Discussion 

Teachers Academy 2007-2008

Discussion on "Proving Accountablity" -- Chapter 10 of Fred Jones "Tools for Teaching"

 In reading Chapter 10, I thought a lot about how my classroom is structured.  I am a real big promoter of accountability and often feel like I am teaching life skills rather than subject matter.  Students need to know that they are responsible for their actions and work at all times and they need to think before doing.  I also like the point the Jones makes about if you accept sloppy work, then you will continue to get sloppy work.  I have often debated to myself if I should just accept the sloppy work because that is sometimes easier than fighting to get quality.  If I accept the sloppy work, then why should the student try for a higher level of achievement.

Tori Mirly

 I agree with Tori about the need to hold students accountable.  I also think that sometimes we tend to lower out standards such as accepting sloppy work because it seems to be an uphill battle.  I personally have experience with quality control.  My husband was trained by Brown Shoe Co. as a foreman in the fitting room (sewing room -300 ladies).  The company expected nothing but the best.  It took a year for my husband to get the quality control out of the fitting room.  He was not the most "popular guy" in that fitting room, however the room did meet production, had the quality, and ran smoothly.  So I know that this idea works and really know that in education we need to use more of this idea.

Paula B. 

 Woo Hoo...finally got it to work!

Of course, I agree with Tori and Paula. First, that accepting sloppy work leads our students to be sloppy people. We haven’t taught them anything about responsibility or accountability if we accept work, lifestyle and attitude that are sloppy. Second, I believe some teachers do lower their standards out of ease and think it will help later. We forget that again, our students haven’t learned anything if we don’t expect the very best from them. I like the thought of more in-production quality control verses post-production quality control. I spend a lot of time walking around pointing out errors on the computer as my students work, yet, I sometimes still have many papers to grade. Spending more time in-production and having the students help with post-production seems like a great idea if you can train the students in work groups to do a good job. Having fewer practice assignments is fine when the students are seeing great work or helping to make someone else’s work great.

Tara Wortmann

 Thank you for submitting your thoughts to the wiki.  I agree with what you all have said.  When I was in the classroom, I too accepted sloppy work at times just giving them their grade -- not always a good grade.  I'm thinking I should have demanded better work from them -- afterall they had the same rubric I had.  All I would have had to do was simply demanded they keep at it until they had the best quality work possible -- even if it meant putting in extra time.

Martha

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