Retest+News

The retest was more challenging but also include 1/2 of the questions directly from the 1st test. Except for a small percentage for students that did better, most that took the test got a lower grade. Out of 30 retests it's disappointing to spend that much extra time creating, grading, coming before school to run a study session and after to proctor the test (an estimated 6 extra hours) to have such a large percentage do worse on the retest. Especially when I handed out the 1st test, went over it question by questions and had everyone in class make corrections and explained that thee questions would be on the retest. It shows (and I have confirmed this from many) that students just thought that by retaking the test they might do better regardless whether or not they studied or not. Those that did listen, correct, and study did do better and improved their grade. Those that did not ended up with a 10-15% lower grade (due to increasing difficultly and a few new questions). If I spent 6 hours working on this retest then students not happy with their grade need to spend at least 1/2 that time on studying for the next assessment. There will be no more retests for this reason. I'd rather spend the extra time with my daughter. If you as a parent or student are concerned about grades, studying, or the content ... please see me before/after/during school before the next assessment or assignment is due ... I don't mind running study sessions before the next test or helping with an assignment before it's due. Please work on studying the content in sections ... get sections 1 and 2 down now. We can do more exciting activities if you know how to calculate relative humidity, can name the clouds, describe the air masses and name the fronts. Spending 10 minutes reviewing your notes a night or studying with a parent or friend means we can focus on doing science in the class ... not continuously learning facts. Please ... for everyone involved (including myself) it's time to step up and knock science out of the park! Thank you ... 3rd quarter is going to be great ... Mr M