Learning Policy and Classroom Expectations - Mr. Allen

Overview:

In Big Horn County School District and Lovell High School we believe that all students can learn at a high level. We believe there are certain things in each course of study that are essential to learn, some that are important to learn, and some that are good to learn. We believe students learn at different rates and in different ways and thus, should have multiple opportunities to master essential learnings.

Practice work:

Most of the learning tasks we do in class fall under this category. Practice in class is used in a similar way to practice in sports. These tasks give students an introduction to skills and concepts, repetitions with them, and low pressure performance opportunities that don’t count for a lot of points to see how well they have learned them before the test.

  1. Ungraded practice
  2. Almost all of the daily practice work we do will be ungraded, as in, it won’t count for points scored in the final grade calculation because it won’t really tell us what you know and can do on your own. This work will still be evaluated and feedback will be given to help you learn.
  3. Students will be held accountable for this work in the following ways:
  4. Students must work on this work during class if the class is working on it in class.
  5. Students must use their completion of this work as evidence of their preparation for assessments. If they have not completed this work to my satisfaction, they will not be allowed to redo graded assessments of the related concepts and skills. For example, if a student has not correctly completed practice 11.1 and they consequently receive a low grade on quiz 11.1 then they will not be able to redo that quiz until practice 11.1 is completed correctly.
  6. Graded practice (30% of overall grade)
  7. Quizzes and Writing/Research assignments will typically be graded and used as a check on student understanding of smaller chunks of learning.
  8. These are expected to be a minimum of 80% correct. If less than an 80% is given, students are assigned to make corrections or redo the task after further study/review. A comment in the gradebook will say “corrections needed”.
  9. Students may be required to do some preparatory work before these assignments may be redone/retaken.
  10. There is no limit to the number of times an assignment may be redone or a quiz retaken.
  11. In some circumstances an alternate assignment may be given as a redo opportunity.
  12. Students will be held accountable for redoing these assignments if scoring less than 80% in the following way:
  13. No unit test may be retaken unless the student has shown sufficient preparation by completing and correcting all pertinent graded practice.

Unit Assessments (70% of overall grade):

  1. These are equivalent to the game in sports. It is when students must use all they have learned through practice to show what they know and can do on their own. A grade will be assigned based on correct understanding and performance of skills.
  2. These assessments may be retaken to improve the level of performance. All retakes must be done before the next unit assessment is given or before the end of the semester if it comes before the next unit test is given.
  3. Before a retake is allowed, students will be required to demonstrate that they have prepared for being reassessed by completing/correcting all pertinent graded practice for the unit and meeting with the instructor to review/be retaught.
  4. Unit test retakes (including all preparation requirements) must be completed before the subsequent unit test is given.

A Note on Late Work:

Graded practice work that is incomplete or missing at the time it is due will be entered in the gradebook as a missing (grade of zero) until it is completed as stated in the above policy. This work may be turned in for full credit, but only if it is turned in before the unit assessment is given. After the unit assessment a 2% penalty per day will be assessed up to a max of 10%. It must be submitted before the following unit assessment is given.

A Note on Dishonest Work:

Unless otherwise instructed directly by me, students are to submit only their own original work. If it is determined that a student has been dishonest in completing their learning task, disciplinary consequences will result as outlined in the student handbook. Students will still be required to demonstrate the learning required by the task in question.

Opportunities for help outside of class:

  • During open Flex time and by assignment during required Flex time
  • Monday – Friday 7:05 AM-7:50 AM by appointment
  • Monday – Thursday after school until approx. 4:30 PM (may vary with coaching) by appointment
  • During lunch by appointment in extenuating circumstances