Ms.

Smith

Clinical Practice Spring 2014

I believe that homework is an important part of any classroom because it ensures that the students are learning the content outside of school. Because of this, I assign homework weekly. At the high school level, students need to take the responsibility of their academics outside of the classroom. In order to fully master a subject, the students need to see/practice the content over and over again. By assigning homework, I am trying to ensure that all students master the content beyond the 50 minute period where they are in my classroom. Something that I do is give two homework passes to each student at the beginning of the year to use on any homework assignment that they want (except for projects). I believe that a homework pass is something that students should have available because I know firsthand how many other things the students have going on in their lives outside of my classroom. I want them to understand that as well, so I give them the opportunity to use a pass if they have an issue completing a homework assignment. Homework will be collected on the assigned due date unless discussed with me beforehand. Late work will only be collected up to one week after it is due and for partial credit 75%. There will be a bin assigned to each class section where homework will be turned in at the very beginning of class. Homework will be weighted along with the classwork and lab work that is completed in the classroom. 60% of the grades will be assigned to tests/quizzes (30% each) and the remaining 40% will be weighted with the homework/classwork/lab work (about 13% each). Final grades will be as follows and coincides with the grading system mandated by the school district: A = 90-100% B = 80-89% C = 70-79% D = 60-69% F = 59% and below Homework collected will be both graded and non-graded. I will decide what is graded and what is not graded based on the amount of work the students have to do outside of the classroom. I do not believe that there should ever be a pattern of activities in a classroom so the students will never get bored. This includes the way homework is graded. By collecting homework on a graded and non-graded basis, the students will never be able to guess how important the assignment is for the value of their overall grades. Homework is given for the purpose of extending and supporting the content outside of the classroom. It should not be used as a punishment or be done the same way every day. I believe that extra credit should be limited throughout any course. I base extra credit on my own discretion and whether is a need for it. If a student finds that they need some extra points, they can talk with me either before or after class and a solution may be able to be worked out.