Quizzes

I have all kinds of interesting, high level thoughts rattling around in my brain, but not enough time to really synthesize them and write them down. Things like - do we let kids get away with not pushing themselves to reach attainable but challenging goals (physical and intellectual)? Something about growth mindset, which still fascinates me. 

But first I have to grade the quiz I gave yesterday. In Moodle, so it did all the grading for me. Unfortunately, I figured out late in the game that I think it would tell kids if they had the right answers BEFORE they submitted them! I do not know how to make it not do this. I *do* appear to be able to see their answers, so I can see if they checked and if they changed the answers. From the scores, it would appear that no more than two students figured out this feature. I'm not sure whether to punish them - if it was my mistake in making it completely accessible and if they were the only two bright enough to figure it out, they shouldn't be punished. OTOH, I'm not terribly impressed with their ethics. Under every circumstance, I will talk to them about this and probably drop a note home so their parents and I can be on the same page about ethical behavior during exams. 

Incidentally, I don't give tests. I rarely give quizzes at all, but I object to the word test. I believe the word test is loaded and itself induces stress. Quiz sounds nicer. A quiz in my class counts the same as a test in any other class, but is less inducing of stress, at least for some students. 

Other than the cheating spectre, I'm quite pleased with the questions. I'm less pleased with the scores. And I accomplished what I wanted to - I discovered at least one student who knows the material cold but doesn't turn in work and thus hasn't demonstrated mastery until now. Yay for quizzes!