Welcome to a new way of looking at the classroom and a new way to learn.

Were going to be
doing something totally different in our geometry classroom. You arent going to get three or four
tests which determine your quarter grade. You arent going to see scores like 82% which, if you
think about it, dont tell you a whole lot about what you know and what you dont know. For once in
your schooling lives, youre going to have a lot more control over things.

Things? you ask?

Yeah, I mean everything. Your grade, your homework, your way of learning. You are finally in the
drivers seat.

PRELUDE: THE PROBLEM WITH GRADES

Ive been doing a lot of thinking about grades, and to me, there are a couple things that strike me
as a teacher as a little bit absurd.

1. You take a test on, say, trigonometry. You get a 73% on it. I put that in my gradebook. What
does that 73% tell me as a teacher, or you as a student? Does it mean that you know 73% of
the material? Probably not. Does it mean that you are really weak in one area and strong in
a few others? Who knows! Does it mean that you made a bunch of algebraic errors, but
understood the concepts? Um, probably so!

2. Lets say I give you a test and things just werent going your way. You know, one of those off
days, and you froze up. Or you fell asleep studying the night before. Or you thought you knew
the stuff but it turned out you didnt. Or (and this has happened to me) you totally forgot
there was a test. And you bombed. I return the test to you, and you sigh, maybe cry, maybe
shrug your shoulders. Then life goes on. Lets be honest here. Do you go back and relearn the
things you didnt know?

I thought not. But as a math lover, that hurts. My heart breaks a little.







I dont want grades to be a stick I dont want you to be scared of them. I want
grades to be a carrot a motivator. And I want them to mean something.
OUR SOLUTION TO GRADES

At the start of each unit, youll get a list of skills that were going to learn. It might look something like
this:

(1) Identify and name a point, line, and plane.
(2) Explain clearly the difference between complementary and supplementary angles.
(3) Identify vertical angles.
(4) Identify and name right angles, acute angles, and obtuse angles.
(5) Explain clearly the difference between collinear and coplanar.
(6) Find the distance between two points on the coordinate plane.
(7) Find the midpoint between two points on the coordinate plane.


Youll also get a grade sheet that looks like this for you to keep track of your grades:































Every so often (probably every week or two) well have an assessment (announced in advance).
These are going to be short assessments, lasting probably 2030 minutes, testing you on a few
skills. On each of these skills, youll get a score from 0 to 4, representing how well you know each skill
(there is a rubric in this packet). So after the first assessment, your grade sheet might look like this:












(And thats exactly what my gradebook will look like too)

But crust! You really messed up on Skill #1. YEEEEARGH! Luckily, the next week I hand out another
short assessment and it tests Skills #1, #3, #4, and #5. Notice Im asking you to show me your ability
to do Skills #1 and #3 again. Throughout the quarter, I will continually be asking you to show me older
skills to make sure youve retained what youve learned. (Ill probably assess most skills twice at some
point in the quarter.)

So youve taken the newer assessment, and you get scores for those. Your sheet will look like this:


























Guess what? You did so much better on Skill #1! Unfortunately you went a little down on Skill #3.

So, Mrs. Haskell, what the heck does this mean?

I want your grade to reflect what you know, and what you dont know, at any point in time. So I
dont care if you got a 1 on Skill #1 early on. You showed me the second time around that you really
do understand the material better. HOLLA! So your current grade for Skill #1 is a 4. On the flip side,
you went down on Skill #3. So your current grade for Skill #3 is a 2.
You get points for what you know. Thats the only way to get points.

But heres where the magic comes in. Lets say you arent happy with your scores for Skill #3 and
Skill #5 and want to improve them.

No problem! As a teacher, Im all for you showing me youve learned something. My heart swells!
It almost bursts!

You can reassess on any skill to show me you understand it better. You just have to send me an
email (see below for details) and you can reassess
1
! The point is: if you can show me you have
mastered a skill, Ill give you credit for mastering the skill!

