The International Baccalaureate labels homework assignments and assessments as either “formative” or “summative.” Students quickly figure out that “formative” means ungraded, and conclude that ungraded means unimportant, and therefore optional. This is a grave error.
Analogies can help here. Music students who never practice will perform poorly in their recitals. Student athletes who slack off in practice sessions or miss them altogether will perform poorly in competitions.
- If you practice well, then your recitals will go well.
- “Practice well” means completing all assignments conscientiously and submitting them on time. Key words: all, conscientiously, on time.
- If you do not practice well, your recitals will not go well.
- Foolish students think that practice is unimportant because it is ungraded. They do poorly on summative assessments.
- Wise students understand that (a) practice is what’s really important, and (b) good practice will make summative assessments easy and produce better results.
The following table shows all the “formative” work for one of my English classes in one column, and the “summative” work in the other.
| “Piano Practice” | “Recitals” |
| Independent Reading | Speeches and recitations |
| Vocabulary exercises and tests | In-class writing tasks |
| Blog Posts | Unit Finals |
| Personal Writing | |
| Independent Reading Journal Entries | |
| Personal responses to the readings | |
| Practice public speaking | |
| Quizzes on assigned readings | |
| Class participation | |
| Note-taking |
If you are still unsure which is more important, consider this: Without practice, your performances are going to be worthless. Without performances, however, your practice sessions still have value, because they give you long-lasting skills.