I just added a few sentences to what a 2 is. Feel free to use or reject. It’s in blue below:
I’m really fired up about how jGR has changed my entire classroom energy this year. It is a strong classroom discipline tool – the strongest one possible because of its message to all kids about how observable classroom behaviors will in fact determine half of their grade.
Everything I do is based on ten points, so that I have to double jen’s five point based rubric, but it is easy – I just put 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 into the little box in the gradebook under ACTFL Interpersonal Skill. An added bonus of shifting from the 5 of the jGR to the 10 I use is that if a kid is “on the line” between a 2 and 4, for example, I can give them the 3. Really, this is by far and away the most accurate grading system I have ever used in my career. And what is really special is that I only had to wait 35 years to find it! Proving that God in fact does have a sense of humor.
What is really cool about it is how each category translates SO ACCURATELY and expresses SO WELL what each kid is really doing in terms of the Interpersonal Skill mode of communication. I will try to put that into words (in red below):
5 ALL SKILLS IN 4, PLUS NON-FORCED EMERGING OUTPUT – this is a rare kid who throws out some good unforced French every once in a while. Like if I am in the middle of piling up reps on “She went camping at Wal-Mart”, this kid is the one who says in the target language, “So there is a girl who goes camping at Wal-Mart, right?” and I go, “Yes, that’s it!”, and we go on with no use of English. That kid is a 5 kid. These are really strong co-creators of stories.
4 (A/B) RESPONDS AUTOMATICALLY, IN TL, TO ALL INPUT, INCLUDING USING “STOP” FOR CLARIFICATION – this is the kid who is really involved but not spontaneously outputting speech yet. They are fun, always visually locked on, always there with cute answers, and just a blessing to each class and I tell them so. These are strong co-creators of stories.
3 (B/C) RESPONDS REGULARLY IN TL OR VISUALLY, INCONSISTENT USE OF “STOP” SIGNAL – this kid is also involved but more passively. They show that they are not always on top of all the CI because they let the stop sign slide a bit. This is the kid who used to get an A in my class just for getting 8 or above on quizzes. No more. But good kids nonetheless. These are limited co-creators of stories.
2 (C/D) ATTENTIVE BUT DOESN’T RESPOND; DOESN’T USE “STOP” SIGNAL – this is the kid who may get a good grade on a quiz but makes me work way too hard. They just aren’t involved. They don’t get how to play the game yet. They occasionally blurt out words in English or talk to their neighbor in English, both of which destroy the goal of the class, to stay in the target language as per the 90% Use Position Statement of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, which is the national parent organization for foreign language teachers in the United States. But usually they just stare at me in spite of my being practically on my knees begging them for a more creative and energetic response to all the hard work I am doing. These are not co-creators of stories.*
1 (D/F) NOT ATTENTIVE: NO EYE CONTACT OR EFFORT – these are not creators at all of anything. They suck air out of the room. They do poorly on tests. They give nothing to the story. Their chances of failing the course are high.
*One might object that that is just the way some kids are, and are that way through no fault of their own. Fine, but my job, the main clause of my school’s mission statement in fact, includes how my job, my mission, is to “build productive citizens” ready for work in the 21st century workplace. I take that seriously. So if I let those same kids’ stonefaced behavior or blurting go, thus not aligning my assessment with the national standards, I am not properly doing my job for my employer and I should be fired.