U.S. Update for the week of March 19th

[Wetzel, William]

Class webpage: www.district87.org/staff/wetzelw

 

I am usually available before school each morning by 7:20. 

 

This week:

 

Wed: Constitution Test

Fri: work completion time for students trying to earn credit for Q3 ('D' only)

Fri: PRT Bowling trip to Circle Lanes for eligible students

Fri: 11:35 dismissal for Spring Break

 

Coming up:

I will be away from computers/ e-mail for Spring Break.

4/2: Return from Spring Break
4/6: No School

General 8B Team information:

PRT Permission slips (along with five dollars) are due by Tuesday.

U.S. History Information:

All work for Quarter 3 has been entered into the Internet gradebook.  If you discover an error or if you have questions about a grade, please let me know ASAP.  I can always fix errors, even after report cards have been mailed. 

Although Quarter 3 is the most challenging quarter, the number of A's remained above ten percent and the number of students failing the quarter could end up as low as zero.  Here are general descriptions of the students at each grade level:
A: some excellent work along with consistently good work in the difficult categories (Assessments, Learn & Teach, and Postcard).
B: Good work on all or most of the Assignments (including the Learn & Teach) along with area(s) of weak/missing performance.
C: Completed the basic components of the class and attempted some of the Assignments along with significant gaps in work completion or performance.
D: Completed the basic components of the class with extended time after the quarter ended.
F:  Chose to stop working rather than putting in the effort to complete the basic components of the class.

For students whose grades are close to a higher letter, I am open to a persuasive argument for more credit on a specific assignment; however, my initial thought is that all students were provided with a printout last Monday that indicated exactly where they stood with a week to go.  More than twenty percent of students got busy last week and improved their grade through their efforts: they waited for the last minute, but they beat the deadline.  When I look at the final grades, every student who is close to a higher letter grade had work they could have done last week to make certain they reached the necessary level, but they either did it in a poor manner or not at all: grades are earned by students, not given by teachers.

I was very pleased with the Chapter 12 Assessment scores (a Q4 grade) from Wednesday.  With each assessment, more students show their ability and willingness to get in the text to find information and develop an argument.

On Friday, we completed the review booklet for the Constitution Test that will be on Wednesday.  Scoring at least 60% on the test is a high school promotion requirement; however, since the score is a significant part of the Q4 grade, I am encouraging students to go for an 'A'.  Practice tests are available from the class website.

By student request, I will provide information about some of the Q4 Assignments before break, so that students who want to get an early start may do so.  The information will also be posted to the 'Audio Assignment Descriptions' webpage.

Reruns from previous updates:

Students resubmitting work for increased credit should take the time and make significant changes to their work based on the assignment guidelines and the comments written on their paper or their score may not change and they will have lost the opportunity for grade improvement.

Parent Action: If you are cleaning out a closet or have other items that are working, but unwanted, please consider donating them to 8B for our P3 Auctions that are held every other Friday. 

Students who need extra time for questions or assistance before or after school should let me know.  My schedule varies, but I am usually in the classroom by 7:20 in the morning.  I have made arrangements for students to be able to come up to the room early without a pass.  After school, my availability is much less consistent.  When I know I will be available late on a given day, I will include that information in the update for the week.

If you send me an e-mail and do not receive a reply within 24 hours, please send me a follow-up.  I try to reply promptly to the e-mails I receive, but occasionally one slips by without a response from me.

Students who miss an in-class assignment should check with me, but they are usually excused from the assignment.  Students who miss a quiz, test or assessment need to make it up.  A zero will be entered in the gradebook until the assignment is completed.

I usually grade all the papers I receive during the week on Saturday and update grades on Sunday.

The class website provides access to resources to review, study, and explore areas related to the class.  Here are several highlights:
'Déjà vu Spiral': link to the main location for content information and notes from throughout the year
'Weekly Updates': an archive of all the weekly update messages from the whole year
'1112 U.S. Introduction Materials': the on-line version of the course overview packet provided to students at the start of the year
'Audio Assignment Descriptions': instructions and an audio explanation for every assignment
'Student E-mail Access from Home': allows students to log into their school e-mail account from home
'1112 Weekly Logs': a day by day breakdown of resources used in class and activities
'On-line Practice Tests': location for practice tests for tests and quizzes throughout the year
'Quia Review Games': review games for chapter quizzes and tests
'Quizlet Review Games': review games for Deja vu and chapter quizzes and tests
'Déjà vu Terms Reviews': learning and review resources for Déjà vu terms
'Textbook': Link to the on-line text

The category weighting and grading scale used to calculate quarterly grades is different in history class than other classes:

Categories:
21        Daily Work (Done in class)
21        Tests & Quizzes (Content knowledge)
21        Assessments (Content understanding)
21        Assignments (Skills/Comprehension)
11        Teaching (Content exploration & skills development)
  5        Studio Habits (Engagement in learning)

Overall Grading Scale:

89.5 - 100        A

74.5 - 89.4       B

49.5 - 74.4       C

0 - 49.4            F

A quarterly grade of 'D' will be assigned to students who do not finish the quarter with a passing grade IF they develop and complete a plan to make up missed work by the deadline provided by the teacher at the end of the quarter.

Students who score poorly in a category or categories will notice a significant impact on their quarterly grade.  The downside of this weighting and scale is that it is confusing to explain, but the upside is that it allows me to create a situation that challenges students and rewards excellent learning without creating a situation that is too difficult for those students who are not ready for such expectations.

The Bloomington Public Library offers a link to a service called tutor.com that has a great reputation as a source for help with all sorts of homework; however, I am not personally familiar with it.  If any students are using this site and want to provide me with some guidance, I will try to spread that information to the other students.

Free Tutoring by ISU and IWU students is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4:00 - 6:00 at Mt. Pisgah Church (801 W. Market Street) for all subjects.  This resource is available on a drop-in as needed-- no appointment or long term commitment required basis.  If anybody uses this resource and finds it to be helpful, please let me know and I will pass on your endorsement.

If you would like to add or drop an e-mail address for these updates, please let me know.  All students receive these messages each week in their student e-mail accounts.

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Bloomington Public Schools School District87
Bloomington, Illinois