Grades

  • Grading Policy and Procedures

      
    Grades in Science 8 are calculated using weighted averages as follows:
    Homework (practice) 20%
    Classwork/Lab work 40%
    Assessments 40%* (includes 5% Current Events)
     
    All assignments are expected to be appropriately legible and of acceptable 8th grade effort and quality for full credit.
     
    Additional Notes:
     
    Homework: 
    • Homework is assigned to provide students with practice using new vocabulary, skills and concepts: it should take ~15 minutes to complete. Students should refer to their class notes for help with their homework.
    • We record our homework on the homework chalkboard and in our Agenda at the end of each class. Each section has their own space.
    • All homework is due at the beginning of the class for which it was assigned.  
    • Homework will be collected, checked or gone over in class so that students will receive feedback regarding their efforts.  As long as homework assignments show high quality work (shows an honest attempt to do it and is legible), the student shall receive full credit based upon their effort.
    • Late homework assignments can be made up during lunch with Mrs. Watson for half credit.
    Classwork and Lab work: 
    • Most of the work associated with labs and activities is done in class. Due dates will be posted on the board.
    • Late classwork will be penalized by 15% (please keep in mind that an 85% looks much better on the books than a zero!!!).  Late classwork will be accepted until the end of the unit or end of the quarter, whichever comes first.
    Parent Portal & Progress Reports: 
    • Progress reports generated by the school will be mailed home five weeks into any given quarter.   
    • Student effort and progress can be monitored at anytime using Parent Portal.  A couple of notes to be mindful of: if a child receives an "Ex" grade, he or she has been excused from that particular assignment and does not need to make it up.  If a child receives a grade of "Ab" or"?" on a progress report, he or she must make up the assignment as soon as possible- it was not turned in and is currently calculated as a zero; if a student assignment is flagged with an "INC," it is to note that the assignment was turned in only partially complete.  If an assignment is blank, I have not entered grades for it yet.  Any zeros that are given due to cheating on assignments will not be able to be made up. 
    Absences: 
    • If students are legally absent, they will have as long as they were absent to make up missed work (extensions may be granted if I speak with the student in person): each student is responsible for making up the work that they missed.
    • Students that are illegally absent shall receive a zero for any assignment due that day, including labs, quizzes, and exams.
     
    Miscellaneous: 
    • If students are found to be cheating, they shall automatically receive a zero for the assignment in question.  Cheating includes the actions of the student copying as well as those of the student who is providing the material to be copied. Plagiarism is an illegal form of copying.
      
    • I do not give extra credit assignments to help make up for poor scores.  If a student is struggling, they may stay after school and work on the assignments that they are struggling with:  this is very important, as many topics/tests in science are cumulative, and we do not want problems to snowball.  If a child is putting forth superior efforts, they will be reflected in their grade.