penalized)
3-class participation
4-Log books-journals
5-Motivation in class
6-students can choose to be evaluated by peers if they want
 
 
 

Response by Alix, Sarah, Julie

 We feel that we
should be evaluated on attendance allowing 3 unexcused absences and more
importantly, a paper written by each student.  The paper should consist
of:
1.) Connections the student has seen thus far between his/her everyday
life and math.
2.) Fears/complications concerning math and how he/she hopes to overcome
them through the Math Fun class.
3.) How the student hopes to change or improve his/her outlook and
perception of math.
The papers will be graded on honesty and willingness to try to alter
their outlook on mathematics.
We don't believe that there should be peer evaluations since there is a
very minimal amount of work that the students can be evaluated on.  Peer
evaluations would place too much pressure on the students to give their
peers an 'A'.
 
 

Response by nancy, jacqui, Britney

 Our group
thinks that to best evaluate ourselves in this class, each person in the
class should:
(A) write a 1-2 page paper-type self evaluation in which they honestly
assess their performance, effort, what they have learned (math realated
or not).
(B) Also possibly, an artistic element could be included. For instance a
drawing using mathematical structure.
(C) Attendance should count for something, but not everything. Students
should be allowed 2-3 absences.

 Response by Melissa
 

 I'm a little unsure of what
is expected in this class so it's hard to decide what grade I deserve.
The math we've done seems very simplistic and easy for me. I still think
I am learning new things, however. My log book has become more of a
personal journal. I've started reflecting on things that happened to me
everyday in it. Problems with friends, school work, strange dreams I've
had all go into the logbook. It's become part of my routine now and I've
learned about myself through it. I don't know if this relates to class at
all but I started doing it because of class.I'm looking at this course as
more of a life-evaluation/reflection process rather than a math class. I
have done some math word problem in my group but the group work hasn't
been a large part of anything I've learned through this class.
 
 

Response by Math Fun Class

 1.  Self evaluation
part of grade, 1-2 page paper
Also can include art, can attach journal and log book
2.  Attendance (allow 2-3 abscenses after which grade is being effected)
3.  Studest meet in pairs and share what they learned and write
evaluation but not include a grade.  The purpose is to help Dani and to
learn what others learn but Dani decided on midterm grade
4. How the student hopes to change or improve his/her outlook and
perception of math in pracitcal ways next Block.
 
 
 

Response by :)

 Feb. 9
Today we figured out how we are going to calculate our midterm grades.
The class was nice and relaxing for me because it's so laid back and I
have so much work going on right now--it was good to have a break.