Donations Are Coming In!

A HUGE thank you is extended to students from our class who have brought in donations for Sparky's Toy Drive and our Toiletry collection.  So far Steven L., Aidan, Nick, and Owen have earned ballots for the draw for the huge teddy bears.  Keep it coming in!

Information about Evaluation
A student recently posed a relevant question regarding how marks are earned toward the final marks on the report cards (coming your way in February and June).  I thought it was very valid, so I thought it would be a good idea to post the information here for everyone to benefit from.

As a rule I assess student work daily.  This means that I collect it and look at it, providing feedback so that everyone knows their strengths and weaknesses.  This also lets me know if I need to reteach anything or if someone needs extra assistance.  This does not count toward final marks because we are still learning and practising at this stage of the process (known as diagnostic and formative assessments).

At the end of a unit of study in any subject, there are summative tasks that are levelled and this data is used to arrive at the term marks that appear on report cards.  These are typically items that come home to be signed, but some items have been kept back so that you may see novel items during the student led conference that you will have with your child after receiving the term one report card.  These tasks always have a rubric on them, and inform about level of achievement in four areas (knowledge and understanding, thinking, communication, and application).

It is important to note that in my classroom, the marks that are on the report card are always based on multiple tasks, never just one.  My reasoning is that one task does not provide enough information and it also allows for someone to have an "off" day.  For math, each unit of study has at least three tasks:  SWYK, problem solving and journal, and the test.  In literacy, each strand has multiple tasks as well, as does art, gym, and so on.  When I examine the collection of marks that I have collected for each individual student, I look for the most consistent level, which is recorded on the report card.

I hope you find this information helpful.