FAQ’s
What is your policy regarding make up work?
The school handbook states that a student has one day for each day missed to make up work.
How does my child find out what he/she missed?
There is a daily assignment chart at the front of the room. Next to the chart is a box with dated folders in it. Students that have been absent are supposed to go to the chart to see what the class did that day, and pull the assignments that need to be done. All class notes are copied each day and are available in a binder at the front of the room.
Can my child do extra credit to bring up his/her grade?
Although several extra credit projects will be offered during the year, most extra credit points are earned when students go above and beyond the minimum standard on an assignment. Students are always told what types of responses will generate the highest point values on an assignment. Students that demonstrate that they are trying to put forth their best effort can earn a significant amount of extra credit over a quarter.
Why did my child’s grade drop so much after one low test grade when most of the homework grades were high?
Grades are weighted in various ways and the way this can be done varies from teacher to teacher. In my class, all assignments are worth 100 points. I prefer this system over the different points for each assignment because it’s easier for students to see at a glance how well they have done. While some teachers weight work by making it worth more points, I simply change the weighting category for mine. Homework is weighted at one so it is equivalent to 100 points. Quizzes are weighted at two or two hundred points, and tests are weighted at three.
Why do you weight grades?
Students often work together and share answers. Sometimes this is when it is permitted, but often when it is not. While sharing can be useful in helping the struggling student, it doesn’t really tell a teacher what each child knows. The test is the ending part of the unit and the point of the assessment is to demonstrate to the teacher what that student learned from that unit. Because that is the culmination of sometimes three weeks’ worth of learning and is the evidence of each child’s knowledge of the material, it needs to be weighted more heavily than daily work or short quizzes over less material.
Why does my child have to pay a lab fee for science?
Although the state of Arkansas requires that 20% of class be used for labs, the state does not provide any funding for those labs. One simple lab experiment for the 195 students in the eighth grade can cost between $50 and $100 for the materials. Until this year, all of that money was provided by the science teachers. We are still buying a lot of the materials ourselves; we just can’t buy all of them anymore. The more money we have, the more labs your child can do.