Message from rboller

[Anonymous]

I also use History Notebooks for my students and love it. Most people I know use a spiral notebook, but I prefer 3 ring binders (I can collect and carefully grade more important assignments or even use them for a bulletin board display but upon return they can easily be placed in the appropriate section).

A couple of things I like that I haven't seen mentioned yet are making a reference section and grading the notebooks using a checklist.

At the beginning of the school year I do an introductory unit and we complete several assignments that generate some fundamental reference documents -maps, History basics, classroom procedures, grades etc. They put these into a "reference" section and keep it all year, occasionally adding materials.

The checklist is useful to help students evaluate their own work and be sure it's complete. Each page is listed by title, with the points possible and then 2 columns, 1 for the student check mark and 1 for the teacher's score given. I give them the checklist before the notebook is due and they go through their notebooks, checking off each assignment that is present and complete. They hand me their notebook with the checklist and I quickly flip through, scoring each assignment and marking the points received on their paper and also on the checklist. I can then return their notebook, keeping the checklist to enter grades.

Each checklist has a grading scale on it so they can see how well they've done. I really think this method not only makes grading easier for me but also helps keep them evaluating their own work.