Grade strips were given out to all students this week and unfortunately for too many of you that wasn’t good news. Here’s how the grades breakdown for all classes combined:
- 6% of students received an A
- 22% of students received a B
- 21% of students received a C
- 18% of students received a D
- 33% of students received an F
So why so many F’s you ask. Well it’s pretty easy to explain. Look at your grade report and count the number of NHI’s (not handed in) you see. If the total is 8 or more you probably received a F. If it was 0 you probably received an A, 1-2 a B, 3-4 a C, and 5-7 a D. You can’t get a good grade without turning in your work, in fact most students who received an F did not turn in 25% or more of their work.
How many of those NHI’s were for Daily Performance or Daily Quizzes? Well that’s your bell work sheet. You use it everyday in class and I tell you every Friday to turn it in and unlike other assignments you can even turn those in late.
The Daily Quizzes, the 2 questions you answer at the start of class, go into your test grade (40% of your overall grade). Do well on the quizzes and it will bring up your test grade. You can earn more points on the quizzes than on your tests and you can use your notes to help! Why get zeros instead of points? Turn in your bell work sheets!!
The other part of your bell work sheets are the Daily Performance points. These points go into your “Assignments” grade (20% of your overall grade). You earn points simply for being prepared for class, starting on time, following class rules and participating — easy! Score points again just turn in your bell work sheets!!
Ok, how many of your NHI’s were for Science in the News? This is the major source of credit for your Assignments grade. Science in the news is 25 points each week. It’s due every Wednesday and a reminder is on the front board everyday. I’ve even dedicated a page on this website to help you find science articles to use, plus there are newspapers in the back of the room for you to take. Get a jump on these, do them ahead of time. Pretend one is due this Friday and do it now!
The last big thing is Labs. You had 5 lab grades so far this marking period and they account for the other 40% of your grade. We usually spend a week or more on a lab and require some type of write-up. Not handing in a lab or doing a poor job on one can really hurt your grade. When we spend this much time on something you need to realize that it is important for you to do your very best. If you are absent during a lab you must make-up the work, get the information you missed from another student. You have the number of days absent plus 1 to make up the work. Do not expect me to allow you to skip the lab.
So there you have it. Very few students are failing, or achieving lower grades than they would like, because the material is too hard or the tests too difficult. The biggest single reason is that half of the students are not turning their assignments.
Get your grades up — turn in your work.
