Grading Rubric
| Pre-Algebra | |
| Tests | 40% |
| Quizzes | 30% |
| Writing | 15% |
| Homework | 10% |
| Participation | 5% |
| Projects | Graded as a test, quiz, or writing assignment |
The Grade you earn for the course is calculated as follows:
(MP 1 Grade + MP 2 Grade + MP 3 Grade + MP 4 Grade) / 4
where MP Grade 1 is the grade you earned in Marking Period 1
Students often ask me at the end of the year, "What grade do I need in the 4th marking period to earn an 80 (B)?" That is a simple Algebra question; by solving a multiple step equation using an approach we will learn this year.
Say that you earned the following grades for marking periods, I, II and III: 74, 82, 77. Substituting these values and the 80 that you want into the above equation gives us the following.
(MP 1 Grade + MP 2 Grade + MP 3 Grade + MP 4 Grade) / 4
(74 + 82 + 77 + MP4) / 4 = 80Now we solve that first by combining like terms
(233 + MP4) / 4 = 80
Now we use our inverses (first multiplication to undo division, then subtraction to undo addition)
(233 + MP4) / 4 = 80
* 4 * 4233 + MP4 = 320
-233 -233MP4 = 87
That means you need an 87 to fully earn your 80 or B average for the year. You can do this type of solve using any desired grade.
And guess what... You just used Algebra in a Real Life situation in your life!
VTSD Teacher Grade-books are Viewable as of 2010
Paper Report Cards and Progress Reports are slowly becoming a thing of the past, eventually to be regulated to the annals of a time long past (like why older folk call music collections records, why they call a telephone signal a dial tone, and why they call the ENTER key a carriage return). Starting January 2010, VTSD introduced online teacher grade-books, so parents and students can see just where they stand, what they have missed, and the grade trends/averages telling us areas/opportunities where students can improve in the future.
Because I previously considered the paper progress reports and report cards to provide only minimal information, I sent out Detailed Progress Reports around the time of each School progress report. These reports held all the information in my grade-book. And you could use as much, or as little, of that information as you saw fit. A disadvantage of this was that, although I checked for signatures, some parents said they never saw these detailed progress reports.
Now that everyone has immediate access, there is no continued need for my old fashioned detailed progress reports I used to send out each marking period. Both you and your parents/guardians can look up all your grades and see where you stand any time you want. You will be able to see whatever detail you want, when you want it, as often as you want.
Report Card / Progress Report Card Comments
The number of comments teachers at VTSD can select are limited and may be open to interpretation. You may not agree with my comments, so you can ignore them, but here is how I determine what comments to add to the 2 slots (max) I have available.
Please Contact Teacher: I’ve attempted to reach your parents/guardians to no avail, and serious academic or discipline issues exist. You will fail the course unless your behavior is changed.
Behavior Needs Improvement: Your behavior is a major issue impacting your and your peer’s learning.
Incomplete/Missing Assignments: Quizzes or tests are currently valued at zero, since you have not yet made time to make these up. A zero value in a quiz or test grade is very detrimental to your overall grade. Perhaps the quiz/test was just given (so not having made this up is not a “real problem”, but if the assessment was originally given a while ago, this reflects poorly upon you. Officially I want you to make these up quickly during academic lunch (1 day out = 1 day to make work up; 2 days out = 2 days to make work up) FYI: I immediately put the zeros in so you can see the impact and to help you see you are responsible for your own grade.
In Danger of Failing: Your year-to-date grade is a 70 or below. One bad quiz/test can definitely lower your average to failing.
Effort Needs to Improve: Your homework completion rate is below a 80%. I expect you always do your homework.
Study Habits Need Improvement: Your quiz or test average is below 70%.
Shows Improvement: I have seen a marked improvement in your preparation, performance, or attitude.
Shows Positive Attitude: Your classroom achievement grade is above 80% or you display signs of a positive attitude for those of you who are very shy by nature.
Satisfactory: You are meeting the requirements of the course, and none of the earlier comments apply.
Excellent Student: I reserve this for the best of the best. If you see this you have definitely earned it. There is no false praise here.
NOTE: there is officially a two-week delay between when teachers must enter comments and the report cards/progress reports are delivered, so grades, and situations may have changed in the interim. You should notice that I enter grades much faster than that.
Homework Policy
You earn your homework grade by doing every homework problem assigned and showing work. Homework serves many purposes. One key aspect of homework is to facilitate going beyond being able to follow someone else doing a problem and you being able to solve it yourself without help. If you do not see nearly all 100s, you see an opportunity for improved performance.
10% may not sound like a big impact, but consider this. If you never do homework, the best grade you can earn is a 90. That means you threw away 10 points, an entire grade level or more. Consider this, if you would have earned a 74 (a solid C), but did no homework, your final grade is a 64% (F).
