Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 10

Chapter ten of Fair Isn’t Always Equal contains several excellent ideas on how to handle retaking work. The current that runs through most of these suggestions is that teachers should not be like robots. One of the strengths of education as a career is that it’s pretty hard to outsource, and, when it’s done right, can’t be done by a robot. This should be embraced; teachers should know when to be strict and when to be lenient. We have to be able to read the emotions our students are feeling, and know if it’s appropriate to let them redo an assignment or not. This is certainly harder than just having a blanket policy that covers everything, but hey, life is hard. In addition, several excellent strategies exist for ensuring that students don’t take advantage of your redo policy, like having them justify the redo, having them turn in their first attempt along with their redo, and changing the format of the redo. All of these fall under ensuring that students remain accountable for themselves and their work.