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THE PHILOSOPHY:
I assign homework infrequently. Your child spends an hour each day in my
class; that's a substantial amount of time to be working on math. I figure
that if students stay on task during class, then they've put in a full day
by 3:20. That being said, students sometimes need additional time to finish
assignments or to think through ideas outside of class, so there is occasional
homework.
THE RULE:
Usually, the homework I assign shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. My
rule, however, is that if students have been working DILIGENTLY on my
homework(no SpongeBob in the background, and it can't be the case that
you've put off a big project for several nights in a row), they are allowed
to stop working on my subject after 15 minutes, even if they haven't
finished. They just need to inform me of this at the start of class the
next day.
THE RESOURCES:
I send the homeroom teachers messages about the homework assignments so they
can put
them up on their daily assignment boards. In the event that I have
neglected to do either of those things, students can call a classmate or even
email me to find out the homework. Furthermore, I send notice of quizzes to
parents a few days in advance via email. (If you haven't given me your email
address, please consider doing so!)
Students may make appointments to work one-on-one with me if they need extra
help.
THE CONSEQUENCES:
Students who don't have their homework will probably be sent out into the
hall to work on it while the rest of the students correct theirs in class.
I understand that occasionally students forget, or life gets in the way of
homework. If, at the end of the quarter, a kid has missed only one or
two assignments and has otherwise been a really good student, the effect on
the grade will be negligible. Work that is just plain not done on a
consistent basis, however, will result in a low grade at the end of the
quarter.
Students will retake quizzes until they earn at least a 75% (there are
some exceptions such as pretests or short quizzes over something we've
covered thoroughly.) After achieving 75%, students MAY retake a quiz once
more in an effort to raise the grade up to an 85%
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