In my first year teaching 8th grade Language Arts, I was expected to
collect grades for:
Spelling
Spelling homework
Grammar
Grammar homework
Reading skills
Reading skills homework
Composition
Composition skills work
Art (yes, REAL art)
Learning/test skills

That grade book didn't even have enough columns for all that!

I was deluged with processing paper!

I spent so much time collecting and grading and posting and
redistributing papers that I never had time to measure progress or to
figure out if someone needed remediation.

I think it was very definitely a contributing cause to my disasterous
first year as a teacher (I was asked not to ask to come back the next
year).

During the next summer, I read everything I could find on the internet
and at the state university and in a community college library and in a
superintendent's office about classroom management and organization.
Ultimately, I had to decide my own method.

It worked, and it got better when I realized a few things:
Students need practice, and I don't have to GRADE practice.
Checking early in the unit helps me detect "opportunities for
remediation" early enough to help
If I test every day, then students can't practice. If I test every
day, then I get to grade those papers every day.
A well-done short evaluation can measure as well as a long evaluation.

Then, I received some absolutely GREAT news from a principal - 2 grades
per week is plenty. That's all I need to see. When I replied, "Two
tests?" He replied, "I didn't say that. YOU figure out the two
grades. AND, it doesn't have to be the same style every week."

Then, someone showed me a Whaley gradebook system, and I realized that
not everything was worth 100 points.

So, I went to an "activities" and "evaluation" system.
Activities are ANYTHING done during the unit to help learn the
material. Lecture, notes, reading, worksheet, discussion, homework,
software lab work, art work, recitation, build samples, projects.
Evaluations are done ONLY at the end of the unit; they are the
culminating activity and done ONLY when the activities prove a
knowledge base.
I decided that activities all together would be worth 100 points.
The unit evaluation would be worth 100 points.
Together, that's 200 points - a student can't ignore the activities,
and the student can't ignore the evaluation. And, even a few points
are MUCH better than none at all (the wonderful part of the Whaley
system).

So, when I plan a unit, I begin with the objectives. Then, I make out
the unit evaluation, to ensure the evaluation matches the objectives.
THEN, I set up activities to help students learn those objectives. If
you are familiar with layered curriculum, a wide range of activities is
good (incorporates those intelligences and learning styles). Some
activities aren't worth many points, and some are worth more. I try to
let the student have some choice in activities, and I'm ready to
diagnose and prescribe specific activities for specific students
(especially for remediation purposes, or if I want to challenge a
student).

Students are encouraged to finish activities and let me grade them, or
they can wait until the last day of the unit to submit (that's the
packet plan). I will grade all that work, gather the grades, and post
to the gradebook as "Unit X Activities". Then, there will be an
evaluation (test, writing assignment, project). That goes in as "Unit
X evaluation".

If the unit activities are wild and varied, I can pull together a
table, showing all activities and students, and simply post specific
points for each student. That doesn't get recorded in the gradebook; I
just store it for the year. My students have always been good
about "Hey, can I show you X, Y, and Z for my points?" They can also
ask me "Hey, how many points am I away for a B?"

If I were teaching that same 8th grade Language Arts class again, I'd
combine Spelling/Reading, Art/Study Skills, and Composition/Grammar.
For a 5 day week, that would give me 3 columns plus 2 "spare" columns
(I love the idea of a spare). I'd combine the activities points with
the evaluation points for each section for a total of 100 points for
the week (50 points activities and 50 points evaluation). With 50
points for activities, that could be 5 homeworks at 10 points each, or
5 daily grades for 5 points, or a combination of both.

AND NOW - I'm getting ready to change AGAIN. My college wants us to go
with the Student Learning Outcomes system, and I'm looking at grading
by objectives mastery.

Whaley Gradebook

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