Grading in the Geography Guide

[Tiffini]

We have finished Week 1 of the Geography Guide! I absolutely LOVE it! There is so much in there! The workload jumped up quite a bit from MtMM - especially the amount of reading. It is fine for my 10th grader, though. We have already some good discussions from the But Don't All Religions Lead to God? book and also from the Archaeology Book (which is fascinating by the way). We love having the videos to watch to bring the readings to life as well. Really liking BJU lit too. It is fun to have different looking notebooks and time line for this year. I really envision this year being pivotal in grounding her in her faith as to what and why she believes. I am so thankful for this curriculum!

I would love some input from others who are doing it as well. How are you utilizing the grading helps in the Guide? Some of the items are straightforward and have a line to fill in for the grade as you go - for instance, written narrations in the Geography portion has a line for each week's narration - while others just say Oral Narrations (Week 1, 4, 7, etc.) without a blank for each narration. Are you going to grade each and every narration and write down a score? Will you just put down a grade for narrations at the end of the year? Same for Discussion time, Research, NoteTaking, etc. Will you write down a grade each time that one of these events occur or just look back over your year at the end and assign a grade for that particular item? I've been working on some forms today, but can't decide the way that makes the most sense. Any ideas would be welcome!

[Carrie]

Tiffini,

This is an interesting question. As we were designing the suggested grading, we did place a blank line next to the areas that we felt could be graded fairly easily. For me, things like oral narration are harder to grade. So, for those we placed '"goals" for the oral narration in parentheses next to each type of narration but no grading lines for each narration.

There are many possible ways to track whether your child has met those "goals." In my mind, I was thinking that I would just look for those goals as I listen to the oral narration, and if the student wasn't attaining the goals I would remind him of what we're trying to accomplish after the narration so the next time we could work better toward meeting the goals. I see narration as a process, ever improving, and if I'm too strict the flow of the narration could be lost. With this in mind, giving a weekly grade in oral narration would discourage the process and flow. Instead, I'm thinking of a completion grade for narration each quarter or semester, unless the child is not putting forth effort. Then, the grade should reflect the lack of effort.

I would say that I look at the skills in the Expedition Journal the same way as oral narration, with the exception of the written narrations each week. The Expedition Journal provides a great record of work, and I plan to check it daily and make suggestions or give guidance if my student is not performing to the expected level required. This will ensure that the level of work is up to the standard I expect (without it sliding over time) and that the skills listed in the grading section are being met. With the daily checks, I think it would be easy to look back over the Expedition Journal entries at the end of 9 weeks and give an overall grade for those skill areas related to the journal. So, I'm thinking more of a quarterly grade there for my son that takes into account all those skill areas meshed together into a single grade. However that would be coupled with daily feedback on what he is doing well in those areas and what could be better. This is just my thinking though, and there are many other ways that the skills in the Expedition Journal could be graded.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Tiffini]

Thanks, Carrie, I really appreciate your feedback on this. I was thinking along those same lines of just reviewing the work daily and then assigning an overall grade at the end of each semester. I would have a very hard time assigning a grade to each and every narration and/or assignment in the Expedition Journal. Would you give an A if the work is improving regularly and the student is giving good effort? I have a very hard time knowing how to objectively grade oral narrations and other work like that. For instance, do I give an A for oral literature discussion if good effort is shown even if the child struggled with the concept we are discussing, etc. I want to be objective and fair and am having a hard time knowing if I am doing it right!