U.S. Update for the week of April 9th

[Wetzel, William]

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

 

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

 

This week:

 

Tu - Fri: Reading MAPS Testing

Th: Ch. 13 Quiz/ Assessment (tentative)

Fri: Government Interview Reaction due

Fri: deadline to submit work for Q3 Progress Report grades

 

Coming up:

4/20: Learn & Teach Project Analysis due
4/30: No school
4/30 - 5/4: I will be at Outdoor Ed
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: 8B PRT
5/22: Six Flags Trip
5/23: early dismissal for summer break

General 8B Team information:

Six Flags permission slips and money should be turned in to Mrs. Pulido as soon as possible.

We will have MAPS Testing this week and next.  Each student will take one reading and one math test.

U.S. History Information:

The unexpected death of BJHS 8H student Brody Hageman had a significant impact on our school last week.  Support for students will continue to be available.  Please let us know how we may best support your student.

A couple of parents contacted me about extensions for completing assignments that were due on Friday for students who were affected by the loss of their friend.  The same extension is available to anybody else who was similarly affected.  Please know that whether such events affect the school or only an individual student, I will always be willing to offer flexibility with a deadline and that 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.

The Q4 Article Pairs I received were generally well done.  Many students demonstrated significant improvement in their ability to work through the reading and writing components of the assignment compared to their first quarter efforts.

The Q4 DV Photo Hunts I received varied greatly in their demonstration of mastery of the DV Terms.  This was a very challenging assignment in terms of comprehension; however, students did have full access to class resources to develop their responses.  Students who submitted the assignment by the deadline have one opportunity to make improvements to their responses and resubmit for increased credit.  Resubmitting without significant improvement will likely result in the same grade.

The Government Interview Reaction is due on Friday.  Students need to interview at least four people of voting age.  It is not required that interview subjects be identified by name.  Information about the assignment is available from the 'Audio Assignment Descriptions' webpage.

Students will likely have a chance to complete their U-pick Recital next week, if they are ready.  I will provide more information later.

There will be a Chapter 13 Quiz & Assessment this week.  I will send out the Assessment prompt and details later this week.  A practice quiz and review exercises are already available through the class website.

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)
32        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