Mr. Martin Spoerlein

MSN Sixth Grade Teacher

Science

Academic Expectations

 

          Assignments are given to help reinforce concepts and skills taught in class.  It is important for your child to complete all assignments carefully, thoroughly and in a timely manner.  Assignments comprise 45% of a student’s science grade.

        When assignments are given, they are written on the whiteboard and I prompt students to write them down in their assignment notebooks.  This is done on a daily basis in a routine manner at the beginning of class so that students develop the “habit” of writing down assignments.  Please check your child’s assignment sheet to make certain they are completing this important first step of the assignment completion process.  Assignments are typically due the following day.  If an assignment is due at a later date, students will be given the due date.

          If students do not physically have the completed assignment in hand when it is due, the assignment is considered late.  Only partial credit will be given for late work.  As a sixth-grade team, we have decided that any late work will earn 70% credit (major projects will be docked 10% per day up to 70% credit). 

          From experience, the sixth grade teachers have come to realize that for students to learn effectively they must keep current with their work. In the past, when we had a more lenient late assignment policy that allowed students to fall behind with little consequence, we found that our leniency only served to hinder the learning process.  Our intention is to discourage poor working habits and encourage good learning habits.  This team policy has proven to foster that objective.  This procedure also helps prepare students for subsequent grade levels where the late penalty is increased even further.

          I remind students on a daily basis about any missing assignments they may have.  Any assignment not completed after two weeks of its due date will receive zero credit.

        If a student is absent when an assignment is given, it is the student’s responsibility to find out what s/he missed (from a folder in the room).  I allow two days for every day the student is absent to complete absent work for full credit.   If the assignment is not turned in by that time, the assignment is then considered late. 

          If a student was in school when an assignment was given and is absent when the assignment is due, the assignment is due the day s/he returns or it will be counted as  late.

If you request work ahead of time for a planned absence, please make every effort to ensure your child completes this work and turns it in upon his or her return.  Only one day is allowed for every day a student is absent due to vacation time.

          Lab materials for assigned labs will be available for one week only.  Students must make up labs immediately upon their return.  Student may make arrangements to come in during homeroom, before school, or after school.  After one week, student must supply their own materials to complete the lab.  We simply don’t have the room to leave labs set up for extended periods of time.

        Students in band or orchestra MUST turn in any assignment BEFORE going to their lesson.  If work is not turned in before attending a scheduled lesson, the assignment will be counted late. 

          Band and orchestra students must also find out and complete the assignment given the day they have their lesson.  No extra time is given for assignments that are missed due to instrument lessons.

      Students are expected to study on a daily basis.  Please help your child develop good study habits by having him or her start home learning at the same time each day.  Assist your son or daughter in identifying the best time for learning and completing assignments. Then, determine a “start time” that coincides with this optimal learning time.  By scheduling a daily start time, you not only aid your child’s learning, but also develop solid lifelong learning habits.     

          Another good practice to establish for your daughter or son is to set up a permanent daily learning time of about an hour each day.  Daily learning time is a time set aside each day during which your child must do learning; all other activities stop.  Oftentimes, students will claim that they’re “done” with everything.   Why not? There’s a big incentive to be “done”; then they get to do whatever they want.  Unfortunately, being “done” often translates into shoddy work that was given little effort or attention.  

          Setting up a daily learning time removes some of the incentive for being “done”.  If your son or daughter is required to spend a certain amount of time “learning” regardless of whether they have assignments to complete or not, over time, they will do their assignments with more care.   And, with the improved quality of work will also come improved retention of concepts for the student.  Even if your child claims that s/he has “no assignments” to complete, s/he can always study for upcoming tests or quizzes. 

Typically, sixth grade students haven’t developed the crucial study skill of reviewing on a daily basis, preferring to “cram” information in on the night before the test.  Unfortunately, this tactic does not develop genuine understanding or long-term retention of concepts.  A daily learning time does promote powerful study habits that will serve your child now and in the future. 

          Q-sheets serve as daily curriculum review and reinforcement.  Q-sheets are also invaluable study aids.  Students should keep and use them as mini-review guides for upcoming tests and quizzes, especially for science classes.  Easily half (and oftentimes more) of any science quiz or test is taken from the Q-sheets.  Encourage your child to review them on a daily basis during homeroom or at home during “daily learning time”.  Studying a little bit every day helps to develop better concept understanding and retention, as well as good study habits.

          In practice, Q-sheets are short sheets of paper that students pick up on the way into the classroom.  Students spend the first few minutes of class working independently on the Q-sheets.  After a couple of minutes, we go over the answers to the Q-sheet.  Sometimes a grade is taken just to make sure that students actually complete and use them effectively.   I discovered that if I didn’t occasionally take a grade on them, students tended to “blow them off”.  Q-sheets comprise 5% of a student’s science grade.    

          Since we learn through repetition and reinforcement, Q-sheets provide a daily review of material that has been previously covered.  I don’t want students to forget what they’ve already learned! 

          For science, Q-sheets typically contain a few fill in the blank statements that students complete at the beginning of class.  These exercises closely follow the reading material in the text.  I’ve found that students oftentimes need extra guidance in the skill of reading and understanding expository text (text that “explains” things).  In Science, students may look up answers to the Q-sheets using any resource (e.g. textbook, handouts, packets, previous assignments).   In fact, I encourage them to look up the answers.  That’s the whole idea!  The only thing students can’t use is someone else’s work; that would be cheating and defeat the purpose of reading for meaning and understanding.  I use Q-sheets as one of many strategies for facilitating students in gaining meaning from expository text.  This method has proven to be very helpful in assisting students to find and recognize important information in our readings.                  

          Q-sheets should be kept in an envelope in the daily work section of your child’s binder.  They should be saved until the conclusion of a unit and I direct students to recycle them.

          In my classes, tests and quizzes are an extremely important assessment component of students’ grades.  Tests and quizzes comprise 50% of students’ grades for science classes.   I tell students at least a week in advance of giving a quiz or test because they are such an important assessment factor, and to help students develop good study habits.  I want to encourage students to study daily over a period of time rather than just “cramming” the night before.  This method enhances concept development and retention of material.   I know from experience that most students don’t always heed my advice, so any help you can give in convincing your child that this is a worthwhile practice would be appreciated.  Students have available to them a wealth of study aids.  Some of the materials students should utilize in studying for tests and quizzes are:

                   •  Q-sheets                               •  Vocabulary guides

                   •  Assignments                          •  Handouts

                   •  Notes                                    •  Outlines

                        •  Reviews                                •  Textbook

                Learning is a process that requires time, repetition and reinforcement.  Please encourage your child to utilize these materials as study aids on an ongoing basis.  Even though I emphasize this in class regularly, you may want to support this at home by demonstrating how to use these materials as study aids with your child.  Any nurturing of good study habits will not only benefit your student in this class, but will also develop good habits for his or her future academic endeavors as well.  As the saying goes, “Bad habits are cruel masters; Good habits are loyal servants.”

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