U.S. Update for the week of April 30th
Wetzel, William
Class webpage: www.district87.org/staff/wetzelw
This week:
Mon: No School (SIP Day)
Mon - Fri: I will be out of school all this week with the Outdoor Education Program.
Coming up:
5/7: Q4 QCT Test
5/7: DV Quotes, Images, & Clues Test II
5/8: U-pick Recital due
5/18: Last day of regular 8B classes
5/21: Last day to submit late or make-up work for Q4
5/21: 8B PRT
5/22: Six Flags Trip
5/23: early dismissal for summer break
General 8B Team information:
Thank you for the donations for the final Breakfast Club last Friday. 8B appreciates the parent support we have received throughout the year.
Parent Action: If you are spring cleaning or otherwise have items to get rid of that are working, but unwanted, please consider donating them to 8B for our P3 Auctions that are held every other Friday. In general, the odder the item, the better in terms of student interest.
U.S. History Information:
I will always be willing to offer flexibility with a deadline when a school or family emergency occurs. Promptly notifying me of the situation is not required. I do request that students include a reminder of the situation when they submit the work, so that they receive proper credit.
I will be out of school all this week with the Outdoor Education Program. I may check my e-mail a few times during the week, but mostly I will be out of touch. If you have an immediate issue, please contact Mrs. Gallucci (gall...@district87.org). I plan to catch up on all my e-mail the weekend of May 5th. Students who want to make up a quiz or assessment this week may be able to make arrangements to do so with Miss Kapper(kapp...@district87.org). Miss Kapper is very familiar with the history materials and has access to the quizzes.
Chapter 14 Assessment scores are available in the gradebook. Although students were able to use their Chapter 14 Journals (notes) on the assessment, the general scoring pattern remained: a score of '3' indicates basic familiarity with the material, a score of '6' reflects a more advanced understanding of the events (basic + supplemental information gathered independently) and a '9' demonstrated a high level of understanding of the events and their relationship to each other. Students seeking a 'B' for the quarter need to average a '3' on the assessments and students pursuing an 'A' will need to average close to '6' for the assessments. The lowest assessment score for each student will be dropped at the end of the quarter.
Important Quarterly Grade information:
The posted grades include a zero for the U-pick Recital. I did it this way so that students are aware of where there grade will be if they are not prepared for the recital on May 8th.
Take advantage of the fact that there are no assignments or tests this week to
make up late work. Earning full credit on any assignment will add 6% to a student's quarterly grade. Earning half credit on any assignment will add 3% to the quarterly grade.
Information about all the assignments is available through the 'Audio Assignment Descriptions' webpage link on the class webpage.
I plan to get any late work submitted to the sub this week along with the test results from May 7th entered into the Internet gradebook by
May 9th, so that I may provide students with an up to date printout of their status as the end of the quarter approaches.
The U-pick Recital is due on May 8th. This assignment is challenging because of the expectation that students include interpretation and historical context in their recital. Because it is already entered as a zero, a full credit recital will add 6% to the current quarterly grade.
The Quarterly Cumulative Test and DV Quotes, Images, Clues Half Test will both be given on Monday May 7th. The QCT covers material from all the text chapters we have covered this year and the DV test is a repeat of the test that was given in Quarter 3. In terms of preparation: there are practice tests posted for the DV Test, but students would have to go back over old practice tests for each chapter quiz for the Quarterly Cumulative Test.
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)
16 Assessments (Content understanding)
37 Assignments (Skills/Comprehension)
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.
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