First Post??

I'm not sure if this post will work as I haven't actually started a thread for posting on here before, but I'll give it a shot!

We were asked in class today to post our reviews of things that went well, and things that maybe were not quite for us, in our practicum. I'd like to share one thing that my sponsor teacher, Mr. Lee, did with his physical education classes. Mr. Lee used something called PACE (Participation, Attitude, Co-operation and Effort) marks. This was a self-grading system out of 10 marks for the students where they had a daily opportunity to think critically about their behaviours and attitudes in class and give themselves their own grade based on the four categories of PACE at the end of the period. The final PACE mark would be decided when the student and Mr. Lee were in agreement. So if a student felt they deserved an 8, Mr. Lee would explain why or why not he agreed. 9's and 10's were reserved for the students who went above and beyond during the class. He would use these PACE marks during class to remind students that the choices they were making would affect their grade, and that ultimately it was their own choice how they did in the class. He always left it as a choice for the students instead of trying to force them into anything.

I feel that by making students accountable for their own actions, and giving them the opportunity to reflect on each class it gives them the independence that they should be given at a highschool level. This is not a new idea by any means, but I really liked how he had that individual time with students, albiet briefly, at the end of each class.


Another thing he did that I really enjoyed in his english class was every 20 minutes or so he would do a brain teaser or quick random fact quiz to change the pace and keep the students interested during their 90 minute blocks! The students absolutely loved it!