RESULTS OF TERM 4 CHALLENGES 5 & 6

This week's class challenge (see blog post for Sunday March 15 for explanation of challenge) results were as follows:

CHALLENGE #5: class participation according to a rubric which was as follows

Criteria 1: Intra-group dialogue
Criteria 2: Willingness on the part of individual's to venture responses in front of whole class
Criteria 3: Diligence (use of class time and resources, general productivity

Each category was graded on a scale of 1 - 4 and the rubric was applied 4 out of 5 days last week. A class could have therefore earned a maximum of 48 points.

Homeroom 216: 31 points
Homeroom 239: 32 points
Homeroom 242: 35 points WINNERS!

CHALLENGE #6: Home Nugget Submission Rate


Homeroom 216: 88% WINNERS!
Homeroom 239: 80%
Homeroom 242: 83%

Accordingly, each winning class is awarded a 1/2 percentage point to be applied to their overall grade. Congratulations to the winners.

Gearing Up for an Eventual Summative Assessment on Chapter 8

Today's class was comprised of students confronting the last remaining 'impossible' problems from chapter 7 form 3 test and realizing that none of the questions was as formidable as initially thought. Ultimately, all problems related to factoring in some fashion, which was to be expected of a test based on a chapter focused on factoring.

This weekend is an opportune time for a journal entry and so students will be expected to craft strong and meaningful responses to the 15 questions posed on the lesson.

Home Nugget #13 of the 4th Term
Assigned on Friday March 27, 2009
Due on Monday March 30, 2009

Journal Entry #1 of the 4th Term

The traditional FCAs DO NOT apply to this lesson. The grading criteria are included on the directions handed out in class today. Be mindful that journal entries constitute 15% of the term grade.

Changing Gears - From a Nugget Summary to a Summary Analysis

Home Nugget #12 of the 4th Term
Assigned on Thursday March 26, 2009
Due on Friday March 27, 2009

After three days of variable attempts, I decided that the home nugget summaries were not proving to be effective. I've elected to have students do a periodic nugget analysis instead. We spent considerable time in class today figuring out how to create these bulleted item analyses and reached a consensus that the process seems worthwhile. Students DO NOT have to do these nightly. I will make clear in class when the analysis is expected.

From sheet titled Chapter 8 Mid-Chapter Test - all 15 problems. Show all work on separate paper. Also for homerooms 239 and 216, finish off quiz 3 and 4.

Reminder: Be diligent about working on your class notes nightly! This process will help you to reflect on the day's lesson and give you a chance to gain meaningful, long-term retention of content.

FCAs
2 points: all problems completed in their entirety. Your effort at the end of the lesson is as evident as at the start.
2 points: evidence/explanations for your thought/solution process is provided for ALL pertinent problems.