How to Use a Classroom Planner
Using an Effective Recording and Grading System for Students
Tips,strategies and classroom resources to guide the new teacher in keeping an effective but user friendly grading and recording system.
Having a classroom planner is one of the most important resources of both a new and seasoned teacher. It is the heart of all classroom organization and most of it shows the importance of student accountability. Try using these easy to implement step-by-steps to make grade and record keeping easier.
Using and Maximizing Teacher Resources: Decide in advance how you want to record
This user friendly Lesson Planner and Record Book makes it easier for you to organize your new teaching post with multiple pages of seating charts, parent contact pages, classroom list and schedules and grading sheets.
Knowing What to Record is Part of the Business
You need to know which tests, quizzes, classwork and projects you wish to record and keep ongoing cumulative grades. Leave a column empty to show a new semester. You could also calculate an average for all the grading components or each component separately.
If you ultimately decide to record every major piece of work, then highlight those columns of grades that will be ultimately calculated in the student's final average making it easier to read and on the eye. You can also use a separate page for this.
Having a Materials Management System Really Helps
Material management systems like learning management systems, give an exact student accountability profile in terms of work habits and handing in work. How do you relate for example, to those students who didn't do the homework assignment or handed it in late? You simply make a dash, and circle it to show that it is a late classwork or homework assignment. A grade that has only a dash, remains for all intensive purposes, an unturned assignment. Count the number of circled or uncircled dashes and deduct accordingly from the student's overall cumulative semester grade.
Example of a classroom rule: If a student didn't hand in homework or any other piece of classwork three times during the semester, you could lower the student's grade by five points. A similar system goes for handing in work late.
And What about Discipline?
Use a similar system for student behavior and attitude with regard to lateness . Use an "L" to indicate lateness. You can use a "D" to indicate discipline. If the discipline problem has been resolved either through the homeroom teacher , a phone call to the parents or a talk with a student, then cross it with a line. Otherwise, it will be a perfect reminder for you that the issue or problem has remained unsolved and needs your attention.
