It's Been a While!

Greetings,

We have been so busy that I haven't taken the time to post anything in a few days, so here is an up-date:

We spent last Thursday and Friday in the computer lab finding the absolute location of many different places around the world.  I allowed the students to work alone, or with a partner, and the assignment was due today, October 1, 2012.  Happily, almost everyone was done, and my hat is off to those students who were absent on Thursday and COMPLETED the entire assignment on Friday!!  :-)  Great job!

Today, October 1, we corrected the assignment.  Those grades will be posted on either Tuesday (10/2) or Thursday (10/4).  I have had a few kids ask if they could do the assignment over, and my answer was "No".  This is my rationale:

1.  The kids were given two days to find the location of 20 different landmarks.
2.  They could work with a partner.
3.  I told them what web-sites to use to for an easy way to complete the assignment.
4.  I don't currently have an alternative assignment. ( I can create one, but it will take a few days, and it would have to be done as homework.)

Sometimes it is more about the process; did I, as a student, follow directions?  Did I ask for help if I didn't understand something? Did I take the assignment seriously?  The work that is in the grade book now is all "Daily Work", we have not done enough for a quiz.  Grades will continue to fluctuate for a while, but when kids settle into the routine, when they see the importance of being serious about a task, grades will continue to improve.

Thanks,
Cathy