The online school where I teach has a cool tool that analyzes grade book data and recognizes students whose grades have started a downward trend. Most of the time, these grades have fallen because students had a tech issue and submitted the assignment in the wrong format or on the wrong assignment link. Putting a zero in the grade book makes it difficult for students–and parents–to ignore and forget to fix.
For years, I could not bring myself to write that zero in the grade book. It broke my heart. After all, I had no intention of leaving it a zero. Why should I traumatize a straight-A student with a zero? [Read more…]