You can reassess until a week before the quarter ends. (Ill announce the exact date in class.)

The point of this is: I want you to succeed. I am on your side.

So lets say you email me and then reassess Skill #3 and Skill #5. Your sheet might look like:

























Remember, only the last score matters, so you are doing pretty well!
2
(The Rs are to
designate reassessments.)

If you want to know what your current grade is, just divide up the points you have earned over
the total points: (4+4+3.5+4+3)/(4+4+4+4+4)=0.925. You have a 92.5%.

Is this making sense?



1
You can reassess up to two skills at a single time. Also, if you are struggling and have reassessed a particular skill twice and
you want to reassess it a third time, Id like to meet with you to hear whats giving you trouble.

2
A caveat! Your grade can also go down with a reassessment. So say you reassessed Skill #3, and you earned a 1 on it. Your grade
for that skill will be a 1. However, you can always reassess a second time!

In short, were going to have a bunch of smaller assessments, which will test specific skills. Im going
to try to assess you at least two different times on most skills (but no promises). Your latest grade
stands. If you arent content with your score, you can always reassess individual skills to show that
you really do get it.

THE MEANING OF GRADES

In this new system, grades have a very specific meaning. For each entire quarter, I will be putting new
and old skills on the short assessments. And you will be allowed to reassess at any point. So at the end
of the quarter, your quarter grade will simply reflect two things: your mastery and ability to retain
the material from the course.

I dont want to be the teacher who gives all As. But heck, I want to be the teacher who has
students who earn all As.

RUBRIC

4 You have totally mastered the skill, meaning you have demonstrated a full understanding of the

concepts involved, have clearly showed all steps of your reasoning, have used notation correctly,
wrote exemplary and clear prose, and have made no algebraic errors.

3.5 You have totally mastered the skill, but you might have made a small notational error, or a very

small (nonfatal) algebraic error.

3 You have a firm grasp of the skill, meaning you have demonstrated a full or almost understanding

of the concepts involved, but you possibly didnt show steps of your reasoning, didnt use notation
totally consistently, could have written clearer prose, and/or made a slight (but nonfatal)
3

algebraic error.

2 You have demonstrated some conceptual understanding of the skill. You possibly have some

confused reasoning, did not completely answer the question, did not use consistent notation,
wrote muddled prose, and/or made more than one (nonfatal) algebraic errors.

1 You have demonstrated a weak or no conceptual understanding. You possibly have confused

reasoning, poor prose, and/or made one or more serious (fatal) algebraic errors.

0 You left the problem blank.

3
Whats a nonfatal algebraic error? These are smaller errors which dont change the nature of the problem, nor impede on
the expected method to get a solution. Fatal algebraic errors change the nature of the problem.
THE PROCESS FOR REASSESSMENT

1. Work on improving your understanding of the skills you didnt do as well as youd like on. Do
old homework problems, work with another student, meet with me, whatever!
4


3. Fill out the reassessment email (a blank version is on the class website and on
Schoology) with the details about one or two skills you want to reassess. (You cant
reassess more than two skills at a time.) I need to receive your request two days before you
want to reassess. So..

If you want to reassess on Tuesday email me by Sunday at 5pm.

If you want to reassess on Friday email me by Wednesday at 5pm.
You get the picture.



Howdy Mrs. Haskell,

I would really like to reassess Skill #___.

The reasons I think I didnt do well on that skill are:

[list reasons here]

Since the assessment, I have done the following specific things to make sure
I understand the skill:

[list the different things you did to work on the skill]

Would it be possible to reassess the skill during class (or before/after
school) on [pick one: Monday-Friday]?

[If you want to reassess a second skill, copy the above and fill it in for
the second skill.]

Always a devoted math student,

[Your lovely name goes here]

If you have shown me youve done concrete things to fix your misunderstandings, Ill
approve the reassessment and off you go to study! Every so often, I may ask you to bring
your completed, corrected homework and your class notes for me to see before letting you
reassess.