Grading for homework is simple in my class. I periodically check homework for the homework assignment that was assigned the night before. You will be unaware which days I check, I randomly select days, except that I check at least once per week (and periodically daily). What I look for is the following: 1) you completed all exercises, 2) you showed work on the exercises. If both criteria are met you get a 100%. If at least a moderate amount is shown and your work meets our criteria, then you get a 50%. If not, a 0%. I average these 0, 50, 100's for the week to derive the weekly homework grade. The mathematics of probability and statistics show this approach works.
If you are out a day I am checking, you do not have to show me the assignment that was due then. It is similar to a baseball player's batting average. If you didn't get to bat one day your batting average does not suffer. Your average is just based on one less time at bat. And if you had been out yesterday and I am checking homework today, then please just show me the last homework assigned when you were here. You were expected to do it. P.S. if you are out of class you still should do homework. Remember you are not doing it for me, you are doing it so that you learn!
It is true that teachers can never tell if you did your homework, all I can tell is if you showed me your homework. However, I expect you to be prepared and bring your homework each day. I'm helping you build organization skills, responsibility, as well as math skills. I want you to stay current, so homework is due on the due date. If you fall behind, you only hurt yourself because we keep building upon prior lessons. Ultimately the homework grade represents a good faith effort made outside the classroom to master the skills needed to succeed.
Classroom Achievement Policy
You start out at 70%; earning additional points for classroom participation, questions and volunteering. Downward earning of points occurs if you disrupt the classroom, distract others or are disrespectful to anyone in the class. In general, students who are focused and actively involved in the classroom learn much better.
For a higher participation grade you should
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Volunteer in class during discussions and share problems on the board.
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Follow directions and do not disrupt the class.
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Make appropriate use of class time and complete class assignments.
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Display a positive attitude.
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Be respectful and considerate of others.
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If absent, take responsibility to obtain notes and make-up missed work in a timely manner.
Quizzes & Tests
Quizzes are checkpoints in the learning the concepts of a unit and tests cover concepts learned throughout the entire unit. Some quizzes are very short (Mini Quizzes are half weight quizzes); others cover concepts of multiple sections and may take an entire period. Quizzes identify if you are keeping up with your learning, or if you try to “cram” for a unit test. “Cramming” often does not result in long term learning, necessary for Math, since new Math concepts build upon the foundation of previously learned skills. If you see low quiz grades and a higher test grade, your study habits may need to be altered.
If my grade book reflects a “0” that means a quiz/test was never taken (I put a "1" in my grade book for the rare student who actually earns a zero). Test and quiz zeros averaged into grades have dramatic negative effects. I expect you to make up missed quizzes/tests within a week. When you do, I replace the zero with the grade you earned.
ARITHMETIC QUIZ: I expect you know how to do basic arithmetic. It allows you to focus your efforts on the more complex math we are learning, it helps your number sense, it improves future calculator use, it allows me to assess other math concepts, and it speeds your being able to complete problems. You were expected to be able to do this in elementary school, and I know you are more capable than elementary school students. When you pass a short quiz on each of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, I average these grades and set them as a quiz grade. If you do not complete this in the first marking period, this requirement follows you into 2nd marking period. So take care of this early.
MIDTERM EXAM: This exam covers the entire first half of the year. It will be counted as a test in the 2nd marking period.
FINAL EXAM: This exam covers the entire year. It will be counted as TWO tests in the 4th marking period.
ASSESSMENT ANNOUNCEMENT: Tests and Current Material Quizzes are announced days in advance. They are posted in our room, mentioned in class, and often posted online on our calendar. Spiral review quizzes are on older material that you should already know, so these might not be announced. Notebook checks, treated as quizzes, will not be announced.
Extra Credit / Retakes
In general I offer extra credit very rarely. When I do, they are extension assignments, that is an assignment more demanding than those normally required at your level. Learning is about knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of concepts. It is not about doing some book report to make up for the lack of the above.
A new district policy, starting with the 2011 school year, states that there will be no retakes. This supersedes my earlier retake policy.
Writing
Writing about math lets you express your knowledge about math in a different format. This means you will be using a different part of your brain when you work on math, which emphasizes the math and helps you learn it better.
A second reason we do this is that it is harder to explain to someone how to do something, than to actually do it yourself. When you explain how to do something, you are actually not only helping that person, but you are also learning the skill better. That's what you do when you write out an explanation of math.
There are several parts to your writing grade.
1) You will write out journal entries (in a composition notebook) during class.
2) You will write out journal entries as homework assignments.
3) You will be asked to investigate math concepts and/or look for real-life examples where these are used. Your findings will be listed in your journal.
4) You will be asked to work together, or individually, on problems or in-class projects.
5) I might create a classroom blog project late in the year.
Revised 7/23/2011