Course Guidelines: The following information is for 6th grade math, 6th grade science, and the middle school photography exploratory courses. Assessment: In 6th grade math & science, students will be assessed and graded on the following items. Please be assured that every attempt will be made to give fair grades that reflect student work and performance. Category Weight Work Habits 15% Participation 15% Unit Post-Tests 30% Application 40% Work Habits: Includes turning in homework and projects on time, meeting other deadlines, the quality and professionalism of work turned in, completing exit cards, bringing materials to class, coming prepared with textbooks, agenda, and binders, and keeping an organized binder and notes. Participation: Includes participating in the class blog (the class forum is optional), following directions and working safely in the lab, helping to clean up the lab, participating in class and team work, completing class jobs, and working at stations. Unit Post-tests: Students will be given a test at the end of each unit. If a student wishes, they make re-take the test. The re-test will be individualized, covering only the problems that a student missed. The results of the original post-test and any retake(s) offered will be combined. When it is clear that the student does not understand a test question, I will make accommodations. The point of the tests is for students to show that they have attained a basic understanding of the concepts covered, not to prepare them for college testing or keep a large number of students from earning high grades. Please note that I also give a pre-test before each unit and it is interesting to compare the pretest and posttest results. Many students show substantial growth. Application: Students will be assessed on how well they can apply what they have learned in new situations and beyond what a unit posttest can show. This is most often accomplished through completion of projects (discussed below). In the photography and film courses students will be assessed on their completion of the final project and daily participation. Projects: For middle school students completion of long term projects is often a difficult task since it is usually very tempting to procrastinate. If your child says he/she has no homework, I strongly encourage you to talk with them about what they can do to complete their long term project. There will usually be one for each quarter. For further information about these projects, please refer to handouts given to the students and visit my webfolders. When a project is assigned a due date will be announced in class and posted in the "Due Dates & Messages" folder. If a student does not meet that deadline, for whatever reason, a contract will be drawn up between the student, parents, and myself setting a new date. If the project is still not turned in upon the date set in the contract, then 10% will be subtracted from the project’s final grade for each class date that the project is not turned in. If a student earns an undesirable grade on a project, he/she may redo it. Before starting to redo a project, a student should see me for help and ask me if other restrictions or modifications must be followed. The original grade and the redone project grade will be averaged to arrive at a new final project grade. Again, the idea here is that students may need another chance to show that they have learned the concepts covered. My most important goal is to get each student to learn as much as possible in the time I have with them. There is an expectation for very high quality work and professionalism. Please do not confuse this with "neat" or "flashy". I do not give priority to "flash" over "substance". Regularly Used Grading Rubrics: There are four grading rubrics that are frequently used. By looking at these, students will be aware of how their lab work, blog entries, daily preperation for the beginning of class, and their binders will be assessed. Please click on the following rubric links to see what is required. Blog Entries Rubric Lab Work Rubric BBAAM Rubric Binder Rubric Electronic Submission Of Work: When possible, it would be great if students would send me their projects or homework assignments electronically (by e-mail). When it is announced that this is an option for students, please follow these rules. The project or assignment must be submitted to my e-mail address at mking@cm.edu.gt by 3:00 p.m. on the day that it is due. The project or assignment must be included as an attachment to the e-mail (not as part of the e-mail body). The project or homework must be a Word document (.doc or .docx). The Subject: field in the e-mail must include the student's first and last name, as well as the name of the project or assignment (e.g. Johnny Smith - My Special Number Math Project). Homework: Students will occasionally have homework in the 6th grade core classes, which will be relevant to the topics being studied. I am reducing the amount of homework I assign this year as I see little benefit in making 12 year olds work late at night. Instead, they are expected to work hard during class hours and play after school as children should. If homework is assigned, it must be completed before coming to the class on the date which it is due. This is absolutely vital, as completed homework will be used to assess student comprehension of the material. Acceptable work that is handed in on time will receive 100% credit. Late work will receive 50% credit, but will only be accepted on the following class date (classes meet every other day). Of course, work that is not completed at all will receive 0%. If homework is not assigned, then I strongly encourage students to look through their texts, check the Internet for related topics, surf the links I have created, read books about the next topic of study, and work on long-term projects if they have been assigned. Make-up Assignments: If a student is absent they will be permitted to hand-in missed assignments only if he/she has an admit slip from the office that states the absence is excused. It is the student's responsibility to contact me, or a reliable friend in order to obtain make-up work. Encourage your child to call several friends, not just one, to make sure they understand what assignments they have missed. A student returning after an absence is responsible for asking me about the work he/she missed and handing in work that was assigned during his/her absence. Make-up time will be equivalent to the number of days missed. Classroom Behavior: All students are expected to be in class on time, come prepared, be respectful toward teachers, their peers, and property. Please read the Middle School Agenda & Handbook with your son/daughter. It contains valuable information about rules, procedures, and dress code. Violations of school rules within the classroom will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Communication: A goal of mine each year is to include parents as much as possible so that they can feel involved in their children's education - parents are sometimes the best teachers of their own children! I will notify parents of upcoming events, important assignments, and general classroom news on a regular basis. If, however, you have questions or concerns at any time, please feel free to call the school to make an appointment or to leave a message. You can also send me a short e-mail message, including parent and/or student names, to mking@cm.edu.gt. I check my e-mail Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. I will make every attempt to reply in a timely manner, but please be aware that I have several other duties to perform throughout the school day.