3. Thats all. Youre done! Your score on this reassessment is your current score for your skills.


4
Theres only one thing. You cant reassess the same day you meet with me. I dont want you just parroting what we talked about.
I want to make sure you really understand the material, independent of me!
FINE POINTS

1. You cant reassess more than 2 skills at once.

2. If you want to reassess a particular skill more than twice, lets meet and talk about
your understanding of the skill beforehand.
3. You can reassess any skill until about a week before the end of the quarter. I will give you the
exact date each quarter. (Thats just to allow me enough time to grade and enter all the
scores in the gradebook.)
4. Watch out for days when we dont have school. Clearly you cant reassess those days.

SEMESTER GRADES

There will be a midterm, and an end of year exam. Your semester grades will be:

Semester I = 40% Quarter 1 + 40% Quarter 2 + 20% Midterm
Semester II = 40% Quarter 3 + 40% Quarter 4 + 20% End of Year Exam
Final Yearlong Grade = 50% Semester I + 50% Semester II

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

This new grading system has about a gazillion advantages to it. And hopefully its going to take the
stress out of testing, and put the focus on really learning the material. At the same time, with the
independence that this class is going to give you, it will force you to be responsible.

I suspect the biggest challenge will be keeping up with the homework, and studying for assessments.

Picture this. Youre at home, its 11pm, and you have to do an intense biology packet (or study for a
history test, or well, you get the picture) and your math homework. You think ah, well, homework
isnt for a grade in math. Ill figure it out later really, I promise myself I will! I must! You come to
class, youre a little lost, you try to do the next nights homework and its somewhat impossible
because you didnt quite get the material you hadnt practiced. Great. And you still promise
yourself to do the homework from the night before.

The next geometry assessment comes about and you get a few things, but you bomb a few things,
and you think hey, I can just reassess. But the work of all your other classes keeps piling on, and you
have already made some gaps in your understanding, and you can only reassess a couple skills at a
time.

Youre digging a hole for yourself, and you keep putting things off, thinking oh, I can deal with it later.
I can assess it again. Later. Itll all work out.

It wont.

Youre going to learn that doing your homework every night, and studying for assessments, are the
two most important actions you can take to succeed in geometry. For the most part, you will have
plenty of time in class to complete your assignments. It is up to you how wisely you use the time
you are given. You might not believe me, and want to tempt fates well, so Ill just say: with
freedom comes great responsibility.

****I will be collecting and recording all homework assignments in PowerSchool. You (and your
parents) will be able to see which assignments you have completed, and those you have not. I
guarantee you will see a trend. If you are consistently completing and turning in your assignments,
your skill assessments will be much higher.


****If I notice that you are not completing assignments and are not scoring well enough on your
skill assessments, we will make a new arrangement to where you are not allowed retest a skill until
you have completed and turned in all assignments. No retests = low grade = possibly failing the
quarter/semester.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT BASKETBALL ANALOGY
A basketball player shoots 100 free-throws at the end of practice on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday in order to get ready for the game she has on Friday. She makes 20 free-throws on Monday, 40
on Tuesday, 60 on Wednesday, and 80 on Thursday.

Not a single one of these free-throws counts toward her game statistics or adds any points to the
scoreboard on Friday.

What counts is her performance when she goes to the line to shoot a critical free-throw with three
seconds left in the fourth quarter of the game.

Because she chose to work during the week at the end of practice when she was tired, she is ready for this
free-throw at the end of the game, when she is also tired and the game's final outcome is at stake.

The practice free-throws shot from Monday through Thursday are formative assessments (homework
assignments) of how ready she is for the game.

The shots she takes during the game on Friday represent summative assessments (skill assessment/test),
or the culmination of her practice during the week... and are the only shots that "count" in assessing her
skill level (or mastery) as a basketball player.