Wednesday, September 9, 2009

I'm back! For those of you who don't know, I woke up last Wednesday with a slight fever, which became full blown flu symptoms in a matter of just a couple of hours. I did my best to keep the students working on assignments that would help them, rather than just be busy work.

We had received our heritage studies' study guide last week and some of the students had finished it before I got sick. They had to finish it while I was gone, and we went over it in class yesterday and today to make sure they had the right answers. They will have a small test on the material tomorrow. They've had the material for over a week, and we reviewed it in class today. The test will only be about 70 points, with 20-25 questions.

The science test is Friday. Again, this will be a smaller test with less questions on it. The students did their vocabulary in class on Friday and received the study guide Monday. A lot of the vocabulary words were not included on the study guide so that there would be less for them to study.

Tomorrow night is Open House. I will have the 4 1/2 week progress reports for each student. The grades on there will not include the homework grade. This is because Mrs. Jodie and I think it is important for you to see the student's grades on their own. Homework grades will be factored in for the 9 week report cards. The students have been given bonus points on a lot of the tests. This is to help them get a better grade. Not all students have taken advantage of even trying to get the bonus points. I am doing that for their benefit, but at the same time they are the ones responsible for knowing the material and paying attention in class.

For science and heritage studies, we have been working on the study guides as we cover the lessons in class. There should be no excuses for the students not completing the study guides or having incorrect answers. I think this system will be helpful in making sure they have their information early and are not stuck trying to answer it all at once.