You are responsible for knowing
what is contained in this handout; don’t plead ignorance to running afoul of
any of these guidelines.
grading scale
90% = A
80% = B
70% = C
60% = D
less
than 60% = F
weight of grades
tests =
40%
classwork = 30%
essays = 20%
seating charts = 10%
about grades
We
will be using Integrade Pro, the official grading system of
1. By category. Up above you see four
categories of grades. Tests, for example, are worth four times the amount of
seating charts.
2. By assignment. Each assignment is
given its own scale factor. A scale factor is what the value of the
assignment is multiplied by. For example, an assignment out of ten with a scale
factor of two is actually worth twenty points. If the scale factor is .5, the
assignment is worth half as much.
The
end result is an extremely accurate grading system, but one that you simply
have to trust. The one thing you do have some control over is the raw score.
The raw score is what you actually got on the assignment. If you have a
paper with a 10 at the top, but the grade book says 5, show me
the paper. I’ll simply correct the error.
Extra
Credit: If I do
use the term “extra credit,” it usually means “something fluffy or whimsical.”
But, in reality, there is no true extra credit. It is possible to get over a
hundred percent on most every grade in the gradebook; if you’d like, consider
getting over a hundred percent as extra credit.
Curving:
I guarantee a minimum class average of 78%, C+, on all scores. Because
most scores are below that, in most cases I am raising the class average to
78%. This is why most scores are curved—but curving only goes upward, not
downward.
Due Dates: Most homework assignments are
long-term assignments, often covering a week or longer. In the case of
long-term assignments, the due date is an absolute due date. In the case
of absolute due dates, the assignment is due at the beginning of the period on
the due date, not later in the day. Notice that this policy takes away any
incentive students might have to stay home or to miss class on the day a major
assignment is due.
If you are absent on
the day of an absolute due date, the only way to get full credit is to have the
assignment in my mailbox. Ten percent off for one day late, twenty percent off
for two days, etc.
Explanation
of Categories
Classwork: The classwork category contains everything that isn’t a
test. Included in this category will be something called folders. Folders are nothing more than a collection of
your classwork covering (usually) about a three-week period. Because of folder
collections, you need to save your work when it is returned to you. If you lose
work before you turn it in with your folder, you will not get credit for that
work.
Note: When you are absent,
you are expected to ask for what you missed.
Seating Charts: Seating charts reflect both
positive and negative aspects of class participation.
Seating
charts will be added up every two weeks. At the beginning of the two-week
period, all students are given a free thirty points to start with. Whenever we
do extra credit, the extra credit points get added to your score. Also, when
you raise your hand to participate in class discussion or to simply answer a
question, points are added to your score. Whenever you do something wrong, five
points will be deducted from your score. Minus-fives are given for
things not serious enough for steps or referrals, but that still merit some
sort of consequence: tardies, not bringing materials, not reading or working
when you’re supposed to, putting your head down, complaining (especially about
the reading or the work that is assigned), interrupting, trash on the floor,
and all misbehavior in general.
More
serious consequences: Period cuts are minus 20; electronic devices (cell
phones, mp3 players, etc.) receive a minus 20 (for active use) or a minus 10
(for passive use). If it’s electronic or runs on batteries—this includes
accessories—make sure it’s off and out of sight.
Large
bags and purses and what not should be put away. Don’t wear hoods while in
class.
Sometimes
I will tell you when I’m docking you; sometimes I won’t. I don’t like to
interrupt the entire class to announce the misdeeds of a single student. For example,
if the class is quietly reading, I’m not going to interrupt everyone to inform
you that you’ve lost five points for having your head down. The general rule is
this: If you did it, I saw it.
I
add seating chart points for puzzles, for answering questions in class, for
discussion participation, for bringing materials, for returning handouts, for
volunteering to read, for reading when reading time is provided, and
occasionally for other reasons not listed here.
Pass
Policy: You get
one pass—of whatever variety—every two weeks. (A second pass within a two-week
period will cost you ten points.)
Paper: You will need filler paper, not paper torn from spiral notebooks.
Also, don’t write in red or green. I will make periodic checks for filler
paper, worth seating chart points. Also, I will dock those who, when it’s time
to take out paper, are tearing paper out instead of taking paper out. Why so
strict? The most common type of trash that piles up on classroom floors each
day is the trash made from tearing paper out from notebooks instead of taking
out sheets of filler paper.
web page:
http://staff.hartdistrict.org/dmoelle
email: dmoelle@hartdistrict.org
Questions
1.
Which
grade category carries the most weight?
2.
Student
A gets a 6 out of 10 and a 10 out of 10, in that order. Student B gets a 10 out
of 10 and a 6 out of 10, in that order. Yet the two students do not have the
same grade in the class. How can this be?
3.
True
or false: Mr. Moeller does make extra credit available.
4.
You
take a test. There are 20 questions. You get 8 right. You get an A. How is this
possible?
5.
True
or false: A major assignment is due in three weeks. On that day you are absent.
If you bring the assignment the next day, you will receive full credit.
6.
You
turn in a paper. You get it back with a score (a green number) at the top. Even
though you have received a score on the paper, you have yet to earn any points
for that paper. Explain.
7.
Someone
offers you a hundred dollars to lose 15 (and only 15) seating chart points.
List three things you would do to earn that hundred dollars.
8.
Someone
offers you a hundred dollars to lose 40 seating chart points. List two things
you would do to earn that hundred dollars.
9.
Every
two weeks, you are allowed to use how many out-of-class passes?
10.
You
walk in a classroom and see little strips of paper and lots of raggedy paper
edges all over the floor. The students in this class could help to improve
their classroom environment by meeting at Wal-Mart or Office Depot or some
other store and buying what?