Dana, I attached the actual grade graph from my 1st 6 weeks to a post at Redkudu. You should be able to open it. If not, let me know. In the first column is the assignment title. The second column is where the kids write their actual grade. Then, out to the side, they graph the grade by coloring in the row. For grades that are weighted twice, they color in two rows. Then, at certain intervals, we go through and calculate the total grade according to the percentages, as I explain below.
On Grades:
Our district has a set policy for grades. We only have 2 categories: daily, and major.
Daily grades: 6-8 per 6 weeks required, can be activities, reading, quizzes, writing, etc. Worth 40%.
Major grades: 2-3 per 6 weeks required, can be tests, papers, projects, presentations, etc. Worth 60%.
So you can see my hands are slightly tied in regards to grades. However, I can weight homework to be worth 2 daily grades, and etc., as you can see by the grade graph.
I had similar problems with the grade graphs before. I tried them, but hadn't plannned as well, and they fell by the wayside, which is why I'm trying to be more organized this year. When I did use them, I found the kids more attentive, and there were fewer "surprises" come report card time.
A collaboration on something like what you're working on would be interesting. I'd love to give it a try.
What is an APUSH class?
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I'm pretty lucky in that so far, our district hasn't set up a grade policy except maybe ... I think the final exam is supposed to be either 10% or 20% of the grade. (I teach Freshman English, which has a state exam instead of a final.) I use both points and weighting. Classwork is 25% of the overall grade, homework is 25% and tests/projects are 50%. (And then the state exam is 15%, which squeezes the others down to about 21/21/42.)
Do you think the effectiveness of the grade graph is primarily due to the visualization of the bars, or more to having a record of each of their grades?
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