Weekly Update: October 14-28

We hit the ground running and haven’t stopped since the beginning of August.  From orientation day to WASC, Week Without Walls, new advisory program, Learning 2, end of the first quarter and parent-teacher conferences we have all been extremely busy.  You completed all of these tasks and more with grace and determination.  Most people outside of education do not understand the truly frenetic lifestyle we live and just fixate on the time off we get for breaks throughout the year.  Our colleagues and families do however get this challenge in education.  We wish you the very best next week.  We hope you get a chance to relax, unplug and recharge.

Have a great fall break,

Jacob and Tim

Friday, October 14
No Classes for students
Parent-Teacher Conferences,  8:00am-1:00pm (MS Gym)

October Break
October 15 – 23, 2016

Monday, October 24
Day 1- ABCD
Advisory Schedule
MUN Trip to Cambodia – Parent Meeting – MPR 3:30 – 4:30pm

Tuesday, October 25
Day 2- EFGH
HSLT Meeting, 3:15-4:45 (Counseling Conference Room) Agenda Here

Wednesday, October 26
Day 3- BCDA
International College of Hotel Management – Australia 12:30 – 1:15pm (Library)
College Visit : Saint Anselm 12:30 – 1:00pm (Library)

Thursday, October 27
Day 4- FGHE
Advisory Schedule
Unitalk: “Show Me the Money- Financial Considerations for University” 8:15 – 9:15am
Ontario College of Art and Design, Lunch (Library)
HS Music Recital 3:30 – 4:30pm

Friday, October 28
Day 5 – CDAB
High School Breakfast (hosted by the Maths Department), 7:30am Faculty Lounge

On the Horizon
IB Training HCMC, October 28-30
HS HoS Reception, November 4 (Mark’s House)
Author Assembly (Marc Tyler Nobleman), November 15: Special Schedule
HS Block Party, November 25

Staff Action Needed

• Enjoy a much deserved break

Political Viewpoints– We’ve had a couple of parents contact us about teachers possibly sharing their personal viewpoints about the upcoming election in the United States.  Having taught social studies in the US for over ten years, I know the many teachable moments that come from politics.  This election is a highly charged, so even more to discuss as this is the most unique election in at least a generation.  Please use current events appropriately in your courses without showing your party affiliation or bias.  We have a very diverse student and parent community that includes Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and supporters of Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump.

Pop Quizzes in the HS– There have been a number of students and parents over the last few weeks asking counselors and the administrative team about “pop quizzes”.  Moreover, they have increased the anxiety of our students over the last weeks.  To clarify, a pop quiz is usually viewed as a quiz  that is given without any prior notice to students (a surprise).  We discussed this topic at the HSLT this week and think these surprise quizzes have partly emerged as a result of switching to the quarter grading system and are also used to encourage students to do their work and/or keep up with their reading.  You can find both positive and negative research showing the impact of pop quizzes on student academic performance.   

That being said, please consider the following in the quarter two grade books:

• Label your PS grade book correctly (if surprise quiz label as pop, if the quiz is scheduled in advance label as quiz 1 or Reading Quiz,…)
• Have a balanced portfolio of assessments in your grade books (tests, quizzes, projects, essays, presentations, homework, etc.)  Do not lean too much on one type of assessment.
• Be cautious of having a lot of quizzes worth a small amount of points in your grade book (see next section for specifics)

If you have any questions see your department head, Jacob or Tim.

Effects of Small Point Values in the Grade Book– We are noticing a number of grade books that are relying on a majority of small point value entries like 5 point quizzes, homework, etc.  These small assignments can have unintended consequences.  For example, consider the following:

Ex #1   4/5     3/5      5/5       4/5      4/5 = 80%

Ex #2   8/10    9/10     10/10     8/10     9/10= 88%

In both examples one or two points are missing from total possible.  When you consider Ex #1, missing one point drops the percentage to 80% and missing two 60%.  This has a disproportionate impact in the grade book.  Whereas, Ex #2 with a similar proportion of missing points yields a score of 88% in comparison with 80%.

Another possible solution is to create or adjust your “quiz” category in PowerSchool to something like 10%.  Then you can assign higher point totals that will not have a disproportionate impact on the rest of your grade book.

Please consider this issue when you are assigning point values to your grade books in quarter 2.