As students begin to become more comfortable with the curriculum and routines of the O'Bryant, I will try to include information on this weblog that will help families appreciate how we are committed to making expectations in the classroom clear.

Often, students are given an assignment in class or for homework then consequently graded on it once it is handed in. Criteria for such lessons must be made explicitly clear. For this reason, we employ Focus Correction Areas (FCAs) in our math class. These are the goals students should have in mind when completing assignments. For example, tonight's home nugget is a practice sheet with 17 problems on it. Students can earn anywhere from a 0 to 4 with a 4 being the highest mark. The Focus Correction Areas are as follows:

3 points awarded if: two problems from the sheet will be checked at random and must be accurate.
1 point awarded if: work is legible and neat.

Put plainly, the student is absolutely clear on how he/she can earn all four points on the assignment. FCAs can and will change. Sometimes I will be concerned with students providing explanations, other times I am focusing on accuracy of answers. The point is that the grading criteria are not a secret.


Home Nugget #2
Assigned Monday September 11, 2006
Due Tuesday September 12, 2006
Practice Sheet for section 3-1 of Middle School Math #1-17