How do you keep track of high school grades and assignments?

[Shawn On the Border]

Since we're starting high school soon, I need to be more organized in my record keeping. I have an old assignment spreadsheet that I have used for years, but I don't have an organized way of recording grades. In the past, I have written them in the front of notebooks for each subject, and then made a report card periodically.

 

How do you keep track of it all?

[regentrude]

I keep an Excel spreadsheet to count hours per subject (one line per day, one column per subject for time, another column for topic).

I grade only essays/research reports in English/history, 2-3 tests per semester in science, one comprehensive final per semester in math. Grades go on the test, test goes into the portfolio.

Once a semester I type up detailed course descriptions and a report card with grades.

[Brenda in MA]

In high school, I give my son a weekly list of assignments. He writes the daily tasks in his planner and checks them off when they're completed. I keep these as a record of what he completed that year. I've gone back and used them to generate course descriptions and book lists for transcripts.

 

After writing up many, many course descriptions for my oldest the summer he was applying to college, I now do it either during the school year for the courses that are in progress, or at least by the end of that school year. That way, it should be almost ready to go come college application time.

 

I also have one of those multi-section plastic expanding files. In that file, I keep all of the graded work (English & religion essays, math, history & science tests, science labs, etc.). Daily work (such as math problems and notes) is not kept in there since it is not used to determine grades. At the end of the year, I go through the plastic file and tally up the grades for each subject and enter them into his transcript, which I made using MS Word.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[coffeegal]

:bigear:

[Oakblossoms]

So far, I am just keeping track of what we use. We are planning on 5 years of High School. Then I will gradually fit the resources, assignment etc into a transcript or more "normal" sounding courses. We are on the relaxed side of the spectrum for this forum:tongue_smilie:

[ilanao]

I used to use the notebook method when we used Calvert. I made columns inside the front cover of the Lesson Manual and recorded all the grades. Last year I started using HST Basic for 9th grade. I liked some of its features, but it was a little tedious to use. I researched other programs until I discovered that HST Plus would actually be easier to use than the Basic. I just upgraded to HST Plus this summer, and it sure is a lot easier to use once you get past the learning curve. I am able to generate lesson plans and copy them to the student agenda so my son can see them.

 

I ran into a little problem in that my son has his own laptop and I use the desktop. I wanted him to be able to see the assignments on his computer, so I had to put the database on a flash drive and load the program onto his computer. I just have to copy the database and load it onto the flash drive whenever I add lessons to his calendar. I spent most of my summer researching, buying books and making lesson plans, and I just finished putting in the first week of assignments today. Adding grades will be the easy part--lesson plans (especially with college texts) took forever!

[Joan in GE]

We use HST+ :001_smile:

[bugs]

We use HST+, too. It will generate transcripts for you.

[ThisIsTheDay]

You're SUPPOSED to keep track of it?????

 

:svengo::svengo::svengo:

 

I guess if I'd done that, I wouldn't have spent the last three weeks coming up with course descriptions and looking over three years of weekly schedules. :glare:

 

Dd is starting 12th grade.

 

For my upcoming 9th grader, I swear I'm keeping track of everything in a Word document. As it happens. I.swear.

[bobbeym]

I use Joy Miller's Gradebook +.

 

This is the 2nd year we're using it and I love it. Best thing I've found so far and fully configurable to meet your personal needs. From her website:

 

Features of Gradebook+

 

• Summary Overview: lists credits and current grades in all courses as well as overall grade (according to weight and credits); includes customizable grading scale
  
• Attendance Record: not year-specific, so it does not have to be altered from year to year
  
• Course Sheets: up to 12 courses; includes space for up to five different types of grades (daily, quizzes, tests, etc.); includes an area to record a course description and a listing of all curriculum/resources used in each course
  
• Reading Book List: printable record of all books read throughout the year
  
• Extra-Curricular Activities Record: printable record of all extra activities
  
• Field Trip List: printable record of all field trips
  
• Grade Report: automatically generated final report card, formatted for printing
  
• Course List: lists all courses, course descriptions, and curriculum/resources used; automatically generated from the Course sheets
  
• Detailed directions about how to use the spreadsheet template
  

 

[Candid]

I am writing course descriptions at the end of the year that lost topics covered, methods of assessment, and materials used. I'm not a big fan of grades although I will assign them since I believe there will be parts of the admissions process that will require that of me. I do not believe in hour tracking at all so that will not come into play.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Candid

[Brigid in NC]

I used Edu-track at home and really liked it. I saw it demo-ed at a homeschool conference. (Their website is -- well -- kind of a mess.)

 

When I taught classes in a local co-op I used Engrade. It was free and very easy to use. ;)

[Kareni]

I added the tag 'record keeping' to this thread. You can click on it to see some past threads on the same topic.

 

Regards,

Kareni