Many times at the beginning of the year, parents have a lot of questions about their child's grades. I thought, because mid-quarter is fast approaching, I would put together a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about grades in my class specifically and my grade book in general.
What are the assignment categories and percentage weight of each one?
All assignments are grouped into three broad categories. First, is the daily work. Daily work assignments are typically ones that are completed within a single class period. They are practicing specific skills and strategies that are taught in class. Sometimes assignments in this category will be completed at home, but they are generally not long-term assignments. This category is worth 20% of the total grade. This is because students are practicing, and while I want to hold them accountable for completing the work, they are still learning and practicing their skills.
The second category is Projects/Tests/Quizzes. This is the category that is worth the highest percent of the overall grade - 65%. These types of activities are where the students demonstrate to me their level of mastery of the skills and strategies taught in class. Students have multiple opportunities to practice and develop their skills prior to the project/test/quiz.
The third category is Independent Reading. This category is worth 15% of the overall grade. Students will only have one grade in this category for each quarter. This grade is based on their score on the two components of the independent reading requirement (the page log and the blog posting).
Why are there so few grades right now?
The first unit of the year, our unit based on the book Miracle's Boys, is where I do a lot of pre-teaching skills and routines, modeling of expectations and classroom procedures, as well as initial assessments of students' reading abilities and reading behaviors. Most of these activities are not graded as they provide me with information that how my classroom will run for the remainder of the school year; they do not indicate levels of achievement. Once we get past mid-quarter you will find more grades appearing.
Is the portal always up-to-date?
Yes and No. I do not get an assignment entered and visible on the portal the day it is collected. Most of the graded work has quite a bit of writing to assess, so it does take some time. I will make a grade visible in the portal when I have finished grading the entire classes' work.
How do I know if an assignment is not turned in?
In the portal you will see the word MISSING. An assignment labeled with missing will be factored in as a zero. The point of that is to show what the grade would be if the assignment never gets turned in. Once that assignment is turned in, the missing label will be removed and the score earned by your child will be entered. In addition, your child should have brought home a REACH slip for you to sign indicating an assignment hasn't been turned in. The only time you will not see a REACH slip for an assignment marked as missing will be if an assignment was collected on a day your child was absent.
My child was out sick - why is the assignment marked as missing?
If your child was absent from my class when an assignment was collected, I enter the assignment as missing to show what the grade would be if the assignment were to never get turned in - hopefully creating a sense of urgency for your child to take care of his/her work. I will remind your child of his/her missing work, but I ask your help in reminding your child to see me and get the work turned in.
When are grades final?
My grades don't usually become final until the day they are due to be turned in; however, the final day to turn in any outstanding assignments is five (5) days before the end of the quarter.
As always, if you have any questions, please let me know!
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