30/40 Note Book Assessment
Checking note books is dreaded by most teachers. Here’s an assessment system which does not bog teachers and students and is effective and meaningful for both.
~by Tenzing Rapgyal
Can you guess what the entitled fraction stands for? How long does it take you to complete checking the notebooks of a class of 30 students? Now can you guess what the fraction, 30/40, stands for?
I draw students’ attention to the lack of accuracy in their creative writing projects by indicating errors and encouraging them to edit on their own. Students should be rewarded for their effort rather than for mere accuracy.
It is my speed of checking note books, i.e., I can check 30 notebooks in 40 minutes.
Is it possible? How???? The question is, “What do you check?”
What do Rough Notes consist of?
It mainly consists of taking notes using only key words of
- Instructions by the teacher
- Group or class discussion of doubts and questions from and beyond the text
- Group and class discussions of textual exercises
- Outline & First Draft of the summary of the text they have read.
What do Expanded Notes Consist of?
- Word-Meaning of at least 5 unfamiliar words from the text they have read with their meanings and contexts.
- Individual Doubts & Questions from and beyond the text
- Expanding the rough notes of textual exercises discussed in the class.
What are my Assessment Objectives?
What does the Rubric suggest about my specific objectives of assessing student’s note book? My main objective is to assess their skills only, viz.
- Note Taking using key words
- Expanding the key words in their own English
- Synthesizing
- Critical and Reflective Thinking
While checking their note books, I ignore their lack of accuracy. So, no Laborious Checking of Grammatical Errors!!!!
But, I don’t mean that we should ignore this important aspect of the language. What I avoid is over emphasis on slashing every grammatical error and turning their note books into a blood bath. However, I do draw their focused attention to their lack of accuracy in their creative writing projects by indicating the errors and encouraging them to edit on their own. Students should be rewarded for their effort rather than mere accuracy.
So, that is my secret of being able to check almost 1 note book in 1 minute.
Tenzing Rapgyal holds a Masters Degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Education. He has worked for a couple of years in Sherab Gatsel Lobling, a transit school for adult refugees from Tibet, and then in the year 2005, he joined Tibetan Children’s Village School, Dharamsala Cantt, Himachal Pradesh. In 2011, he was transferred to Tibetan Children’s Village School, an elite school for bright students from other Tibetan Children’s Village School, which is in Selaqui, Deharadun. Presently, he is teaching English to the 9th and 10th grade students in Tibetan Children’s Village School, Dharamsala.