In full swing…

The semester is officially in full swing…my students have completed their first module and we are getting started on the second one!

When I met with them for our third class meeting, I started off by talking a little about the last assignment and some problems I had (them not turning it into the right location, incorrect formatting, etc).  I also made sure to point out that for their next assignment, I created a rubric so that they would know exactly what I expected and it would be easier for me to grade.

I also gave them some time to calculate their grades so that they were aware of what they had in the course.  I plan on having them do this every once in a while, just so they can’t e-mail me at the end of the semester telling me they didn’t realize they were in bad shape.

After we went over the class material, we played a game of Jeopardy to review for their upcoming quiz.  I hope that by doing this it not only helps them prepare, but also realize they HAVE to read.  Anyway, we played in teams, and I gave the team that won 2 bonus points, and the others 1 (since they all had to take turns being the “leader” so they all participated).  Although I was pretty hesitant about playing a game in class (I thought they would think it was stupid or childish), they really enjoyed it.  I think we, as college educators, sometimes forget that we sometimes need to make learning fun.  I also gave them access to the practice test so hopefully they will use that to help them prepare as well…we’ll see on Monday.

I just got finished grading their third assignment and for the most part, I was pretty pleased with their grades.  Of course the points I had to count off were silly things that could have easily been fixed (not using the specified font or not posting to their blog), they did MUCH better on this assignment.  I also really liked having the rubric so that I didn’t end up like this….

Things I did this week that I liked:

• Played Jeopardy to help them review for their quiz
• Created a rubric for their assignment
• Taught them how to figure out their grade in the course
• Created a column in the grade book that tells them how many points they currently have
• Got all of their assignments graded and returned just 2 days after the due date! :)
• Added all of their blogs to my google reader so I can check to see if they updated before I grade their assignment (which was part of the requirements for each assignment)
• Alex helped me create an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with grades when I’m not logged in.  It is much easier to look at and having grades in two places helps me make sure I didn’t make a mistake.

Things I want to change:

• Since the rubric was so successful, I want to make sure I do it for every assignment next semester.
• Organize my online gradebook…I’ve got it the best I can get it right now, but I want to do that from the beginning next semester.
• Build “in-class assignments” into my participation points rather than just using them as bonus points.
• Set up an account on Soshiku so students can be reminded of assignments by text

I’ll update after their quizzes on Monday…I just hope they all remember! :)