This past week I have been assisting in grading students' assignments. I thought it would be simple and kind of fun, but it turned out to be another learning experience! I forgot what 3rd grade handwriting looked like. Some students have good penmanship, while others haven't quite figure out how to properly space the characters. Sometimes it feels like I'm trying to read and comprehend a foreign language, but then I think about whether or not their penmanship correlates to how well they are completing and comprehending the assignments.
Sometimes poor penmanship (ex: not spacing characters correctly) equates to poor scores on the assignments. This is especially true for math homework. I can tell that many students are getting the concept right, however, their inability to line up numbers to do three addends addition, for example, affects their homework scores. Homework is a good formative assessment. I got a fair picture in regards to which students understood the various concepts and which ones needed more work. The teacher I observe uses the homework scores to create study groups. She'll meet with students who had low scores and go over the concepts they aren't understanding. It's a smart thing to do and allows for more one-on-one time with the students who are struggling.
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